BH obedience lax standards?

[codmaster]

So I was at my first BH evaluation this past weekend. As a long time AKC obedience participant, I was MOST surprised at the very low standards for passing the BH obedience exise.

So I figured to ask and see if this is expected and usual or did we just happen to get a very lenient judge. (Which could and does happen in any dog sport, of course).

For example, 2 of the dogs broke their long down stay at the side of the field while the other dog was working 4 times each and started walking over to their handlers. Each passed easily!

A couple of other dogs literally ran around 15-25 feet away from their handlers on the off leash exercise and did return but repeated it a few times each. All passed as well.

Etc. Etc.


Usual?

[cliffson1]

What you describe does seem lenient, but it still has to be viewed in the context of the overall performance. There is only so many points assigned to long down and heeling in the Judges assessment. Though BH is pass/fail in way reported, the judge evaluates all aspects in relation to whether the dog is ready to go on. There is also the off field aspect dealing with traffic and other dogs. Like I said it does sound lenient, but without a complete picture of what the dogs did I really could'nt judge. I know when I go up for a long down those items you mentioned are the least of my concerns.

[BlackPuppy]

Gosh, breaking a stay in AKC would be an immediately fail. I know, been there. Have a dog that likes to lay down on the sit stay.

[cliffson1]

Yeah, but does AKC have the down with distractions in front of the dog, like another dog team working, or in the Sch one and above having another team through objects to be retreived????? It is very easy to teach a dog to just stay with no distractions......have things moving and being thrown and you really test the stay or down!

[Zisso]

I did hear that the BH exercise was recently changed to be more lax.

[lhczth]

The BH is primarily a temperament test. The dog must show basic control, an understanding of the exercises and do well enough to pass. The dog leaving the handler during the off lead heeling could have lead to the dog failing under some judges due to a lack of control.

SchH is not AKC. AKC is entirely judged on points. The temperament, attitude, and character of the dog is not considered as long as the exercises are performed correctly (and the dog does not bite the judge, growl, or attack anther dog). In SchH because these things do matter and it is not just about points, failing one exercise only loses you those points for that exercise. In the long down a dog can receive partial points for staying through a certain stage of the other dog's routine.

[Zisso]

So does this mean if one was to take the BH in AKC they could fail but doing the exact same thing in a SchH BH could pass?

[elisabeth_00117]

But isn't the BH test suppose to focus more on the temperament of the dog being tested rather than the obedience.

Not saying that the obedience portion should be written off or anything, obviously it is incorporating obedience drills (hello! look at all that heeling!) but I always look at the BH as a test in the dogs temperament. Ensuring he/she can handle different situations (traffic portion, walking through group, etc.).

I just think of it as a prerequisite of the ultimate obedience test which would be the schH titles.

Dunno. JMO.

[lhczth]

Originally Posted by Zisso

So does this mean if one was to take the BH in AKC they could fail but doing the exact same thing in a SchH BH could pass?

Yes, just like a there are a lot of dogs who do AKC that would fail the BH (due to temperament).

[Freestep]

AKC obedience is reaaalllly nit-picky. You can get points off for the dog not being in the exactly correct position, if sits are crooked, "crowding" during heeling, while the Bh does not seem to care so much about that kind of thing. Like the others said, it's more of a temperament test than an obedience trial. Although the trial mentioned does seem particularly lenient.