New Club Jitters and Hangups

[Sunflowers]

Originally Posted by Castlemaid

How much obedience you have or don't have on Gabe won't mean much. What makes a good impression is the dog's personality, willingness to engage strangers in play, attitude to following directions, and his bond with you.

If you come with a very well trained dog who just sits by your side and doesn't move, that tells me nothing about the dog. But if the dog is eager, bright eyed, excited to play, willing to greet and engage people, attentive to you when you talk to him and engage him, stops sniffing around and becomes fully focused on a tug or a ball when the toy appears - that tells a lot about his potential for further training.

It takes years to get to the IPO titles. Lots of time to put formal obedience on your pup, no one will be judging you on his formal obedience at only eight months old.

Thanks for this post.