How long did it take you to obtain your first title?

[elisabeth_00117]

I am just curious, this thread/poll is in no way a competition or a place to make people feel bad, upset, etc.. I am just curious to see the results.

How long did it take you and your dog to obtain your first title?
Please include which venue (agility, schH, obedience, tracking, flyball, herding, etc.).

How long did you train for before the title was earned?
From your first lesson in this particular venue to the first title earned.

How many times per week/month did you train? How long was each session?
If inclined, please also estimate the amount of time on your own that you worked with your dog at home in a formal training session(s).

Did you seek professional help such as a trainer or join a club or did you train all on your own?

How many tries did it take you to obtain the first title?
If each title includes a certain number of legs, please include the legs you needed to re-do or how many legs were done before the title was gained.

[JakodaCD OA]

I'll bite, and I'll use my departed Sami (gsd) as a reference.

1. got her first obed title @ 2 yrs of age, first agility title 2 years of age
2. About a year
3. classes, twice a week = 1 hour each
on my own , as much as i could, short fast sessions
4. both a pro trainer and joined agility club
5. 3 Q's = Title 3 times for her CD / 3 times for first Agility title

(Can I say I was REALLY lucky, that it was more having a good dog than a good handler

[Jax's Mom]

Does CGN count? Jax got his at 7mos (PS I will be upset if someone says it doesn't count cuz that's his only one LOL)

[BlackPuppy]

I don't do any structured training. I'm too lazy. I don't train before they are 1 year old and I don't train much in the winter.

I train on my own, but I belong to a club so I have a place to train indoors, but it's getting too crowded these days. 300+ members. I like using the Show N Goes for training.

No NQs in rally. Obedience was a little harder due to the 1 minute sit stays, had 2 NQs. As soon as winter is over I'm going to start training Balto for Open Obedience, so I'm going to have to think about having a plan this time. I don't think telepathy will work anymore.

Balto was born June 5, 2007.
November 8, 2008 AKC RN (Rally Novice)
March 1, 2009 UKC UR01 (Rally Level 1)
June 26, 2009 AKC RA (Rally Advanced)
July 20, 2009 AKC RE (Rally Excellent)
August 2, 2009 AKC CD (Companion Dog/Novice Obedience)
September 5, 2010 AKC RAE (Rally Advanced Excellent)

Boaz turned one year old this month. I've started training the down and heel position in the kitchen once a week. When the snow melts I'll train more often.

[Miss Molly May]

Originally Posted by Jax's Mom

Does CGN count? Jax got his at 7mos (PS I will be upset if someone says it doesn't count cuz that's his only one LOL)

Guaranteed that counts that is a great accomplishment we hope to do the same

[Franksmom]

Indy my border collie is the only dog I've trained to titles so far.
RN (rally O) at 2 year of age
CD (obed) at 3 years of age, 2-1st place and 1-second place finish.
He earned both titles in 3 straight shows without any NQ's
I trained with a friend who had trained dogs to show before once a week, then daily here at home.
He also Has his Grad novice title and his CGC.
He's retired now, the little turkey decided while trying to earn his CDX that not only could he do the exercises in our ring but that the dogs in the other ring needed to be herded into one spot to watch him,

[Samba]

I started with a older adopted dog. He was not really high level training kinda guy. Since he was kennel raised and weak nerved, there were other issues for him also. Then he had an episode of strange illness and ataxia.

So, I had my first lesson with him and trained about 6 months. I next got a puppy to try to have a dog for obedience. She went for her CD at 2 years old. We had good instruction and did pretty well getting wins. I didn't know much, looking back on it, I might have waited longer because she was not very mature when I asked that of her.

The first dog I trained became a pet. He always liked to work with me and I would often humor him. When he was around 8 years old I took him for a CD and he did well. It was fun!

I still take it slow ( sometimes too slowly and don't get it done)! Hogan is around 20 months and still so puppyish I don't even think of competition with him yet. GSDs can be slow to grow up.

I guess I had lessons once a week for quite awhile. There is no club nearby so I had to do a lot of training in parks with a friend. We trained pretty often when first teaching the dogs the skills. After the skills were learned, we found out that less is more sometimes. The dogs who had some decent lay off time due to winter etc did better than dogs who trained all the time! I tried to work on some basic skill a lot during the week. These were very short sessions concentrated on bringing along just one skill.

[elisabeth_00117]

Thanks everyone!

I am just getting ready to start Stark in Rally next month (he'll be 22 months old) and sometimes I feel like we are behind and other times I feel like we are so ready for this.. then there are days like today where he can't even find heel position! I am going in with an open mind, using it as a learning experience for both of us.

[angelas]

For Shania's CGN

How long did it take you and your dog to obtain your first title? & How long did you train for before the title was earned?
Almost 11 years, LOL.

How many times per week/month did you train? How long was each session?
2-5 times/day, 5-10 minutes at a time

Did you seek professional help such as a trainer or join a club or did you train all on your own?
Nope trainers or classes. I used books, forums and my own stubbornness to train even though I had three people in the family trying their darndest to untrain her.

How many tries did it take you to obtain the first title?
We got it in the first try, although I know Shania could do WAY better. I was a nervous wreck and it traveled down the leash. I have no doubts that she would have followed the evaluator all the way home and not looked back.

[JKlatsky]

Argos was my first ever dog...so I'll give his information.

How long did it take you and your dog to obtain your first title?
Schutzhund BH was achieved when Argos was 21 months old.
Schutzhund 1 was achieved when Argos was 29 months old.
We're still working towards our SchH 2.

How long did you train for before the title was earned?
Argos started training in SchH at 5 months old.

How many times per week/month did you train? How long was each session?
We went to club training (5-6 hours) at least once a week, usually 2x and sometimes 3x a week though as we started gearing up for trial or if I was really working something I needed help with. I worked almost daily at home on small things in OB.

Did you seek professional help such as a trainer or join a club or did you train all on your own?
Worked with a SchH trainer/club.

How many tries did it take you to obtain the first title?
We got our BH on the first try. We failed our first SchH 1 in obedience. Argos wouldn't Voraus, and he skipped the jump, plus lots of little mistakes (crooked sits, bumping on returns, etc) I think Mom's nerves got in the way. I almost made him fail tracking because I wouldn't let go of the leash- so I inadvertently false started him twice. He would have V'd the track if it weren't for me. I remember the judge said in his critique "Dog. Excellent! Handler. Not so good"