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| The Versatile Ridgeback |
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| At Ivorymoon we strongly encourage you and your RR to try your paw at the competitive events available to RRs. It's not only enjoyable for humans, it's great physical and mental exercise for your RR. Competitive events not only further the education you and your RR receive in obedience classes, they also strengthen the bond of trust and companionship between you. And, it's FUN! Ridgebacks, being versatile hounds, are eligible to compete in several performance events. Those performance events include obedience, rally obedience, lure coursing, agility, tracking, and herding. |
| Obedience: RRs can be taught to perform the skills required for competitive obedience, provided the trainer respects the dog's individual personality and adapts the training accordingly. Ridgebacks become easily bored with constant repetition and will tend to "tune you out" when they've had enough. Training exercises need to be kept short, interesting and should always end on a positive note. Many patient and consistent owners have been rewarded with advanced obedience titles, dispelling the myth that a hound cannot do formal obedience. All RRs that are registered with the AKC, whether they are show quality or not, may compete. There are progressively difficult levels of obedience titles; Companion Dog (CD), Open or Companion Dog Excellent (CDX), and Utility Dog (UD). At each level of obedience competition the dog must score 50% or more of the possible points for each exercise and earn a combination of points for all exercises totalling at least 170 points (perfect score is 200). Each time your dog does this it earns a "leg" toward a title. Three legs are required for each level of obedience competition to earn a title. (Utility Dog Excellent, "UDX", and Obedience Trial Champion "OTCH" are additional obedience titles that may be earned by different requirements for accomplishment) |
| Lure Coursing: Lure Coursing is an organized sporting competition that allows the hound to chase an artificial lure in simulation of actual rabbit hunting. Dogs are judged on their enthusiasm, speed, agility, how well they follow the "bunny", and endurance. Lure coursing is great exercise and helps burn off energy in a positive way. Both show and pet quality RR may compete, provided they have a ridge, and are registered with the AKC. |
| Agility: Agility is a creative, physical extension of obedience work. The game is for the dog to negotiate the whole course, handler running alongside giving direction, in the fastest time with the least mistakes. The course consists of various obstacles including tunnels, a teeter-totter, an A-frame, weave poles, jumps and a "dog walk". Agility results in a better rounded, more conditioned dog, provides good basic training for search and rescue dogs, demonstrates good training and citizenship and has excellent spectator appeal. All RRs, whether show or pet quality, may compete provided they are registered with the AKC. |
| Tracking: The goal is to have the dog (with a harness and very long leash) follow a trail of human scent without direction from their handler. The scent trail is made simply by a person walking through a field. The dog indicates it has successfully tracked the scent trail by finding a glove or other article, dropped at the end of the track by the person orginally laying the scent trail. All RRs registered with the AKC, whether show or pet quality, are eligible to compete. Tracking has three titles of progressingly difficult levels of competition; Tracking Dog (TD), Tracking Dog Excellent (TDX), and Variable Surface Tracking (VST). Unlike obedience or agility, tracking requires only one qualifying score to earn a title at each level. |
| Herding: Ridgebacks aren't eligible to compete for formal herding titles. They can however participate in herding events and attain a Herding Instinct Certificate. After a few minutes of confusion, many Ridgebacks have a natural inkling of what is entailed in herding sheep! |
| Conformation: Dog shows are an evaluation of a dog's "conformation", or how closely it conforms to the written standard for its breed. Judges evaluate the dog's conformation according to the "perfect" dog described in the breed standard. Dogs compete for points toward their championships (Ch). Although this may seem like a glorified beauty pageant, conformation shows and breed standards ensure anatomical and orthopedic structure, which are directly related to the function and health of the breed. The only official breed disqualification for RRs is ridgelessness. |
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| Rally Obedience: This is a new form of obedience competition where the dog and handler complete a course of 10 - 20 stations. Each station is a modified, obedience-type skill. The course must be completed in varying orders, predetermined by the judge and must be completed as quickly as possible with as few mistakes as possible. Scoring is not as rigorous or precise as obedience and unlike obedience, handlers are permitted to praise their dog, encourage them (verbally) and repeat commands. Because of this, many people consider rally obedience a good precursor to formal obedience competition. There are progressively difficult levels of rally obedience titles; Rally Novice (RN), Rally Advanced (RA), and Rally Excellent (RE). Like obedience, each qualifying score counts as one "leg" of the three legs required for a title. All RRs that are registered with the AKC, whether show or pet quality, may compete. (Rally Advanced Excellent, "RAE", is an additional title that may be earned by different requirements for accomplishment) |
| Therapy Dog: Ok, so Therapy Dog work obviously isn't a kind of competitive event! But, it is one of the versatile roles Ridgebacks have excelled at. People can have their pet dog evaluated and certified to be appropriate for "Therapy Dog" type work. In such a role the dog visits schools, medical clinics, or rehabilitation facilities to be used as a therapeutic modality to benefit the student, patients or residents at these institutions. NOTE: Therapy Dogs can provide their skills at such public venues only by invitation and permission of the individual facility. |
| AKC isn't the only way to go... There are other organizations providing competitive events, especially in lure coursing and agility. Please visit our LINKS page to find more information about these other groups and performance cvents in general. |