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Friends in my non-dog life keep asking me what it is I'm so worked up about these days.  Utility Dog?  What the heck is that? 

Well.

AKC obedience titles are based on three sets of exercises, Novice, Open and Utility, Utility being the most difficult.  In a nutshell, at the April shows at Cal Expo, Spur and I will enter the ring, and in about ten minutes we'll go through five exercises.  If we complete them successfully on three different days, we'll have a new title.  Utility Dog!

But the exercises are difficult.  At the A level - dogs who don't already hold a UD, Utility Dog, title - it's routine to see only one or two dogs pass in a class of 20 or more.  Uh oh!

What's so tough?  Here are the five exercises:

1.  Signals.  Spur will heel with me on hand signals only, sitting any time the judge tells me to stop.  Until I'm instructed to give him a hand signal to stand.  Then I'll walk to the other side of the ring, about 40 feet away, and signal him to down, then sit, then come.

2.  Scent discrimination.  I'll send Spur to a scattering of 9 dumbell-like articles, some leather some metal.  He must bring me the one I have touched.  Once with leather, once with metal.

3.  Directed retrieve.  Three gloves will be set out along one edge of the ring.  One in the center, one at each end.  Spur must retrieve the glove I point at.

4.  Stand for exam.  I'll heel him across the ring, then command him to stand while I continue walking without pause.  The judge will approach and examine him, then I will call him to return to me and take heel position.

5.  Directed jumping.  I'll command Spur to run away from me as fast as he can, until I tell him to sit.  A jump is set at either side of the ring.  He must return to me by taking whichever of the jumps I point at.  He'll do this twice, once for each jump.

Or at least I hope he will. 

For this, and all obedience classes, we enter the ring with 200 points.  The judge will follow us about, and mark us down for every infraction.  A crooked sit, a lack of enthusiasm, or sloppy handling on my part all equal points off.  I must score at least 170 points to pass.  No treats allowed in the ring, no encouragement during exercises, and no commands may be repeated more than once.

It feels like there are a million ways to get marked down, and certainly more than 60 ways to fail on the spot.  If he picks the wrong article, glances away and misses a hand signal, or stops to gawk too long at another dog outside the ring . . . .we are toast.

I started introducing Spur to the concepts behind some of these exercises at the age of eight weeks.  At four years, he is about the right age to begin competition.  But a lot can go wrong.

My first obedience dog, Petra, showed in a dozen trials before she achieved the three successes necessary for a title.  My second dog, Axel, required 18 trials.

I'm a better handler now, and Spur is the right dog.  What if he earned his title over the four days of shows at Cal Expo in April?  It's highly unlikely, but I can imagine it.  It's fun and scary to think about.

I can't help it.  I can't get the possibility out of my mind.