Listed below are several links to help you better understand Obedience Trials.
AKC regulations regarding obedience trials How to get started in Obedience and Tracking Evansville Obedience Club Obedience Club in Evansville, Indiana. Lists upcoming events and classes.
I am a firm believer in obedience training for all dogs especially Siberians. Even if it is just beginning obedience you will have a better dog for taking a class. If there are no classes offered in your area you can do it on your own. The biggest benefit of classes is the socialization and having other dogs around to proof your exercises if you intend to show. Several excellent books have been written on obedience training. Some I recommend are: Beyond Basic Training by Dianne Bauman Successful Obedience Handling by Barbara Handler Mother Knows Best by Carol Benjamin How To Be Your Dogs Best Friend by The Monks Of Skete
Obedience training tips for Siberians 1) Keep your training sessions short and fun. 2) Use lots of treats and praise. Siberians love to know they are doing something that pleases their human. 3) Let them understand what you expect from them before you correct them. 4) Never use a harsh correction for training. The only time a harsh correction should be used is if the dog attempted to attack another dog or human which would go against the temperament for a Siberian. 5) Use your imagination in training a Siberian. For example one obedience seminar I attended used a hot dog for a race. Each dog raced across the room to pick up a hot dog from the floor. The dog who returned with the most hot dog won. You guessed it a lot of hot dogs where eaten but to my amazement my dog Nanook returned three times with a whole hot dog. A great exercise for the retreive. Make it fun! 6) Work a short time then play a little then return to training. 7) Never think you know it all there are always new methods of training for example the clicker method. Read and learn and most of all enjoy.
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