# Thoughts on the new "Pre" obedience classes



## Augie's Mom (Sep 28, 2007)

What do you guys think about the new "pre" optional titling obedience classes announced by AKC?

http://images.akc.org/pdf/events/obedience/Notice_New_Classes.pdf


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

I'm excited!

NO STAYS!!!!!! WHOOOEEEE!  Well, except for a repeat of the stupid BN stay. 

I would definitely treat it exactly like a fun match.

The only thing I'm meh-ish about is the jump heights. For Jacks is would be 12 _inches_? Unless I told the judge I preferred something higher - which it appears you can do. 

And while they cut the high jump in half, the broad jump is still apparently the same 2x height.


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## Loisiana (Jul 29, 2009)

My opinion - I think that they should get rid of all A and B class designations for ALL classes. Then make the pre classes required to be offered at every trial. So you either show in regular novice or prenovice, regular open or pre open, or regular utility or pre utility.


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## Loisiana (Jul 29, 2009)

Megora said:


> I'm excited!
> 
> And while they cut the high jump in half, the broad jump is still apparently the same 2x height.


it says twice the height of the high jump. So if you jump him at 12", it would be a 24" broad jump.


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

Loisiana said:


> it says twice the height of the high jump. So if you jump him at 12", it would be a 24" broad jump.


That's what I read... and that would make sense.

But they gave the regular lengths per boards like for regular Open. 

Now I'm wondering a little bit if that just was based on people probably asking for the appropriate heights for their dogs vs the allowed mininum.


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## Stretchdrive (Mar 12, 2011)

When I was reading the discriptions of the classes I thought to myself..."If my dog was ready for the pre class, wouldn't it basicly be ready for the regular class?" Some of the new class descriptions make the classes seem pointless, but if people want to enter them, they can always use them for training, or for fun. 

One thing I wish AKC would allow is lateral moves. I have tried to move my dog out of Open A to Open B at a show before, and they wouldn't let me.


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## Loisiana (Jul 29, 2009)

Ha Susan, you should see the letters of desperation I've been sending to Onofrio and akc this week to PLEASE find a way to move me from utility A to utility B!


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## Stretchdrive (Mar 12, 2011)

Loisiana said:


> Ha Susan, you should see the letters of desperation I've been sending to Onofrio and akc this week to PLEASE find a way to move me from utility A to utility B!


I just think it is so stupid! How hard would it really be to just drop that rule?


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## MillysMom (Nov 5, 2008)

I'm taking an obedience class with my local training club geared toward the pre-novice... they've always offered the class as the step before novice and training for competition, but now they cater the class with a mock show at the end of the 10 weeks running pre-novice tests. After, they encourage you to go into either novice or pre-novice class when competing. I personally, really like running my mock tests, and plan on competing in the pre-novice class. 

For me, I get nervous when I'm being judged or performing infront of other people... I'm an absolute perfectionist, and the obedience mistakes we make are always MY MISTAKES and 99% of the time based on my nerves. Hush is an incredibly mental dog and really feeds off of my mental state - this can be great when I'm in a good frame of mind, she's the easiest dog in the world, but I make a small footwork mistake, get nervous because I made a mistake, and Hush picks it up. For me, the option of pre-novice takes that stress off, and helps my nerves considerably. I totally intend on having pre-novice as my first ring debut, for no other reason than I want a "schooling show" for my nerves. Of course, as luck would have it, Hush's stays are completely SOLID, but I know this option will really ease my nerves. I'm also a very competitive person (really competitive with myself, that is), and I want to have something under my belt before I go into a novice class since I've never competed in obedience.

I take obedience with my best friend, Eileen, and her 8 year old mixed breed dog. We started in a basic obedience class, and have continued moving up through the levels - it's our time to see each other, and we socialize after class. She took the classes for two reasons 1: to see me once a week 2: her dog needed some more socialization after being attacked. Since then, she's really risen to the top in the class, and her dog loves it! She never intended to go beyond basic, but then decided to do the CGC test, and kept with it. We can either do another 10 weeks at this pre-novice level, or they "push us out of the nest" and we move onto the club's competition training. If you move on, you must be training to compete at novice. For Eileen, she never wanted to compete, but after being told about the pre-novice classes she's going to continue with training! She does this as a way to continue to bond with her dog, and in our mock shows she's nailed the pre-novice test everytime. 

I think offering pre-novice in competition will get more average pet owners more involved in competitive obedience, which is an excellent thing! I've wanted to compete, but Eileen did not until she learned about pre-novice classes. There are a lot of people in our training club that started out in basic and have continued, going into it not even knowing competitive obedience existed. Of course, there are a lot of people who didn't stick with it.


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

Oddly, I may be trying them. I found I loved the Grad Novice class, and really enjoy Rally. Now this could be because I tend to take Novice, Open and Utility very seriously and the Grad, Pre and Rally classes not so much  but I think they help my dogs get used to the whole ring environment with their handler (ahem - me) being more relaxed - plus it helps build my confidence grins. It still kind of stings that Casey once was so - well Casey - that when I asked the judge to be excused he responded it might be best LOL; with more ring exposure I think he could have really done great!

There are generally not that many matches in my area and the one there are rarely are in the same locations where the actual trials are held. So the Pre & Grad classes are appealing to me


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## JessiesGirl (Dec 8, 2011)

I would be in heaven if they got rid of all the A and B designations, as a handler it screws with my ability to jump in and take a dog for my clients when they get too nervous to try themselves.
The pre classes are okay but I think I will observe them a while before I decide to try them. Call me old fashioned but I would rather take the straight road to the OTCHes, to me all of these extra classes are just a headache for secretaries. I'm all for boosting participation and entries but I don't want to be bothered with these extra classes especially if they make the trial last longer.


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

> Call me old fashioned but I would rather take the straight road to the OTCHes


Oh, I think everyone would rather take that straight road. It would save a lot of class and entry fee money....  

In a perfect world.


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