Geoff Stern
(e-mail: sternmandell@att.net)
A while ago, Quip and I entered some UKC obedience trials at Weston Dog Training Club in Waltham MA and the American Eskimo Dog Club of New England shows in Russell MA. I’d never shown in UKC and had seen it only once, so I cast around for information on how UKC Novice differs from AKC and ASCA and got some advice from various folks on the Belg-L e-mail discussion list and elsewhere, in addition to whatever I tracked down (which accounts for any errors here). Here’s a quick view of UKC obedience for people accustomed to AKC or ASCA. This isn’t a complete set of UKC rules and regulations, but it’ll get you started.
Readings
The only training book I’ve found that specifically covers UKC obedience is “Fido, Come”: Training Your Dog with Love and Understanding by Liz Palika. The approach is pretty conventional, with very little compulsion. Palika’s training recipes are pretty much for post-Beginners students who want some greater precision with their dogs and are interested in competition training. The descriptions of the exercises aren’t especially detailed, but each section includes the relevant portion of the AKC and UKC score sheets which is a nice touch.
Update 10/2002: Dog Training with the Touch by Tom Rose & Annetta L. Cheek has some good hints for training the UKC Directed Retrieve (“gloves”) which is somewhat different from AKC — see the section on Utility, below.
There are some excellent online resources for UKC obedience:
In addition to the event listings on the UKC Web site and in Bloodlines, you can also check other event calendars like The Match Show Bulletin for lists of UKC trials.
UKC Novice
Far as I can tell, here are the chief differences between UKC and AKC (or ASCA) in the Novice class:
1. Honor Down exercise
UKC has an Honor Down instead of a Long Down in AKC and ASCA. “Honoring” is taken from field trials and hunting where a dog must stay in position while another dog does a retrieve.
For the Honor Down, one of the stewards escorts you and your dog into the ring. At the judge’s order, you put your dog in a down-stay (leaving your leash behind your dog) and go to the other side of the ring — like an individual Long Down. (A minor gotcha. The dog must down from a sit, not from a stand.) Meanwhile, another dog — called the “working dog” — enters the ring and does the Heel on Leash and Figure-8. As soon as that dog finishes the Figure-8, the judge will tell you to return to your dog. When the judge says “Exercise finished,” put your dog on leash, and then one of the stewards will usher you out of the ring. Each dog in the class gets to be an honoring dog and a working dog. If there’s an odd number of working dogs, the club will provide a “courtesy dog” to even things out.
By the way, the Long Sit is the same in UKC as in AKC or ASCA — 1 minute in a group, with the handlers standing opposite their dogs at the other end of the ring.
2. Recall Over the High Jump exercise
Instead of a straight, flat recall as in AKC and ASCA, there’s a Recall Over the High Jump, with the two ring stewards standing on either side of the jump. You leave your dog on one side of the jump, walk around to the other side, and call him over to you. The rest of the exercise is just Ye Olde Fronte & Finishe.
In UKC, the jump height is the dog’s height at the shoulders, measured in increments of 2” and rounded down; the maximum is 24”, and the minimum is 8”. For example, if your dog measures 21”, he jumps 20”. If he’s 30”, he jumps 24”, and if he’s 7½”, he jumps 8”. Also, UKC specifies some breeds jump only ¾ height (pretty much the breeds you’d figure), and Veteran dogs (8 years or older) may elect to jump ¾ height, too. You specify the dog’s height on your entry form.
3. Voice commands and hand signals
There’s a slight difference in the rules for voice commands and hand signals. UKC lets you use a voice command or hand signal — or both — for nearly all exercises except heeling, where it’s one or the other. In AKC and ASCA, you can use a voice command and hand signal for stays only; otherwise, it’s one or the other.
So, for example, in the Recall Over the High Jump in UKC Novice, you can use a verbal command like “Come!” or “Jump!” and simultaneously give a hand signal. However, this belts-and-suspenders approach may not be a good habit, especially if you’re going to be showing in AKC and ASCA.
4. Classes, registration, and titles
UKC has Novice A (for rookies) and Novice B (everyone else) just like AKC and ASCA, but UKC also has a Novice C class for dogs who already have a UCD title but don’t yet have a qualifying score in Open. (This may change soon to allow more entries in Novice C.) The recent AKC rule change about continuing to show in Novice until you get a leg in Open or win HIT is roughly equivalent. If you have a UCD on another dog or if you have ever earned a similar title from another registry, you enter the Novice B class in UKC. For example, even though I’d never shown in UKC, and Quip didn’t then have any obedience titles, I still entered Novice B because of the AKC and ASCA titles on my other dogs. This is different from AKC which doesn’t care about titles from any other registry.
Also, UKC has some rules and about persons other than the owner showing a dog, and there are administrivial differences and some gotchas in scoring (such as starting with the first sit in a runoff). In some ways, UKC obedience regulations are less detailed than AKC’s and allow for (or depend upon) judges’ discretion in scoring. Generally, UKC is less formal. For example, practicing on the show grounds is acceptable — some trials have a practice ring.
UKC titles are prefixed with U — thus, UCD, UCDX, UUD, and UOCH. The titles used to have a hyphen, but that’s been dropped. By convention, UKC puts all titles, not just championships, at the start of the dog’s name. Thus, Quip is properly:
UCD Klaar Boldface Quotation CD ASCA-CD HIC CGC
To qualify for a UCD, you need three qualifying scores in Novice at three different trials — same as in AKC or ASCA — but you need only two different judges. This is why many UKC clubs offer back-to-back (or synchronous) trials on the same day, because two legs under the same judge count towards a title.
To show in UKC, your dog must have a UKC registration. This isn’t difficult to arrange. Check the UKC Web site for more information. UKC recognizes several breeds not recognized by AKC. Also, UKC is allied with the American Mixed Breed Obedience Registry (AMBOR), so you can also show your “all-American” dog at UKC trials. Indeed, most UKC trials will have a prize for highest-scoring AMBOR dog.
UKC Open
In the Open class, the chief differences from AKC or ASCA are the Honor Down, again, and the role of the steward as a distraction in the Heel Free and Drop on Recall exercises.
The Honor Down in Open is pretty much the same as in Novice, except the handler goes out of sight for the duration of the working dog’s heeling. One of the stewards will escort you out of the ring and back in.
In the Heel Free, one of the stewards walks the reverse of the heeling pattern as a distraction — usually, you’ll “encounter” the steward twice in the heeling pattern. Otherwise, it’s the same old stroll in the park, followed by an off-leash Figure-8.
In the Drop on Recall, while your dog is down, a steward walks past the dog. Once the steward has gone by, things go pretty much the same as in AKC or ASCA.
For jump heights, see the section on the Novice Recall Over the High Jump, above. There’s a slight different for the Broad Jump. In UKC, the Broad Jump is twice the dog’s height at the shoulders, rather than twice the high jump. In UKC, the Broad Jump is twice the dog’s height at the shoulders, rather than twice the high jump. So, for example, a dog who’s 25” at the shoulders jumps 50” on the Broad Jump. (For the high jump, that dog jumps 24” which is the maximum in UKC.) As of 2004, the range for the number of boards is 3 boards for 28” to 44” — the same as in AKC.
The other exercises — Retrieve on the Flat, Retrieve Over the Jump, and Long Sit — are the same as in AKC and ASCA.
Classes: UKC has Open A for those seeking a UCDX, and Open B for those seeking a UOCH — or dogs having the equivalent of a UCDX from another registry, such as an AKC CDX. In other words, if your dog has a similar title in any other registry, you must show in the B classes in UKC.
UKC Utility
UKC Utility is rather different from AKC and ASCA, and the consensus is it’s harder. (Yikes.)
Signals and Directed Jumping are pretty much the same as in AKC and ASCA, and in Scent Discrimination, the biggest difference is that UKC has only metal articles— no leather (as in AKC and ASCA) and no wood (as in CKC). Also, UKC doesn’t allow a “turn-and-send” option; the dog must do a sit, and you have to wait until the judge tells you to send the dog to the article pile. There are some other minor differences, too.
What really makes UKC Utility harder are the two Directed Retrieves and the Consecutive Recalls.
For the Directed Retrieves, instead of the gloves being lined up at the one end of the ring, glove #1 is near the left barrier, #2 near the center of the far barrier (as in AKC or ASCA), and #3 near the right barrier. Conceptually, the gloves are the bases of a baseball diamond, with the dog and handler at home plate. Also, the gloves are placed in full view of the dog and handler — you’re not facing away from the gloves as in AKC and ASCA.
In the Directed “Marked” Retrieve, you send the dog from heel position to fetch one of gloves (judge’s choice) as in AKC or ASCA.
In the Directed “ Signal” Retrieve, you first send your dog to the center of the diamond — conceptually, the pitcher’s mound — a kind of go-out or send-away with a sit on command, similar to Directed Jumping. You then signal (or signal and command) the dog to whichever glove the judge indicates. This is one case where you must use a signal, not just a voice command. It’s a tricky exercise.
In the Consecutive Recalls, the dog first does a Drop on Recall and then does a straight Recall — from the same spot. (Fortunately, there’s no distraction with the stewards this time.) Unlike the Drop on Recall in Open, you can’t use both a voice command and hand signal; here it’s one or the other.
There’s no Moving Stand for Exam, thank you very much.
Directed Jumping is the same as in AKC and ASCA — high jump and bar jump. The stewards have a bit of shlepping to do, moving the jumps in and out of the ring, because of the space needed for the other exercises. Utility takes a little longer in UKC (and in fact, Novice and Open take a little longer in UKC because of the additional traffic in the Honor Down exercise).
Classes: UKC has Utility A for those seeking a UUD, and Utility B for those seeking a UOCH — or dogs having the equivalent of a UUD from another registry (such as an AKC UD). Also, UKC awards UOCH points based on scores, rather than class placements. The OB and UB classes don’t have “ scrambled” orders as in AKC, but UKC Utility is probably tough enough in a standard order of exercises.
More
UKC starts has a runoff in case of a tie for one of the class placements or for High-in-Trial or High Combined — using the Novice Heel Free as the tie-breaker — much like AKC or ASCA. However, in UKC, the runoff is a “ sudden-death” affair. The dogs running off go into the ring at the same time, and judging begins with the initial sit at heel. It’s quite possible for the runoff to end before the dogs begin to heel if one of them is sitting crooked! In other words, judging starts with when the handler says “Yes, ready,” not when the judge says “ Forward.”
The UKC obedience rules are somewhat less specific than AKC’s, which more carefully define some terms. There may be a little more latitude for judges in UKC. Some people think UKC judging is more forgiving or less rigorous, but that probably varies with the individual judge and perhaps with the region of country. In my experience, admittedly limited, UKC judges were slower, more generous, but also less consistent. Again, this isn’t a scientific survey. In general, UKC trials tend to be very amiable and relaxed. There usually isn’t a catalog, because of day-of-show entries. There are often two simultaneous trials, so it’s possible to get two legs in one day.