# Kennel Club Bronze award.....helppppp



## rema (28 February 2009)

Good evening all.Hope you are all well?.Right to the point.We are two weeks away from doing our KC bronze award (we being me and my 6 month old Border Collie pup) and i'm starting to brick it.I know it's not exactly Crufts but it is important that we are prepared for it.We have been working very hard and i think coming on very well.Just a few questions i need to ask if i may.

Firstly his sit stay is good but he does not always stay sitting but will lie but not move from the spot,will we fail on this?.

walking through a crowd of dogs/people he tends to get very excited and lose abit of concentration any tips??.

Walk to heal is again ok but he loses concentration again.Any tips?.

He works so much better off the lead but i dont think we could go lead less could we??.

And finally we are not allowed to treat during the test but our trainer has hinted that smelly hands might work so any thing you could recomend.

Phew sorry turned into abit of a long one lol.
Thanks and a Bonio if you got this far...


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## huggz (28 February 2009)

In the bronze test you walk ist on lead without distractions.
You are allowed to correct if needed, as long as you don't have a tight lead throughout.

The walk amongst people &amp; hold a conversation bit is acceptable as long as the Dog doesn't jump on the other Dogs &amp; people.

If he's better off lead, use a very long light lead (no weight no tension)
The stay can be done in sit or down, I think down is your safest bet as they have to stay in position. 

You can use treats between sections &amp; use a toy if you want in the return to handler bit.

Good Luck : )


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## rema (28 February 2009)

Thank you so much.We are both enjoying doing our classes and are aiming for agility when the boy is old enough.I would like to go through to the gold exam if we are both good enough.
Thanks again for your help.


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## MurphysMinder (1 March 2009)

At our training club the Good citizens award is tested by the dog warden.  He does allow treats for things such as recall and for the bronze he does not expect brilliant heelwork as long s the dog isn't pulling your  arm out. However he does like them to stay in one position in the stays.  As bearhuggz says you might be better leaving him in the down for the stay.  That is what I do with Evie as she sometimes go down in her sit stays.  I think I am right in saying you don't have to do a sit  particularly and in gold the 10 minute stay is in down anyway so there is no harm in using down for your stays.
Good luck, I am sure you will be fine.  I nearly messed up the questions, I have had dogs all my life (over 50 years) and my mind went blank on when to call the vet


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## sarahhelen1977 (1 March 2009)

I did the PDTI course in the Summer and it was very much based around the GCDS - don't worry too much about it - they are not looking for competition obedience, just a well-behaved dog that is under control in public.  For the stay you can recommand as many times as you want, the heelwork is only over 30 paces, and again doesn't have to be perfect - have you got a copy of the syllabus? Really read through it, because it should set your mind at rest - as has been said above the stay can be in any position, but they do have to remain in that position. Make sure you have the legal requirement on your dog's tag (your name, address, postcode) for the test 
Good luck and don't forget your poo bag!!!


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