Except from the special tasks, (tracking, searching people, man work etc.) all dogs at the same level do the same obedience program at every trial occation.
The obedience part, as well as the special tasks, become more demanding the higher the level, of course. The tracks become longer and older, the messenger dogs have to run longer distances between the stations, and the search dogs have to search through larger and larger areas. In the obedoence part there are more complicated tasks to perform the higher the level.
Walking on leash in front of her trainer.
The same smooth collie bitch as at the top of the page, during her obedience performance at a trial (lower class). Above doing her fetch. Below demonstrating that she can be sent forward keeping her position and direction in front of her trainer.
On the first two levels, the dogs also have to perform what we can call a smaller messenger test, they have to be capable of running from their masters to a foreign person and back again, on command. From the third level, this part disappears and now the dogs have to search through, and fetch four objects, which are put out randomly in an area of 50 x 50 meter, usually in a field, or in an open forest area. They have five minutes for the task, and they deliver the found objects, one by one, sitting down on the left side of their masters.
At every trial then, the dog has to do its special task (tracking, searching, messenger work etc.) plus an obecience programme, and on the lower levels the smaller messenger test, on the higher levels the search-and fetch task. From the lower level they are also tested concerning their reactions to gun fire. They have to lay down on command, together with the other dogs, during gun fire.
The competitions are judged by two judges. The dog can get from 10 points down to 5, under 5 points there is only 0, 10 is exellent, 0, of course, is the opposite. These scores are then valued differently, according to a certain scale, and depending on the task, how difficult it is. The final scores decides wether the dog is allowed to compete on the next level or not.
Usually there is only one group competing at every occasion, but it also happens that several groups are competing on the same place on the same day. Whatever, all the dogs on the same level perform the same tasks, apart from their special tasks, tracking, searching, man work etc.
The dogs of course, can be trained for several of these groups (and compete in several, or in all of them, but not on the same day) so that some dogs can achieve their Working Dog Championships both as tracking dogs and as search dogs for example, or in all four groups - if their owners have energy enough to train them that intensively.
The working dog trials are organized by the Swedish Working Dog Association (Svenska Brukshundklubben), which consists of approximately 250 local Working Dog Clubs, spread out all over Sweden, with many members training and competing with their dogs, as well as organizing trials for each other. I, for example, am a member of Kinds BK in the southern part of Sweden.
Of course we also have common Obedience trials. The obedience programme in these trials are partly, but not completely, different from the obedience part in the working dog trials. The pure obedcience trials are organised both by the Swedish Kennel Club and by the Swedish Working Dog Association. These trials are arranged in the same way as obedience trials all over the world, even if different countries have their own schedules of obedience tasks.
