What is the best breed of dog for obedience training?
I need 2 dogs for a training program for a school and I am having touble thinking of the beed to buy. I wanted to stay away from the most common choices like golden retreivers and labs, and go for a different breed.
I need one breed that would be awesome around people and great in obedience trials
I also need a different breed to do scent detection, It must have a high ball drive.
September 25th, 2010 at 7:12 pm
German Shepherd all the way, I don’t care how common they would excel at this any day.
September 25th, 2010 at 8:02 pm
I’d go with Border Collies–they’re whip-smart and great in these kinds of situations.
September 25th, 2010 at 8:37 pm
border collies,superb temperaments,highly intelligent and easy to train as they love to learn and keep active.
September 25th, 2010 at 8:45 pm
Well, honestly an American Pit Bull Terrier would probably be really good at the obedience because they are super intelligent, and many have a high prey drive, and are often used in scent detection. I’ll include a link of a place that trains pits for police work/scent detection.
However, I’m a little confused by your question. You’re going to be buying two dogs for a school program? That doesn’t sound like a good idea at all. Could you please clarify?
http://www.lawdogsusa.org/
Edit*
Haha ignore “Johnny”s rubbish. If you train the dog well enough to do good in obedience and scent detection, chances are you will have a well trained dog. Only poorly trained dogs attack.
September 25th, 2010 at 9:00 pm
border collies are the best at competitive obedience, agility, flyball..
australian shepherds also excel
shelties are always winning too.
just go to akc.org and click on the awards for different sports,,
September 25th, 2010 at 9:00 pm
An awesome thing to do would get two dogs from a Shelter.
September 25th, 2010 at 9:22 pm
a blood hound,border collie,husky, german shepard,st.bernard.
September 25th, 2010 at 9:24 pm
You need 2 dogs for a training program for a school? Could you please elaborate as you must understand that some people may find this question a bit worrying.
September 25th, 2010 at 9:25 pm
German Shepherd is the number one choice. Same with Basset Hounds. Both are “toy driven” and are great at scent tracking 🙂
September 25th, 2010 at 10:16 pm
Any breed can be great for obedience. If you get them as a pup and spend the time to develop a relationship where all they want to do is please you, your there! The best dog I’ve ever had has been a Airedale. For scent detection any of the hounds would work, maybe a Beagle?
September 25th, 2010 at 10:49 pm
Brightest Dogs
Understanding of New Commands: Less than 5 repetitions.
Obey First Command: 95% of the time or better.
Rank Breed
1 Border Collie
2 Poodle
3 German Shepherd
4 Golden Retriever
5 Doberman Pinscher
6 Shetland Sheepdog
7 Labrador Retriever
8 Papillon
9 Rottweiler
10 Australian Cattle Dog
PS. Whoever rated down the American Pitbull Terrier suggestion needs to WATCH THIS. (Starting at 3 minutes IN, shows what I want you to actually SEE.)
http://youtube.com/watch?v=U7Z5oZhqA7g
EDIT:Pitbulls can be service dogs, police dogs used for tracking drugs, Therapy dogs, Agility dogs and much more… They are very versatile and can be the best at whatever you want them to be, you just have to be a good trainer.
Also, for the tracking event, look into getting a blood hound lol. They are the best at it, but the other scent hounds are great too.
PITBULLS ROCK <3
September 25th, 2010 at 11:34 pm
I vote German Shepards. I have two and they are amazing. Obedience wise, they’re clearly great for training. There’s a reason they’re used by police officers.
September 26th, 2010 at 12:28 am
I have a border collie and i taught her to play the fruit machine within half an hour!
Re: ball drive – to say that she is obsessive is an understatement – she often just appears at the door to where i am with a ball in her mouth – and then refuses to let me have it! She make me chase HER!!! When she eventually lets me have it i throw it and she is so excited to play ball.
However be careful about the temperament of the dog you choose – some border collies are not good with children. Also ignore the pit bull suggestion – i’ve never heard of such rubbish – the amount of children who have had their faces ripped off or killed by them is terrible.
September 26th, 2010 at 12:38 am
I agree with Tiff. What happens to the dogs after school is over? In the summer? If you quit the job? Are they owned by the school? Odd situation.
Just because the breed is known for a particular trait does NOT mean every dog of that breed posses the qualities necessary to compete. Many a blood hound has flunked scent detection, and lots of dogs get bored in obedience. I’ll admit I have never met one, but there are probably even border collies who don’t play ball.
September 26th, 2010 at 1:15 am
Every single dog should get obedience training.
And as to a high ball drive, that will depend on the individual dog, not the breed.
What kind of program makes you buy a dog? What happens when school is over? A dog is a huge investment. If you simply want one for the sake of a school project, you would be better off seeing if somebody will let you work with their dog.
September 26th, 2010 at 1:26 am
Actually, since it is for a class, you might want to go to the local shelter and evaluated dogs. My friend who does detection work for a living, does this – she HAS to have very high ball drive and she just goes to the shelters to obtain her dogs — she will evaluate them for the drives she needs and have them sort of checked out health-wise and then use them for training and has huge success with this and it gives a dog that might otherwise never get a home a great home and job and they love it! It is awesome to train with them. She usually selects a smallish medium sized dog, either sex doesn’t matter since she alters them, and they are usually around one or two years of age — about when someone has given up on them because they have let them be wild in the backyard and they can’t train them but she can and it is easy because they usually are ‘wild’ because they have tons of drive and are smart dogs and are adept at training some puppy getter… but once they get their adult size and aren’t cute little puppies any more, they are taken to the shelter. I have been simply amazed at the great dogs she has found and put to work and they are great doing detection work in schools or corporate offices and such — she finds various mixes, BC, Aussie, Lab, heck, just about any of them as long as she can evaluate them and they will go through hell or high water to get that ball!! I am sure everyone will suggest their breed but basically, save your money from supporting some back yard greeder and a good breeder will take time as they don’t breed often and expect you to have a good knowledge of their breed so go to the pound and spend a few days evaluating and you might just find a great dog to work with! I lay odds you will 😉