If there was a rule to be a must to obtain a working title for working dogs before you title a dog as Best of Breed in the shows could be an answer to the problem. I totally agree, that any dog shown should obtain some type of working title first. Agility, SchH, Tracking, Herding, etc... just show me this dog is MORE THAN PRETTY! You said you go to a training club...so I was wondering you train the dogs in groups? We go on the feild at different times for different things and do some group acitivities together.
The protection work is done with the handler/owner, the dog, the helper and that is it.
Tracking is done in small groups but only 1 dog and handler are on the feild "tracking" at a time and usually there is more than 1 track set up.
The obedience work we do at our club is done in small groups of 3-4 dogs and handler/owners.
There are usually more experienced people out there training than not, so it is helpful for me (a newbie) to get advice from them or see them and their experienced dogs work first or show us "how it's done".
A lot of the tracking and obedience work is your responsibility to keep up as no "formal classes" are given at the club. It is mostly protection work we work on when there.
and if yes Does it work well?... I like it, yes. This is because I am inexperienced in this realm of the dog sport world. I like having people and dogs I can look too for support, guideance, advice, etc..
Everyone is willing to help which is rare and they are all so supportive and encouraging to both the handler and dog.
or you would prefer a trainer just for you? We also work with a obedience trainer one-on-one once a week. There are 4 dogs in the class, one is used as a demo dog, then the handler breaks us up in different parts of the room (huge gym) and comes and works with us one-on-one.
I like it this way because you have the opportunity to see what others are doing, offer or take others advice, etc..
Also group training is great to work on distraction training.
I found a very successful club 2 hours from where I live and we had a talk with my father whether or not it could be better to go there or continue the home-training. Here, without a club or training classes it would be very hard to really get into the "dog world".
I find you learn so much more, see others opinions, get some very experienced handlers/owners/breeders/helpers advice and have that 'upper hand' because usually these people have been involved with their dogs and the sports they participate in for a LONG time. They know the in's and out's and what is going on with who and where.
As long as we have always trained the dogs at home I don't know if group training could work in SchH/IPO. What do you think? Certain aspects can be worked on in groups, but there are some aspects of the sport that need to be done individually.
I will try to get a couple videos of our training next weekend and post them so that everyone can see what I am trying to describe... lol.