Event Types

Obedience: These competitions are known as trials. Open to all dog breeds, they demonstrate willingness and enjoyment of working with their handler. Communication is key in getting your dog to obey your instruction to jump, retrieve, stay and many other more complex actions. A well behaved dog in all settings will score highly in this arena. Our club hosts combined Obedience and Rally events two or three times each year.

Rally: You and your dog are a team, navigating a course of 10-20 instructional signs while walking side-by-side with your dog on your left. Although each performance is timed, having a good race time is not the goal; it’s all about working as a team while performing the skills, with the dog under control. Rally is considered a good place to start in sports and is open to all dogs. Our club hosts Obedience and Rally events two or three times each year.

Conformation and Specialty: When you think of a "dog show", like Westminster, you might get the impression that dogs are competing against each other within their breed. What the judges are actually looking for is how each dog best meets the AKC standard for that breed, or how well they "conform" to the standard. National conformation events include all purebred dogs within each category. Small, local clubs may host Specialty events for only one breed.

Carting: Bouviers are known for, and were bred for, their ability to pull carts on the farm and in wars. While all dogs may enjoy pulling a cart, Bouviers have the size, strength and muscle to excel in this sport. Owners must learn about and acquire specialized equipment to compete in carting. Each club sets their own rules and regulations regarding weight, skills and preferred location for the events. We hope to further develop this relatively new event for the club.

Fast CAT®: How fast is your dog? This sport is all about speed. Fast CAT (Coursing Ability Test, not dogs chasing cats) is a timed 100 yard dash where dogs run one at a time, chasing a lure. This is a fairly new sport gaining in popularity because it's fun the watch and requires very little training. Dogs just get to do what they love - chase something as fast as they can. And like cars and cats, hopefully, they don't get to catch the lure.

Scent Work: What is one of your dog's favorite things to do? Sniff stuff, right? No matter the breed, all dogs have a sense of smell 10,000 to 100,000 times better than ours. In this event, the dog takes the lead in tracking down the target odor which is hidden within a designated search area. Cotton swabs saturated with essential oils are the targets. When the target smell is found, the dog signals to the handler, who then calls it out to the judge. Fun and impressive.

Our Club hosts less rigorous events for our dogs, too! We have "Fun Day" and "Responsible Dog Ownership Day" along with seminars and workshops. If you would like to suggest an event, please use our Suggestions Form.

Tired Bouvier after a great day at a GWBdFC Specialty. Ahhhh...

Dogs and Owners look forward to seeing you at our next event!