Competition obedience does a lot for us as dog trainers. We consider it a form of professional development and Leash Free Living, and require participation from our instructors.
At the novice levels (Companion Dog), the goals greatly overlap with that of most of our clients. Training those basic behaviors at a competition level proves we can get the dog to do them on the first command, without food rewards, without corrections, in new places, and with other people and dogs around.
At the advanced levels (Companion Dog Excellent and Utility Dog), Obedience becomes so much more. It gives us an opportunity to teach complex skills and advanced tricks. It introduces our dogs to working away from the handler. It tests our ability to communicate to our dogs about how to change their performance in subtle ways. It makes us become better handlers and transforms the relationship between dog and handler into a true working team.
Campaigning a dog at the advanced levels (Utility Dog Excellent, Obedience Master, Obedience Trial Champion) in pursuit of the highest level titles can take years. You must have a solid foundation and good understanding of your dog to maintain high performance over that time. We need purposeful, well-thought out conditioning and training goals, and continuous reflection . It requires creative problem solving, proofing, and stamina from both the dog and the handler.
It is hard to quantify what percentage of teams make it to those top levels, especially since reaching these goals often takes many attempts and spans long periods of time. We can use the 2025 yearly AKC Statistics to get a general idea, however.
| 2025 AKC Obedience Statistics | LFL Totals | |
| Total Number of Dogs Competing in 2025 | 118,908 | |
| Companion Dog Title (Novice / CD) | 2198 | 16 |
| Companion Dog Excellent (Open / CDX) | 735 | 10 |
| Utility Dog Title (Utility / UD) | 297 | 5 |
| Utility Dog Excellent Title (UDX) | 151 | 4 |
| Obedience Master Title (OM1) | 144 | 3 |
| Obedience Trial Champion Title (OTCH) | 78 | 2 |
The number of dogs that successfully complete the advanced titles compared to the number of dogs participating in the sport in any given year is miniscule.
We are very proud to announce that Leash Free Living is now home to its second Obedience Trial Champion (OTCH) – Coaster the Pumi! Coaster is owned, trained and loved by Sam Miyamoto, the founder of LFL.
Her full name & titles are now GCH OTCH RACH Karizma Fizika UDX2 OM2 RM2 RAE2 TKA BCAT CGC FDC
Dogs can start campaigning for an OTCH after they earn their Utility Dog Title. It is the only competitive obedience title, that requires them to beat other teams to earn a total of 100 points, including three first place wins, at least one from each class.
Even after a five month break to whelp puppies, Coaster proved he can make a quick comeback at the Blue Ridge Dog Training Club’s Obedience trials earlier this month. She qualified in all four of her runs to earn her second Utility Dog Excellent Title. Her scores and placements were such that she completed her Obedience Trial Championship, was High Combined, and Highest Score in Trial both days.
We are very proud of Coaster, and excited to see where her competition journey will take her next! If you are interested in starting dog sports with your own dog, let us know! We have some programs tailored to advanced and competition work and would be happy to help!
