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What
is an Obedience Title, Really?
Sandy Mowery
Not just a brag, not just a stepping stone to a higher
title, not just an adjunct to competitive scores; a title is a tribute to
the dog that bears it, a way to honor the dog, an ultimate memorial. It will
remain in the record and in the memory for about as long as anything is this
world can remain. Few humans will do as well or better.
And though the dog himself doesn’t know or care that his
achievements have been noted, a title says many things in the world of
humans, where such things count. A title says your dog was intelligent,
adaptable and good natured. It says that your dog loved you enough to do the
things that please you, however crazy they may have sometimes seemed.
And, a title says that you loved your dog, that you loved
to spend time with him because he was a good dog, that you believed in him
enough to give him yet another chance when he failed and that, in the end,
your faith was justified. A title proves that your dog inspired you to that
special relationship enjoyed by so few; that in a world of disposable
creatures, this dog with a title was greatly loved, and loved greatly in
return.
And when that dear short life is over, the title remains
as a memorial of the finest kind, the best you can give to a deserving
friend, volumes of praise in one small set of initials after the name. An
obedience title is nothing less than love and respect, given and received
and recorded permanently.
The ABTC Obedience Committee would like to thank Sandy
Mowery for allowing us to reproduce this article which originally appeared
in Front & Finish.
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