Pure Dog Talk

Training Scottish Deerhounds for obedience competition requires patience Cutter with her current star, Blue Moon Ballad at Skyhigh UD OM1 TD The “otherworldly” grace of Scottish Deerhounds first appealed to Debbie Cutter in the early ‘80s as she sought a dog to compete in obedience. Her original breeder told her “do not try to do obedience with deerhounds. They aren’t good at it and they don’t like it.” In the intervening 35 years, Cutter has finished eight UD titled Scottish Deerhounds, including the first and only two UDX deerhounds. While there has never been an Obedience Trial Champion (OTCH) Deerhound, Cutter’s current competition dog is well started on her way, “God, I’m hoping,” Cutter said. “That’s my goal. She has 6 OTCH points and her open B first place.” “The basic essential for training obedience with Deerhounds is to be more stubborn than the dogs,” Cutter added. Make it their idea Her secret to success working with an independent breed that is specifically designed to *not* be biddable: make