Most people enter a dog obedience class simply with the goal of gaining and retaining control of their dog. This class participation often leads to advanced training classes for the trials.  To proceed to the trials with your dog the only concrete obstacle is that your dog must be purebred and registerable with the American Kennel Club (All Bravo Samoyeds are AKC registered.)  One of the alternatives to the AKC is the United Kennel Club.

UKC recognizes some additional breeds for registration.  If you have a breed which is recognized by both AKC and UKC, you and your dog can compete for titles in both.  Yet another option is to travel to Canada, Mexico, Bermuda to compete for titles in those countries.  There is also an organization promoting the obedience competition of mixed breeds, the American Mixed Breed Obedience Registration.

 There are three classes of competition and five titles available in obedience competition.  The Novice Class offers the “Companion Dog” title enabling the use of “CD” as a suffix on the dog’s registered name.  The Open Class offers the “Companion Dog Excellent” or “CDX” title. The third and highest level of obedience competition is the Utility Class from which the “Utility Dog” or “UD” title is achieved.  Once the UD is complete, the dog and handler team that wishes to keep competing can earn the “Utility Dog Excellent” or “Obedience Trial Champion” titles by continuing to perform the Open and Utility Class exercises.