STAFFORDSHIRE BULL TERRIERS & UKC OBEDIENCE
by Margo Milde ("Shady Grove" USA)

“... a wonderful advertisement for Stafford hardiness and resilience ...”

The United Kennel Club (UKC), with 250,000 registrations annually from more than 300 different canine breeds, is the second oldest and second largest all-breeds dog registry in the United States. It was founded in 1898, and has its headquarters in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Since its inception, it has stressed dog performance events in addition to conformation.

The UKC currently offers four obedience titles: the U-CD (United Companion Dog), the U-CDX (United Companion Dog Excellent), the U-UD (United Utility Dog), and the U-OCH (United Obedience Champion.) As does the AKC, a 200 point scale is used for each class, with a 170 minimum score to qualify, and three qualifying scores are needed to earn a U-CD, a U-CDX, and a U-UD. The U-CD and the U-CDX are similar to the AKC’s CD and CDX titles, except that an “honor” exercise (Down/Stay while another dog is working in the ring) substitutes for the group Down/Stay.

The U-UD, however, has major differences from the AKC’s UD title. While the Utility Signals and Directed Jumping exercises are similar, the U-UD class has no Moving Stand exercise and only metal articles are used in the Scent Discrimination exercise. Instead, a Consecutive Recall exercise (first a Drop on Recall, then a straight Recall from the same place in the ring) are done. The Directed Retrieve (Glove) exercise is also quite different, with the Directed Marked Retrieve done facing the gloves. The Directed Signal Retrieve (also with gloves) is performed as an additional exercise. In the Directed Signal Retrieve, a dog is sent out halfway across the ring, told by its handler to sit, and then a hand signal by the handler indicates to the dog which glove it is to retrieve. The combination of obedience exercises performed in the UKC Utility ring is thought by many to be much more difficult than those performed in the AKC Utility ring.

To earn a U-OCH, a dog must earn a minimum of 5 qualifying “Combined Wins” (a qualifying score in each of the Open B and Utility B classes in the same trial, with a combined score of 370 or above), and 100 U-OCH points, earned as per the table below:

Beginning in the year 2002, the UKC also instituted its “All-Star Obedience Ranking System” for dogs competing at all levels of UKC obedience. “All-Star Points” are automatically awarded each dog with a qualifying score of 191 or better in a UKC obedience class, with one All-Star Point awarded for each one whole point above 190. Points are accumulated for an entire calendar year, and the UKC publishes the top 50 dogs of each Obedience level (Novice, Open, and Utility) at the end of the year.

UKC events (Obedience, Agility, Weight Pull, and Conformation) have been drawing an increasing number of Staffordshire Bull Terrier owners and their dogs. For example, in the year 2003, the following 6 Staffordshire Bull Terriers earned Obedience titles in the UKC:

Name	Owner/s	Title
Classy Staffy’s Rock My World	Burkenbine	U-CD
Daydream London Calling	Adams & Lemke	U-CD
Ebonyhills Bad Moon Rising	York & Greenhalgh	U-CD
Shady Grove’s Enchantment	Milde	U-OCH
Sonshine’s Top Gun Maverick	Puckett & Puckett	U-CDX
Yankeestaff Lickle Me Elmo	Adams	U-CDX

Because Staffords are generally active dogs who enjoy a variety of sports with their owners, participation in UKC performance events will undoubtedly become even more popular with Stafford owners in the years to come.

On July 13, 2003, U-UD Shady Grove’s Enchantment (Moose) became the first Staffordshire Bull Terrier in the history of the UKC to earn the prestigious U-OCH (United Obedience Trial Champion) title. In the year 2000, he also became the first Stafford to earn the American Kennel Club OTCH (Obedience Trial Champion) title, as well.

Because of his consistently high qualifying scores in Open and Utility while in pursuit of the U-OCH title, Moose’s owner, Margo Milde, decided to campaign him for 2003 UKC All-Star Obedience rankings. Remarkably, according to official UKC tally, Moose ended up #1 in ALL BREEDS in Utility for the year 2003, with a Utility All-Star Point total of 179 (that is, 179 total points above 190 scores in UKC Utility obedience classes). He also finished #2 in ALL BREEDS in Open, with a total of 244 Open All-Star Points (again, points above 190 score in UKC Open obedience classes.) His combined total, 423, made him #1 TOTAL in All-Star Points for All Breeds! While in pursuit of this goal, Moose turned 11 years old on October 2, 2003, which made him a wonderful advertisement for Stafford hardiness and resilience!