Background by Fuzzyfaces Graphics by K-9s Rule and Animation Town |
The most important thing to be gotten from the AKC statistics is that any breed can succeed. I wouldn't change my breed for anything. I intend to stick with the Staffordshire Bull Terrier, and work on improving my skills as a trainer. But judging by my numbers, I think it's fair to say, that this IS an obedience breed! Comments? E-mail me! |
Of course, all of this is just one way of looking at the numbers. Click here to look at the actual AKC titles earned statistics. |
There are certain breeds generally regarded as "obedience breeds". Then there are the rest of them. I decided that I wanted to see how the various breeds REALLY measured up. In order to figure this, I took the year 2000 AKC titles earned statistics, and the year 2000 AKC registration statistics. I figured the percentage of titles earned in 2000 to dogs registered in 2000 for each breed. This is NOT a percentage of dogs titled- it's a fairly arbitrary number that means little in itself. But by looking at the numbers all together, it is possible to get a reasonable idea of which breeds are more often titled in obedience. Whether these breeds are more often titled because more people compete with them, or because they are more capable, is another question; one that number-crunching can't answer. I've organized these numbers into a chart, by group. I also figured the percentage for each group overall, and listed the groups from highest percentage to lowest. Finally, I figured the percentage of ALL titles earned to ALL dogs registered, and inserted that number for comparison. Here is the chart. Have a look, then click your brower's "BACK" button to return for my comments. |
Obedience breed? |
There are certain breeds generally regarded as "obedience breeds". Then there are the rest of them. I decided that I wanted to see how the various breeds REALLY measured up. In order to figure this, I took the year 2000 AKC titles earned statistics, and the year 2000 AKC registration statistics. I figured the percentage of titles earned in 2000 to dogs registered in 2000 for each breed. This is NOT a percentage of dogs titled- it's a fairly arbitrary number that means little in itself. But by looking at the numbers all together, it is possible to get a reasonable idea of which breeds are more often titled in obedience. Whether these breeds are more often titled because more people compete with them, or because they are more capable, is another question; one that number-crunching can't answer. I've organized these numbers into a chart, by group. I also figured the percentage for each group overall, and listed the groups from highest percentage to lowest. Finally, I figured the percentage of ALL titles earned to ALL dogs registered, and inserted that number for comparison. Here is the chart. Have a look, then click your brower's "BACK" button to return for my comments. |
As you could see, I also included the number of dogs of each breed registered, for that has some bearing on the percentage. Some of the more rare breeds (under 100 registered) are too few in numbers for statistical significance, though I did include them. The extremely popular breeds tend to have lower percentages, due to a lower percentage of their owners being involved in dogsport. Some breeds may have their title numbers increased due to a large number of dogs with ILPs. This is not the case, though, for the breed which my system put on top- the Belgian Tervuren. I have never heard of Tervs as being the ultimate obedience dog, but from these numbers, they do look promising. With such a high ratio, it appears that ANY Terv is capable of obedience work. I'm not sure why the closely related Malinois and Belgian Shepherd earned such dramatically lower (though still good!) numbers. The 2nd place Flat-Coated Retriever also looks promising to the hopeful obedience competitor. (I admit, this came as a surprise to me, as the one Flat-Coat I've met did not impress me with intelligence, but apparently she was an exception.) Some of the more commonly regarded "obedience breeds" are popular enough that a prospective competitor can choose from among a large pool of dogs to find one with talent. These less common breeds, though, leave one with no choice but to "run what you brung". The Border Collie is one that is likely to have numbers skewed by ILP'd dogs. Still, I think it's grip on 3rd place is pretty firm. Most of the hounds actually came out better than I would have expected- the Hound Group overall is brought to a low rating due to the Beagles and the Dachsunds. 2 very popular breeds, with low achievement numbers. The Greyhound is another breed which probably has it's percentage boosted by ILP'd dogs. In the Terrier Group, the American Staffordshire Terrier is a breed that gets a boost from ILPs. However, there are several terrier breeds which actually come out pretty well. I think the Toy Group numbers show mostly that toy breed owners prefer holding their dogs to working with them. (not that there is anything wrong with that!) |
Of course, all of this is just one way of looking at the numbers. Click here to look at the actual AKC titles earned statistics. |
The most important thing to be gotten from the AKC statistics is that any breed can succeed. I wouldn't change my breed for anything. I intend to stick with the Staffordshire Bull Terrier, and work on improving my skills as a trainer. But judging by my numbers, I think it's fair to say, that this IS an obedience breed! Comments? E-mail me! |
Background by Fuzzyfaces Graphics by K-9s Rule and Animation Town |
View my other performance charts: |
