Well, good for you both.
I used to have a dog I trained. He used to win every show he entered. At 35 pounds, I'm now being told my dog was too small to herd cattle, jump over 6-foot fences, and jump off the barn roof, but that dog went where I went. He kept me safe from whatever animals--including the 2,000-pound bull. I only trained that one dog, though. Obedience training, mostly. He would heel on either side, on command, without a leash. In the shows, you're supposed to have the dog heel on the left side, and you aren't supposed to walk around the dog in turns. Forget that. No issue with heeling the dog on the left, but I walk where I want, and the dog should move out of the way. Since the dog never made contact with my person, and I did not deviate from my path to accommodate the dog, the judges were unable to deduct points. The only point that was deducted was at the first show, because the dog slouched when sitting. Just once, but it cost 1 point. The last show we entered was mostly police and fire department dogs, back in 1996 or so.
