by Ruth Kellogg

My curiosity was aroused recently regarding the dogs who had successfully completed the challenging Open qualifications to earn a CDX. I referred to The New Complete Alaskan Malamute (Maxwell Riddle and Beth J. Harris), the files I received from the previous obedience statistician in 1989, and the statistics that I've been tracking since 1989. I realize that some of the dates may be a bit "off" for the earlier dogs and there is a possibility that some worthy dogs from the years prior to 1989 may have been missed. Any corrections to this list would be gratefully accepted. The list isn't a large one with only 23 dogs in a minimum of 26 years. That is less than one dog/year earning a CDX!

1971 Icefoot Shanwonnick CDX

1974 Naksala's Atka Star CDX

1975 Skookum's Chelan of Amorak CDX

1976 Ch. Maluk's Topaz CDX

1978 Tote-Um's Falika CDX

1979 Amik Barnak CDX

1979 Amok's Prairie Star CDX

1979 Cheboukinero Barnak CDX TD

1980 Ch Tamorok's Yukon Sugruk Aklak UDTX

1980 Chelan's Attai CDX

1981 Ch. Amik-Barnak CDX

1982 Partner of the North CDX

1983 Ch. Sparkling Sweet Daniel Webster CDX Am CD

1984 Oopik's Country Bumpkin CDX

1985 Malhaven Stormy August Dusk CDX, UD

1986 Ch. Wolfsong's Captain Chaos CDX

1988 Ch. Malhaven Chasing Rainbows CDX, UD

1988 Malhaven Lazy Rainbow Days CDX

1990 Stormtoken Ikaluit Northlight CDX

1990 Callisto's Calix of Pahasapa CDX

1992 Ch Truenorth's Empress of Kipmik CDX

1996 Ch. Keidun's From A to Zelda CDX

1997 Ch Malhaven's Many Vistas CDX

* results to Dec. 31, 1997 as published in Dogs in Canada

Anyone who believes that earning a CDX is possible with ANY Malamute is sadly mistaken. Factors such as the basic nature and intelligence of the breed, creative thinking, teaching/training methods, confidence levels, the joy in working of the individual dogs must be considered for each potential CDX candidate.

This breed does not take to a drilling or repetitious style of training which increases the challenge factor for the handler to devise an educational program to teach, polish, and ring ready the dog for competition in a simple, direct, and effective manner. And even if the dog does truly know or understand what is desired in each exercise, there is nothing a handler can do when, in the ring, the dog refuses to work to its potential and prefers to clown or deliberately "blow" an exercise. This I can certainly speak from experience. My firstborn, Ch. Sparkling Sweet Daniel Webster CDX, Am. CD almost blew the retrieve over the high jump when he peeked at me from around the jump with dumbbell in his mouth. Then he popped over the jump (when the jumps were 36"!) to deliver the dumbbell to a very relieved handler and to a judge who was quietly laughing to himself. (The judge, Dave Haddon, trains and shows Old English Sheepdogs so he appreciates a creative thinker!) That was Daniel's third qualifying score in Open! Then my next challenge was my first Canine Einstein, Ch. Heritage's Sparkling Orion CD. Orion loved obedience "play" - particularly retrieving. But he absolutely hated obedience trials. He would purposefully "blow" an exercise - and a different one - each trial. I truly believe that his attitude was - "I don't like these tests and I see no need for me to perform like a trained seal in front of a bunch of people when you and I both know that I know all the exercises and I am a perfect gentleman." I do admit that I had to agree with him and stopped wasting entry fees.

The exercises at the Open level allow for more creative thinking from both the dog and handler. The dog must learn to work away from the handler and, if they don't already, learn to think for themselves. This, however, usually isn't the problem with Mals. Many problems stem from the Mals thinking and reasoning all the time. The handler must be able to anticipate the possible next variation before it happens. This is the core of why Mals don't accept repetitious training. They quickly reason that if you didn't like what they did, then perhaps a variation would be better - and they can stop doing the same darned thing over and over and over. They also reason that if they did it once correctly, why repeat it? Wasn't that stupid human watching???

The other difficulty that I've run into at the Open level is that it is a much more stressful group of exercises for the highly intuitive and/or sensitive dog. Often, the handler is more "wired" at the trials as there are so many more things that can go wrong. This is easily transmitted to the intuitive dog and they become more upset thus not working to their potential. The stays out of sight can be difficult for the closely bonded dog/handler team unless they have worked long and hard at this with different groups of dogs. Wet paw prints on rubber mats tell the handler that the dog was very anxious.

Joy in working in formal obedience must be assessed. Two dogs stick in my memory. One was a Malamute bitch who did the advanced exercises in a lifeless manner. She clearly hated what she was doing but knew she'd "better" do it for her handler. The other was a Siberian husky bitch who would invariably .gather a. crowd each time she entered the ring. Princess Teddi was unpredictable - who knew what she'd do next - that was the spectator draw. But Teddi performed and worked with a huge grin on her face. Her often exasperated owner-handler knew and appreciated this free spirit. It was a sad day for the spectators when Teddi completed her UD and stayed at home to work in harness. Each handler must always keep in mind the "joy factor" when working in formalized obedience work. Is the joy disappearing? Then take a break

- for a while or permanently. The difference in the facial and body expressions of these two bitches - one with joy, one without - imprinted on my brain clearly. I'd much rather have a dog who has the joy within and shows it in their work than one whose joy has disappeared.

Not every dog who earns a Companion Dog degree is an ideal candidate for advanced obedience trial work. Learning aptitude, desire to work with the handler, confidence in the trial setting, and the joy in working must be carefully assessed with each dog. So, for goodness sakes, keep striving for more CDX titles but be realistic about you and your dog's potential, and certainly congratulate those who have earned them.