The standard beginning obedience class will concentrate on heeling, fronts, finishes and recalls. Ideally your class will also teach you to train your dog to work with his attention alertly and keenly focused on you. Attention is essential for CFF Freestyle. There are also a number of excellent attention training videos by top dog trainers available - an invaluable investment. Your attention to attention will pay off multifold in both obedience and Freestyle.
Traditional obedience is very one sided from the physical point of view.
This is because heeling is performed only with the dog on the handler s left side. Dogs actually develop different muscling patterns on their two sides due to this type of training. In CFF Freestyle heeling must be performed on both sides of the handler. One outstanding benefit to Freestyle dogs is physical balance and fewer problems from unequal conditioning. Freestyle dogs are trained and physically developed equally on both sides of their bodies.