What it takes to get a UD
think though no description in the world of the UD really captures what it feels like to get that first one. My Jessie was 6 before he had learned all those many exercises, and I believe Andy is approximately the same age. That's 6 years of weekly classes, daily practice, driving to parks and schools to find distractions to train near, digging out "go-outs" in a snowy field, doing gloves in the dark to see if the dog will really follow the direction of the hand, practicing pivots in the living in front of the TV, and just plain working working working for 6 long years.

When you see your dog come over that last jump and you know you've qualified it is an amazing feeling of pride and accomplishment. The bond with that dog is so strong at that point -- you know so much about his every mood and every insecurity, he's the focus of your life for that period of time. It took my Jessie approximately 12 tries and 4 months to get his UD -- a dog that finished his CD in 3 tries and his CDX in 4 tries. We had trials where he flunked every exercises, and ones where he waited to fail on that last jump. Everything you do up to the UD you are next to your dog and it's basically one command, one action. For the UD you are far away from your dog, and for an exercise like the scent article, you give a single command and then stand helpless by while your dog has to go to the pile, search the pile (sometimes for a long time), pick up the right article, and bring it back to you.

I hope more people go for a UD on at least one of their dogs. Trust me -- you won't regret it. It'll be a lot of work, it'll make you an emotional wreck while you're doing it, but you will come out of it knowing your dog like you never thought possible. And you've all got a great breed for it -- as silly as our kerries are, they are also great workers and very smart. They can all do it, given the chance.