Level 1 Award
Assessment Criteria
To achieve your award, you must complete all 5 Life Skills Challenges, as well as 10 tricks of your choice from the Level 1 Trick List.
Level 1 Life Skills Challenges
(Complete all 5)
Challenge 1 - Handling & Health
(Complete all 5)
Challenge 1 - Handling & Health
- Perform a basic health check by running your hands along your dogs body. The dog should be happy to be handled without any signs of nervousness or aggression.
- Sit (dog can sit beside or in front of handler)
- Down (dog can lie down beside or in front of handler)
- Dog to remain in a sit or down position whilst handler moves at least 3 steps away. The dog should stay for a minimum of 10 seconds before the handler returns to them to reward/release.
- Dog to come when called from a minimum of 6 feet away. This should be done outside but no distractions are required. Use of a long line is permitted.
- Dog to remain calm and steady whilst their lead is put on and off.
- Dog to walk with a loose lead (outside) for 20 seconds, no distractions are required. They may walk on either side, slightly behind or slightly ahead of the handler, as long as the lead remains loose with no pulling or lunging. A tight heel position is not required.
Level 1 Trick List
(Choose 10)
(Choose 10)
- Focus/look at me (dog to make eye contact with handler on a verbal cue or hand signal)
- Shake paws/high 5
- High 10 (dog to target both of their paws to the handlers hands)
- Spin/Twist (dog to complete a 360° clockwise or anticlockwise turn. This may be counted as two tricks if they can do both directions)
- Hoop jump (dog to jump through a hoop set at an appropriate height for the dog)
- Bar jump (dog to jump over a bar/pole set at an appropriate height for the dog)
- Tunnel (dog to go through a play/agility tunnel)
- Go to a bed, mat or other mark a minimum of two feet away.
- Nose target a hand (dog to touch an open hand or fist with their nose)
- Touch target stick with nose
- Hold an object in mouth for 3 seconds
- Sit while handler walks in a circle around the dog (dog to remain in position)
- Down while handler walks in a circle around the dog (dog to remain in position)
- Fetch (dog to fetch an item from any distance and drop it nearby to the handler)
- Fetch-to-hand (dog to fetch an item from any distance and place it in their handlers’ hand)
- Pickpocket (dog to remove an item from handlers’ pocket, e.g. a hanky or glove)
- Pull off a sock or glove
- Go around an object (dog to go forward and around an object such as a cone/chair/box and then return to their handler)
- Back up at least 4 steps (handler to remain in place whilst dog walks backwards at least 4 steps from the handler)