Monthly Archives: February 2009

Graduation Day

Posted in dog training, Obedience by
The Graduate

The Graduate

Monday was Storm’s Graduation Day from her Obedience Class.  I decided to enroll her in a beginner obedience class because we needed something to keep us busy this winter.  We have so much snow on the ground that training for hunt tests is just not possible.  Storm and Thunder can’t spend all of their time wrestling in the snow.     

 

The Beginner Obedience Class is a prerequisite to the Canine Good Citizen Class that I am planning to take next.  

 

Thunder and Storm having a bit of fun

 

Canine Good Citizen (CGC) is an  AKC certification which requires the dog to demonstrate “good manners”.  The  CGC Class works on intermediate obedience which is required for the beginner Rally Class.  Information on the AKC CGC Program can be found here.  I hope to eventually enter Storm in AKC Rally trials.  Rally Information  

 

For the last day of Obedience Class I had to teach Storm a trick.  The thing is our Chessies don’t do tricks.  We spend time training for hunt tests and she can fetch and retrieve, but she doesn’t know “tricks”.  So I had a week to teach her….something.  I decided to keep it simple and teach her to give paw.  It wasn’t as difficult as I thought.  She picked it right up.  She wasn’t thrilled, but she did it.  She even managed to look pleased when she demonstrated her trick for an audience in class.  As you can see from the first picture, she was awfully proud of her diploma.  Good job Storm!  

Storm learning her trick

Storm learning her trick

 

 

 

You Know You’re a Dog Person

Posted in General/Misc by

A friend who is a dog person forwarded me the following in an email.  Not sure who wrote it (credit to whoever did :) ), but I found it fitting…

You know you’re a dog person when…
  • You have more dog beds, chew toys, collars, leashes, harnesses, and dog crates than you have dogs.
  • You meet other people with dogs, and remember their dog’s call name after 30 seconds, but don’t get the owner/handler’s name until you’ve met them 2 or 3 times.
  • You don’t think twice about trading licks of an ice cream cone with your dog.
  • Your parents give up on grandchildren and start to refer to your dogs as “your kids” or your children.” (Bonus: they start to call them “our granddogs.”)
  • 90 percent of your Internet connection time goes to the dogs (seeing what’s new when you enter your breed into the browser, reading up on multiple lists, checking out photos, sounds and FAQs, etc.).
  • You have hundreds of pictures of your dogs on your desk at work, in your wallet, etc., but none of your family or yourself.
  • No one wants to ride in your car because they know they’ll get dog hair on their clothes.
  • You reach into your pockets for change, and liver treats, dog kibble, and pick-up bags fall all over. (Bonus: You’ve done this in a classy establishment.)
  • You’ve had long meaningful discussions with your friends on the best way to trim your dog’s nails, but have never had a manicure or pedicure in your lifetime.
  • Books and movies are ruined for you if the dog references are incorrect.
  • The highlight of your day is spending time with your dog.
  • You watch simply awful movies because your breed is either featured in a cameo scene or there’s a 3-second camera shot during a crowd scene.
  • All of your clothes have dog hair on them, even when they come back from the laundromat or dry cleaners.
  • The only thing your friends, colleagues, and passing acquaintances say to you when they see you is, “How are the dogs?” or “How many dogs do you have now?”
  • Your photo Christmas cards feature your dogs (humans optional).

I will add:

  • Your dog club schedules the annual meeting for Valentine’s Day and you and your spouse are looking forward to attending that rather then going out for a romantic dinner alone dinner alone.  You are just sad that you can’t bring your dogs along.

Happy Valentine’s Day Everyone…..especially our furry friends!