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The online diary
started life as a blog of my strange 'other life' with the dog. I
wanted to record some of the experiences that I had as a first-time dog
owner. To access the archive, click on the appropriate month.
The most recent articles are listed
separately.
You are most
welcome to send comments about any of the articles. Record your
comments via the Contact Me page.
SILVER DOG
Sun 13 Dec 2009
For the past
few weeks, Beattie and I have
been training for the Silver award of
The
Good Citizen Dog Training Scheme. We took the Bronze test in July and
passed with flying colours. But this was to be a much sterner test.
The first
exercise involved in the test is an examination of the dog by the tester.
Licking of ears is permitted, but biting is definitely a no-no! Then there
is a two-minute down stay, all fairly routine for Beattie. Following this,
the most difficult of the tests, a road walk on a short lead, where the dog
must not pull ahead or annoy the locals in any way. Beattie finds it almost
impossible to walk past another dog on the street without having her say and
cats just drive her crazy! So I was hoping that we would meet neither. We
did have to pass one dog, but it was no problem for her, as Beattie already
knew the animal, as both dog and owner were taking the test! I decided to
walk her quite fast and just hope the examiner did not see me pulling her
along. I was very pleased to make it back to the village hall without any
major mishap. Next the dog has to demonstrate that it can jump into and out
of a car safely and that it does not react to the engine noise of the car.
This was a piece of cake for Beattie. She has always travelled perfectly
from the time when at three months old, we drove her to Cornwall without a
murmur!
So far, so
good. Now we moved indoors again to complete the test. A series of
exercises followed, including a recall, a food manners test, where the dog
has to resist begging when the owner is easting a yummy biscuit.
AT’s advice was to put the dog
in a down stay. As usual, she was right! Then Beattie had to come when
called when she was in the midst of a group of dogs when she was off the
lead.
Another test
that caused me some concern was a demonstration of playing with your dog.
At home, Beattie loves to play with any toy, but at
Dog Club she
simply will not cooperate. I wave her tuggy in what I suppose to be a
terribly exciting manner and make lots of encouraging’ Come on, let’s play’
noises whilst she just stands there looking bored. I decided not to risk a
toy but played some ‘touchee’ games with her and she became so animated that
she barked excitedly! It all went better than I had dared hope.
Finally, there
was the verbal test for owners and there were questions about dogs
travelling in cars, dogs left in cars and dogs and children. Nothing too
mind-blowing.
And then it
was all over. I was delighted to hear that we had passed. In fact, all the
nine dogs passed. But that was not because the test was easy. There had
been a number of places where the dog could have failed. For instance,
breaking a down stay would result in disappointment, with the dog not
passing the test. No, we were thoroughly trained before entering and knew
exactly what to expect.
Next up is the
Gold award. Now that will be a challenge! Back
To post a comment click
here
Comment from AT
She's ready
for the challenge!! I hope so! derek
Comment from
Little Old Me
Well done to you both. I do think some of
these tests a little hard, like the playing one. Sometimes we don't
feel like playing - it must be the same for dogs.
Yes, but at home she is always ready for a game. That's what
is so infuriating! derek
Comment from
sablonneuse
Many
congratulations to both of you. I'm particularly impressed when I
think of the difficulties I had with Purdy and failed miserably as a
dog handler. Thanks, Sandy. derek
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