CGC Test Results

Well, tonight was the night - and we were the first team at bat.

Being first is nice. Being first means you can walk your dog around (outside the test area, of course) so he can take care of business without worrying about messing anybody else up. Being first means it's lighter outside and your already whimper-prone dog won't have to watch you disappear into the scary darkness during the dreaded Supervised Separation. Being first means less time to worry (in that rip-the-band-aid-off sort of way.)

Being first also means you don't have to watch another dog go down in flames (then picture your dog doing the same thing, only worse) or being a shining star (talk about pressure!)

I was actually, surprisingly, fairly relaxed. I knew he wouldn't pass, so I could treat this just like any other class time... except there were no cookies... and Wendy was standing there with a clip board... and it was going to be months and months before I could take the class again...

Yup - that's me. Relaxed.

I wish I could say we passed with flying colors...

... but I can't. Sits and Downs and all the sitting things (friendly strangers, petting, and groomer) were definitely a breeze. (Yes, Wendy, I know I chanted "Leave it!" the whole time and probably didn't need to... but he passed.)

I was pleasantly surprised by his Loose Leash walking - I chattered at him merrily, and he breezed through that one as well.

The Recall? Well, let's just say that once we made it fair, he passed without issue.

I had to work a bit to keep him focused through the crowd (but we passed) and Reaction to Another Dog? I think he must have studied the rule book to see just how much he could get away with and still pass (but he did.)

Reaction to Distraction? That he passed with flying colors.

Finally we were down to the dreaded Supervised Separation. Three minutes has never seemed so long. Once again, Zachary explored the edges of passing - is one little whimper a pass? What about two? What about a sniff here, a sniff there... can I sniff waaaay over there?

But bless his heart, he made it.

And so, I am most proud to present: Aubridge Ready 4 Action CGC

(Yes, I know it's "just" a certificate and not a title, and therefore CGC doesn't really belong at the end of his name, but I won't tell the AKC if you won't!)

Last CGC Pre-Test Outing

So I had Zachary out One More Time for what will probably be his last major outing before the Canine Good Citizen Test tonight. This time we were at a glorious, large, outdoor nursery, filled with thousands of plants, dozens of people, a few dogs, some huge oaks with squirrels, and lots of rattly shopping carts - making it, by far, the "hardest" place we've been to (from a Good Citizen point-of-view.)

While there, we were able to practice just about everything except the thing he is most likely to fail (Supervised Separation) plus Grooming (which he should be fine with) and Recall (which, barring a total disaster, he should also be fine with.)

His "friendly stranger" behaviors (including walking through crowds and narrow isles) were spot on. He was a joy to be with and he made me extremely proud. We even had a few chances to practice the formal "May I Pet Your Dog" (since a few people actually thought to ask first) and he was perfect.

(One has to know Beau (who suffers from Acute Obsessive Compulsive Friendliness Disorder) to truly appreciate the magnitude of my joy and pride.)

Zachary's Loose Leash walking remains a work in progress. He actually walks quite nicely with a cart, but still finds walking without one past extremely tempting objects (those huge squirrel-filled oaks mentioned above) to be a challenge.

I didn't get a great test opportunity of his Reaction to Another Dog. He did get a meet-n-greet with an adorable four month old Border Collie puppy (who desperately wanted to go home with Zachary and was quite disappointed when he realized it wasn't meant to be)- but as that happened before I realized the puppy was even there, there was no chance to see if Zachary would have listened to me in the puppy's presence.

We had another chance with a shy Westie and Zachary basically listened to me... sort of... but that could have been due to the moderating influence of the cart.

His final opportunity was when we were in line checking out, when an older small dog came up behind us. Zachary stayed with me and greeted the dog after he reached us. Not per the test, but since Zachary didn't go out to meet him, instead waiting with me until the dog approached, I remain at least a little hopeful (or perhaps I'm just delude myself.)

The rattly shopping carts, including ones filled with large swaying shrubs, were (surprisingly) not a problem. Walking past kids also wasn't a problem (although he was definitely yearning to say "Hi!"). Standing with me when a quiet kid was 3 feet away wasn't a problem. Standing in line wasn't a problem. Coming when called (after he wandered out to the end of the leash) wasn't a problem.

So, while he may not pass the test tonight, in the Real Life hardest-typical-case-he-will-probably-be-asked-to-be-in test, he passed with flying colors.

More Interesting than Dirt

Nothing is more humbling than knowing that, in the eyes of your much-loved dog, you are less interesting than dirt.

This is not a new realization for me. I came to grips with that fact, years ago, when competing with Beau in Rally. That doesn't mean Beau does not love me, nor does it mean I can't get him to listen me. It does mean that, given his druthers, he would rather be snuffling around some scruffy patch of weeds than sitting at my feet staring up at me attentively.

Acceptance of that fact (that Beau puts me a distant second to dirt) was actually quite liberating.

Acceptance of something implies you are no longer in denial. Acceptance means you are no longer making excuses. Best of all, acceptance means that you can move on to mitigation vs. the never-ending search for a cure.

I wasted a lot of time time searching for a way out of my bottom-dwelling status in Beau's Me vs. Dirt poll. In the end, he and I worked out a backroom deal such that he would pretend to find me more interesting than dirt (when asked) in exchange for quality time with his true love (aka dirt.)

It works for us.

Zachary is not Beau, and while I am definitely not as interesting as some dirt in his eyes - perhaps even most dirt, depending on the location - I'm at least in the running and under the right circumstances I can even pull out an upset.

This is a somewhat novel experience for me and I'm finding myself a little unsure how to take advantage of it.

For example, as you might have read the Other Day, we did a run-through of the Canine Good Citizen (CGC) test in class. I was dismayed (although not surprised) to find that for all exercises that required moving from point A to point B (over dirt) with my dog, I failed to actually have my dog. Or at least I failed to have the all-important brain of my dog.

Now, I will be the first to admit Zachary is working under a huge disadvantage. My desire for him to keep all the parts he came with means his brain has to work much harder than the "fixed" dogs do. And as I am well aware (oh, so well aware) with the intact boys, all sensory input going in the nose is passed through the testicles for detailed examination before finally being shuffled off to the brain for final processing. This rather circuitous route seems to take up a horrendous amount of CPU time, leaving very little left over for such mundane things as, say, walking next to me, realizing I'm turning left and I'm about to fall over him, realizing I turned right three steps ago and he is about to run out of leash - little things like that.

And we demonstrated that very fact (in all its glorious permutations) the Other Night.

What's interesting (at least to me) is that this isn't as permanent a condition for Zachary as it is with Beau.

That is, while Zachary was thought-impaired during the practice test itself, when the practice test was over and we were practicing that which needed practice, Zachary was the picture of attentiveness.

He trotted heads-up by my side, sat when asked, ignored the other people and dogs, and was pretty much all a Canine Good Citizen wanna-be is supposed to be.

How intriguing. How novel. How unfortunate that I have no idea why it happened later and not sooner, nor exactly how to make it happen again (say, on the day of the real test.)

I do have a few theories.

Theory One: With the practice test over (and him having "failed") there was no longer any pressure. Of course, since Zachary hadn't a clue that a practice test was on, let alone that it was over, the pressure must therefore have been mine, and thus the whole darn mess was entirely my own fault.


Theory Two: During the after-action practicing I was walking really slowly, bending very close to him, and chattering on in a cheerful, bubbly (some might say idiotic) fashion that he found irresistible, or worrisome, or at least worth paying attention to. Once again, the fact it worked later (if that was the cause) and not sooner (when I didn't try it) means the whole darn mess was entirely my own fault.

Whether you choose Theory One or Theory Two (or some other theoretical theory I have yet to come up with) there is no doubt - the whole darn mess was entirely my own fault.

CGC Class #5

The Last Class

Last night was the last Canine Good Citizen class before the test, and Wendy (putting aside her puckish ways of Last Week) did a complete dry run of the test. The fact she was the "stranger" (easier) and we were in a group setting (harder) probably offset one another.


My assessment:

1. Accepting a Friendly Stranger - passed
2. Sitting Politely for Petting - passed
3. Appearance and Grooming - passed
4. Out for A Walk (loose leash) - I wouldn't have passed him (Wendy seemed iffy.)
5. Walking through a crowd - failed (but...)
6. Sit and Down on Command and Staying in Place - passed
7. Coming when Called - passed
8. Reaction to Another Dog - can I blame the tester's dog for distracting my dog?   :)
9. Reaction to Distraction - passed (both sound and sight)
10 Supervised Separation - total fail

Thoughts:

1. I need to make sure he's firmly sitting and focused. If I rush this one, he'll move.
2. Even more critical than #1. Saying "Leave it!" as the stranger nears still seems to help.
3. If you extend your right hand, he will give you his left paw, extend your left hand and he gives your right paw. I need to remind the tester of this, else Zachary is confused and keeps offering the paw that matches the hand you are extending. Not a fail, but it just makes things easier.
4. Zachary was really distracted before this even started (ie: I didn't "have a dog") and wasn't even thinking about me. While he did redeem himself at the end, it was sill ugly. (See Further Practice below)
5. Same problem as #4 above, but there were dogs in this crowd, which was harder than the test. We did this right after #4, and I still didn't "have a dog".
6. No problems.
7. No problems.
8. Back to "didn't have a dog" - his lack of focus was evident from step one.
9. More alert than I would have guessed, but behaved appropriately.
10. On the first try he made it 1.5 minutes, and this is probably close to what he will do on the final test.

Further Practice:

The remainder of class was spent with us working on those things that needed the most work. Zachary had several more attempts at Supervised Separation, and made it to 2 minutes on one of them. I discovered that when I slowed my walking down he was quite focused, heads-up, and wonderful on the leash. When I strode out I totally lost him.

Weird.

I also found that if I slowed down he stayed focused on me even as he was approaching other dogs.

Weird again.

As for Separation, he really doesn't like it when I go out the gate, and once I go out the gate and come back, he really wants to go out the gate, too, and it takes a lot to get him focused again.

Conclusions:

If I was a betting person, I would say that he will easily fail Supervised Separation (and thus not pass the test.) There's a good chance of him failing the Reaction to Another Dog unless I get good focus from him. I'm going to try to cram for Leash Walking this week as I think he's close enough to warrant the extra push on this.

He has come such a looooong way since the start of the class (a looooong time ago - due to unexpected rain!) The things that I really wanted from this class - appropriate greeting behaviors - have gone from a quick fail to a good chance of passing. I have been really impressed by his stays and long distance recalls. I am surprised he has handled the distractions so well.

The only area where I didn't see much improvement was his "Reaction to Another Dog" - he still is far too interested in saying "Hi" to the other dog (those darned Friendly Genes.)

Next week Zachary and I will take the real Canine Good Citizen Test, which marks more of a beginning than an end. Being a Good Citizen requires practice (for all of us!) but opens so many doors. My son is going to start driver's training soon, and I can't help but note the similarities. The culmination of that training - the right of passage known as a Driver's License - does not mean my son will be a perfect driver under all circumstances, just as passing the CGC Test would not mean Zachary would be a perfect dog under all circumstances.

Likewise, failure to pass (by either party) is neither a permanent condition nor something to be ashamed of. Rather, it simply means that more work needs to be done and the test retaken.

(Still, it would be nice...)

CGC Class #4

Last night, my ideas of what Zachary is "good" and "bad" at were turned upside down. That's not to say that he was inexplicably bad at what he had been good at, and good at what he was bad at (not that we haven't been there before) but rather that, given the right/wrong circumstances, he can be good at what he's bad at and bad at what he's good at.

Perhaps I should explain.

Last night was Canine Good Citizen (CGC) class #4, and feeling rather puckish, our instructor (Wendy) decided we should work on sits and downs. Big deal, right? I mean, Zachary can sit and down, no problem. That's one of the few areas of the CGC test I have zero worries about...

... but tonight, there was wrinkle. Tonight we needed to do them on the mats the dogs sit on during class. That is, Zachary had to do a sit and down on each of the three other dog's mats. For "fun", Wendy threw in a few cones as well, carefully stationed near known "hot spots" for scents.

(did I mention that Wendy was feeling puckish?)

Zachary, a 2 year old intact boy, is still young enough that scents - particularly dog scents - are very hard for him to ignore, and I figured he would go down in flames right from the start. And he did. Well, not in flames, but his nose sure went down right from the start.

"Zachary, Sit." (snuffle, snuffle) "Zachary!" (snuffle snuffle) "ZACHARY!"

Huh? Oh. Right. Sit!

And my (mostly) obedient pup plopped his rump down on the mat and stared up at me lovingly, obviously feeling quite proud of himself for having remembered what Sit meant.

"Good Boy" (sigh)

The rest of the mats and cones actually went fairly smoothly. I will admit to making an animated fool out of myself to get his attention at times, but once gotten, he did (mostly) listen. All in all, he wasn't half bad.

Next on the list was loose leash walking, something Zachary is not particular good at, especially when wearing his handsome quick-release martingale collar (as needed for the test) as opposed to his usual harness. Tonight, as one student put it, we got to do "barrel racing". Three student-and-dog pairs formed points of a large triangle. The fourth pair circled around each of the others. I'm not exactly sure why, but Zachary did pretty good at this one, both as the "horse" and as the "barrel".

The second time we had to do it without using the leash at all (still on, but not used). Once again, I pulled the fool in me out of the box and Zachary was either so embarrassed, amused, (or worried?) that he stayed close. Cool!

His long distance stays were rock solid, and he didn't go down from a sit!

The dreaded Supervised Separation turned into a fizzle, as Zachary calmly sat with his minder while I at first hid behind a curtain, then actually walked out The Gate and hid behind my car.

"No worries, Mom," he seemed to say, as he sat there confidently with nary a whimper. Perhaps the fact the days are long enough that it is no longer dark during class made a difference?

Once again, Wendy moved mountains to get Friendly Strangers in our midst, and this time they brought a distraction with them - the most adorable 10 week old Vizla puppy you'll ever meet. I guess the deal was the Friendly Strangers would be, well, Friendly Strangers, if the students would help socialize the puppy.

Gee, having to play and cuddle an adorable puppy? Those Friendly Strangers were really driving a hard bargain!    :)

For kicks, Wendy decided the Reaction to a Another Dog (two people, with dogs, approaching each other on a sidewalk, stopping to shake hands (dogs staying at owner's sides) and then everyone continuing on their way) should be Reaction to a Puppy.

(did I mention that Wendy was feeling puckish?)

I am proud to say that he was incredibly well behaved, generally stayed where he was supposed to, didn't cause any problems, and was the star of the evening...

... the puppy, that is. Zachary was horrible. Zachary was totally transfixed by the puppy, totally incapable of doing anything other than ogle the puppy, and practically dragged me across the yard to meet the puppy.

After several dozen failed attempts at loose leashing toward the puppy, we finally, sort of, got within six feet or so of the puppy (without pulling) and Wendy labeled it a "success".

Zachary's reward? The puppy.

There's my boy, standing there, looking down at this squirming bundle, who is now jumping up on his hinds legs and pawing at Zachary's face (ears, shoulders,...) and nibbling on his ears.

Awwwww....

(did I mention the puppy was adorable?)

I have no idea why Zachary was so interested in the puppy. He didn't seem to want to play with the puppy, he just wanted to sniff a little and then stand there like some sort of puppy jungle gym. Puppy on his ears, puppy on his tail, puppy crawling under him... and Zachary seemingly in his happy place.

The last bit was sitting for the friendly stranger and being pet by the friendly stranger, and other than the time Wendy walked over holding the puppy...

(did I mention that Wendy was feeling puckish?)

... Zachary was a rock.

I guess that pretty well covers the evening. In summation, Zachary is still way distracted by scents but seems to be getting better, his stays are lovely, loose leash walking is still a work in progress but improving, he loves puppies, is getting much better at sit/pet by strangers, and on this particular night he handled the Supervised Separation just fine.

CGC Class #3

"You always pass failure on the way to success" -- Mickey Rooney

Last night was Canine Good Citizen Class #3. After two weeks off due to bad weather, the weather gods smiled upon us with clear skies, relatively moderate temperatures, and a pleasant breeze.

The training gods smiled upon us as well by sending three lovely "strangers" our way (I'm dying to know what sort of sacrifice our instructor had to make to conjure them up... hopefully nothing requiring live pigeons or a sheep.)

The Good: (The Awesome?) That time spent at my local Big-Box Hardware store is really paying off. Zachary got up while being petting the very first time, but after that his rump was pretty much glued to the mat. In fact, he was so good, that the instructor upped the ante by having the strangers, upon revisiting, bend over and squeal "Puppy!" while patting their legs.

Any guesses what happened?

Get real, he is a Golden Retriever after all. But after reminding him where his rump was supposed to be (and the strangers toning it down just a smidgeon) he did manage to hold his sit.

His Recall was also pretty good, only failing once after several tries due to the topic you'll find under "Ugly" below. He did recover and was not a repeat offender.

He was also fine for grooming (brushing, ears and paws) and the Reaction to Distraction (clattering noise.)

The Bad: The item I think he is most likely to fail (indeed, I'll be shocked if he passes) is Supervised Separation, and he did struggle with that last night. The interesting thing (in a train-wreck watching sort of way) is that I'm not entirely sure the problem is me being Out of Sight. I think the problem is me Walking out the Gate.

Which leads to an equally interesting question with regards to the test - is the requirement simply being Out of Sight, or is the dog meant to think you are leaving them behind forever (ie: walking out the gate, over to my car, and hiding behind it.)

I'm suspicious that his distress is because I'm leaving the yard THROUGH THE GATE (ie: he thinks it's time to go home) and NOT that I'm not visible. I tried crouching down once behind an obstacle at an equal distance as the gate and he didn't seem nearly as troubled.

Then, for kicks, after we were done, I let him go and he headed straight for that gate! Hmmm....

The other sub-par thing was the Reaction to another dog - he's been better in the past, but he was obviously getting tired at this point and his brain was pretty close to checking out. It wasn't good, it wasn't ugly... more a "work in progress".

The Ugly: Ah, the ugly - just after the separation practicing, and perhaps because his mind was distracted, he fell into the sniffies. He found the mats the dogs lie on to be particularly enticing and wasn't really able to get over it. We'll need to search out "dog smells" this week and work to walk past them.

I consider this to be an ugly because it's just so darn hard to "fix".

Finally, on an observational note, I find it fascinating how people react so differently to Beau vs. Zachary. When the friendly strangers approached, they seemed to treat Zachary as something precious and delicate - soft cooing, a hand under the chin while the other gently stroked his head, all the while Zachary sat with his head turned upward gazing at the strangers (relatively) calmly and definitely adoringly.

Contrast that with a typical Beau greeting, where people don their protective gear and call out "I'm going in!" as they quickly bridge the Danger Zone (where one one swing of his massive head can give you a fat lip) and get close enough for serious ear ruffling, big hugs, and lots of loud pats on his shoulders and sides, all the while Beau is grinning from ear to ear with his tongue lolling out - that is, until he flops over for a vigorous belly rub.

Not really relevant to the topic of this post, but I do find it interesting.

Permission Granted

Today we were back at our local big-box hardware store - the one that won our undying loyalty by supplying us with friendly people to practice Meet-n-Greets with.

Once again, the friendliest person in the store was the young man by the door (I think his job is to answer questions and deal with returns) for as soon as we walked in, he was drawn to Zachary like dogs to bacon.

Once again I trotted out my "He's studying for his his Canine Good Citizen test, so please don't pet him if he moves."

Zachary was very, very good today. His rump never left the floor! The kid was also very good, for as soon as Zachary so much as twitched a whisker, the kid backed up 6 feet!

After a few minutes of this, and because the young man was such a good listener, and because Zachary had been a rock (whiskers excepted), I said "OK" - and let Zachary have a few free moments. The young man ruffled Zachary's ears, and did some gentle "rough-housing" pets and Zachary wiggled his rump off.

All too soon, a customer showed up and that was that.

Zachary and I wandered through the store and I was very impressed. He was calm for visual/audio distractions (frequent happenings a big-box hardware store), was improved with his loose leash walking, was great as people walking past, and was great when little kids begged from strollers for their moms to push them closer to the doggie.

He practiced lying quietly while I glanced at the garden books as shopping carts whizzed past, and got an A+.

Just before we left, I went back to the front and once again took up position to see if I could lure incoming customers to pet him. Once again, the friendly young man was right there. No need to remind him - he stayed 6 feet away while I told Zachary to sit.

And then came the moment of truth - would Zachary stay seated, or remember his boisterous parting with the young man and try to pick up where he left off?

Any guesses?

Zachary was a rock. Even the whiskers were steady! And after a few pets he was rewarded with an "OK" to go and get a "proper" Good-bye.

I just love my big-box hardware store!

On The Road (again)

Today was another stunningly gorgeous day, and Zachary and I headed On The Road (again (again)).

Once (again) we were back at the Library to test Training Levels 2 Come (On The Road), but this time I picked a sidewalk along the side of the building where it appeared I could get the whole 40' somewhat safely and Zachary had never been there before. The "safely" turned out to be a bit of an illusion, as it was just shrubs forming one side with gaps between that looked much larger when you were beside them than they had appeared when I had spotted the path from a distance.

Still, with options limited, I decided it would have to do.

I need not have worried. Despite some rather interesting shrubs and bark quite close to the path, Zachary galloped to me with ease...

... at least, as easy as he could with a leash tangling around his legs...

... my bad...

Thankfully, it didn't make a difference in the end other than slowing the return down a bit.

(Editor's Note: Wow, you can actually capture a single frame from an MP4... as shown above... and you can click on it to see it larger.)

Next stop was back to the outdoor Cafe to work on out-of-sight stays for Canine Good Citizen. There are several nice (bolted to the ground) metal benches about 20' from the Cafe, and the doors of the Cafe are tinted glass so I could see him and he couldn't see me.

Perfect.

I practiced going in and out, in (pause) and out, in (pause, pause, pause) and out... etc. for a few minutes. He made it up to one minute before he stood up, and (most importantly) he didn't appear to whimper, or even think of whimpering.

As a bonus, the older gentlemen playing chess inside seemed to find it a spectator sport and were watching with great interest to see what he would do.

I then gave Meet-n-Greet a few minutes, but with the sun on the benches and no customers in sight, I quickly abandoned hope and took off for the local big-box hardware store. I practiced Loose Leash with Zachary amongst the rows of flowers (he was quite interested in the place but generally listened, although his sits were glacial.)

Finally, taking pity on my panting puppy, I took him just inside the sliding doors to enjoy the cool cement and the lovely air-conditioning.

And there, finally, after way too many failures...

... we found people.

Friendly people.

People who wanted to say "hi" and pet my dog. Old people and children and teenage girls... wonderful people who (after I explained to them that Zachary needed to learn to stay seated to pass his Canine Good Citizen test) stopped petting him every time he stood up and started every time he sat down.

Was he perfect?

No, of course not, but by the end he stay seated when the friendly young woman took both hands, ruffled his ears, and cooed at him in that impossible-to-resist teenage girl voice.

I think my local big-box hardware store has earned a loyal customer for life!

On The Road

Today, Zachary and I headed out "On The Road" (again?)

This time we went to the outdoor Cafe associated with the Library. I picked that spot because I wanted to test a 20' Come (half of Level two's 40' requirement and twice Canine Good Citizen's 10' requirement) and I knew the area was somewhat enclosed and usually had at least a few people there - particularly on a Saturday as nice as today.

My thinking was that on the off-chance Zachary didn't come, he would go a-visiting. While that wouldn't be great, it would be a heck of a lot better than running out into the street or parking lot!

It turns out I had nothing to fear. After "warming up" testing Distance (2' around a cone) and Go To Mat (5'), and noting the mom reading to her sweet little girl just a few feet away, I put Zachary in a sit-stay and walked about 20' away.

"Zachary, Here!"

Zoooooooom... goes Zachary, and a heart-beat or two later he was looking up at me adoringly.

Whew.

For our last "trick", I decided to test 10 seconds of Watch.

Yeah, right.

Remember that mom and the sweet little girl? They must have hit a funny part of the book. Every time the girl giggled Zachary just had to look. Every 8-9 seconds there would be another giggle, every 8-9 seconds he would look over. He didn't move, but he didn't keep eye contact continuously either.

As the book showed no signs of ending, I finally turned off the camera and tried to use it a teachable moment, but it's really hard to say if it sank in or not.

Finally, and the real reason we were there, it was time to do a Meet-n-Greet. Remember last time when Zachary had no "customers"? I was really hoping today wouldn't be a repeat. To that end, I parked him as close to the sliding glass doors as I could get without him triggering the auto-opening feature. I also timed things so the library was about 30 minutes from closing so I figured people would have to be leaving. Lastly, I had him all dressed-up in a cute red-heart scarf.

Once again, he looked adorable.

I wish I could say 1000 people came to say "hi", but I can't.

We certainly had many folks walk by - most within a foot or two - but most kept going in or out. Zachary was so good. He sat, stood, or laid down as I asked, he looked at the people longingly, occasionally had a quick hand to nose interaction, and was a really good boy.

He did get a few "takers" and his ability to stay seated is obviously still a work in progress, but all in all, I was pleased. I do think next time we'll have to find a new spot. This one just isn't working out as well for Zachary as it did for Beau.

CGC Class #2

Ok... I hate to break it to everyone but...

Zachary was "on" tonight in Canine Good Citizen Class.

Zachary was great doing sits and downs on his mat.
Zachary was great doing sits and downs on the prickly bark.
Zachary was great doing sits and downs 10 feet away from me.

Zachary was good doing figure-8's around the dog-and-handler "posts".  Yes, that is a good and not a great, but good isn't bad when it's only class #2. There was a bit more interest in a patch of bark than I would like, but he got better with a few tries.

Zachary was great doing 20' recalls.
Zachary was good doing 20' recalls past the plate of treats (he blew it just once)
Zachary was great doing 20' recalls past the instructor's dog.

Zachary was pretty good ignoring the friendly stranger - blew the first one (those darn Friendly Genes expressing themselves again) but stayed put after that for both strangers approaching, as well as strangers petting.  I think giving the "Leave It!" cue as the stranger approaches has really made a huge difference.

Zachary was even great for the reaction to another dog (handlers approach, stop, dogs sit, handlers shake hands, continue walking in opposite directions.) I used a single "Leave it!" there as well, but I'm not sure it was really needed. I'm torn between wanting to drop the cue, and not wanting to break a "winning streak." Will have to give it some thought.

Zachary wasn't good for Supervised Separation - his mouth did that pre-whimper open-close-open-close thing as I walked outside the chain-link (ie: see through) fence and he looked as though he thought I might never return again.

Oh well, something to work on for next week.

(and we even had a bonus "distraction" of several large double-rotor helicopters flying overhead)

Yeah Zachary!

Goals - Revisited

I felt like a deer in the headlights.

There I was, sitting in our first Canine Good Citizen (CGC) class, when the instructor turned and asked, "So, why do you want to get the CGC certificate?" And of course, she was looking right at me.

Uh Oh...

(blink)

Ummmm...

(blink)

I babbled something inane and then sat there feeling just a tad foolish. Not that there was anything wrong with the question. I can see how it could be useful information to an instructor. I might be there wanting to get Zachary certified as a Therepy dog, or need him as an Assistance dog, or... or....

Of course I wasn't and I don't.

(sigh)

Remember back a few weeks ago when I decided I needed a reason for my goals? Goals just like attaining the CGC Certificate? You see the funny thing (well, funny in hind sight) is that I had actually already figured out The Answer.

I even blogged about it.

Here.

What? Didn't see it? That's because I never published it. I don't know, it just seemed rather... silly.

First I babbled about having goals, then I refreshed your memories as to what mine were (you'll be spared that list this time around, but if you just can't live without seeing it, CLICK HERE) and then I moaned and wailed about lacking motivation, why should I go on, etc...

Really, it was the stuff of daytime television (well, it would have been in the 80's, when I actually had time to watch TV during day, not that I did, because, really, who could watch that stuff???)

Where was I?

Oh yes, wailing and gnashing my teeth, oh my.

And then it hit me. I looked up at the top of my blog and I suddenly knew exactly why I had goals and my reasons for wanting to achieve them.

Do you see it? Right there under the big, bold words "BZ Training"?

"A Journey Toward Canine Enlightenment"

Flip over to my other blog and you'll find:

"A Busy Dog is a Happy Dog"

Yup, corney as it sounds, that's it. And like so many such revelations, it was right there, right in front me, all along.

I do wish it was something fancier, meatier, something-ier. Something I could say with pride, like: I want to find lost children, keep terrorists from blowing up airplanes, and rid the planet of evil!

But it's not.

I really, truly, honestly just want my boys to stay busy, keep learning, and be happy.

... but let's see you say that in a class.

(blink)

CGC Class #1

Last night was the first night of Canine Good Citizen Class for Zachary. This is his second try at this class, the first being over a year ago, and I have at least some hope that he will be able to pass the test in six weeks (four more classes, a week off, and then the test)

Once again, here's the Reader's Digest version of the test:

1. Accepting a friendly stranger
2. Sitting politely for petting
3. Appearance and grooming
4. Out for a walk (walking on a loose lead)
5. Walking through a crowd
6. Sit and down on command and Staying in place
7. Coming when called
8. Reaction to another dog
9. Reaction to distraction
10. Supervised separation

Last night we worked on 1, 2, 4, and 6.

The Good: #6 (basic commands). All that Training Level's stuff is paying off. I expected him to sit and down without issue (and he did) but then he held his down-stay like a champ as I walked out and back in 5' increments until reaching 20'. All this while sitting in a line with dogs he's never met before. I was tickled and pleased - positively glowing!

Sit-Stay was a smidge harder, as he's been going down on his sits lately, and sure enough he went down while I went out 15', but that was his only "blip" After resetting, he remained seated while I repeated the exercise and went on to 20'.

Good Zachary!!!

(Thankfully, CGC doesn't care how they stay just so long as they don't leave their spot and I would definitely put him in a down-stay for the test.)

The Bad: (ok... not really bad, more a so-so...)

Ah the "friendly stranger" exercises (#1 and 2).

Joy.

Zachary was more than happy to greet the stranger, but alas, that isn't the point of the exercise. After a few fits and starts, I tried something new - a solid "Leave it!" as the "stranger" approached (Stranger Zen!)

What do you know, but it worked! Yes, I then went on to repeat the command every two seconds (bad handler) but gosh, darn it, I was just so excited that it actually worked!

After being duly chastised for repetitive commands, I tried again with a single "Leave it!" while the "stranger" approached and my boy was "passable". Lots of snuffling and attempts to lick the strangers hand while being petted, but the butt stayed on the ground, the paws never moved, and that's all that's needed.

Good Zachary!

The Ugly: And yes, this was ugly - #4 (out for walk). This was sort of a "my bad". Zachary uses a no-pull harness. Zachary likes his no-pull harness. Zachary is pretty good on his no-pull harness.

CGC doesn't allow a no-pull harness.

Plan B: The martingale.

Beau uses a martingale. Beau likes his martingale. Beau is pretty good on his martingale.

... it seems Zachary believes collars are for lesser life forms.

Ah well, something to work on for next week.

Other observations (in no particular order):

* Zachary still whines when bored/ignored in class. Not a problem for the CGC test itself, but something I should address as part of his overall education.

* He seems to be handling his Big Boy hormones at lot better now. He still foams around heavy urine smells (ie. walking by the front of the Vet Clinic) but seemed to have no trouble concentrating in the training yard itself. At just 2 years old, he's light years ahead of Beau on that.

* I'm very curious how recalls are going to go. Will he come, or will he wander off to smell the wonderful doggie smells? Perhaps next week we'll find out!

* Outdoor classes aren't nearly as cold when you are pleased with how your student is doing.

Canine Good Citizen

I am hoping Zachary earns his AKC Canine Good Citizen (CGC) Certificate this year, and thus you will find us studying for it quite a bit during the early months of this year. For those not familiar with the CGC, it contains the following ten items.

1. Accepting a friendly stranger
2. Sitting politely for petting
3. Appearance and grooming
4. Out for a walk (walking on a loose lead)
5. Walking through a crowd
6. Sit and down on command and Staying in place
7. Coming when called
8. Reaction to another dog
9. Reaction to distraction
10. Supervised separation

I have no doubt that for many dogs, the above is a piece of cake. I’m sure there are dogs who can walk into the test, obediently at their beloved owner’s side, and breeze right through all items without ever having studied at all.

I do not own one of those dogs.

I suppose it’s only natural to recall previous journeys when about to embark anew, and so I find myself thinking back four years…

It was a labor of love (or possibly insanity) on my part to get Beau’s CGC, requiring two full sets of classes (six weeks of Sundays, each) totaling $256. No, he didn’t pass the first time. Let’s just say that ignoring people was… hard… for my immature, exuberant, and overly friendly two-year old Golden boy.

I remember the instructor offering to hold Beau’s leash while I practiced leaving the room for the supervised separation. Thankfully those left behind were able to corral him again after he pulled the leash out of her hands. The next time we practiced she gave the leash to a guy who couldn’t have weighed under 250lb. He noted upon my return how strong my dog pulled to follow after me (and never touched the leash again.)

I have a clear memory of suggesting to the instructor that she should stare at the wall - the one on her right as we past on her left - and to not even think of smiling, in hopes that for once he wouldn’t try to leap up and kiss her as we walked by.

It’s a good thing I kept an iron grip on my 80lb rocket.

I remember wondering, right before the first time we took the test, if I should have worn a “Do Not Smile At My Dog” T-Shirt as a not-so-subliminal message (warning?) to the poor unsuspecting tester.

It wouldn’t have helped.

Beau held it together until the grooming part (all the way to Test #3 of 10) then rolled over for a belly rub as soon as the “friendly stranger” tried to pick up his paws. We aren’t talking a partial roll or a fearful roll. No, this was an all-four-paws-in-the-air-wiggling-with-pure-delight sort of roll, showing all the parts that God gave him while he was at it.

He has no pride whatsoever.

I am sure there were many other priceless memories formed doing those first six weeks, which are now thankfully lost in the same black hole where childbirth memories go. His second set of six classes was unremarkable, as was his second test (for the most part) save the final moment when I realized he had actually passed.

Skip forward three years and it was Zachary’s turn, enrolled in his first CGC class at the tender age of 8 months. Wendy is fond of reminding me that Zachary is not Beau, and that may be true, but after six weeks of classes Zachary didn’t pass his first CGC test either. Of course, at such a young age, we never really expected that he would. Zachary did manage to keep all four on the floor, but alas, his butt had to stay there too and it popped up faster than water on hot oil. I think the “stranger” said something like, “Gee, a friendly Golden, what a shock.”

At least he didn’t keep me in suspense as to whether he would pass or not. That was Test #1 of 10.

It’s now a year later, and the time has come once again to seriously consider the CGC test. I even drew up a plan this time to help us prepare.

I’m thinking that the only real problem is going to be #10 (he’s a big momma’s boy) but anything with a dog (#8) or another human (#1-3, 5) is going to trip his friendly trigger. Then there’s his tendency to bark at strange sounds (#9), follow his nose (#4), and anticipate commands (#6-7).

Oh, dear.

They say those forgotten memories of childbirth pain return when you are having your second child. Given what I do remember about CGC classes and tests, I can hardly wait to rediscover the gems I have forgotten.

Homeschooling

I homeschool my dog.

My guess is that most people do, although I'm not sure how many people actually think of it that way. I know I didn't... at least not with my first dog. I took him to many classes, went through several training styles and even more instructors before I finally found a great one, read a ton of books, cried some tears of frustration, talked to a lot of people (not easy for this introvert) and frequently wondered why I seemed to be doing everything wrong.

I even had a person offer sympathetically (at least I hope that was the intent), "He's your starter dog," as if that was explanation enough. Starter Dog? What the heck is a Starter Dog?

Four years later, when dog #2 came into our lives at just shy of 8 weeks old, the sweetest little bundle of golden fur on the face of the planet (yes, I'm biased - get over it) I vowed I would do better.

I reread all my old books, rethought all my previous classes (with afore mentioned Starter Dog) and came to the sad realization that owners are often clueless about the long term and are desperately seeking  a "quick fix" to the problem of the day, most books are geared toward giving people what they think they want or need, and far too many instructors are incapable of teaching others how to train their dogs.

( That is what a typical "dog class" is for, of course, to teach owners how to train their dogs. It's not like the dogs whip out pencils and takes notes, after all. Most dogs, if asked, would say they were there to sniff friends, eat treats, and water the landscaping. )

And so, feeling the heavy burden of educating the little bundle of joy (piddling at my feet) the right way I thought, "Great. Now what?"

I knew if I was tasked with homeschooling my child (and yes, I did consider it - but thankfully (for him) only fleetingly) I would first take a look at what the law required. Fair enough. In my state, the law required... a rabies shot and a dog license.

Weee! I was done, woo-hoo!

Ok.. maybe not.

A child attends school. The school follows a curriculum to make sure it provides the right courses and meets the state standards.

Wikipedia defines curriculum as "the set of courses, and their content, offered at a school or university." It further states, "As an idea, curriculum stems from the Latin word for race course, referring to the course of deeds and experiences through which children grow to become mature adults."

Substitute "puppies" for "children" and "dogs" for "adults" and that's exactly what I needed - a curriculum. A canine curriculum. In a nutshell: A plan.

Not surprisingly, I didn't find much when I googled "Canine Curriculum". The AKC's Canine Good Citizen CGC certificate is one of the few that showed up. A good start - Starter Dog had his CGC - but that's more of a test than a plan, so I kept looking.

To shorten a very short story... that's it. The end. At least as far as neatly bundled packages went. Sure, there were lists of tricks, lists of service/assistance dogs skills, and the AKC provided lists of a wide variety of titling events... but those seemed more like Extra Curricular Activities, or even Higher Education. None if it seemed basic enough nor all encompassing enough for my bright-eyed little student (the one chewing on the table leg.)

Not to be deterred. I sat down and came up with a list of what I expected from my young charge (the one hanging off Starter Dog's ear) built upon my experiences with Starter Dog. I categorized and sorted, resorted and re-categorized until I had a Basic, an Intermediate and an Advanced Level, with each transitioning neatly into the next. I further broken the Basic down into three sub-levels, to make things more manageable. I then sat back and admired my handiwork.

It wasn't perfect, of course, but at least it was a start. Now all I had to do was teach it. 

Hmmm...

It's nearly two years later. My little student is almost grown up, no longer piddles on the floor, and hasn't tasted the furniture in ages. Starter Dog still has ears, albeit at times they seem a bit longer than they used to be. At some later date I stumbled across a wonderful, free, on-line training plan by Sue Ailsby and I've been happily working my way through its Levels. I think it fits well with my original curriculum - particularly the more scholarly aspects such as stay, retrieve, and attention.

Despite my disparaging remarks about instructors, I do have one I hold in highest regard, and over many classes and she has taught this clueless owner much. But the joys and burdens of tuition of my still bright-eyed student remains with me.

This year, I will continue working through our curriculum, revising as needed to meet my student's changing needs. My goals for 2010 are now in place and I plan on putting out a Weekly Worksheet to better stay the course. It's my responsibility to see that my student is properly educated, and if he isn't, there is no one to blame but myself.

Oh, and Starter Dog? He's matured into the best dog a family could ask for.