Dakota had his TDI testing today and passed the CGC, training (1-minute downstay in a BUSY hallway with people greeting him!!! I was so proud of him) and soundness portions of the test with flying colors, but unfortunately still doesn't cut it as a therapy dog.
He did so good though, I was very proud of the way he interacted with the people at the nursing home. He was comfortable about allowing all sorts of people to touch him and was willing to approach everyone. He was unsure about a couple people initially, but he trusted me enough to do a sit beside their wheelchair. He did a perfect heel the entire time and while he wasn't on his *absolute* best behavior (he licked three times. grrrr) he was pretty darn good.
The evaluator said he shows tremendous promise but is too young and a little high strung. She said he was one of the most stable Borders she's met, but that he moves too much ( He's a BC!) and he has a habit of going in front of me to greet people, when he should stay at my side. I know I'm supposed to be a good sport and I'm fine with her decision for the most part (I totally agree he's not ready yet) but I have to bitch about this. He can't leave my side, yet people always call him forward. I got marks deducted as a handler for not correcting him for it, but wtf would I want to correct him for? The people obviously wanted to see him or they wouldn't have called him. People squeaked at him and patted their legs and told him to come, and he did. Not once did he approach someone who didn't call him or show interest. In fact, he went out of his way to be quiet and still around a lady who was obviously afraid of him. He's intuned to people. So, what am I supposed to do? Scold him for listening to people, yank him back to my side and tell the person not to pet the therapy dog? Argh. That's my only gripe about the testing process. Everything else made sense.
The nursing home residents adored him and since he doesn't have to be TDI in order to visit there (just CGC) that's where we're going to volunteer. If he gets better about not approaching people, we'll re-test next month! Overall a good experience, he loved the residents and made a few good friends
He did so good though, I was very proud of the way he interacted with the people at the nursing home. He was comfortable about allowing all sorts of people to touch him and was willing to approach everyone. He was unsure about a couple people initially, but he trusted me enough to do a sit beside their wheelchair. He did a perfect heel the entire time and while he wasn't on his *absolute* best behavior (he licked three times. grrrr) he was pretty darn good.
The evaluator said he shows tremendous promise but is too young and a little high strung. She said he was one of the most stable Borders she's met, but that he moves too much ( He's a BC!) and he has a habit of going in front of me to greet people, when he should stay at my side. I know I'm supposed to be a good sport and I'm fine with her decision for the most part (I totally agree he's not ready yet) but I have to bitch about this. He can't leave my side, yet people always call him forward. I got marks deducted as a handler for not correcting him for it, but wtf would I want to correct him for? The people obviously wanted to see him or they wouldn't have called him. People squeaked at him and patted their legs and told him to come, and he did. Not once did he approach someone who didn't call him or show interest. In fact, he went out of his way to be quiet and still around a lady who was obviously afraid of him. He's intuned to people. So, what am I supposed to do? Scold him for listening to people, yank him back to my side and tell the person not to pet the therapy dog? Argh. That's my only gripe about the testing process. Everything else made sense.
The nursing home residents adored him and since he doesn't have to be TDI in order to visit there (just CGC) that's where we're going to volunteer. If he gets better about not approaching people, we'll re-test next month! Overall a good experience, he loved the residents and made a few good friends