I signed me and muffy up for the CGC/TDI prep course!

[xpaeanx]

And I'm very excited!

The tests are included with the prep course, but I'm so sure we're ready for the test yet... the main thing we need to work on is him "ignoring" other dogs.

The reason I signed us up though, is because all the classes we're taking now are general classes... so although we're learning things that are on the test... we're also learning other things, and they're not really being put together the way they will for the tests. I figure this class will let us do some run throughs and figure out what places we need more practice with and what places we're solid.

It starts next week... so that first day is going to be a bit tough for us. We'll be getting out of a 1 hour obed class to go right into this class for an hour... But next week is the last week for my obed class... so after that we'll be good...

I'm not sure what I'm going to do as far as adding another class though. I like having the 2 classes a week(right now we're doing agility and obed)... The prep course is 4 weeks, so that buys me a bit of time to find another class to register for. I was thinking about doing pre-rally.

Anyway, I'm really excited! and we have so much fun together! He gets very excited when we pull into the parking lot of the training place!

[Doberluv]

Fantastic! He's one lucky dog. You'll have to keep us updated on his progress. This is very exciting. Good luck!

[bubbatd]

Good luck to both of you ! It's very rewarding !

[xpaeanx]

I'm very excited! I'll be sure to let everyone know when we do pass.

Oh, and I have an edit to the above, it was supposed to read "I'm not so sure we're ready for the test yet."

as I said, he still gets very excited around other dogs.... But we'll see what happens.

[Dogs6]

Good luck

[Lolas Dad]

Originally Posted by xpaeanx

I'm very excited! I'll be sure to let everyone know when we do pass.

Oh, and I have an edit to the above, it was supposed to read "I'm not so sure we're ready for the test yet."

as I said, he still gets very excited around other dogs.... But we'll see what happens.

Well it's good to take the course anyhow because it will give you an idea on what areas to work on and I am sure they will give you hints on how to work with the problem areas. Then again it could show you that everything is fine and that you are ready for the test.

Good luck.

Therapy dog work can be very rewarding. Two weeks ago Lola and I met up with a group at a nursing home. It was our first time there and some of the people have been going there for years. Their was one woman that is a patient there and she was telling Lola and I about er Collie that she once had. She also told us about her cat that she had and how it knocked over a babies bottle causing the nipple to fall off and the cat started to drink the milk. She was also telling some other stories about the collie and the cat in great detail.

The period of time that this happened was during the 40's when WWII was going on. She has a sharp memory from that period of time. Unfortunately she is stuck in that period with her memory. We will be going back tomorrow.

[DanL]

If your dog has decent enough general obedience the CGC test will be cake. You could probably skip pre-rally too. I was looking into rally as something to do with Gunnar a year or so ago and concept of it was pretty simple. He could have run the course without training. Maybe not have obtained a perfect score but he would have passed.

One of my early training classes with him was at a hospital for chronically ill people. Lots of semi infirm, elderly, etc. The lady who taught the class did therapy work with her dogs and some other people in her crew. We trained in one of the public areas and people would constantly be coming down to see the dogs so it was like we got to do therapy work in a controlled environment. The lady was really pushing for Gunnar and I to do it because he was so stable, even as a young dog. In the few months we were there my observation was the people were more interested in having someone to talk to and the dogs were secondary. It was a bit depressing for me but rewarding at the same time. It was shortly after that that we started more physical activity with Gunnar and I decided that doing therapy work wasn't for me. My wife has been talking about taking Daisy and getting her certification but we're both so busy it hasn't happened yet. She'd pass easily. Both Daisy and Gunnar got their CGCs, and I was especially proud of Gunnar as he has a history of intolerance to other dogs.

[xpaeanx]

Well if I take the tests or not I guess will depend on what the instructor thinks in 4 weeks time.

He's the best in his class right now. He has a very calm, even, and chill temperment.

The therapy work that I really want to do is the read program with children. But I think you need some nursing home expierence before you get to work with the kids.