Saturday, July 15, 2006

Guess who is a therapy dog!!!

Penny!!! This was the second time we've taken the test. Last time she failed b/c she pulled the little old lady out of the chair during the supervised separation. But not this time. She was not thrilled when I left, but she held her SitStay for all three minutes and didn't whine once. Three cheers for out of sight stays!!

We did have to do the Dog to Dog w/ a dog we knew & Penny does NOT like...at all (Brady, an awesome Yellow Lab that Annette & I had in class...Yep, she hates him. He was all wound up when he came in & she snarked at him.)! Figures. There were 4 other dogs there that she loves. But all of our work on attention paid off. She gave him one (teeny, tiny) hard stare and then looked up at me when I asked her to.

I'm so proud of her (and me too LOL!). I even had one of the testers tell me that she wishes her dogs worked like Penny...happy & enthusiastic.

We'll be taking a new class at the WPHS, Dynamic Dogs. It's for TDI dogs to get used to doing therapy visits.

"Dynamic Dogs is a class for dogs who have completed Super Puppy, CGC/TDI class or have already gotten their TDI license and are ready to get started in the community. This class addresses Doggy Etiquette for Community Sites, and improves handlers’ skills for traveling politely with their dogs in many new places. This is a perfect class to help dogs increase their confidence by visiting many community sites across Pittsburgh. These visits allow handlers of dogs who have gotten their TDI to gain experience with TDI visits. The first two weeks of class are held at WPHS, the first is orientation with NO DOGS. The remaining weeks are scheduled in community sites. The class is limited to 8 dogs, and participation in the community visits is at the discretion of the instructor"

Marsha's teaching it & we love her so it should be fun.

Congratulations Penny!