Dodging Drool
Bobbie blogs about dogs as she lives with mostly hounds. While no longer rescuing, she maintains Silverwalk Hounds Sanctuary for the remaining Sanctuary dogs as well as occasional fosters. She enjoys talking about dogs, including rescue, fostering and adoption.
Workin', yeah, I'm Workin'
Posted Friday, August 20, 2010, at 2:59 PM
JUSTUS, about 7 1/2 months old
It was nice to work a dog this past Tuesday, particularly without worrying about the heat. A very nice day, thanks, Bob and God! Most of the dogs and their handlers were at the park for our CGC (Canine Good Citizenship) class. Due to the two weeks of canceled classes when it was way too hot to hold class even in the evening, some of us (ahem) were behind - plus I am working two dogs....Many, though, are right on target and were a joy to watch. It is always fun to participate in a group class, seeing the progress from dogs fearful and/or totally ignorant to attentive dogs knowing what to do when asked thus and so. I brought Justus, my American Black and Tan Coonhound Rescue foster dog. I had planned to bring Jedi TreeWalker, but he does get walked on occasion. Justus is a puppy in the adolescent stage, a lovable, very handsome goober able to learn well but not always interested. The big comment I received about Justus was "he is so calm for a puppy." This was before he tried to jump up to get treats from anyone coming by. We were privileged to have Yvonne Romain from Perryville ask to work him a bit. I got a boatload of information just watching her handle him, particularly at the walk. Yvonne then commented on how he is a very nice dog. WOW. If you don't know Yvonne, she has forgotten most about training than the rest of us know :). Kristin Eberts of the Southeast Missourian was there, too - documenting and photographing dogs in training, many of whom were rescue dogs. Her gallery online and print article are much appreciated! Melanie had a tire jump and weave poles set up for fun and, I presume, for some more advanced work after class. Justus stepped through the tire jump and finally worked ok on a two pole weave. He will do well later on....one thing at a time :). When we were able to attend Saturday classes with Marilyn Neville, the agility equipment was always fun to use and built a lot of confidence, which is exactly what Melanie pointed out as the answer to a question about why do weave poles?
FYI - Nice to note Safe Harbor has some new volunteers since last week in response to both the written and spoken word for volunteers. Welcome to Safe Harbor and THANK YOU!
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