Theo'sMom

Theo passed his canine good citizen test today! We were very worried that he would not go "down" without treats. (you can't use treats during the exam) But he did!
We still have a lot to work on and will continue to do obedience classes because they seem to be helping and he seems to be learning-and so are we.
We've worked very hard with him and it's great to see him learning. Thanks to those of you who encouraged us, especially when he wouldn't go down without treats!

Countryboy

What excellent news.

Those first courses in training are great, eh? They really are the base that all other training is built on. And an excellent start to a dog that will become an intelligent companion.

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minipoodlelover

Congratulations to Theo, and to you for encouraging your good citizen!

CT Girl

Congratulations! What do they require besides a down? Does this mean you can go into nursing homes, hospitals ect? I may consider this for Swizzle. Hope you don't mind all the questions.

Chagall's mom

Congratulations to Theo and you! I am so proud of your both!! So is Chagall, who earned his CGC in August. I think it's great how our poodles can surprise us with their goodness at times--good boy, Theo! You do realize he deserves a special treat for this, right?

Theo'sMom

The cgc test is a precurser to the therapy dog test. It is an AKC sponsored test with 10 items:
1Accepting a stranger - greeting the evaluator without jumping
2Sitting politely for petting
3Letting evaluator pretend to groom dog (looks in ears, takes paw, lightly brushes hair)
4 Walking on a loose leash for about a minute
5 Walking through a group of people
6 Sit and down on command
7 stay and come when called
8 greeting the evaluator walking a strange dog
9 reaction to distraction - the evaluator rolled and clanged a crate around the room, noisily
10 separation- you leave the room and the evaluator holds your dog for 3 minutes

Now this does not mean that Theo does these things perfectly in the real world. He still needs lots of repitition. However, the fact that he did all this without rewards other than verbal praise shows me he is really responding to us and the time we're putting into his training.

I think that to be a therapy dog it's the same 10 skills plus walking through a crowd with children, walkers, wheelchairs etc... and also obeying the "leave it" command around food. (plus some others I can't remember)
I hope that you do cgc. Keep us posted if you do.

CT Girl

Thanks for taking the time to write such a detailed post. I appreciate it. Swizzle will have trouble with his shyness with some of these but with a little more work I think he can do it. The one I think will give him the most trouble is me leaving the room for 3 minutes. I am pretty sure he would cry. I will have to ask my trainer what I can do to work on that. That is a great accomplishment for you and Theo. It is a good list so your Theo must be a very well behaved dog and if he is not perfect all the time - well who is?

Theo'sMom

I dont think swizzle would have to be quiet. Theo gave few of his "where are you" chirps of desperation during the 3 minutes. The evaluator said that this was ok. She said he just couldn't do anything that needed correction. I guess that means something like pulling on the leash or jumping on people....

CT Girl

Swizzle probably would not pull on the leash or jump on anyone but he would jump - boing, boing, boing. He tries to get height to see where I am. He is getting better though so maybe I will give it a practice run and see how he does. I can always ask my trainer what I can do. I think of her as my trainer. Swizzle almost always does everything right it is usually me that makes the mistake. Hopefully one day soon we can follow in Theo's and Chagall's footsteps and Swizzle will earn his CGC. I will be so proud - just as you both already are.

brodgar

Mega Congratulations to you and Theo. Poodles love to learn don't they. Then , of course, they think they are smarter than us)))