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Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Duffy Graduated!!!!!


Yesterday was the last class for Basic Manners at Dogspaw. We arrived at the usual time and I gave Duffy his usual walk of a couple of blocks near the  place just to give him a chance to pee and get some of his energy out of his system. Turned out the instructor had locked herself out of her house and was running late.  She phoned so that the staff  could set things up the way she wanted for the testing. The chairs were supposed to be along the far wall and the test area in the main part where we usually sit. Well, instead the chairs were put in the main area and all the test stuff was right in front of us.  Crowded much? All the dogs were hyped up--like they knew it was the last class and test day??? And the different set up told them something was up!!! Duffy peed twice--well the first one I know was his and the 2nd might have been Artie's as Artie was walking past Duffy--but I cleaned that one up anyway!  Artie peed (again?) later. Duffy hasn't peed in class since the 2nd class, so that tells you how hyper he was!! The goof dog belonging to the older goof guy, had a major poop ( or I guess it seems major because this was out of a kibble fed dog--yikes, imagine cleaning that amount of poop up all the time!!!) in the other area, so it was a fun time!!!!!

We got down to the testing and started with how many sits the dog could do in 30 seconds, then how many downs, how fast the dog could do a "Front", walking over 6 poles layed out on the floor, weaving around cones with distracting toys along side, weaving around the cones holding a glass of water, weaving with our hands behind our back and the dog behind us, and "Go to Your Mat/Bed" with a 5 second count of staying there. About half way through the dogs settled down and even the Goof twosome were able to accomplish a couple of the tests. We all had fun and there was lots of clapping for each other and "Good Job"!!! Took some pictures, but it was hard to do under the circumstances and they aren't great.  The husband of the lab puppy family, came along to take pictures--they had the right idea!!

Oscar and his owner
  
Artie and his owner

Duffy did really well (awesome was the word used by the instructor!!) He did 7 sits and I think 6 downs--but he gets to the point with that kind of stuff where he thinks it's boring--which is why all the books tell us not to do too much repetitive stuff with a Collie and to keep the training sessions short. It's like, "Why am I doing all these sits? I've shown you I can do them! Let's move onnnnn. Sheesh!!!" We had a touch on the poles--I think it was my clumsy foot!! So we got to do it again. No problems that time.  Funny comment from the lab puppy owner about Oscar the dachshund doing the poles--would be like hurdles for him!! LOL! Duffy did the "Go to your bed" well but I made a mistake and forgot to say stay, so he got up at 4 seconds!! My bad!! The weaving was excellent--didn't even have to say "Leave it" for the toys, didn't drop any water, and even got a comment from the instructor pointing out how well Duffy was watching me as we did the cone weaving!! And the piece de resistance was Duffy's "Front"--took him just 3 seconds to get to me and sit!!! Yay for Duffy!! We have been doing the "Front" with me having my back turned, at home, and he comes a running and comes around the front and sits!! We didn't have to do that in class though.

My Duffy!!!♥♥♥♥ I had to tell Goof Owner to get his Goof Dog out of the way, as we were trying to take a picture.  He was letting her come over to Duffy. I wish now, that I had take a pic of the Goof Twosome!

Elaine the instructor, with Duffy. Now that's focus!!

I am really pleased with how well Duffy has done--even though last night, the best dogs at times looked like they were just starting the classes, not finishing them!! That would be Duffy and Artie!! The lab puppy, Jenny, did well for her age, the Bouvier, which is already the size of a pony, seems to be a difficult dog to train and has a tendency to be growly at times, Oscar the mini-dachshund, did some things okay, but has never been into the class, Goof Dog (she has some kind of odd name I could never quite catch and the instructor could never remember--like Veezla or something) occupied a lot of the time as the instructor tried, yet again, to coach the Goof Owner and dog, and Artie did very well.  After class, when everyone else was gone, we let Artie and Duffy play together for awhile.

What's next for my star dog? Hahaha! Well the next set of classes start next Tuesday--"Polishing Class" with an optional 7th week for testing with a Canadian Kennel Club Canine Good Neighbor Evaluator, to assess the dog's progress and the possible awarding of a CGN certificate. I'm really interested, but I have a couple of problems.  It's dark now--both for going to class and coming home and I am partially night blind and shouldn't really be driving at night.  As well, I don't have the truck and if the weather turns wintry, I wouldn't be driving that beautiful mint condition 1986 Olds!! The truck has 4 wheel drive, so I feel safer for winter roads.So...I'll have to decide by next Tuesday! Meanwhile, it's off to the Canadian National Finals Rodeo tonight!! Yee Haw!!!! I promise to take better pictures!!

3 comments:

onecollie said...

well I loved the pictures!, Duffy & you look so proud !, & you should be !!
I tried for the CGN once, I just could not get Kort to focus on me instead of the strange dog :( I will be trying it again soon as he aced all the other stations !, even the out of sight stay !!

Squishy said...

Congratulations Duffy!!! I wanted to see the Goof dog also!!

Dianne SS said...

I'm glad you like the pictures Jolene!! I am pretty proud of Duffy!! And I notice there's a better level of calmness over all--for instance we took him to the EG today and he had to sit a lot as it was lunch time and he didn't whine once! I remember when you tried for the CGN--you should have no problem a second time as Kort is so much more focused now!!

Duffy says "Thank you" Diana!! Poor Goof Dog--she doesn't stand a chance with that owner of hers. I feel sorry for her--it's not her fault, it's his. But he keeps on doing things his way, even though they clearly don't work.