test night in the city....

This is the last night... test night.. for the CGC Community and the CGC Urban classes... and what better place to take a test based on urban community than the city of Portsmouth.  The day has been showers, and the streets were wet, and a few showers rolled threw.. but everyone came to take their test.  Logan wasn't testing tonight, but it never hurts to do some training and Kathleen was more than happy to handle her. 

It was a big night for Wanda and Solo... they don't go to the city much so this was huge for him. Wanda had to take some extra time and get him settled in and used to the idea of  it all

Livy, on the other hand, took it all in stride.. which was very helpful to me, because not only was I testing her for Urban.. but I was trying to 'be there" for my students, plus help our tester, Annie with the paperwork and keeping everyone in order. 

Annie is one of our trainers at NEADS.. and I thought it would be fun for her to come and do the testing. She has never met any of our dogs, and she certainly "know" dogs, so who better.  It was nice that we could duck into the parking garage to wait for everyone to come and to get out of the rain when it passed threw....

There's a lot that goes on inside a parking garage, especially from a dog's point of view... this spot alone was a good challenge....

Sandall and Oliver taking some time to settle in and get into the working mode....

Logan was thrilled to see her buddy Koal.... and since neither of them were testing tonight, it was OK for them to have a bit of fun together.....

Justin and Melissa were curious about the test, so I invited them to tag along... Koal will soon be testing for his CGC, so this gave them a good idea as to what to expect when its time for their test.  Koal handled the city very well.. and I know Annie was pretty impressed by the behavior of this 9 month old puppy....

Belinda too, was interested in this training, and she had never taken Little Bits into the city... so this was super good for them as well. Bits is a real country dog, so she had some troubles settling in to the whole idea, but Belinda did a nice job handling her. It is one thing I encourage my students to do... get your dog out into all sorts of environments and show them all kinds of different things.... you never know when you might have to go somewhere that is new and strange, and the more your dog can see and do... the better...

With paperwork done.. the community class was ready to go.....

Here Annie tests the dogs on "walking nicely on the street"... which means no pulling on the leash,  not picking things off the ground, not being too distracted by other people, dogs, or whatever could be moving on the city street....

Sandall working Oliver.....

This is such a nice picture of Logan.. and it says so much to me. Her relaxed body, quietly taking in the hustle and bustle of the city... watching it all go by... shows that she has had some good city training.....

Like wise with Livy.. she kept a very cool head.. listened well and proved that the work I have done with her is really paying off well....

Course, getting hugs and pats from "strangers" always makes for a good night. Guess Livy thought she might as well put her therapy dog work to good use while she waited for her turn to test.....

Little Angel shows that she can do a proper sit stay in the city... on wet ground to boot...

And there we have it... our new CGC community dogs!!!!!

Annie was very pleased (and perhaps even a little surprised) at how well everyone did... she said to me that I certainly expect a lot from my upper level students... I hadn't really thought about that before..


but yes... I guess I do....

Then it was time for the Urban class to test. Here Judy now works Kingston. The Urban test is a bit different from community, in that the dogs have to handle more "city" type things... like sit to wait before crossing streets... loading and unloading quickly and on command when it comes to cars... walking not only on the streets, but up and down stairs... riding in elevators.... and handling even more city distractions...

Daisy sits nicely while Sonya fills out her paperwork.. and actually that is one of the things on the test.... that the handler can be distracted with something else and the dog just politely waits....

Annie testing Mary and Storme.... in the street cross exercise....

while Logan works the crowd.......

Livy's turn...... and even though there are no photos (forgot to ask someone to take them)... I can say she did a beautiful job and I was very pleased with her work and attention....

Urban dogs must also be calm and quiet around foods... so this outside cafe was a perfect setting for this part of our test... (they all did perfectly... technically Solo should not be in Wanda's lap .. but since he was not testing for Urban, he got away with it).. dogs need to be on the ground, preferably under the table and out of the way....

And, everyone passed the Urban testing... since it's the first time that I have taught this class.. it was a very proud moment for me too... here we have Mary and Storme.. Judy and Kingston... Livy and I... Karen and Roxie... Annie is there with her Maddie.. and Sonya and Daisy...


another fun summer of dog training.. how can I be so blessed to have this sort of thing be "my job"!!!!

a puppy picnic

It looked like "lab ville" around the farm today... for someone who raises cocker spaniels.. seems the labs have taken over!!! Actually it was picnic day for the NEADS puppy raisers council. Last spring something was said about getting some of the raiser together to get to know each other, and I happily volunteered a day at the farm. We are one of the very few full time puppy raisers, most are weekender's .. so we don't totally understand what they do and they don't understand what we do.. and thus sometime together to see....

There were a few golden thrown into the bunch, but overall NEADS basically uses labs now... and my goodness, when they saw the dog yard and everyone was let loose to play.. it was a grand time...

But the day wasn't just about the puppies... I thought it would be fun to have a lobster bake... so we got some lobsters from our friend Gardner, and supplied those.. everyone else brought things to go with them.. and as you can imagine, there was enough to feed a small village....

The deck was put to good use... the day was so pretty, and there was plenty of room for everyone to sit and enjoy and talk.....

It was good training for the pups as well... who had to lay quietly while all the humans ate.... There were a total of 12 dogs that came to visit.. some service puppies in training, some "flunkies" and some pets.... everyone got along perfectly and had such fun together...

And look who has returned... this is Bella!!!!! She was with us two winters ago when we had Danny. Bella didn't make it threw as a service dog and was adopted out. But her family volunteers for NEADS so she is still around the service dogs. She is very happy to be someone's beloved pet and so, in fact, has found her perfect job. She wasn't here that long, just a few months, and she seemed happy to be here, but really loves her family so  much that she was pretty happy to stick close to them......

After we ate, we took the puppies up to the barn... some used it for some training work, others just wanted to see the horses.. and then we went for a group photo.... the puppies handled this perfectly..

It was actually harder to get the humans to behave than the dogs..... typical I think.....

Bella with her Mom and Dad....

I had hoped to hitch Duke and take people for some carriage rides, but the day went by too fast. Some of the folks had traveled quite a distance, and needed to head for home. I'm thinking this would be a fun even to host each summer and I am planning on making that offer ....

These puppies will sleep well no the ride home for sure. 

I do so enjoy puppy raising, you meet so many great people, travel to all sorts of places and just learn new things all the time. I'm so happy that this came into my life and plan on raising puppies for many years to come. 

dog and pony show... Act 2

Round two of the dog and pony show... another visit, another day of smiles... Mocha came along with us again today, and I have to wonder if Miss Livy is OK with this. After all she has to share some of the attention with her equine pal.  Looks like Livy might have some words here for her friend, who basically could care less with all that nice grass to eat. 

I can't get over how Mocha is with all of this. We had to do the visit outside of course, and when the children saw her the swamp us. Hugs and kisses and laying over her back, and the whole time, little Mocha just stood still and took it all in 

Livy was thrilled when they remembered to hug her too

About the only thing I worry about with Mocha is that she might step on someone's foot. It's hard to explain to the children especially that if a mini horse steps on your feet, it's not like when a doggie does. Fortunately most everyone had good sneakers on, and Mocha didn't move around that much, but I am always on the watch

This little gal was beyond thrilled when she came outside and saw us. Her laugh was so beautiful and she didn't know what she wanted to do first.... even her teachers were surprised at her reaction. She stayed with Mocha for the longest time and just did this... so very sweet. 

This little guy was pretty puzzled that Mocha ate grass and he just sat and watched her eat for the longest time. 

The the thought that Livy might enjoy some grass... she thought no thank you...

Livy was quite smitten with this little girl, probably because she didn't care much for Mocha and was more interested in her...

Our other friends were there too... Juno again was a huge hit with the kids... 

She is such a pretty girl....

Cash and Angel ... I guess a couple of the kids at first thought these two were piglets.....

Livy looked so sad when the children had to go back to school.. she sat and watched them all head back into the building. I have a feeling that she wished she could have stayed and visited all day.

 And here's our merry group after our visit. We're always hearing how "good it is of us to take the time to come and do these visits".. but the truth is.. the ones that get the most out of them...



are us!!!

summer dog class.....

This was the third week of the summer cgc classes.... Livy has the look of "what's up now Mom"... it's been a busy summer for her.....

We met at our local Lowe's store. I do love the fact that they are pet friendly and I send a lot of my students there to practice  their field trips (as I call them).... everyone is so friendly to the dogs as the come in... but again, with all the different breeds that we have in this class..... it's hard not to notice us....

Judy has a knee that gives her trouble and so she took advantage of the cart and not having to stand and walk during the class.... what great training this was for her little dog.. as well as the rest of the group. This is exactly the sort of thing we look for with this class.... anything that might/could or would happen when you are out in public with your dog...

Obedience is number one... and having a dog that will follow threw no matter what the situation is...


Sadly these were all the photos I got of the training... my little camera battery died part way threw... but it's sort of how the whole day has gone...






Tomorrow little Camille goes in for her dental appointment... and because she is high risk (due to her heart issues).. I am a nervous wreck over the whole thing.... then, I ended up dropping my phone and that crashed to the floor and it was all done...

so, Ed is staying home from work while Camille is at the hospital.. and we'll go for the phone and just get threw the day....

but it was nice to have the classes tonite to keep my mind on other (good) things...

an afternoon of friends......

Logan is all loaded up and ready to go.... it's also her first ride in the beetle.. with the top down. I always try to give my puppies in training a little topless beetle ride.... today we are heading down to the beach house to meet up with Lee and Tom... people we met threw needs and a cookout that we try to do each summer...

We stopped by and pickup Kathleen and away we went... and for the record.. Logan thought the car ride was just great.

Several of us were able to go.. Kelli and Rick with Attitcus .. Bernice with Zuzu.. Kathleen and I with Logan, and of course Lee and Tom. It was so much fun to all be together and of course the puppies always think it's great. 

I brought Camille along as well.. she's having some dental surgery done this upcoming week, so I thought she might like a day out. She may not be feeling so great for a little while after surgery...she liked hanging out with the humans and left the puppies to play their own games...

Logan enjoying the views of the ocean while we ate lobster and clams and caught up on a year's worth of news...

good friends, a house by the sea... lobster and clams... and summer... what could be any better.....