Sunday, December 4, 2016

Sunday, December 4, 2016

Tonight's picture was taken in December of 2008. Mattie was truly depleted, running a fever, and absolutely miserable. In the midst of that, Santa came into the clinic to visit with the children who couldn't attend the hospital party. Even if Mattie did not have a fever, he wouldn't have gone to the party anyway. With each successive month of treatment, Mattie chose isolation over socializing with people. This made an isolating existent even worse. Mattie did not like hearing noise, people talking, and he especially did not like me leaving the room. 

In this particular case, Santa visited Mattie and Mattie truly struggled to lift his head. Santa brought presents for Mattie, and despite how sick he was, Mattie lifted his head, thanked Santa and then collapsed two minutes after this photo was taken. 















Quote of the day: If you live with dogs, you'll never run out of things to write about. ~  Sharon Delarose

Peter and I took Sunny to his Canine Good Citizen test today. We arrived at the dog training center 15 minutes early like our instructor adviced. In theory it was good advice, because one would hope that you would be assigned a testing time based on the order you entered the ring. FORGET it! The head testing evaluator today had her own plans. 

I have to admit I have certain needs in the world.... one important need is for order and structure. When I sense noise and chaos, I don't like it and given certainly circumstances, I will simply remove myself from the scene. The head evaluator today had a disposition that rubbed me the wrong way, yet I had to manage it because she most likely would be the one of the two evaluators assessing Sunny. 

The training ring is freezing by the way. There is no heat in there and so it is as cold inside as it is outside. So that was problem number one. Problem number two was the fact that Sunny had to wait around until his turn came up for testing. Testing is done in a big training ring, so you are being watched by others in attendance with their dogs. Needless to say we were there for close to two hours. 

The test prep course was vital for me. Because the handler of the dog is being assessed as much, if not more, than the dog. If the handler leads effectively than the dog should follow and comply. 

The main test evaluator asked her dogs to do some things that the other test evaluator didn't ask her dogs to do. Specifically she wanted to see if Sunny knew the sit and down commands. I know Sunny knows them, but that doesn't mean he always follows them. Given that our test prep class did not cover this, it wasn't something I was working too hard on. Yet Sunny rose to the occasion..... or he is just smart. Because I observed this main test evaluator and sized up the situation quickly. I started working with Sunny at the side of the ring on the down command. I kept showing him a treat and bringing it down to the floor. We did it several times, so that by the time it was testing time, when I said down...Sunny went to lie down on the floor expecting a treat! 

This photo was taken right after passing his test! He got a blue ribbon, and his certificate will come in the mail. The teacher of our prep class liked us so much, she invited us to attend her obedience class in January. I plan on doing it because I want to learn dog commands and know that Sunny and I can communicate effectively. Especially if my goal is to eventually bring him to a hospital for pet therapy. 

My instructor explained to me that the pet therapy program that I hope Sunny can get into acclimates dogs to hospital equipment and the environment, but doesn't teach obedience. So to me that is first and foremost.