Molly's TDI # 3

Wow! We practiced a whole lot! We practiced Tests 1-3(accepting a friendly stranger,sitting politely for petting, and appearance & grooming) 'leave it' and supervised separation, which is now 1 1/2 minutes long. she's getting really good at it.

Molly's TDI class # 2

caution: the next post is really long, so be sure you have enough time to read it. :)

Okay, I know Molly's 3rd TDI class is tonight, but here is a quick post about last weeks class. We practiced a heeling pattern, ( therapy dog don't have to heel, just walk nice) walking around a wheelchair, being socialized to a moving broom (one of those really big ones, practicing for the crowd test) supervised separation for 1 minute,(Molly only showed slight stress) and 'leave it'. They were harder this week, they had to leave toys. Molly did very good at this, she barely even went over and she left them when I told her.

At 4-h this week, Molly's class was canceled because they served b-day cake instead. I'm sorry but I think that's stupid. The people that really want to train their dogs are left behind because the advanced people must train elsewhere, there's no way a dog could be come advanced in 4-h. Well, there is, but 4-h holds you back. There are 3 levels are obedience taught at 4-h, and each is a 8-week class. They run each class once a year, all at the same time! I'm now done fuming. In rally, I ran each dog though the course once & learned some judges tricks. It was an OK class, but GEB had wanted me to come to a presentation with Kirby at a bookstore. I would've went if I hadn't just checked my e-mail for the first time in a week.

On Saturday Kirby & I went over to Sara and Krickets house. We got there around 12:30, and the dogs played for an hour or so. After a rest, we left to go to Jakes house for a hike in the park. They were puppysitting GEB puppy Cole. So we went 3 humans, 2 black labs, and 2 yellow labs for a looong walk. When we got back, the pups played in the back yard. They got so Muddy! but that's ok, cuz I got to take one tired pup back home.


On Sunday, my mom & I, plus the 3 dogs went for an outing at the park. We walked for an hour and a half. On the way home, mom had to stop at the store so me & Molly sat outside and watches people come in and out.
the dogs conked out as soon as we got back.

The past 2 weeks of 4-h

The Past 2 weeks of 4-h have gone ok, I guess. Molly was much better the week after the last post(about 4h), we were able to take her to Petco before hand so I think she was tired. But this past week she was naughty again, even though I exercised her, so I'll give her more exercise next week if we don't go any where. Kirby did exra good at rally 2 weeks past. This past week the instructors didn't have the cones, so we played Simon says instead. In the first round, I was in it till the end, but in the second round, I was out almost first. I just wasn't paying any attention. We were both getting tired, anyway :)

Molly's TDI class

Over time, we have gotten several phone numbers of people who do training for therapy dog work. We called them all, and only one got back to us. So we decided to go through her. She does training for TDI/CGC test, and her name's Kathy. Due to the fact that my family is not rich, we decided to do 1 dog at a time. After some thought, I picked Molly. She's older and more mature, but enjoys training.(sometimes I think more than Kirby) I must be lazy, because I also know it will be easier training her in the long run. Supervised separation would be tough on Kirby. He was fine with me leaving him alone till he hit puberty then - whamo! Clingy Kirby. He getting better though. When we practiced it with Molly at her first class on Monday. She didn't care that I left - but Molly jumped on the person holding her when she touched her. I'd rather that to stress. We practiced 'leave it' & sound distractions as well. Also Molly isn't as dog distracted as Kirby. Plus once Molly's certified she'll have less time to visit before she'd have to retire. Kirby can be trained at home and at 4-h while I work on his dog detracting.(?) Anyway, with any luck, Molly will be a certified TDI dog within 2 months.

GEB puppy class

My Dad, My Mom, and Me went to the GEB puppy class on Monday. Our friends from upstate that were waiting for a pup, got their GEB pup in January. I saw him for the first time. He's a yellow lab named Archie. He's about 4 months old and reminds me of Kirby when he was that age, very laid back and mellow. I got to work him briefly, and people laughed when I got him from another person ( their thinking of raising a pup) because he went from jumping around to walking nicely by my side. I WANT TO RAISE A PUP SO BAD!