I know it's a cat site but I'm so proud of her!

She did it!
Beth, my sweet shelter mutt, passed her advanced obedience class with a perfect score! Now all she has to do is pass the Canine Good Citizen test at the end of this month & I can see about getting her registered with the Delta Society for therapy for sick & elderly people. And she was so shy and submissive when I got her from the shelter this winter - now, she's good & she knows it!

Here she is doing a perfect "leave it", trying to ignore the slice of BRISKET on her foot, poor thing...she did a great job!

a better pic:

This speaks volumnes not only to your instructor but to you and your dog! Congrats on having the patience with her to show her basic and advanced obedience commands- she is lovely!

Congratulations!

My husband was great with dogs! He had such control over even the most unruly canines.

Whoo Hoo! Congrats! That is something to brag about I am so proud for you and her. I hope that Nemo does as well on his test after September.

Congratulations! She's a pretty dog, such a sweet and tender face.

Thanks! She is just as sweet as she looks. Lets the cats walk all over her.

jmvito, a dog knows a good man I'm sure your husband was a true treasure.

This instructor was great - taught me how to get her to heel even without a leash at all - the leash is just a guide and a safeguard if she gets distracted. She tailored the instruction to fit the personality of each dog, too, which was really nice. She even arranged the classes so that dogs would be grouped by personality in classes for the best learning environment. Of course it helps that Beth is very smart. I fell in love the moment I saw her at the shelter. But first she had to pass the kitty test. I was a little nervous about adopting a big dog (she was about 11 months old), but she's as gentle as a lamb with the cats.

Good luck with Nemo, Blondiecat! I'm sure he'll do great.

Good girl Beth!

She looks like a cross between my Jethro and Ellie Mae (both over the bridge). They both also passed "doggie day-camp" (as we called it). You make me want to go out and "save" another dog(s). It's been 6 months since Ellie Mae crossed over and Stumpy misses his canine friends.

Congratulations !!!

She is beautiful. I wish I could be training again, but Arthritis has stopped that part of my life.

I had one German Shepherd that wanted to get cats so bad(lol) a few months later they could walk all over him. Dogs are wonderful creatures.

Congratulations!!!

How much does it cost to put a dog through this kind of school?

My g/f upstairs has got a dog that is extremly good with cats (ie; always wants to play with them and whines when they don't want to lol) but he always jumps up on people and doesn't sit when told to, yadda yadda yadda.

Thanks! She's my sweet girl!

The cost of obedience classes can vary widely depending on where you live & the teacher. We paid about $80 for the beginning 8-week course, then another $80 for the advanced. The teacher was really good, though.

If they do take their dog to obedience, they should insist on observing a class with the teacher they will have prior to enrolling their dog. Watch how the instructor treats the people and the dogs.

rant ahead...
I made a huge mistake with Beth that I will always feel guilty for...in April I enrolled her in a class at a place that was supposed to be the best in town. In the first class the "dog trainer" insisted that a choke collar is required equipment. I had my doubts about using one on a shy dog (I'm familiar with their use, we used to show dogs when I was little), but trusted that she knew what she was doing. The "trainer" used my dog to show how to get her to move from lying down to a sit, by "popping" the collar to get her to sit up. The problem with that was, she did a lot more than "pop" the collar. She yanked my dog from a lying down position up into a sit with the choke collar. Poor Beth just sat there hacking and coughing, looking bewildered. I took her to the vet & he told me her trachea was damaged. I pulled her from that class immediately, poor thing! Even now I still have to walk her with a harness...even the slightest pull on a regular collar now makes her cough.

Just be careful out there...any fool can call himself a dog trainer. Watch how they work before you sign up.

There's also a really great book if you want to try training at home..it's called the Canine Good Citizen by Jack & Wendy Volhard.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...glance&s=books
I've used that book to train dogs at home before & it's great. The main reason I enrolled Beth in class was because she's shy & needed the socialization, plus a good class can be a lot of fun. The dogs learn to handle distractions & interact with other dogs, and you get to meet some fellow responsible animal lovers.

YAY!!! can you fax me some of that brisket?

ROTFL! It was an evening class & most of the people had just gotten off work, so the trainer almost had as hard of a time keeping US away from the brisket as we did keeping the dogs from it! We were drooling too!

Exactly my sentiments! When I first saw the pic, I thought, what a well-mannered dog, if it had been me, it would have been gooone... Beth is better behaved than me.

she is a cutie

OhMY Tess she is SOOOO cute!

Congrats on the purrfect score!

She passed her Canine Good Citizen test this weekend!


The trainer told us that only 30% of dogs usually pass the test - and out of 10 taking the test that day, she was one of only 3 that passed.

She's my special gal!

Here's what she looked like shortly after we brought her home from the shelter: