A bit of exciting news!

starryeyedtiger

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I thought I'd share a bit of exciting news with all of you today! My sweet little Australian Shepherd pup, Mykelti passed her Canine Good Citizen test this afternoon! :clap: (The Canine Good Citizen test encourages responsible pet ownership and shows that your dog has sound training and a reliable temperament in various situations.) Mykelti is my second Aussie to pass this test on the first try! Her big brother, Ranger is a registered therapy dog. I'm preparing Mykelti to become a therapy dog as well! I started working with her from the day I brought her home, and she couldn't be a sweeter pup! The CGC test is essentially an unofficial "mid-term" evaluation for therapy dogs in training to see how their skills are. It is a pre-requiset for the therapy work that we do, so I am excited she preformed well today! She still has a bit more training to get under her belt before I will put her through the PPSAT evaluations in a few weeks (It's a 22 part Skills/Aptitude test.) Anyways, I'm a proud furbaby momma right now and just wanted to share a bit of our positive news with all of you today! :)
 

rafm

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:clap::clap: I know what an awesome accomplishment that is so GREAT JOB!!!

I've been thinking of doing this as well with my 2 yo. However, she is very shy in new settings so I don't know how well she would do. The local library has a canine reading program (where kids read to dogs) and I'm looking into that with her because she loves kids but is not an excitable dog.

Tremendous job though! You should definitely be proud.
 
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starryeyedtiger

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:clap::clap: I know what an awesome accomplishment that is so GREAT JOB!!!

I've been thinking of doing this as well with my 2 yo. However, she is very shy in new settings so I don't know how well she would do. The local library has a canine reading program (where kids read to dogs) and I'm looking into that with her because she loves kids but is not an excitable dog.

Tremendous job though! You should definitely be proud.
Thank you! Mykelti's big brother, Ranger is a Reading Education Assistance Dog in addition to doing other visits! You should definitely look into it; it's a fantastic program!:clap: (Most shyness can be worked on with continual training and socialization; there's lots of things you can do to help your pup with that!) Ranger and I spend two hours every week reading with children that have learning disabilities. It's such a fun thing to see children really start to learn and "get it" when they realize that reading can be fun with a furry friend to encourage them a bit! In order to do the READ program through our therapy group, you first have to pass a few tests. They require a bit of team work and training, but are worth the hard work! :) Each organization is different with their requirements, so I will just tell you what we have had to do in my experience: First, you need to pass your Canine Good Citizen, Delta Society/Pet Partner's PPSAT test (22part skills and aptitude), and then you go on shadow visits with our local group and need to be invited to join their therapy team. After that, you go through a workshop where they teach you how to position your dogs, what to take on your visits,how to help children that have learning disabilities like dyslexia, etc. Once you do all of that you go on shadow visits at your local school/library and then you're good to go! It's so worth it!!! There are lots of online groups that give out excellent training tips as well for READ and therapy dogs. If you're interested in learning more, you're welcome to private message me! :)

:woohoo: Nikkik that's fabulous! :clap: :clap: :clap: CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thank you, Laurie! :hugs: We are so excited!!:clap::clap:
 
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feralvr

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WOW congratulations!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I did obedience, agility and the CGC with a couple of my Doberman's..... many moons ago :lol3: It is really a lot of fun - especially when you have a great dog. My Wilbur, who is elderly now, used to do Agility in his early years. We have such a wonderful time together during those years. It is really a special bond. :clap::clap::clap::clap::clap::clap:
 

crickets mom

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Congratulations!!!!!! That is awsome!!!! Its so cool that you do that with your dogs.  What a great thing to do.  I had a dog that passed the Canine Good Citezens test in 2004.  She was the only dog out of 15 that passed.  It is a great feeling!!!  The people who put on the test wanted me to get her into therapy.  She had such a great temperment.  She was an American Pit Bull Terrier. I really wanted to get her into therapy because it is so good to show people a positive example of the breed, when there is so much negative hype.  But life got in the way, and we never went any further with it.  She passed away in 2009, but I still have her CGC certificate in a prominent place on the wall of my living room!!!!  I may try to pass with my apbt now.  Hes 2, and has already passed his "Safe Dog" test (the american dog breeders association version of the CGC).  Anyway, enough of my rambling.  CONGRATULATIONS MYKELTI !!!!
 
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starryeyedtiger

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WOW congratulations!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I did obedience, agility and the CGC with a couple of my Doberman's..... many moons ago :lol3: It is really a lot of fun - especially when you have a great dog. My Wilbur, who is elderly now, used to do Agility in his early years. We have such a wonderful time together during those years. It is really a special bond. :clap::clap::clap::clap::clap::clap:
Thank you!! Your Wilbur sounds like a very wonderful dog! :) My Aussies train in Obedience and Agility as well! (Planning to start Rally soon!) I definitely think that the high energy breeds just thrive and are much happier when they have a fun job to do like therapy work or agility; it strengthens their bond with you and really helps their training along! Ranger has his first Obedience trial in a few weeks, so I'm excited about that! I would have shown him earlier, but training two therapy dogs back to back has been a bit crazy! By now, I think he is also pretty close to the required visit numbers to qualify for the AKC Therapy Dog title too, so we're looking forward to that in the future. Mykelti is a year younger than Ranger, and already showing her strength in Agility; the little pup is faster than he is, even on the weave poles! Aussies are a lot of fun to work with; I love that they seem to enjoy every single "job" they are given! I bet your Wilbur really loved agility!

Congratulations!!!!!! That is awsome!!!! Its so cool that you do that with your dogs.  What a great thing to do.  I had a dog that passed the Canine Good Citezens test in 2004.  She was the only dog out of 15 that passed.  It is a great feeling!!!  The people who put on the test wanted me to get her into therapy.  She had such a great temperment.  She was an American Pit Bull Terrier. I really wanted to get her into therapy because it is so good to show people a positive example of the breed, when there is so much negative hype.  But life got in the way, and we never went any further with it.  She passed away in 2009, but I still have her CGC certificate in a prominent place on the wall of my living room!!!!  I may try to pass with my apbt now.  Hes 2, and has already passed his "Safe Dog" test (the american dog breeders association version of the CGC).  Anyway, enough of my rambling.  CONGRATULATIONS MYKELTI !!!!
Thank you!! Your old Pittie sounds like she was such a fantastic dog! I am extremely partial to them myself; Mykelti and Ranger have a big "sister" Pit Bull x named, Macy! She is one of the most kind and gentle dogs that I've ever had the joy of owning! I've trained her quite a bit in Obedience, and was thinking about training her for her CGC test if her health holds out (she is in heart failure). I think that given her breed mixture, it would just be nice to have that little accolade next to her name to show others that she is a well-behaved, loving dog just like any other breed!.She can't handle the exercise that goes along with Agility and Rally, but she really thrives at the slower pace of Obedience training and enjoys that. I'm pretty sure she'd pass her CGC test with no problem, so that will definitely be my next mission! I feel that responsible APBT owners have to go a bit above and beyond the norms to show others what amazing dogs we have, and how wonderful they can be! :)

Awww, that is great news Nikki!

Your dogs  are just beautiful.
Thank you, Nat!! :hugs:
 
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rafm

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So, thanks to you I have gotten off my butt and reached out to a local group. They emailed me some dates to go observe so I'll do that one Sunday in March. After that, if I feel like Abby would do well, we'll go through the behavioral assessment. If she passes that assessment we will have to go on supervised therapy visits until we pass. I'm pretty excited.

I'm kinda nervous about her shyness. She does well meeting people but new locations can make her a little nervous. When she's nervous she just gets real quiet, ears kinda stick out and gets a very worried look on her face. She doesn't act out though.
 
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