Bonkers for Sadie: Citizen Sadie

Monday, June 20, 2011

Citizen Sadie

On Saturday June 18, 2011, Sadie officially earned her AKC Canine Good Citizen title!

She performed just about every exercise perfectly. Her walking on a loose leash may have passed even in an actual obedience ring. She was not phased by any of the distractions: neutral dog, walking through a crowd and passing by an elderly gentleman with a walker. She graciously accepted her petting, brushing, ear and feet check by the evaluator. She stayed put when asked, performed her sit and down on command (though we were politely and gently asked to repeat the down when I got nervous and started to grab for the leash to guide her down, on the retry though I kept my hands to myself and she did just fine on her own).

When we got to the recall I got a bit nervous because in previous days practicing at the park she tended to veer off instead of coming to me. During the actual the test she just started to move off to the right but at the last second she swung around and sat in heel position. Whew!!!

Before I knew it we were down to our last test, the supervised separation. Initially the evaluator moved us out of the ring to the shade of the easy-up where the sign in table was. I handed over my leash and left to go stand behind a near by RV. I swear that was the longest 3 minutes of my life! I was just waiting for them to call me back early but they didn't. I returned to the evaluator to see what the verdict was. My heart skipped a beat when he began by saying that for a brief instant she tried to follow after me (cause for a "no pass") but he felt the test was un-fair because they had moved her so near to a big group of other people and dogs (to be in the shade), and that when the moved her back into the ring away from them she settled right down. And then he said the words that I had been hoping and waiting to hear "she passed".

A great victory for both of us! We were both so excited we nearly ran back to our table, jumping up and down the entire way!

Today I sent off the $8 and test results to AKC so they can send her actual certificate. My very first AKC Title/Certificate! And now at next weeks club meeting I am excited to finally have a "brag" to share with everyone! And even better - at next years awards banquet I will get a nifty little award!

I am very proud of my old girl, she can be a pain in the butt sometimes but then she always seems to come through for me when it matters the most!

1 comment:

JenJune 23, 2011 at 1:40 PM
:) This is so great!
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Novice Obedience Exercise Descriptions

Heel on Leash: Dog and Handler work as a team, the leash must be loose and held in a natural position. Orders for this exercise are: "Forward", "Halt", "Right turn", "Left turn", "About turn", "Slow" "Normal" and "Fast".

Stand for Examination: The dog stands in position before and during the examination without displaying resentment. Handler is instructed to "stand your dog and leave when you are ready", after positioning the dog the handler stands with dog in heel position, give the command/signal to stay and walk straight forward approximately 6 feet and then turn and face the dog. The judge will approach the dog from the front, using the fingers and palm of one hand, the judge will touch the dogs head, body and hindquarters. Judge will then give the command "back to your dog", handler returns to heel position. The dog must remain still until judge has said "exercise finished".

Recall: The dog must stay where left unitl called by handler and then must respond promptly when the handler commands or signals them to come. On order from the judge the handler will give the command/signal for the dog to stay in the sit position. Handler will then wakl forward to the other side of the ring with arms hanging naturally. On the judges order handler will command or signal the dog to come. Dog must come at brisk pace and sit stright, centered directly in front of handler. On judges order handler will give the dog the command/signal to finish. Dog must move quickly to heel position and sit.

Finish: Dog is directed to "swing" it's hind end around to the left to come to the heel position and then sit, or "heel" around to the right and behind the handler and come to the heel position and then sit.

Sit/Stay & Down/Stay (Group Exercises): The dog must remain in either the seated position or the down position, whichever is required by the particular exercise. The dogs will line up in catalog order along one side of the ring. The leash is removed and placed with the handlers armband behind the dog. Handlers are instructed to "sit your dog" or "down your dog", and then "leave your dog". The handler will walk across to the other side of the ring and stand in a natural position across from the dog until the judge orders them to "return to your dog". Any dog that leaves the place where it was left during the first group exercise will be given an "NQ" and excused from the remaining group exercise.