I'm a Canine Good Citizen!!!!

On Tuesday night, Ms. Beth took me to an AKC Canine Good Citizen test. It was very exciting!! First, she had to fill out some paperwork, and then I had to wait my turn to show them what I could do!!

There are 10 exercises, or 10 stations that I had to "pass" in order to receive my Canine Good Citizen designation. These are the 10 tests I had to pass:

1. Accepting a Friendly Stranger

2.Sitting politely for petting.

3. Apperance and grooming

4. Out for a walk on a loose lead

5. Walking through a crowd

6. Sit and down on command (staying in place).

7. Coming when called

8. Reaction to another dog

9. Reaction to distraction

10. Supervised seperation

I passed all 10 stations and it was really a lot of fun!! Didn't stress me out at all. Ms. Beth says that I am too cute some times :) Overall, it was a great experience and I'm so proud to join the ranks of other Canine Good Citizens all across America!!

If you'd like more information about the Canine Good Citizens program, please visit: http://www.akc.org/events/cgc/

Rally Novice - My 1st Leg!!!

Well, I had an exciting weekend with Ms. Beth and Uncle Jackson! On Saturday morning we traveled up to Simpsonville, SC for the Dog Obedience Club of Greenville Rally & Obedience Trial. Ms. Beth entered me into a Rally Novice Class. She wasn't sure if I would stay focused the whole time in the ring because there would be no hot dog treat rewards like there are in practice. She was especially worried because I was sooooooooo distracted while we were outside. She kept telling me to focus, but there were so many things to see and smell out there.... it was really hard for me to focus!! And it was such a beautiful day, and the birds were singing, and there were people and dogs everywhere....

Anyway, she was a little bit nervous, I could tell, so I thought that I might better focus a little bit more. I don't know why she was so worried.

When it was our turn in the ring we started off together and she used her happy voice and so I knew everything would be fine. We had to do one exercise over because I sat down instead of laying down, but Ms. Beth said that it wasn't a big deal. She gave me lots and lots of lovies when we got out of the ring. I was so glad to make her happy!!!

Ms. Beth was talking with our friends who have a Gordon Setter, Corey, and she was so excited that they had earned a score of 95 out of 100! Pretty awesome! But I'm just as awesome as Corey, because we earned the same score! Ms. Beth was surprised, but I wasn't. She asked for me to focus in the ring and I did, so of course we did well!!

And then we got to be back in the ring and get a pretty green qualifying ribbon and a squeaky doggie toy that looks like a dog bone!! I call it my Rally Bone and it is my ALL Time favorite toy right now!!!

So, now I have earned my first qualifying score for a Rally Novice title. I have to earn 2 more qualifying scores and then I will have an RN after my registered name.

I think this Rally stuff is going to be pretty cool!! I'll keep you posted on my progress. Until then, happy training with your people :)

First Rally show!!

For those of you who are wondering, yes, I am still alive!!! Ms. Beth has just been slack about posting for me ;P
Currently I am enjoying the warmer weather and Ms. Beth has been working with me on my Rally skills. We are entered in the Dog Obedience Club of Greenville Obedience & Rally Trial on Saturday, March 27 in Simpsonville, SC.
Ms. Beth is also planning to enter me in some conformation shows in the month of April!!!
So, we're busy, busy. I hope that Ms. Beth will post pictures soon. But I have a sneaking suspicion that there will be Easter poses involved with the next pictures!! Ha, ha
Until the next time!!!

Barns, BBQ & Bales of Cotton

While we were down in Charleston last weekend, I also had an opportunity to meet with Mr. Kirby Player, who is the editor of a great new book called "Barns, Barbecue & Bales of Cotton." This is a pictorial book showing old barns all across the state of South Carolina, giving the history of barbecue in South Carolina and an overview of all of the top agricultural commodities in South Carolina. If you or someone you know loves old barns, barbecue or agricultural history in South Carolina, you will LOVE this book!! It is on sale right now for $39.95 plus shipping and handling. Go to: http://www.clemson.edu/cafls/ All proceeds from the sale of this book go towards supporting agricultural youth education programs, including S.C. Commissioner's School for Agriculture, which is a program that Ms. Beth works with every summer, promoting career opportunities for young people in the Agriculture, Forestry & Natural Resource industries. For more information about SC Commissioner's School for Agriculture, please visit: http://www.clemson.edu/cafls/sccsa/

Southeastern Wildlife Exposition 2010

I spent this past weekend with Ms. Beth in Charleston at the Southeastern Wildlife Exposition. The S.C. Department of Agriculture was a corporate sponsor at this wonderful event and they had a tent outside of the Gaillard Auditorium featuring wonderful chefs cooking with SC products, as well as many small businesses across the state that create wonderful food products using SC Grown items. I was there to see how the crowd would interact with me and to see how stressed I would get. Ms. Beth wants me to promote eating Certified SC Grown produce. Because I represent the Boykin Spaniel breed, which is the state dog of SC, my message is going to be promoting the increased consumption of fresh, tasty SC Grown produce, especially to young children. It's important to eat a variety of fresh, nutritious SC produce to help young people grow up to be strong, healthy adults! Overall, I had a great time at this event. I loved meeting new people and Ms. Beth talked non-stop about Boykin Spaniels, training me and the importance of eating Certified SC Grown!!

Snow in SC!!!!

We had a record amount of snow and ice in South Carolina this past weekend! I was especially fascinated by the icicles that formed on the railings!! Check out some of the pictures Ms. Beth took. I had fun running around in the snow. Ms. Madison especially liked the cooler weather and Ms. Beth took a funny video of her playing in the snow. Now, if only Ms. Beth can figure out how to upload videos onto the blog site..... stay tuned!!!

Rally & Obedience Training.

Currently, I am booked up on Wednesday nights!!! I am taking a Rally Novice class with the Greater Columbia Obedience Club. I like the hour I get to spend with Ms. Beth, learning new exercises and practicing my basic obedience skills. I'm getting lots better at quickly responding to the "down" command, and Ms. Beth is thrilled about that. But stay is really taking me a long time.... I just don't understand why she would ever want to walk away from me and not have me right beside her? What a silly command!!! But, I am trying to do better at it because it makes her so HAPPY when I do spend a few minutes laying or sitting in the place where she issued the "stay" command.

Over the weekend of January 16-17, Ms. Beth took me to the Greater Columbia Obedience Trial at the SC State Fairgrounds. I had the opportunity to watch my Uncle Jackson perform at the Rally Excellent and Rally Advanced levels. (see attached pictures). It looks like he was having so much fun!!! I really hope that I can be as enthusiastic and as accurate as him!! He received 3rd and 4th place ribbons on Saturday! Yay Uncle Jackson!!!

I'll have to keep you posted on my progress ;) Until next time, Happy Training!!