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CGC

Atka’s a Community Canine!

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Atka was a bit tired at this point and just wanted his bully stick! Better pictures to come :)
Atka was a bit tired at this point and just wanted his bully stick! Better pictures to come 🙂

Last week I wrote about some of my training goals for Mauja and Atka over the next year. My goal was for Atka to pass his Advanced Canine Good Citizen (or Community Canine) test and then achieve his therapy certification. I had been delaying the Community Canine test because I didn’t feel we were ready, but with the push of our awesome trainer and a bit of confidence we decided to give it a try.

I figured, if we fail, so be it. We can always try again.

Our test was on Saturday and I had been feeling pretty terrible all week so I had debated postponing the test. I decided to try and take a nice, long nap to get myself going and once again figured, if we fail, it doesn’t matter.

The Community Canine test took place in Petco and it was certainly full of craziness. There was a vaccination clinic, an adoption event with tons of kitties, and training classes were being offered for 50% off that day only. Add on that it was a Saturday afternoon and you have one crazy store!

I knew Atka could perform well, but I was worried that my nervousness would negatively impact his behavior. I’m so glad he’s the resilient pup that he is 🙂

If you’re not familiar with the Advanced CGC (CGCA) certification, it is the next step after earning your Canine Good Citizen title, which Atka earned just after turning 1. The CGCA test is meant to take place in a real-world setting with plenty of natural distractions. There are 10 test items, which you can read about here.

AKC_Community_Canine_Logo

I was pretty confident in the majority of the items, but there was one in particular that worried me. Walking with a loose leash through a crowd can be difficult for any dog, not to mention a 1 year old giant breed! People always want to meet Atka so teaching him not to approach every person has been a challenge. While he doesn’t pull toward people (usually), he does sometimes lose focus.

Let me tell you – he was flawless.

I was so proud and am STILL beaming about his success. Atka now has his AKC S.T.A.R. Puppy, Canine Good Citizen, and Advanced Canine Good Citizen titles. A few more months of maturity and I know we’ll nail that therapy certification.

I can hardly wait.

Back to School Training Goals

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Back to school time doesn't just have to be for the kids! Get your dogs involved with some positive reinforcement training.

Back to school doesn’t just have to be for the kids, it can be for dogs as well! I’ll admit, we slacked a little with training over the summer. With vacations, family visiting, and extra trips, I just didn’t dedicate as much time to training as I should. Now that life is settling back down and we’re getting into a routine, it’s time to get back into it.

As many of you know, Atka is training to be a therapy dog. I’d love for him to meet with military individuals with PTSD and kiddos with autism as these are two things I feel passionate about. Atka has such a wonderful, loving personality and I know he will bring light and happiness to so many individuals.

Right after Atka turned 1, he took and passed the Canine Good Citizen (CGC) test. I knew he could do it; I was mostly worried about myself! I get easily stressed and worked up about these things. Our next step is for him to take the advanced CGC, or community canine, test. While I know he could pass the test, I’m a little apprehensive due to him still having a few puppy habits that we are working on (leaning on a grown man might be okay, but leaning on a kid is not!).

I work a lot with Atka on his self-control and I plan to ramp that up this fall. I’ve talked about how giant breeds mature much more slowly than other dogs, so even though he is 2 years old, he is not mentally 2. Time and maturity will do wonders, but for now I have to work with what I’ve got!

I hope that in the next few months Atka will have passed his advanced CGC and be on his way to therapy testing (I know you don’t have to have these titles before therapy, but I wanted the extra practice taking tests). He has almost all of the skills down for the therapy test, so I’m excited for us to start visiting people in the near future. It’s going to be so rewarding and who doesn’t want to snuggle a big, white ball of fluff? 😉

My goal for Mauja is much different than Atka. When we moved, she suddenly became nervous in new buildings; although she does great outside. I’m still trying to figure out what exactly happened, but ultimately that doesn’t matter. We have made definite improvements over the past two years, but we still have a long way to go. I need to set aside more time to work with her.

So there you have it – my training goals with the start of the school year. What are your training goals with your dog?

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