We were unexpectedly graduated from the Obedience 2 class. We were evaluated at the very beginning to be ready for Obedience 2 and that's where we started. Zoom Room does not have a mandatory/minimum number of classes you have to take in order to graduate. They continuously evaluate during the training sessions; they evaluate the dog and the handler, so i really like that. When you are performing to their criteria they graduate you. Obedience 3 has to be completed before they will administer the Canine Good Citizen (CG) test, and that is our goal. Training is still underwhelming because there is very little new performance. What satisfies me is the level of distractions. Captain can see over the barriers used, so he has to choose to ignore the distractions on either side of us, but the trainers get closer with other distractions like squeaky toys, treats, bouncing/rolling balls, or themself. I intend to earn the CGC recognition, and then look into competition obedience training courses. There are a few obedience training clubs around, so i am optimistic on this working out. I will also be re-reading all of the journal entries so far to review and reminisce.
Captain graduated Obedience 3 the other day, and is now eligible for Canine Good Citizen. There are a few more classes included with the training plan we paid for, so we will take those and then register for the CGC test. I'm not too concerned about how he will perform, but I feel like it's best if we take advantage of the training that we already paid for. I have built a stand for our training. It's about 1 sq ft in size, and i intend to teach him to "ready" on the stand, pivot, and get focused on his heeling. There are many videos i've watch on this, and i'm hoping it works out nearly how they show it; it seems to be starting out how they explain. I've started looking into dog clubs in the area, and have more to look into before i decide where we are going to pursue more obedience training. It will definitely be for competition training rather than behavior training.
Captain has earned his CGC! We are working on heeling. He DOES NOT like looking up. Even when we play fetch, if the toy is too far above his head he will stop running to turn around and look at meas if saying "Hey, are you going to throw that?" This is definitely something i wish i knew the significance of when he was younger. My interest in obedience/rally is still very high, but i recently began looking into scent work. I feel this is a great sport, and it is one that only allows greater playing and training with the rest of our family. I really don't know how i didn't see it earlier.
Congratulations to you both - that's a fantastic achievement. You clearly work really hard with Captain and it's really paying off. One of the things you could try, which would give you a feel for all the different sort of dog sports out there (obedience, rally, scentwork, agility), is the Fenzi TEAM titles. I've just started having a go at these because it's a nice logical approach, done at the pace of the dog and done at home while we're not able to travel much. It's quite well known over in the US I think so you might even be able to find classes. It's less well known here in the UK but I'm thoroughly enjoying it so far. Thought it might be of interest. Could luck with whatever your next training chapter is
