Graduation!!!

It's GRADUATION DAY! We practiced the test again during our last class. Kai was being very temperamental towards other dogs for the majority of the lesson. At the very end, we discussed the upkeep of skills, and ways to improve behavior after the class. For the finale, Kai got to wear a graduation cap, and get his very own diploma!!!

Kai the Overachiever!

In class, we ran through the CGC test in its entirety just to see how close Kai is to meeting test standards. In the end, Kai had passed each and every standard! By the end of the class, Kai and I were signing paperwork for the CGC certification! Two weeks ahead of schedule! Next class will be graduation!

Saying Hello is Hard

In this class, we worked on greeting a stranger with a dog as well as the appearance and grooming assessment. Kai struggled a little at first with the presence of another dog. He growled a little. The exercise is to approach the other person, and have the dogs sit while shaking hands. Kai would not make any advances to the dog (he stayed seated the whole time), though he did growl, which is not allowed on the CGC test.

The appearance and grooming assessment went much easier. Kai is learning how to stand without moving forward. All the practice outside of the classroom is definitely helping with this

skill. We only have a few more classes to practice before the CGC test. 

Behind the Scenes

Kai and I have made trips to a variety of places for some practice in the real world. We have come across many people (adults, children, and everyone in between) who have wanted to meet Kai. Of course I made Kai sit down beforehand, just to get into the habit and to evaluate how well he behaves outside of the classroom. He was on his best behavior and not once did he break from his training! Needless to say, this is a cause for celebration.

I have also trained Kai on a new command "Stop" (though it is not required for the CGC test.) He caught on after only a few times of me repeating it. By saying "stop" and immediately saying "sit," he began to associate "stop" to mean stop moving and sit down until said otherwise. This goes to show just how powerful verbal cues really are when training.

Click your Heels Three Times

This sunday we learned of another standard to pass the CGC test. In class we were working on the standing skill (both from sitting and the down position) as well as the vet examination process (lifting paws, tail, looking in ears and mouth.) 
Both of these skills are under criteria three.

Kai did very well overall, even though he was very distracted with the clicker the dog trainer was using. Apparently, the clicker makes a very fun sound according to Kai because I could not get his attention back. Thankfully, the clicker sound only occurred at the very end of the class, so we got some very good practice in.

Sit, Stand, Down, Stand

The second class went very well. Kai and I were the only ones out of our class to show up, so we got individual attention. We spent the beginning of the class class working on “sit and stay while being petted skill” (which was tremendously improved) and the “walking skill” (the second criteria.) We need to work on turning left and right as well as the stops in the middle and in the end.

 I will also need to work on training him to stand  on command from both a seated and a down position (the first part of criteria three.) The combination we need to practice is: sit, stand, down, stand. Taking Kai out in public to practice these skills will definitely give us a real life experience and a good foundation to help people in healthcare facilities.