Another challenge met
It went very well. Amy was a dream for Becky. Becky has a really mellow personality when it comes to animals, and you could tell that the two were just well synced last night. It cracked me up, as the first thing they are supposed to do is spend 10 minutes grooming their dogs. Becky laid out the brush, comb and spray and Amy flopped over on her side in the grass ready to be brushed. Opal and Naomi did very well too. Opal is younger and pretty headstrong, but Naomi did a great job of keeping her attention. They did the exercises quite well. I was worried about Opal giving Naomi problems, especially around all the other dogs, but beside some barking and whining, she did fine. Once they really had to start working, Opal settled in. The thing I'm most pleased with: both dogs and girls showed respect to their partners. The girls were patient and kind to the dogs in a stressful situation. Its something we expect of them no matter what, but there were kids who weren't and it showed in how the dogs responded. Our dogs listened and were reasonably obedient even though the distractions were high. When they didn't obey the first time, the girls handled it with self-control and kindness. They weren't rough, they didn't yell or get exasperated, they just showed the dogs what they expected. I'm beginning to look forward to seeing how these four grow over the summer.  |
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 Hooray to everyone involved! I know that anxiety; isn't it nice when they surprise us and are the best that they can be?!  |
| Well done everyone!! What a great opportunity for your kids, they're learning fantastic skills. |
OH! We took the dogs out for a ride in the car with the ulterior motive of taking Amy to meet a groomer and see if Amy would like her. She did so well there.  This groomer was very accommodating in coming up with ideas, and even offered to train us how to use the clippers or do whatever she could to work with us. We'll be going back over the next two weeks to say hi and have treats, then Amy will have an appointment.THEN we ended up going to the sporting goods store. I was expecting that we would walk through for a quick training exercise and call it good. Instead a number of people came up to us to ask about the dogs and to meet them. Amy let MALE strangers pet her! People were stopping to take pictures of the dogs.  I didn't expect that they would draw a crowd. It seems everyone remembers Lassie, and the Shaggy Dog--or they had some family member that had an Old English Sheepdog or a Rough Collie when they were young. After some of the problems we've had lately, I'm pretty pleased with our progress. |
| That's great news, especially the male stranger. Had no one warned you about the pupparazzi who stalk sheepies and demand photographs and pawtographs?? |
| What wonderful news to read about when I got home today. I say Mom deserves a round of applause for teaching her children so well. |
| Such great news on Amy. Some days are golden! |
| Great job! In addition to showing dogs in AKC shows and obedience trials as a kid, I also was in 4-H and trained and showed at the fair. And all my other dozens of projects. Also my 2 younger sisters did the same. My kids did the same thing as well. Todd (hubby) was also in 4-H and showed in 4-H! I was our county's trainer for 20 years - every summer I trained all the kids and dogs. After my last graduated, I retired. I figured giving 20 summers of my life was enough.  Someone else needed to take over. I've also been a judge for nearly that long...now I'm a Senior Judge....  The 4-H program is wonderful, and I'm glad the girls had a good time with the girls.  |
| Great job~~~~ you are doing fantanstic!!!!!!! |
| How wonderful! You've made such great strides. Kudos to the entire family, 2- and 4-legged! And letting new men pet her? That's a huge step. Congratulations! |
| Great job! Cindy |
| I think 4-H is a great program. I'm hoping the kids like it enough to make it a long term commitment. They said that they wanted to try it for a year, so that was a good start. The trainer we work with mentioned that she thought my kids were very good with, and serious about, the dogs. That's a pretty decent compliment. Oh, and the trainer said that as long as Amy remains stable and her vet agrees, that Amy could test for her CGC. |
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