Simon got his CGC

I am so happy and kind of surprised to announce that Simon got his Canie Good Citizen (CGC) title last Wednesday. It makes me smile every time I think about it. My little guy just makes me so happy. My little Simon Monster.

We had been working really hard on the skills needed for the CGC for the past few weeks and he has been doing a pretty good job.  However due to poor weather conditions and not a lot of free time this has mostly been done in my house with a fair amount of treats. This is not a good set up for a test that is out in public with strange people, dogs where you are not allowed to use treats.  Also work has been super busy with spring break so Simon has had to stay home and he has a huge case of jungle fever. He is hyper and overly excited about everything since he is getting less exercise and mental stimulation than normal. 

I also help the local obedience club put on the test so there is extra stress for me. To say I was frazzled and nervous would be an understatement. I decide to take Simon outside away from all the people and dogs so we can practice a bit and get on the same page. He wanted nothing to do with it and just wanted to run and chase the ducks.

Simon: WOOOOOOOOOOO! I got to go somewhere and do stuff this is great. Let's run and play and explore!

Me: We need to work on heeling and downs and stays.

Simon: New grass! New tree! DUCKS!

Me: SIMON!

Simon: What?

I was just making myself more stressed and upset. Simon wasn't playing attention and if he was all he would see is stress. I decided to take a break to change how Simon and I were acting and feeling. I took a moment to relax and enjoy the nice weather. Then I decided to play a little "tag" with Simon. It consists of me pushing him a little on the shoulder and then running off. He will chase after me and when he gets close I "tag" him again and run off on an other direction. Simon loves this game and I think it's a lot of fun. At the end we were both smiling and we ended up singing with each other. I then worked on some heeling and he did it and even was checking in with me.

However I couldn't get him to do a practice down. I don't know if he was just too excited or just didn't want to for some reason but if he wouldn't do it in the ring we were going to fail.

It was finally our turn we had decided to do the easiest part of the test first which is just being friendly to a stranger and letting them touch him with a brush and look in his ears and at his teeth. For some dogs that is pretty stressful but Simon has no issues with strangers. After that we were in the ring for the obedience portion. I was very happy with how Simon acted. He kept his attention on me and had lot of very good eye contact. Even with all the distractions his stays and recalls looked amazing he he seemed to enjoy working with me. I left the ring and felt super pumped up and happy.

The last part I was kind of dreading. It was the supervised separation and when Simon took the test as a 6 month old puppy it was the part he totally failed.  The dog is left with a stranger for three minutes while the owners are out of sight. It doesn't matter if the dog walks around but they have to not freak out about it. Last time Simon did it he screamed so much that after just a little bit they came and got us. I was really hoping that wouldn't happen this time. Most people just go around the corner but I was so nervous that I took Sadie and left the building. Three minutes seemed to take forever but I was so happy when I heard that he had passed. We went outside and ran around and howled to celebrate.

Simon I am so proud of you way to go.