I have been watching my 7 year old Malinois Caterina very closely lately. She has been showing much more social behaviors than she ever has before, and I am very encouraged.

On January 20, 2012 I took Cat along with Drift to the Vet. They both needed heartworm tests done. Cat has not always been overly social with people, and I took her muzzle along just in case she decided to get snippy. During the vet visit, Cat was a dream! She was very social with the vet, let her take blood without even a twitch, and even gave her a kiss after it. While we were checking out, she approached a lady and stood at her side looking for an ear scratch. The lady- a stranger to us- reached down and petted her. I nearly fell over....

On the way home from the vet, Drift got the back window stuck and we had to stop at a service station to get it fixed. While waiting for the mechanic to fix it, both Drift and Cat were angels, and they were outgoing and social... All of the mechanics were in love with both of them, and the head mechanic didn't seem to want to stop petting Cat I got tons of compliments about how beautiful my dogs were, how well behaved they were, and how friendly they were. I never, in my life, thought I would hear someone tell me that Cat was friendly.

Yesterday, Cat came with to the flyball tournament so that I can see exactly what she will be like in that kind of intensely chaotic environment. It really is a crazy environment- people everywhere and dogs barking at everything that moves. It was the perfect place to test her..

So we walk in the door, and she's got her nose just sniffing away. She walked with confidence, at my side on a loose leash. She was very observant, but not timid at all.

We got to the area our team had set up and she immediately jumped on my chair so she could see over the barriers. She approached the other team members- she's never met them before- and initiated contact with them. When she was done greeting the team, we went to explore the room a little bit.

She shied a little when a Border lunged at her, but recovered quickly and never looked back. We looked at a few things for sale, and she stole a bully stick. When we went to pay for it, she tried to crawl into the vendor's lap- he was also a stranger. (When I went back later to get her another one, he asked where she was. Out of about 1000 dogs there, he remembered her!! )

During down time between our races, she lay quietly on her blanket at my feet chewing on her bully stick. She even took a nap at one point.

So, after some very intense observation and evaluation, I have decided to take her through the training for CGC and Therapy Dog certification. I think she will make a very good ambassador of her breed....

For right now, though I am just very, very proud of her. She has come a long way and has blossomed into the social butterfly I knew she could be. Cat is my heart dog, and now it makes me happy to show others the wonderful loving dog I fell in love with.

We will keep you updated on her progress. Our training class will begin in March, and the evaluations will be in May.

--Kel

Awesome Kelly!!! Can't wait to hear how things are going until May!

Wow, that's wonderful!

Best wishes for a long and sucessful new career for Cat!

Great story, Kelly. Good girl, Cat! Looking forward to updates on her progress!

Glad she has 'mellowed' out in her 'later' years. :-) Always makes life a bit easier.

 Quote: Anne Jones

Glad she has 'mellowed' out in her 'later' years. :-) Always makes life a bit easier.

Yeah, I was reminiscing with one of the kennel workers that knew Cat. I had completely forgot that when she lived in the kennel she had all of the food delivery people in town terrified to deliver there!!!

She must have been in the kennel right by the office door, which would make the delievery guys have to run the gaultlet to get in the door. She helped everyone stay on their diets. LOL

Cat's first class was on Wednesday night. She did great. We ran through all of the things she would need for CGC and she aced them all- could have taken the test right there and passed.

I was worried about the supervised seperation- she's never been handled by strangers before. Our instructor said she watched the door intently, but took treats calmly and did not appear too stressed.

Our next class will introduce TDI equipment and we'll see how she does with all of that... I am guessing she will jump into the wheelchair

I'm so proud of my little girl

--Kel

 Quote: Kelly

Cat's first class was on Wednesday night. She did great. We ran through all of the things she would need for CGC and she aced them all- could have taken the test right there and passed.

I was worried about the supervised seperation- she's never been handled by strangers before. Our instructor said she watched the door intently, but took treats calmly and did not appear too stressed.

Our next class will introduce TDI equipment and we'll see how she does with all of that... I am guessing she will jump into the wheelchair

I'm so proud of my little girl

--Kel

I'd be proud too! Good for both of you!


"I was worried about the supervised seperation- she's never been handled by strangers before. Our instructor said she watched the door intently, but took treats calmly and did not appear too stressed."

Did you train/prepare for this?

 Quote: Connie Sutherland

"I was worried about the supervised seperation- she's never been handled by strangers before. Our instructor said she watched the door intently, but took treats calmly and did not appear too stressed."

Did you train/prepare for this?

Nope, we went in cold. I wasn't sure how she would react to things and wanted to do a full assessment of what training she will need on the first night of class.

We were prepared to introduce the seperation at small increments of time if she had been stressed, and for me to come back in the room as soon as she showed any stressed behaviors. But she went the whole 3 minutes without any problems.

I was also prepared to bring Drift in as a "calming" signal for Cat if she had needed it. Drift takes everything in stride and rarely reacts to anything, so she's great to have around dogs that are nervous of new things. When I started taking Cat to new places to meet new people, I took both her and Drift so Cat could take her cues from Drift. I think it worked like a dream