Thanks! The only reason Koe made it though the separation was because Aaron's super awesome son (who is six, same age as Koe's kid, Logan) gave him hugs and loves to calm him down. (he'd met the dog previously, and Koenig loves him)

Koenig was actually pretty terrible. It was held in cool indoor training center. It was his first time in a building like that- so he wanted to check it out. He'd also been in the car for almost 3 hours waiting for me to get done at a presentation prior to the test. He was hyper, distracted, but OK. He barley paid enough attention to me to notice I was turning. Thank goodness all SchH trails are OUTSIDE!

Aaron's great club waited for me. We were not able to get out there until almost 3pm, I think they tested the last dog at noon. They all stayed and hung out, waiting for us! How great is that!

That was REALLY nice of them to do that!! Huge congrats well done!!

 Quote: Kelly Byrd

Aaron's great club waited for me. We were not able to get out there until almost 3pm, I think they tested the last dog at noon. They all stayed and hung out, waiting for us! How great is that!

I would say that is totally great! Must be a bunch of folks who love dogs... and training... and owners who are trying to do the right thing. Congrats Kelly. And kudos to Aarons' club.

Awesome! Congratulations Kelly and Koenig!

Thank you everyone. The first, in what I hope will be a long line of accomplishments for Koenig.

I'm sure it will be only the first of many -but you must be deservedly proud? For those of us with this in front of us, what was the most challenging element? How did you find meeting the "stranger'?

I'm very proud.

For Koenig, the most challenging element was by far the supervised separation. (He's a S.A. dog, keep in mind) Meeting strangers is no big deal for him, he loves everyone. The gal testing us just walked up, said hello, shook my hand, let Koe smell her, and lightly brushed him for a moment. (I'm not sure if she picked up his feet. I don't remember!) When we met another dog it was a very un-interested GSD. She'd prolly been sitting in her crate, being used for the test all day. Walked up to them, ask Koenig to sit (since he was paying 0 attention to my movement!) shake the handlers hand, say hi, and move on. No big deal.


Things I'll do better if I ever get Sara (our other dog) ready for her CGC, or future dogs:

-I wish I had been able to properly exercise him that morning, it would have made his heeling MUCH nicer to watch. As it was, he had a ton of pent up energy, and the test was housed in a indoor training facility (lots of smells) Major distraction, environment he'd never been exposed to right there.
-I should have taken 10 extra minutes to work with him outside, with a ball or food, to get him worked up, and 'in the mood' to train. Lesson learned. You can't have food or toys with you during the test, and he sure knew I didn't have a reward.

I have a question about meeting the other dog. Loki has come a long way and with nearly all non reactive dogs he is able to sit or stand calmly behind my legs.

Does looking away or putting himself behind me disqualify as long as he is calm and non reactive?

I don't think it would. You're supposed to have your dog in a sit (I had to repeat it cause I didn't ask Koe to sit, and he was checked out, not paying attention... lol). I think what they are really looking for is the out of control, 'I MUST SNIFF BUTT WITH THAT DOG', and dog aggressive animals. I bet Aaron will know more, I'm not sure, just guessing.

As long as the other dog doesn't get pushy or aggressive he would likely stay somewhat tense but not reactive.

I really think he could easily pass the rest of the test, his manners are very nice and he certainly won't eat anyone or be out of control Loves meeting new people and is a really mellow dog overall.

( actually the down stay with me walking away might be a bit of a challenge, he is a creeper )

I would like to take him to visit nursing homes and maybe hospitals because he is just so NICE, but we need his cgc first.