Just have to brag......2 more "Good Citizens"

Last night two of my kids took two of my dogs for their AKC Canine Good Citizenship test. The kids/dogs had just completed a CGC class hosted by their 4H club and it was test night. I was pretty sure that Charlotte would do great, but I was a little worried about Webster.

Webster is a mellow, easy going guy and my son is a mellow, easy going guy. Sounds like a nice combination, but sometimes the mellow son gets distracted and forgets to pay attention to the mellow dog. The mellow dog gets distracted and starts sniffing and wandering, no longer paying attention to the mellow kid. The result is an 88 lb dog dragging an unsuspecting 60 lb kid around the arena. Not the way to pass the CGC :-)

Charlotte, on the other hand, LOVES dog class and just can't wait to find out what she should do next. She is a dog class over-achiever, not quite border collie or Aussie level, but close (if you've ever seen a border collie or Australian shepherd work, you'll know what I mean). After an unfortunate incident between a rude boxer and our Charlotte, the 4H agent simply stated, "Well, they can't all be perfect like Charlotte."

Well, we were pleased when Webster and Daniel moseyed their way through the CGC course. There was a slight concern when Webster thought that "meet and greet a stranger with a dog" included sniffing the other dog's butt. Webster agrees with Cesar Milan that butt sniffing is the proper way of greeting another dog, however, he had to play by AKC rules. It was a polite sniff and, when Daniel realized that there was nose to butt action, he redirected our brown-noser into proper behavior.

Charlotte pranced through her tasks, just waiting for Rachel to tell her what to do next. She not only did well, but she looked go while doing it.

Here are Daniel and Webster "walking through the crowd on a loose leash" (slowly, why hurry?).