Delta Society Has a New Member!

[Lucy & AnnaBelle's Mom]

Although she has been doing some Therapy work for a few months now we had never gone and "officially" taken the Delta Society Test. The Hospice organization approached us at a dog event and didn't require the certification, so I had never gotten in gear to sign up to take it. Always in the back of my mind though I wanted the certification so we could have more control over where we did our visits! So, with some hesitation I went ahead and schedule Sophie to take the test today. I was very nervous about her jumping up on someone, her wanting to "shake" (or as Sophie likes to think of it "hold hands") when she is in a sit, and the meeting a neutral dog (she gets so excited around other dogs). So, I said at least if we go try, we will know how she is going to react and what we need to focus on. I was extremely nervous. I knew that her passing was going to ride on my giving her every possible cue to get the behavior I wanted. So, when we walked in and went up to the table to do the paperwork, she sat down right beside me and a big ole Choc. Labradoodle appropriately named Moose came up to her. She held her sit and behaved perfectly. At that point, I relaxed a little. She got nose to nose with him, but just held her composure. Then the tail started wagging but she kept her sit. At that point someone said I think she just passed the friendly dog test. Then we started the test ....... Even if I must say so myself, Sophie performed perfectly. I couldn't have been more surprised, or more proud of her. I'm not looking for kudos here, I just am so darn proud of her and how she behaved today! It was like she knew it was important to me. I did find it cute though that as they were talking about her at the end of the test and the lady told us we had passed one lady, from the facility, asked me where I had gone for our training, that she was behaving so well. I told her we had just gone to Petsmart (I took the test at a Dog Training Club) and her response was well kudos to you for succeeding there! I just had to chuckle! Anyway, mark that off my to do list for 2 more years. My next big challenge will be to get Lucy to the point she can take the test.

[Carole (*Koda*Monty*Bindi)]

Congratulations to both of you! Well done! :)

[Linda, Webber and Seda]

Good job Sophie. Fantastic accomplishment.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Congratulations to Sophie and to you. What a wonderful accomplishment.

[Lucy & AnnaBelle's Mom]

Camilla -- You know, the last thing I said to DH before Sophie and I left (I wouldn't let him go watch) was that I sure hoped that for the "Greeting a Neutral Dog" test, that we got a "BIG" dog to greet as I thought Sophie would be more intimidated than a little fluffy dog ...... well, when the time came the lady went to get her dog and out came a big ole coal black Newfoundland .... don't think they get much bigger than that! That dog didn't actually hold it's stance and came in front of the tester towards Sophie, but Sophie did great! I think I was holding my breath!

[Rose]

Congratulations to you and Sophie! :-)

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

Congratulations, Sophie....you smart Doodle! We are so proud of you and your Mom. This is a HUGE accomplishment, and tell Mom she should be looking for some well deserved Kudos!

[Camilla and Darwin]

That is seriously, so wonderful. My goal is to have Darwin hold a sit when a dog comes up to greet him. Doesn't seem possible now... :-) thanks for the assurance that it is in fact attainable!

[BG and Gavin]

Congratulations, you must feel very proud of her (and more importantly your) hard work. The Petsmart crack was a bit of snobbery wasn't it! We trained there for Intermediate and felt that it gave us by far the best bang for our buck. Where else could you train where you would you be surrounded by so many people, children, dogs, cats, food and all sorts of other distractions that dogs face in real life. Shame on that lady! Good going Sophie!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Sophie, we are all just so darn proud of you, too! You're wonderful!
And your mom's not bad, either!

[F, Calla & Luca]

That is great and you are deservedly proud. Good job Sophie!