Holly's first night at Therapy Dog Bootcamp

[Richard Crowe]

Last night Holly completed her first session at her Therapy Dog indoctrination class and she did very well. This was marvelous socialization for Holly. There were ten dogs with their owners and three instructors. Usually, the class has five instructors so there is a one instructor to two dog ratio but, two of the usual instructors were at a conference out of town. The dogs ranged in size from a miniature doxie up to a goldendoodle twice Holly's size. Big Boomer was 112 pounds while Holly is about 60 pounds.

It was an enjoyable hour and a half class and we both learned quite a bit. Even if we were not intending to become a therapy team, the training would be great because it exposed Holly to various dogs and strangers in a controlled situation.

One thing that they stress in the class is not to let your dog make hard eye contact with another dog. This is a safety matter because an aggressive dog will lock eye contact. Another thing that I never realized even though I have put several dogs through obedience training is that when you place your dog on a down-stay; you lead off with your right foot rather than the left foot because the dog is keyed on following your left foot since that is the side the dog is on.

Holly looks smashing in her new green "Therapy Dog In Training" bandanna.

[Lorraine Bromley]

I am interested in this type of thing for Neely. Can you give me a play by play of the things you worked on. How old is your dog also?