Day Four

Caspian experienced his first Saturday at Great Dog which means lots of different people and dogs in the facility for classes, socialization sessions and shopping.All excellent learning opportunities for Caspian. He was happy to greet me as I came in for my first class at 9am. He had to learn to remain calm and quiet in the play space directly across from my class, "Short Stuff Agility" He really wanted to join all of the gang under 17" for the fun, but he finally accept that he was too tall and watched quietly, but with a forlorn look on his face. He responded appropriately to the "quite" request from Samantha, the daycare staff member for the day. He turned his attention to his playmates and made me proud of him as I did not have to once ask him to be quiet while I was teaching.

Next class up was our "Reactive to Refined Dog" geared toward dogs that have limited ability to control themselves on leash and in novel situations. Two weeks ago Caspian was a great candidate to participate in this class. In the last 15 minutes of class our role-model dogs decided that they were ready to call it a day. Their job is to calmly and quietly enter and leave the room while the class dogs are working on accepting the presence of another dog without becoming highly aroused/reactive. Julie and I decided to give Caspian a try as the role-model dog since he has made such fantastic progress. We were a bit unsure of his reaction, but we were also confident that he would respond to our coaching. He entered the classroom with calm confidence, and worked brilliantly for both me and Christine(another new found love of Caspian who has been working with him since his arrival last week.) We were all so proud of him and frankly amazed at the progress Caspian has made in just a few days. We are all quick to want to say that he is getting extensive training, lots of positive feedback and a huge amount of physical exercise which is all contributing to his rapid learning and success. BUT beyond that is the stuff that Caspian is made of...a strong desire to please, a quest to learn, a bright mind and a heart just ready to give and accept love. If you are looking for a brilliant dog that will steal your heart and provide you with constant companionship and fun you must meet Caspian!