Sometimes it's not all cars

LeoC2

Registered
Well we can't all play with cars every day all day so we do sometimes have another interest or two. Mine is dog training and Therapy Dogs. Well today was a big day for Artemis, my 2 yr old rescue Bichon. From being afraid of her own shadow and having serious personality issues she has blossomed into a well adjusted, outgoing, tail wagger. Today she passed her CGC trials with flying colors! The CGC is the American Kennel Club's Canine Good Citizen test which comprises a series of obedience trials, it's a first test toward a dog becoming a Certified Therapy Dog. My four yr old Bichon, Otus, has been a Therapy Dog for two years now and Artemis will take her final trials at the end of April. She did everything perfectly and seemed to have a great time. Also passing was Isis, a Standard Poodle who is undergoing training along with Artemis. Out of twenty or so dogs taking the test only five passed.

A really amazing thing happened though... LI Agility was there and they demonstrated the agility course using our dogs. Well Otus, being the re-incarnated hippie that he is, was just too mellow, all he wanted to do was get the hell out of there and hunt for magic mushrooms, he wouldn't budge up and down the ramps and was really scared of the tunnels. Artemis, on the other hand, took to it like she'd been doing it all her life. She was up and over the ramps at a run, she took the jumps like a champ, and she flew in and out of the tunnels tag wagging so fast it was a blur. They said she was an good candidate for agility, especially due to the "cuteness factor." I may give it a try this summer.

I took a few pictures but not many as it was hard to snap shots and control two dogs. Pictures are here http://leocerruti.com/ArtemisCGC
 
Leo, great job. Congratulations.

Can a certified therapy dog be taken into a hospital?

Yes, that's the idea. Hospitals, nursing homes, day care, there's even a new program in libraries where kids read to the dogs.
 
Lol, that is awesome! I expected a bigger dog, lmao, and to my surprise they are just "poodles"(I know you probably hate that). I trained Duke by basically including him in everything I do, and introducing him to all my friends. He is an inside/outside dog so he is super healthy with lots of room to run. He opens the gate for me to drive my car in the driveway, he shuts the door of my room when he comes in, and he attacks people when I tell him, lol. Still won't get me a beer though :(

IMG_4836.JPG


This reminds me of the "my butt hurts" picture in the other thread, haha. Poor guy, I bet he was on the wish list for a lot of dogs.
 
That poor dog looks scared to death of the Bunnyman. :lol:

I like to keep up my sharpshooting skills and I go through roughly 25-30K rounds a year.
 
Our Great Dane Maverick is also a therapy dog. We passed certification about a year ago. He goes to a nursing home, the elementary school in our subdivision and the military hospitals here. My wife and Maverick spend time with the patients, the staff. They also do story tales to help the kids read. They also get to visit some of the troops from Iraq and Afghanistan who are amputees. It is amazing what a dog can do for moral at these hospitals.
 
Last edited:
Our Great Dane Maverick is also a therapy dog. We passed certification about a year ago. He goes to a nursing home and the military hospitals here and spends time with the patients, the staff. We also get to visit some of the troops from Iraq and Afghanistan who are amputees. It is amazing what a dog can do for moral at these hospitals.

Wow! Post some pictures when you can.
 
That's great! Notice how the dog seems to know his "job" and gets into "therapy mode?" Whenever Otus has been to the children's hospital or to the library for "Reading to Dogs Day" he takes on a completely different demeanor and becomes quite the professional. Once we leave he goes back to goofy mode. I'll take some pictures next time and post them.
 
Maverick does the same thing. Matter of fact, the school was having a very tough Monday after a student had died from a long illness over the weekend. My wife decided to bring Maverick to the school, unscheduled, to provide comfort to the kids and teachers alike. When my wife showed up at the house, somehow Maverick new that he had a job to do and waited at the garage door, wouldn't go outside but wanted to get going. He made the grieving at school much easier that day. Amazing how he new that was his job that day.
He came home and was the his usual knucklehead self.
 
Back
Top