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He passed his CGC! Very excited. I was nervous that the lack of clicker or food would be a problem. I was afraid the dropping of the clipboard as the distraction would send Panda fleeing in terror. I was afraid he'd try to play with the yellow lab (he has such a passion for blondes). But Panda was excellent! I talked to him, he followed and one by one, he got all 10 "passes" and then the certificate! I'm so relieved.

The atmosphere of the obedience show has given me further incentive not to compete with Panda. Who needs the stress? The people are just too wigged out and tense, I don't see the point. So I'm going back to my original goal of Panda being capable of completing the Novice A obedience trial.

April 1

Class last night was a little slow. We practiced recall where we all took turns going across the room and calling our dog to come. Panda, of course, did very well since I've been practicing this at playgroups in an effort to train him for his CGC. However, the pace of class did leave me extra time to work on some therapy stuff with Panda. I worked on touch and got him to climb up onto a step and up onto a slippery plastic chair. He was completely stressed out with his feet sliding on the chair's surface, but he hung up there! I was impressed.

It seems my husband is more committed than ever to get Panda his CD, so we're currently arguing over training rights. I'm nervous about handing over the clicker because he's so determined to set his own rules and procedures no matter how much "advice" I give him. I'm also the one that's been working with Panda on all the basic obedience commands, so it seems strange to switch over. I'd rather he work on training Panda for new behaviors (as is recommended in the clicker training literature). So, we'll see how that develops.

I'm finding myself slipping into a less structured training routine with Panda. It's no longer clear what I should be working on. I'd really like the therapy stuff to start up to see how it goes. But I'm waiting to hear from the person on when a screening date will be set. I guess it's time for me to go back and read more of Don't Shoot the Dog to get reinspired.

Next class is graduation day and Panda will be tested! I think that means we need to work on heel some more. He does pretty well but it's not tight and I still don't know if his head is too far forward.

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