A Very Full Week (by: Gerrit)

Boy oh boy has it been a busy week! Last week I went to a place called UC Davis. My puppy raiser told me that it is a college for people... kind of like Advanced Training (aka Doggie College) is a college for us CCI dogs! At UC Davis there was a BIG event called Picnic Day. There were people... and DOGS... everywhere! Awesome!

Lots and lots of puppy raisers, dogs in training, and graduates were at the event. We had a CCI booth where people could come and learn all about us. We attracted a really large crowd of people!

The best part of the day was when we went to watch a parade. The granddaughter of another puppy raiser watched the parade with us and she was the absolute best! She snuggled with me and my buddy, Idelle, the whole time we watched the parade. She even used Idelle as a pillow for awhile... and she let ME use HER as a pillow!

After we were at the event for awhile, my puppy raiser gave me to another puppy raiser, who took me home and kept me for the whole week! That was really fun too! I LOVE sleepovers! Plus, while I was with the other puppy raiser I got to play with a bunch of other dogs and I even got to go to Point Reyes and go to the beach! The best part though was when a super special lady trained with me. She was was once a puppy raiser and is now just 3 weeks from becoming a veterinarian! She was super duper duper nice! She worked with me on my dog distraction issues and gave a whole bunch of pointers to my puppy raiser, when my puppy raiser picked me up from her on Friday. My puppy raiser LOVED the suggestions because they focused on positive reinforcement, which is the kind of training my puppy raiser really likes to use.

It sure was a fun week! But, I'm glad to be home so that I can get caught up on my naps... and pounce on Carlo when he's not looking... hee hee...

Gerritopolis (by: Gerrit)

You're not gonna believe where my puppy raiser took me today! She took me to this place where there were TONS of dogs. I've never seen so many dogs in my entire life! And, check this out... they all smelled... very fresh and clean!

I found out from my puppy raiser that the reason they all smelled so good was cause it was a dog show and the dogs had to look there very best. My puppy raiser told me that the dogs compete against each other and they can win ribbons for looking good. I asked her if I could win a ribbon too! She just laughed and said for me to win a ribbon she'd have to change my name to something like Sir Gerritopolis III. Huh? I asked. She tried to explain how show dogs have long fancy names and are bred specifically to be show dogs... kinda like I was bred specifically to be an assistance dog. But, I still didn't quite get it. All I know is that if I had to change my name to Gerritopolis in order to get a ribbon... I'd pass on the ribbon!

We went to the dog show with Nick's puppy raiser. Nick didn't get to go cause he was with his other puppy raisers today. Boy, oh boy I can't wait to tell him all about the dog show! The reason my puppy raiser took me there was to work on my dog distraction issue. Having this dog distraction issue was the best thing I ever decided to do cause I sure get to go go some neat places because of it! The dog show was way fun! I saw great big giant dogs called Great Danes (who looked as big as horses), fancy funny looking dogs called poodles (who had their butts shaved... seriously!), big shaggy dogs called Bouviers des Flandres (my puppy raiser had to help me spell that!), and sooooo much more! There were dogs EVERYWHERE!

And, you're not gonna believe this, but my puppy raiser told me that I was a REALLY good boy at the dog show! I didn't whine at all and I kept making eye contact with my puppy raiser and Nick's puppy raiser. They both rewarded me big time for this with yummy treats! My puppy raiser said that it was amazing how much better behaved I was at the dog show than I was at the event last week. Not only was I good around all the dogs, I was even a good boy when a bunch of kids came over to pet me!

My puppy raiser took a photo of me in front of a Best of Winners sign (above) cause she said today I was so good that I sure was a winner!!! As soon as I came home, I told Lucky and Carlo all about it! Lucky just shook her head and said, "You poor sap... haven't I taught you anything? If you are too good and you make it look like you no longer have a dog distraction issue, she won't take you to all those fun dog events all the time!"

I smiled, wagged my tail, and responded, "Oh, but I did learn from you Lucky! I may have been good around the dogs, but I was REALLY distracted when we visited the dog toy vendors. Those squeaky toys really got me going! Pet stores here we come!!!" :-)

Dog'gone Fun Event (by: Gerrit)

Today I got to go to an event called Doggun... Dog'gone Doggie... oh heck, I don't remember what it was called, I just know that it sure was Dog'gone fun!

I went there with my puppy raiser, my buddies, Nick and Idelle, and their puppy raisers. My puppy raiser told me on the drive to the event that we were going to work on dog distractions. Cool! I LOVE dog distractions! But, I never dreamed that there would be so many dog distractions at the event! It was awesome!

The event was held at a big park and there were dogs of all shapes and sizes. Big giant dogs and itty bitty yappy dogs. The whole thing was so exciting! The other dogs at the event were being tested on agility and obedience type stuff. We lucked out and didn't have to do any testing, but we did have to be good and observe... which, let me tell ya'... wasn't so easy! In fact, I think it was tougher than being tested. At least if you're being tested, it gives you something to take your mind off the fact that there are soooo many dogs... all of which look like they'd be so fun to play with!

My puppy raiser worked with me for awhile and then she gave me to Nick's puppy raiser so that she could work with me too. Both of them said I was really good... errr... ok, ok, maybe those weren't the exact words that came out of their mouths. But, I think maybe they said I was pretty good... cause I was pretty good... well, except for those times when I was just laying and observing. That's when I started to be sorta whiney. But, I just couldn't help it! It was sooooo much fun being around all those dogs! I just loved it, loved it, LOVED it!

Just to prove that I was good once in awhile, here is a photo of me being a good boy. I'm being so good that I'm not even noticing my tail being kinda funny!

After all the torturous observing of other dogs, my puppy raiser took some photos of us. Here I am with my buddies, Nick and Idelle. In case you can't really tell Nick and Idelle apart... Nick is the one with the drool. Hee hee... he's so funny! No wonder I love dogs so much... they are always doing funny stuff like this! How can I not get excited!