CGC Class #2

Ok... I hate to break it to everyone but...

Zachary was "on" tonight in Canine Good Citizen Class.

Zachary was great doing sits and downs on his mat.
Zachary was great doing sits and downs on the prickly bark.
Zachary was great doing sits and downs 10 feet away from me.

Zachary was good doing figure-8's around the dog-and-handler "posts".  Yes, that is a good and not a great, but good isn't bad when it's only class #2. There was a bit more interest in a patch of bark than I would like, but he got better with a few tries.

Zachary was great doing 20' recalls.
Zachary was good doing 20' recalls past the plate of treats (he blew it just once)
Zachary was great doing 20' recalls past the instructor's dog.

Zachary was pretty good ignoring the friendly stranger - blew the first one (those darn Friendly Genes expressing themselves again) but stayed put after that for both strangers approaching, as well as strangers petting.  I think giving the "Leave It!" cue as the stranger approaches has really made a huge difference.

Zachary was even great for the reaction to another dog (handlers approach, stop, dogs sit, handlers shake hands, continue walking in opposite directions.) I used a single "Leave it!" there as well, but I'm not sure it was really needed. I'm torn between wanting to drop the cue, and not wanting to break a "winning streak." Will have to give it some thought.

Zachary wasn't good for Supervised Separation - his mouth did that pre-whimper open-close-open-close thing as I walked outside the chain-link (ie: see through) fence and he looked as though he thought I might never return again.

Oh well, something to work on for next week.

(and we even had a bonus "distraction" of several large double-rotor helicopters flying overhead)

Yeah Zachary!