Update from an official Canine Good Citizen

Kozmo and his humans have been quite busy and unable to find the time to post a proper update. First, we have some very, very good news. Earlier this week Kozmo took and passed the Canine Good Citizen exam!!!

Sorry for the long post, but I am trying to get everyone caught up in one update.

Test day was a busy and stressful day for me. Kozmo had no idea he should be nervous and remained his sweet, loving, high energy self. I took him for a walk to try to work off some excess energy before class. I was very proud, he was doing very well at staying with me. I tried to keep him on side streets and back alleys hoping to avoid too many distractions. Clearly I picked the wrong alley when a large Shepard ran to the fence and started barking. This made Kozmo want to start pulling and alerted two smaller dogs down the street to start baking. I told Kozmo to "leave it" and stay with me. He wanted to pull on his leash to meet these dogs and play. Being the mean dog mom, I wouldn't allow it. I had to really pull his leash but we were doing ok and almost past the second yard with crazy barking dogs when the helpful owner of these dogs came to the end of the fence and told me I needed a prong collar for my dog!!!

I wanted to scream. Does that jerk have any idea how hard I have worked to not need a prong collar!?!?!?! I was so shocked. My dog was on a leash, walking and not barking. His dogs, although in his fenced in yard, were creating a disturbance. At the moment I was speechless and continued walking. After we were too far away I thought of several comments I wanted to make.

Kozmo and I went home and headed to class. Luckily other dogs in our class were taking the Good Citizen Exam so we spent class working on exercises that would be part of the exam later that evening. I was so proud of my dog, he did every thing I asked him to do in class. Although nervous, I started to gain some confidence that we had a good chance to pass the exam.

After class we had to wait for what seemed like a small eternity to take the exam. Only one dog at a time can take the test. We watched dogs and their humans coming out of the building. Most were smiling. The more time that went by the more nervous I became and the more energy Kozmo seemed to find. Finally it was our turn to walk into the testing room and my heart was racing, my hands were shaking, and Kozmo started his favorite game of "let's really piss mom off and play tug with our leash".

After a day to reflect and talking to Kozmo's trainer it seems that Kozmo was reading off of me and because I was nervous Kozmo was getting wound up. Our trainer insists I need to relax. After Kozmo focused and I took a deep breath we started the exam. There were numbered signs placed around the room, one for each of the 10 tests. Many of the tests are a blur because I was so nervous and just wanted the test to be over. I was worried about sit and down with a stay. Remember I couldn't use treats. Koz had to do this because I was telling him to do each command. I was allowed to give him verbal and physical praise.

The hardest parts of the test were at the end. He did a sit stay and recall from 20 feet. He came to me. Then other people came into the room and Kozmo had to demonstrate walking through a crowd. Next another person came into the room with their dog, a big Doberman, and we had to walk toward the pair, meet, Kozmo had to sit and stay while I shook the other person's hand and Kozmo couldn't react to the person or the dog. Finally, we were down to the last test. I had to hand Kozmo's leash to a stranger and leave the room for 3 minutes. I kept peeking around the corner to see what Kozmo was doing and he just decided to lay down and relax. It was over, we did it. Kozmo Kringle the shelter dog is an official AKC recognized Canine Good Citizen!! I felt like I had run a marathon but we did it!!

Our classes are far from over. Kozmo demonstrated he can be a good citizen in a controlled environment. We are going to continue practicing and applying good citizen behaviors in real life. He's still a puppy, but he is on his way to being a great dog.

We had one day to recover and agility classes resumed Thursday night. I was joking at work that my dog is so smart he has classes two days a week. Some of my co-workers were making analogies that I am like a doggy soccer mom. I defended myself by pointing out that Kozmo doesn't get a healthy snack before class because he focuses better when he is hungry and that he was at home in a crate. After that statement my colleague pointed out that I am more like a pageant mom!!

We were so happy to see that the same dogs and humans from our beginning class returned. The trainer had set up a full course with several jumps and obstacles. Since we are a small class with only 4 dogs each team goes individually. We took turns doing all of the obstacles, and as always, it was apparent that I need more training. I point my hand the wrong way, I look over my shoulder, I point my feet the wrong way, I'm sending poor Komzo so many mixed signals. Just to keep me humble, my good citizen started class by doing two jumps and running around the room until I could catch him.

It was getting late and I was hoping I could skip the weave poles. Our trainer wouldn't hear of it. She took Kozmo through several times and he did really well, I was ready to go back to our seat, but she made ME do the weave poles with Kozmo several times. I am not the most coordinated person. I hold my treats in the right hand when she says left, I start saying "weave" when I should say "here". We got through the weave poles and tunnel. Kozmo loves the tunnel.

The last obstacle of the night was the A frame followed by a tunnel. The A frame stresses me out. It's high. I worry Koz will fall down and get hurt. Koz loves it. He wanted to do it over and over. So we let him repeat the A frame several times and he is getting really good at stopping at the bottom. Our very last exercise was the A frame, right into a tunnel and returning to me. He did it perfectly. All the other humans in class applauded. Kozmo was a very tired dog. And I think we all know by now "a tired dog is a good dog" so the humans left agility class with smiles.

One of the best things about having an animal in your life is unconditional love and forgiveness. I am so glad both of my animals love me and forgive me for being human. We got home after agility and a trip to the grocery store and discovered Sparky was on the balcony. The other human left him out before class and we forgot. Sparky was on the back porch for several hours. I noticed him when bringing Kozmo into the house. If that wasn't bad enough, I forgot again. Once I was in the house I started putting away groceries. About an hour later I remembered Sparky was still waiting to come inside. Sparky was so happy to see me finally open the door and I am so glad he doesn't have the ability to stop loving me or be mad.

So what I lack in skill for being a good and responsible owner for my dog and cat I make up for with endless love and the commitment to try to do better the next day. After two weekends filled with travel, work, and family functions we are headed back to the lake. This weekend Kozmo is going to improve on his swimming and basic boat dog manners. I am certain all of us will make mistakes and I'm certain Kozmo will still be a happy dog.

Stay tuned to find out what breeds make Kozzy such a cute dog. As an early birthday gift my best friend bought us a doggy DNA test. It takes 4 weeks to get the results. We have many guesses....Dalmatian, Lab, Boxer, Pit Bull, Border Collie, Great Dane, Spaniel...who knows. All I know is there is only one Kozmo Kringle and we are his forever home.