WE PASSED!!!

Good boy Theo!

Theo is officially a good citizen of the canine world! Like most things exciting that happen in my life, this event comes with some elements of strife. The trainer realized halfway through class that they had never reset the timer on the lights in the training yard for daylight savings. She was nervous about the lights going off in the middle of the test so she decided to give everyone the test at lightning speed...all at the same time. It was definitely unconventional. All in all I think Theo did really well on the test, surprisingly. He did everything the first time and required very little coaxing from me. His only issue, as I mentioned before, was his barking. He was definitely better than normal, and he would always quiet down when I asked him to (for a time), but I don't know what would have usually counted as a fail.

After the test (and everyone who took it passed), the trainer made a comment a bit under her breath that while everyone passed, probably not everyone would have during a usual test. I thought that was a bit harsh (why pass people if you don't think they should?), and detracted a bit from the excitement of passing. Did he really pass? I didn't take the CGC test just because I could. I took it because to me it genuinely stands for something.

I think that maybe I'm just being paranoid. After all, he did really well in the test! I was actually surprised he did so well. She was probably talking about one of the other dogs who didn't want to get brushed, or who jumped during greeting. I know it's going to bother me, so I'll probably email her tomorrow and ask if she thought Theo would really pass given the test under normal circumstances, but until then I choose to believe that Theo is a canine good citizen and I am extremely proud of him!!!

I had to laugh. During the supervised separation, Theo was amazing. He sat in one spot and didn't make a peep the whole time I was gone. I told the trainer that it must just be around me that he likes to bark. Go figure. And that's really all it is. He's excited and wants to tell me all about it. He always has a big smile on his face when he barks. I understand, but it's hard to think that such happy communication makes him a bad citizen. Hehe.

PS: I just found out this morning that I'll be traveling for work the rest of the week (boo!). I'm taking my laptop so this shouldn't mean any disruption in my NaBloPoMo daily posting. But it may mean I'm a bit terse. Bare with me.