Hi, remember me? It's Saber the German Shepherd Dog. It has been a long time since I wrote, but I am pretty unforgettable so I am sure you DO remember! I have been very busy this winter: sleeping, eating, napping, fetching, eating, sleeping, tracking, and most recently, shedding! Mom is thrilled with all the giant fur balls I am leaving all over the house. She carefully gathers all my soft, beautiful hair in a large container called a "vacuum" (while I try to attack it, just for fun) and then I think she must empty it into a large treasure box somewhere. Probably in the same vicinity where she keeps all my poop. She likes to gather that, too!
Anyway, I also have been back in AKC Obedience classes with my Mom for the past 8 weeks. I have had a lot of Obedience classes, starting when I was just 3 months old. Wasn't I cute?
Just eight weeks later, I graduated at the top of my class with my AKC STAR Puppy certificate! Here I am with the medallion I earned. Mom said "sit" and "smile!" Look how obedient I was!
Wow, I grew! So, since I was such an obedience Star, my puppy class instructor told Mom I was ready to take real, grown-up obedience classes in preparation for AKC Obedience trials when I am older! Mom listened and right away she put me into Novice Obedience class at the local dog training club. For 8 weeks, I worked on things like heeling patterns, figure 8, stand for exam, a 1 minute sit stay, a 3 minute down stay, and eating lots of cheese. I was excellent at doing my job, especially eating the cheese! After 8 weeks, I graduated Novice class and earned a score of 180 in our Fun Match, which is a qualifying score and was second place in the class! Not bad for a 6 month old pup! I lost 2 points for licking the judge though. He smelled like cheese. Here I am after my graduation in May 2011.
Mom was so proud of me! In June she put me right back into Obedience classes for 8 more weeks to keep practicing. I needed work on my off-leash heeling. Then in the summer, we joined some club members to practice Obedience outdoors at different parks. The instructor set up temporary fencing in the grass and we'd practice all of our obedience skills, surrounded by trees, squirrels, geese, birds, and people walking their dogs and riding their bikes. It was very distracting, but I think that was the point!
In the fall, I took a class called Canine Good Citizen, which was pretty easy for me. The only hard thing I had to do was stay with a stranger while Mom left the building. I had to sit quietly without whining or trying to find her for three whole minutes! That was horrible! I wanted to go find my Mom right away! But Mom worked on it with me at home until I was ready. I passed the test and got my CGC just a few days after my first birthday.
In January 2012, we took an Advanced Novice Obedience class and it was lots of fun! Mom thought I was about ready to trial in an actual Obedience ring, but I had other plans. I was getting so bored with the same old obedience exercises, so I decided to spice things up a bit. When she'd say "come," I would run towards her, veer left, veer right, then run around her in a circle. When she said "heel," I'd add some very agile spinning while I was heeling. I also started sniffing the ground an awful lot, mainly because I was bored and there were always microscopic treat crumbs to be found. Mom said obedience stopped being much fun, so we took a little break over the summer. We just relaxed and went to dog parks, lure coursing, tracking, herding, and dock diving instead!
Finally this January, she thought I might be ready to try again. And I was! Somehow, it didn't seem as boring this time, and I love paying attention to Mom while I heel with her. I did so much better in the Novice class and Mom was beaming with pride! Last week, I graduated in first place with a score of 194! Much better, and Mom says I am almost ready to trial. We are taking one more class first: Advanced Novice again, to practice my off-leash heeling. It starts in a couple of weeks, and I can't wait! I love cheese!
