Pup & Circumstance!

It was graduation today for both Puppy and Adult Manners Classes. I love graduation day! It's so heartwarming to watch all the wonderful students (humans and canines) walk over to receive their certificates... loose leash and all... Of course I play "Pup and Circumstance" just because I'm so corny that way :-)

I'm so proud of everyone - Sadie's mom said how she has learned to take the skills she's developed and use them outside of the classroom to help get the behaviors she wants! How great is that?

That's exactly what I focus on in my classes here at The Inquisitive Canine in Ventura. Sure it's great that my students can get their dogs to sit and down here...but come on, if you can't get your dogs to do the same thing out in the real world, then it's not very useful. Could you imagine if we were only able to understand what we were taught in school in the classroom but not out in the real world? None of us would have made it very far... Although it seems that many people leave their perfect and responsible driving skills back in their drivers ed classrooms...but I'll leave that one alone for now...

Anyway, congratulations to all my wonderful "graduates"! You've done such a great job... Keep up the great work!

Parade of Poochies!

Today was our annual Pooch Parade here in Ventura. What a grand event it was! Loose Leash walking everywhere! It's put on by our local private rescue group The Canine Adoption and Rescue League - a great group of folks that help dogs in need. The parade and post-party is always a good time to be had - by canines and humans alike. Plus, the weather was perfect! Not too hot, not overcast by much... all in all a very pleasant day.

We started with a nice warm-up stretch with the lady that owns and runs the fabulous Oaks of Ojai (talk about motivation and rewards for humans), then we took to the path for our 5K walk... Poncho, my hubby and I all walked together - had a great time. I'm so proud of Poncho (my hubby too)... We kept up the pace - Poncho said hello to other dogs and people very politely (what a good boy he is) ;-) Then we headed back and walked about greeting others, and "window shopping" at the various vendor booths. A perfect opportunity to practice all the lovely good manners skills I teach him, and the students in my classes over at the Inquisitive Canine studio.

There were so many great dogs! And responsible owners too! I saw everyone monitoring their own dogs behavior - cleaning up after them, rewarding generously for desired behaviors. Makes my heart sing when I see such great canine-human relationships.

I saw some of my own students who are enrolled in my Puppy Manners Class there too! Of course they were also doing a fabulous job with their dogs - just like in class... I'm so proud of them!

So, if anyone missed the Pooch Parade this year, there is always next year! Come on out, bring your dogs, or adopt a new one, or just come to be amongst all the happy wagging tails!

A sight for sore eyes...

What a lovely and heartwarming sight to see... I LOVE when I witness dog owners practicing those techniques I teach in my classes...whether they are students of mine or not... Just today I saw two different dog owners providing love and attention AND yummy treats from their pockets when their dogs were sitting and paying attention to them as distractions were all around. Just brilliant! Perfect timing in the delivery and perfect techniques. My heart is still singing... Wouldn't it be great if we did this with our dogs AND with each other all the time??? Well, for me, it's one dog at a time...but it seems we're getting there :-)