Puppy Foundation
As with most things I have started in my life, my initial enthusiasm for writing about my experiences with Toby has waned somewhat, so the next couple of posts are summaries to get me back to the current day.
After six weeks of training Toby successfully passed the Kennel Club Good Citizen Dog Scheme Puppy Foundation - it’s not a formal test (and yes, everyone passed). It’s a basic test of making sure the owner knows what a dog needs (water, regular grooming and a name badge) and making sure your dog obeys some basic commands - walking on a lead, recall and giving a toy back without biting you too hard.
Things I learnt:
- Cocker spaniels are very naughty dogs - they are grumpy like teenage girls
- Toby likes to walk just slightly faster than I do (regardless of how fast I go)
- Toby thinks the right amount of time to play with another dog is about a day
- Just because Toby learned something last week doesn’t mean you don’t have to start all over again the following week
- Toby is much better at ‘down’ and ’stay’ than all the other dogs
So, now I have a little rosette and certificate - I am immensely proud and looking forward to the next stage of learning - Bronze! Regular readers will be aware that I already have one eye on Gold, and naturally I do - after all, who wouldn’t want a well behaved and obedient dog (and lots more certificates!).