School Days...

I think I'm going to sign Rocket up for some sort of doggy community service project. On our walk today we were told not less then four times what a gorgeous dog he is, which is lovely  and correct, and I thanked every one of those very  observant people for their kind words but, I do think all the  adoration is going to his head.

I think doggy school is going to be a reality check for us both. Its one thing to be pretty, its quite another thing to be smart and I have a feeling the other dogs in the class are going to be smart dogs. When I was at orientation last week the other people all ready knew the instructor and had really good questions and took notes and  had dogs that had already been through classes. I didn't mention he had been tutored at home ( he also speaks french and plays the piano)  and I should have asked if his Puppy Pre-School course counted towards graduation!

But really it doesn't matter. If any of the dogs were really outstanding they wouldn't be in this class anyway, they would have tested out of a mere puppy class and be taking Canine Good Citizen class - the gold standard in dog obedience.

CGC  class is the under grad of dog training. Once your dog has successfully completed it, they can go on to any number of different dog fields such as Therapy Dog, Competitive Obedience, Search and Rescue, Agility,  tracking and any of a dozen of other "jobs" available for your dog.

I decided to go look up what is required of a dog to get CGC  and I was a little surprised. No tricks, no hard core self control, no math... most of it is behaviors that Rocket all ready on the way to displaying all the time. Some we would have to work on but all and all, its no really what I thought it was. I looked at what they test for and what the class covers and it just seemed to come down to Is your dog an asshole? Are you not sure? Take this class and unassholefy your dog". At the end your dog takes the test with you and  you both get a certificate.

I wonder if its like a driving test, if you can just keep retaking it until you pass? Because Rocket is really, really pretty...