Yesterday the East Bay and South Bay Canine Companions (note to self: not!CCI) held their annual Chapter Workshop together. This is the first one I’ve attended for some reason, and I’m so glad I did!
You know the day is going to be great when one of the first people you (and the dog) see after getting out of the car is James – Cassius’s trainer and now the Puppy Program Manager for the Northwest Region. Cassius momentarily turned into a goofy wiggly happy puppy, but mostly contained himself and did a somewhat respectable greeting. I love how much he loves all his people, even after many months of not seeing them.
Now to sessions: these included the over-managed and under-managed dog (which reminded me of a few handling errors/shortcuts I tend to make and how I need to be better about them – imagine that, Cassius is a lot less likely to forge when hurrying when I ask him to sit beforehand!), things about loading and unloading from the car (James made me feel better about how we do that/car-riding in general).
We had a little time to visit and say hi to people and dogs alike, including the cutest black fluffy puppy I’ve ever seen. They need to breed more black fluffies! Then we had a session outside on appropriate play and encouraging dogs to play appropriately using rewards without expectations – that was a new concept and it made a lot of sense.
An update on some of the programs going on – PTSD study (including the best video ever of one of the dogs showing off the Search skill!) and the fMRI study – was followed by one on the breeding program, loved hearing about that as I don’t follow it too closely. Apparently there is a huge long waitlist for a dog in the NWR, which is a good problem to have although not good if you’re waiting for a puppy!
We ended the day with more visiting of humans and dogs, and I left as always – inspired by the people and dogs I am privileged to work with.
Natalie Abbott 