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©2009–2016 Beach Angel Chelsea & Sherry Skipper Spurgeon. All Rights Reserved. Clip art from DJ Inkers is used with permission. |
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I moved to California when I was a wee 3-months old. I began school immediately. Yep, that’s right! A week after coming here from Oregon, I began Puppy Awareness classes at Jump Start Dog Sports in Yorba Linda with Aunt Debbie. Sam, my new Golden Retriever boyfriend, and I began classes together. The Puppy Awareness class is a short, month-long class for the first-time dog. Think of it as puppy pre-school.
Why go to Puppy Awareness (Puppy Pre-School) and Puppy Kindergarten?
Lessons include play time with other puppies as well as time learning to become familiar with 'equipment' such as stairs and ramps, things that are often found in the home. Classes are fun for everyone, as evidenced by the happy smile on MY face! Next up, after the four weeks of pre-school, both Sam and I headed of to Kindergarten where we began our formal obedience training with renowned dog trainer Sue Myles. Auntie Sue uses a very effective force-free training, utilizing pawsitive reinforcement, love, and most importantly, no choke chain (I wore a Buddy Belt harness/collar for training). Auntie Sue's Kindergarten is amazing…and there is simply NOTHING that can possibly describe what a powerful experience and just HOW MUCH I learned in the short time I was in Kinder…Mama was a Kindergarten teacher (of human children) and she can relate to the growth I made! Woo-hoo! Oh, and yeah, Sam and I both graduated without ever peeing on the teacher.
Basic Obedience and Being a Good Citizen After Puppy Kindergarten I continued my education because, after all, the more schooling you get, the better, right? (mama is a teacher so what did you expect?) I began Auntie Sue's Basic Obedience class. Of course, Sam was in classes with me (yeah, yeah…we got into some trouble so let this be a lesson. Don't sit WITH your friends in school. It's okay to be in classes together but sit far away from your friends or you can get in trouble with the teacher!). Basic Obedience continued on where Kindergarten left off and I learned how to work OFF the leash and learned how to listen really well to mama's commands. In fact, I learned to follow hand signals along with the voice commands. My lessons included homework (practice, makes for a pawfect companion!). I had so much fun that when Auntie Sue offered a class in being a Therapy Dog, I jumped right in! Therapy Dog Therapy Dog training incorporated basic obedience and the various requirements necessary in passing the American Kennel Club's Canine Good Citizen test. This is a test that provides you with a special certificate. Auntie Sue incorporated additional lessons that she felt were important for therapy dogs like being able to fetch and pick up things that a person may drop. Since Shih Tzus are notorious for not wanting to fetch, this was a difficult task for me. It took some time but I can now differentiate and fetch and pick up items if you point them out to me!
Agility Training here I come!
I attended classes through a group called Intelligent Agility. I met Erin and Kevin when I was a wee pup cuz they worked with Auntie Sue. I started out with their Beginning Agility class and continued with the Intermediate and Advanced Agility. I absolutely LOVE agility! I was included in the Orange County Register (online edition) showing off my skills at a pet event in Lake Forest, California. Yes, there's just no stopping me now! Check out some of my action shots on my agility page. Nowadays, I do all my agility at home. I can leap off of tall buildings and jump to high places, just like Superman. LOL Note: Shih Tzus are considered very difficult to train. After all, why should we do what someone TELLS us to do? Hmmm? The fact that Auntie Sue was able to train me so well totally impressed my daddy (who has lived with several Shih Tzus so he knows how obstreperous we are). So, if you wanna go to school, go see Auntie Sue and learn from the bestest and tell her Chelsea sent you. OH, and if you are like me and keep on going, ask for the Awesome-Pawsome Deal, named for yours truly! |
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