Well, after a little thought, I began to see how much fun it could actually be... So, I decided to go for it! I offered up Arlo, as he is what I call my "All Purpose Dog" ----- I can take him anywhere and ask him to do anything, and he is all for it, calm, confident, and cool in all situations. I was not too sure how he'd feel about being dressed up, but we'd find out!
My outfit of choice for him, after much thought and consideration, was a police dog vest. He is a German shepherd after all, from German working bloodlines. He sire was an active duty police dog, along with many of his close relatives. And, what are German shepherds most known for? That they excel at police work. My classmates organizing the event also had some outfits picked out for him, namely a doctor's outfit, a hockey outfit, and a Georgian college vet tech outfit.
This event was really well organized, I have nothing but praise for my classmates. The "Change room" was a classroom they booked. There were a whole bunch of people and a lot more dogs in there, some loose, some on leash, all getting dressed and undressed for their chance on the "stage". Arlo did great of course, no issues. And I was surprised at how well he took to being dressed up. It did not phase him one bit, even when he had the stethoscope around his neck, bouncing to and fro. What a great sport he was, I was so proud of him.
The "stage" they set up was a bit of a challenge for us... They wanted the dog to walk on the handler's right side... Arlo is a competitive Schutzhund dog, always working on the handler's left side. No matter how many times I tried to get him to walk on my right, he would correct himself and move to the left side. Getting him up on the "stage" was another thing..... it was a bunch of tables pushed together covered in a "red carpet". Arlo is never expected to walk "up" on things that move slightly.... My solution? I got up on the tables myself, and he followed. Then, he was rewarded with his ball. After that, he was dragging me to get up on those tables. The power of positive training and reinforcement can pay off in ways you wouldn't expect. I allowed him to walk on my left, but then stopped him while he was up there and asked him to sit, down, or stand so the audience could see him. Later on, I heard some of the audience members were amazed that he actually "stayed".... Hm-m-m-m-m....... If they only knew all he was capable of and that a simple "stay" was really nothing for him.
It was so much fun, and I was glad I participated. Arlo had fun, and was such a good sport and once again, a great ambassador for the breed. In his down time before his appearances on stage, we would hang out in the hallway, and all sorts of people would pat him, feed him, even little kids were paying attention to him. Nothing phases this dog. If these same people would have seen him work on a SchH field before this event, I can bet that many people would have been afraid to approach him. This is part of the misunderstanding of the sport that only aggressive dogs participate. This once again proves that not all SchH dogs are "aggressive", and that a SchH titled dog can be a stable, friendly, approachable canine living in the community.
Way to go Arlo, I'm so lucky to have such a wonderful dog!
Below, Arlo in his Georgian College Vet Tech T-shirt posing before he goes on stage...
Below, Arlo on stage in his Dr.'s outfit, stopping for a small bite of cheese...
Below, hanging out in the hallway in between appearances...
Below, Arlo on stage in his Police Dog vest doing a down-stay... unfortunately the picture is blurry and it's the only one I have...
Below, at the end of the show, all the dogs and handlers were together, posing for pictures... Arlo is hard to see, his black head is against my black shirt... he's the one in the yellow t-shirt.
Some other dogs at the show:
Below, here is border collie Schooner, one of the faculty member's dogs... One of my absolute favourite of the staff dogs...
Below, classmate Veronica's dog Tito, a chihuahua what a cutie!!!!
Below, classmate Laura's border collie Molson...
Classmate Christine's Dogo Argentino, Malek. Malek is a young dog, and he absolutely would not get up on that stage!
Faculty member's dog, Golden retriever, Ruby. Ruby is also a valued teaching assistant and is so extremely patient with all of the students.
No comments:
Post a Comment