Is Your Dog A Good Neighbour?

The Canadian Kennel Club has a great program called Canine Good Neighbour. It's a simple test you and your dog can take that will showcase your polite and well behaved selves. This is taken directly from the CKC website:

The Canine Good Neighbour Program is a 12-step test, that when completed successfully, will ensure that one of our most favoured companions, the dog, is accepted as a valued member of our communities right across the country. Canine Good Neighbours can be counted on to present good manners at home, in public places and in the presence of other dogs.

The test is non-competitive and allows dog and handler to demonstrate confidence and control in 12 steps. It assesses the handler and dog's relationship, together with the handler's ability to control the dog. Dogs are evaluated on their ability to perform basic exercises as well as their ability to demonstrate good manners in everyday situations.

You and Your Dog Must Must Complete these 12 Steps

1. Accepting A Friendly Stranger
2. Politely Accepts Petting
3. Appearance and Grooming
4. Out For A Walk
5. Walking Through A Crowd
6. Sit/Down On Command and Stay In Place
7. Come When Called
8. Praise/Interaction
9. Reaction To A Passing Dog
10. Reaction To Distractions
11. Supervised Isolation
12. Walking Through A Door/Gate

The training program embraces both purebred and mixed-breed dogs and is fun, rewarding, and useful. It encourages owners to have a better and richer relationship with their dogs. The program also enhances community awareness of responsible dog ownership and the numerous benefits associated with dog ownership.

If you'd like a little more in depth information on each step of the test you can click on this link here.

I encourage all my puppy people to take this simple test. Anything that shows the general public how hard we work to be responsible dog owners gets a big thumbs up from me.

The last dog here who I took the test with was Enya (Ch Esquire's Celtic Woman CGN) last April, she was a star!

There are a couple of other dogs who I will be taking through the test this year and I hope you'll join me in doing so. A great place to start your search for a test in your area is by going to Canuck Dogs. If you have any trouble locating a test please let me know and I'll do my best to help you.

Make sure and take pictures when you go to the test so I can feature them here on the blog!

Brody x Phoebe picture update

The Brody x Phoebe puppies turned seven months old on the eighth of January, time is just flying along.

This is Braebrook's Eight Days A Week "Friday". I love her bone and substance, something I bred to Brody specifically to get so I'm thrilled to see it in her. Friday has great focus, she's into everything but is very trainable, she wants to figure out what it is you're asking of her which I love.

This is Braebrook's We All Shine On "Lennon". Again, he has good substance for a seven month old puppy, a pretty neck into shoulder transition, smooth top line and a sweet wanting to please attitude. 

This is Braebrook's Revolution "Aussie" who came to stay at Braebrook for a bit. It's nice when they do that as it gives me a chance to get an updated stacked picture and to see what they are like to live with as they get older. While she doesn't have the same substance as the other two she is beautifully smooth and a very balanced mover.

Here are a couple of pictures of Friday and Lennon out for a run on the local mountain trails. Must keep the young pups tired and in shape!

Join Me?

I recently found out through a Facebook friend that the Dalmatian Club of America has a Distance Log Program. The Dalmatian is well known as a coach dog and as such needs to have incredible endurance. In order to encourage DCA members to get out and put some mileage under those paws they created the Distance Log Program. There are different levels but Platinum is 1000 miles a year. I think this is such a great program, not only are they proving the endurance of the Dals but both dogs and humans are getting much needed exercise, and they are spending quality time with each other. It always helps to have a goal to work towards too, I know that if I had a mileage goal it would definitely get me out the door more often.

So I was thinking...why don't we do it? Come on Braebrook crew! It wouldn't be quite as formal as the DCA program but it would be lots of fun to be doing something collectively as a group with our dogs. All you need is something to record your mileage with (a GPS - my Garmin works great, or if you walk the same area quite often you can always drive it and see how far it is, or something like a Fitbit - I have the Flex and love it). Then just remember to record your mileage into a notebook and you're good to go. It's easy to set up and both you and your dog will benefit immensely.

I was thinking as a little motivation that there should be some kind of prize at the end (you know, above and beyond all that quality time and exercise) and I was thinking that a Braebrook Calendar might be fun. It's something I've been wanting to do (please keep sending those pictures...you could end up in it!) and to all those who hit 1000 km by the end of 2015 I'll send you a calendar on the house!

If you want to join me be sure to email me at braebrookdobes@yahoo.ca and let me know, and be sure to take pictures of you and your dog while you're out and about. I'll do a summary blog post at the end of each month and would love to include pictures of everyone.

Happy trails!

Coco's First Time As A Therapy Dog

 I received the most wonderful email yesterday telling me about Coco's (Ch Braebrook's Coco Chanel Holmrun) first day as a therapy dog. Coco is from my Dirk x London breeding and will be seven (!!) in April...time flies. Coco is also the dam of an all champion litter when bred to Freddy (Ch Holmrun's Fred Astaire) which includes Bravo, Remy and Cooper, and the dam of multi best puppy in group winners and loving companions when bred to Mick (BISS Ch Holmrun's Play for Keeps)..which include Jax, Riley, Owen and Soter (who she currently lives with).

Here is the email I received from owner Sherri:

Hi Mariah,

I think I has mentioned yesterday that my Grandma was in the hospital because she had broke her hip again.  Well,  her hip is healed but she spent so long in bed that she's not able to walk now and her dementia now is so bad that some days she can hardly speak.  She's been very unhappy and depressed and because of this, not making any progress, which of course makes her more depressed and on it goes.  

The one thing that could always bring a smile to her face was my dogs so I went and spoke with the floor supervisor yesterday and asked if I could bring one of my dogs in to see Grandma.  She was understandably hesitant as Coco isn't a therapy dog and of course the whole Doberman thing but they're so worried about Grandma that she said we could give it a try.

It was amazing!  Her face just lit up, she smiled more than she has in months.  She was even able to speak, she was chatting away, calling Coco's name and telling her what a good and pretty girl she was!  She was even trying to push herself in the wheelchair to keep up with Coco. 
You just wouldn't believe the change in her.

Coco was simply amazing.  The big front doors swoosh open when you push the button, she trotted right through, not scared or nervous in the least.  She went past walkers, wheelchairs, canes, all sorts of carts, there were alarms and bells going off, nothing phased her.  She just walked on past cool as can be.  

The nurses were so impressed that they asked if I would bring her around to see some of the other patients.  Coco would very calmly and gently approach them and then either stand or sit and let them do whatever to her.  Some of the patients have very poor motor control skills and were slamming on her little head trying to pet her but she just stood like a rock through it.  There was this one old man who's mostly deaf so he yells, really loud, he was so excited to meet Coco he kept yelling "Hey Coco, come here Coco".  I thought for sure she would be skittish, but no, she walked right up to him and put her head in his lap.  

We stayed for about an hour and the whole time she was rock solid.  No sign of being nervous or skittish at all.  She didn't once make a single sound, not a whine, not a bark or a growl.  She was so good and the other patients were so thrilled with her that they've ask us to come back again.  I can't even say how proud we are of her! What do you think, service dog in the making?

I can't even tell you how proud I am of these two, and yes..I DO think that we have a service dog in the making. Well done Coco and Sherri! Thank you for being such amazing ambassadors for this wonderful breed, and showing others what we already know....Dobermans rule. ;)