CGC (therapy) training

[mrs1885]

I'm new here and looking for anyone that has had their dog in CGC classes. Barron starts Jan 18th and I am so excited, but a little nervous. What all do they have to learn? Barron isn't stupid by any means. He was a neglected dog for 3 years outside, but we housebroke him in the first day we took him in. He knew what wanna go outside, wanna go for a ride, wanna yum-yum, want walkies, and daddy's home all meant in days. But he's dopey. Does that make sense to anyone?? He's loveable like I have never seen, but he trips over air, I swear. He's about 130 pounds and still growing. Can you see him falling on a frail 85 year old lady in a hospital or a 2 year old in day care? He will just love everyone to death and getting petted is his favorite past-time. I'm just worried that he will have to learn things he can't get, or is too big and clumsy or something. I really want this to work for him.
Also, we are thinking of adopting 2 other Rotties that are like brother and sister to him. I would love to put all three of them in the classes. Should I put them in the same class or do them one at a time? My husband and 20 year old son would be the other handlers so it isn't like I would have to handle all 3 of them on my own at the same time.
Any ideas, suggestions, etc?? And by the way - is my concern over this a sign that I am losing my mind, or is it normal? I have always been the super-confident, can do anything type of person, but now that I have him I'm turning into doggie mush. He's just so perfect!!!!!!!! And I once thought Rotties were "bad dogs". Big dope. Thanks for anything you all have.

[Mavides]

Hi there! Here's a link to what is required of a CGC test - http://www.akc.org/events/cgc/training_testing.cfm - your class should go through all of the exercises and also do some practice tests I would imagine. If you are planning on going for his Therapy Dog certification, I believe there are a few more exercises...depending on which organization you are going through.

You mentioned adopting 2 more Rotts...how old is Baron now? How old are the other two. We all know how addicting Rotts can be...but put a LOT of thought into bringing two more in right now - remember, it's not uncommon to have same-sex aggression with Rotts...especially the males - so you might want to hold off on that for a while. If you do end up with all of them, I would say DEFINITELY get them all into training if you have enough people in your family to help out (as it sounds like you do)...but it's going to be a lot of work! I've done rescue fostering for over 10 years now, but I know I can only handle one working Rott of my OWN at a time right now - they just take up so much time and energy...I love every second of it, but I don't have enough hours in the day to train two dogs in as many things as I want to. Best of luck with whatever your decision is though! :)

[mrs1885]

There is some question as to his age. The lady I got him from said he is about 3 and she had him from the time he was a puppy. However - she "couldn't find" any of his vet paperwork when I picked him up and said she would mail it to me. Several weeks later I called and she said she had completely lost it but he was fine and UTD on everything. I told her that was fine I could just call the vet and have him fax everything to my vet and she said she couldn't remember her vets name (yeh right - I would forget my kids' names first) because he was a new vet to her and her old vet retired and moved away so I couldn't contact him. So I took him to my vet and told him what she said. He said most likely he didn't have a vet as his teeth were a wreck and look like she had never cleaned them. He said taking into consideration that they were never cleaned he would guess his age to be more like 5 years, and if they were cleaned he would guess even older. Make sense to you?? Anyway, he had 2 females to play with there and was great with them and gets along fine with our 2 small male terriers, but likes to play and mushes them, so I'd really like to get at least one more. And you are right - they are addicting. I could see me buying 50 acres and just filling it with them. They are amazing!! We have 5 kids - all older - 12 to 20 years, so there is no shortage of people for training. We took him to see another Rott that was up for adoption at a local rescue group here and he was so excited and wanted to play so bad, but the other dog would have none of it and kept growling at him, so that was a no go. Poor Barron just cried and cried. The other two that we are thinking of are 3 and 4 years old, one is a female and one is a male. They are all fixed so I am hoping that helps in them getting along, though I'm sure like all siblings there may be the occasional arguement. The male has been around other males and females at dog parks and the current owners said he has always been perfectly behaved. The female has been around other Rotties as they kept in touch with the breeder and people that bought from them and she has been fine. Barron has been around lots of other dogs and never shown any aggression. Before I even think of bringing them home I would get them together and make sure everyone gets along. Other than that, would you have any other tips on making sure they will get along? If they are good for a few hours when they first meet do you think they would fight later?? Barron is not the least bit protective of the house or yard. Any other dogs that wander into our yard are just more friends for him as far as he is concerned.
As far as the link, thank you. I checked it out and I think he can do all those things fine. Well, maybe conning him into sitting and down on command may be an issue. He's not hard-headed, but he sure is lazy and takes his time to do anything. You tell him to sit and he looks at you like "I'm not exactly in the mood to sit right now. Can you hang on a sec? I just want to stand for another second. Ok, I think I'm ready to sit now. Oops, wait, nope, that wasn't ready. Hang on. Just a minute. Yep, okay, now I'm ready. See? Sit!! Good boy. I'm a good boy. You can pet me now. Yep - lovings, that's it." It's like it takes everything a couple extra minutes to process in his brain. He's just toooo cute!! But hard-headed? Nah - not Mr. Bear-Bear!!

[HerculesMomma]

Don't let the dopey fool ya - they are fully capable of learning all of those things they need too! Mine is just like yours, so dopey he can trip over air. Loveable, loveable, loveable to a fault.

But smart enough to learn how to pass his CGC and learn many, many more things.

Don't let them fool ya!

[Mavides]

Originally Posted by mrs1885

Before I even think of bringing them home I would get them together and make sure everyone gets along. Other than that, would you have any other tips on making sure they will get along? If they are good for a few hours when they first meet do you think they would fight later??

Baron is neutered too, right? Make sure they meet on neutral territory first - a nice walk through the park with all three of them would be a good start. If that goes well, I'd introduce them one at a time - easier to break up if there is a problem, and it helps elimate the pack issues a bit. Make sure you agree to take the new dogs on a TRIAL basis...if it doesn't work out in a couple weeks, you want to be able to bring them back and have the current owner find a different home for them....you don't want to be stuck trying to find a new home for dogs you've only known for a couple weeks. I would ALWAYS supervise the males - and I'd supervise the male/female combinations for a long time too...if they all get along fine, then it's okay for them to hang out together - but don't let your guard down...it's possible, but not the norm, to be able to bring two adults males together and have them get along...and you'd hate to have a fight break out with all three of them together and you nowhere around to break it up. Better safe than sorry! My two girls (one Chow and one Basenji/X) will fight occasionally...but it's never been anything I couldn't break up easily...they are together almost always when I'm home...but I never leave them loose together when I leave the house - the Basenji is crated and the Chow is loose with the male Rottie (that she's been around since he was 7 weeks old)....you'll be the one that knows your situation best...so you have to make the decisions - but be careful with them. Best of luck with whatever you choose - I do have to say however, although I would NEVER get rid of any of my animals...there are many days that given the choice to do it all again, I would only have the one male Rottie...he's enough companionship for me and it's always easier to train one dog, easier to travel with one dog, easier to pay vet bills for one dog, etc.! :)

[mrs1885]

Thank you for the info. I think keeping them apart on the rare occasion that we are all away from home is a good idea. Fortunately for us (well, maybe not fortunately) we don't go on vacation very often and when we do our 17 and 20 year old sons stay home since they can't get away from work. Have gotten kind of close to the owners of both of them and would definitely take them back if it didn't work out. As a matter of fact that is one of the first things we all agreed on. Lots of good info - thank you all.

[Brutus]

Are we talking about CGC and Therapy Dog Certification here, or adding lots of new dogs to the home? I'm confused.

Brutus

[mrs1885]

Started talking about CGC / Therapy, but also about whether or not to put more than one dog in the class at a time.
We decided to adopt only one of the two we were looking at and they will both be in the class together.
The main focus of the question was what would he need to learn in the class. Someone gave me a link to the AKC site with the info so I am good to go.