Great job to Mark and Rudy. I met Mark in the lobby of Best Friends Pet Motel before the beginning of the year. He had done some work with Rudy, a French Bulldog, but still could not get him to walk on a loose leash. After a little talking Mark caught on and was walking Rudy without him pulling. This encouraged Mark to give the intermediate obedience class a try. He and Rudy did well and Linda his wife accompanied them to almost all the classes and eventually did a session with Rudy herself. Even Mark's dad Lonnie watched Mark work Rudy then when Mark and Linda went out of town, Lonnie brought Rudy to class. This is the whole family participating and enjoying the time they spend with their pet. This is outstanding for me as a trainer to watch since usually it is hard to get more than one family member to learn how to enjoy the product of the effort that goes into the training the dog.
In my intermediate obedience classes the teams are introduced to Rally Obedience exercises. Not only do Mark and Linda come to class but Rudy usually performs better each time because their handling ability is improving and THEY PRACTICE. There is an old training axiom, "every handler has the dog they deserve." Often that is meant as a joke to poke fun at handlers but in this case it is really true. Well on my birthday in mid June, I set up a Rally practice course in the Tuesday night obedience class and Mark decided to run Rudy through off leash. Here is the result.
I've had the pleasure to work Rudy in a private when mom and dad were out of town and put a video on You Tube to encourage them and found that this family really ran with the ball. In about 6 months they are ready to compete in their first Rally Trial. I hope they video Rudy working and then let me post the score, video and his prize ribbons. Not only is Rudy into obedience he loves to come here and play with other dogs in camp. Keep up the good work and I hope people try to duplicate what Mark and Linda have done with their own dog!
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