CGC, AKC Brake's Femme Fatale! She passed her test!!!!!

I have a bit of exciting news to share with you lovely readers: My sweet Australian Shepherd, Mykelti,   passed her Canine Good Citizen test today! Yay!! I've been preparing her for this test since I brought her home as a young puppy. The CGC test shows that handlers display responsible pet ownership skill, that your dog has a sound temperament, and that your dog is reliably trained. Mykelti is my second Aussie to pass this test on the first try; I absolutely love working with Australian Shepherds, they're so smart! Her big brother, Ranger, is a Canine Good Citizen as well, and also a registered therapy dog. I'm currently working with Mykelti to help her follow in Ranger's paw prints on her way to becoming a registered therapy dog! It takes at least a good solid year of training and preparations to really get them ready for these tests, so we have done our best to continually train and diligently work together.  The CGC test is essentially an unofficial "mid-term" evaluation for therapy dogs-in-training to see how their skills are. It is a pre-requisite for the therapy work that we do, so I am thrilled that Mykelti preformed well today! She still needs a bit more training to prepare her for the Delta Society/Pet Partner's evaluations in a few weeks, so we will be pressing forward and training even harder! (The PPSAT test is a  22 part Skills/Aptitude test and she and I will need to preform near flawlessly in order to pass.) So, please continue to think of us and pray as we continue to train and prepare! I so enjoy going on visits with Ranger and seeing the smile and happiness that he brings into the lives of others through the gift of therapy work. I can not wait to have a second wonderful dog as my partner as well! 

CGC, AKC Brake's Femme Fatale...aka "Mykelti"

(Taken after she passed her CGC test today! 12 months old.)

CGC, AKC Brake's Lone Ranger & CGC, AKC Brake's Femme Fatale

Both of my little CGC'ers, Ranger and Mykelti! I'll be training my Pit Bull x, Macy next for her CGC test if her health holds up! 

Are you interested in training your dog to become a Canine Good Citizen? It's not just for therapy dogs, your pet can take the test too! It can help you with lower insurance rates and even land you into the housing you want by showing others that you and your dog are both responsible members of your community! If you would like to learn more, please visits THIS link to the AKC's information! If you are local, I'd be happy to recommend some excellent training facilities. If you life out of state, the American Kennel Club has a list of training facilities and CGC evaluators on their website that should be able to help you out! 

Happy First Birthday, Ranger!!!

Today is my beloved little Australian Shepherd, Ranger's first birthday! I can not believe how quickly he has grown and how much this sweet little guy has changed my life in such a short span of time! It seems like just yesterday when Jack surprised me with a little ball full of fluff the night before Easter. Jack knew how much I had missed my other Aussie and how I talked about them constantly. He apparently conspired with my sister Kimmy for quite a while to try and find the perfect match for me. How Sweet! None of the local shelters/rescues had a puppy that fit the bill, so he decided to do a lot of research and find a wonderful breeder. That led him on quite the journey. a round-trip from Memphis to Missouri and back. He told me that he would be out flying all day, so I didn't think anything of him going out of town. I just went about my day and then went to Target that night. On my way back home, I got a call from Jack asking where I was and when I would be back home to let him in. (We don't live together and at the time, I had just moved into my old apartment and had yet to make key's for everyone.) When I got home that night, I pulled back the vertical blinds and turned on the porch light to let Jack inside of my apartment (he had just jumped over my patio and hung out there until I got home). When I opened up the blinds and door, I could not belive what I saw- there stood Jack with the most amazing little puppy....the one that I had unknowingly picked out several weeks prior when we were looking at puppy pictures at Ihop during one of the first large Memphis snows of 2010. Since he had been all of the way in Missouri, I never even entertained the idea that it would be a possibility to get the little guy. What a surprise when I found out he was mine! :)


That's the "short" version of Ranger's story. Since I've had him he has been such a wonderful dog. He has finished Puppy, Intermediate, and Advanced training classes. He passed his Canine Good Citizen test last saturday (Jan.22)- All before his first birthday! He will begin agility classes on Saturday and we are also in full swing with training so that Ranger and I can become a certified therapy team. Any job you give him, he excells at and strives to please. I'm looking foward to many, many more years to come with this amazing dog!

Happy First Birthday, Ranger!

It's hard to believe he's grown soo quickly!

Ranger on his first birthday, today!