This was a different type of class today, as one of the owners was going for the Silver Kennel Club certification, so we were practising some things to help with that. This is a certification to show that your dog is generally a good citizen.

Heelwork

We started off walking to heel with everyone walking the same direction, this is one of the things tested.

Then we did about turn and call your dog, then back into the heel position.

Artemis was fine with all this, so it did make me wonder if she could do the certification.

Novice recall

Next up was a straightforward recall.

The trainer said that obedience classes are actually much stricter as you need to have the dog in the present position in front of you, whilst for the Silver Kennel Club certification as long as the dog comes to you it’s fine.

Check your dog

This is to replicate as if you’re at the vets. The trainer checked the dogs’ ears, legs, and all over really.

Artemis was absolutely loving this attention from the trainer, though at the Silver Kennel Club certification this would usually be done by a stranger – but I think Artemis would be fine, thinking she was just being stroked by another person.

Greet your dog

This is meant to show that your dog does not jump up at a stranger. Artemis was ok, but she can jump up at people sometimes, especially when she’s excited.

Car

For this test your dog is meant to get in the car calmly, you turn on the engine, leave it running for a short while, get out of the car, ask your dog to wait, and then the dog gets out of the car calmly.

We didn’t have time to do this for everyone, but I know that Artemis can be a little rascal in the car as she just gets so excited.

Walking by the road

This is essentially normal lead walking, you don’t need to ask your dog to heel, just walk nicely and calmly along a road.

We do this every day, as we live near two parks, so we just walk Artemis to the parks near us. Some of the dogs were having issues, because the owners usually drive the dogs out to places for their walks.

Conclusion

It was interesting learning about the tests for the Silver Kennel Club certification.

I think Artemis would be fine for most of the tests, as the obedience class appears to be stricter, it’s just the car scenario where she would be so super excited and not calm at all.