In early December, the San Joaquin Kennel Club and Golden Valley Kennel Club teamed up for a four-day dog show at the Stockton Fairgrounds, about 50 minutes away from out house. Ben and I thought about going to watch the Labrador Retrievers in the show ring and check out the Novia Scotia Duck Tolling Retrievers, a breed we’re researching right now (another story for another day). When I looked at the event premium, I saw that the SJKC was doing Canine Good Citizen and Trick Dog testing. Interesting…

So, we changed plans and decided to bring Piper up to the fairgrounds to get tested. I knew she could pass novice trick easily, but I was worried about her ability to do one of the CGC test items: Test 8: Reaction to another dog. She’s pretty good at ignoring other dogs on walks, but since she’s an environmentally- (rather than handler-) focused dog, I didn’t know how she’d do in a brand new environment surrounded by other doggos. Only one way to find out, though 🙂

Turns out, I had nothing to worry about. We arrived two hours early to help satiate Piper’s curiosity by letting her explore the environment. We also ran into our owner/breeder/handler buddy Erynn Lucas (Von Luka Doberman and Whippets), who graciously grabbed her gorgeous boy Carson to help us practice.

Once we got Piper’s energy out, we were ready to test. She passed all 10 CGC test items with flying colors, then she did five novice tricks. Those included:

• Go to your crate (aka “kennel up”)
• Hand signal for “sit”
• Find it (a treat under a cup)
• Spin in a circle to the right
• Touch it (her nose to my hand)

So, our sweet girl earned both her CGC and her TKN titles that day. As a fun bonus, AKC sent us an “Achiever Dog” certificate because she has now successfully participated in four dog events/sports/tests. This means Piper has three titles under her belt (DS, CGC, TKN), and she has qualifying scores in four more events for scentwork/nosework. That’s my girl!