Tuesday, 30 October 2007
From the AKC web site: “CGC is a certification program that is designed to reward dogs who have good manners at home and in the community.”
My husband, two daughters, and I, along with our Giant Schnauzer Tango, have been temporarily displaced from our home due to the Witch fire. Our home is standing and in good shape structurally, but is filthy from soot, ash and who knows what else that blew in windows and under the doors. The reek from the food that rotted in the freezers could knock you off your feet. The fencing and much of the irrigation has burned away and, apart from the ice plant, not much vegetation survived. It looks a little like we live on the moon! Unfortunately, we have no power, and since we have our own well, if we have no power, we also have no water. Currently SDG&E estimates the return of electricity to our home mid-November. That said, we consider ourselves very, very fortunate!
We have been staying in various places during this time. The first night we were in a hotel. After that, we drove up the coast and stayed at my mom’s. Once we were allowed back in town, we stayed two nights in a different hotel. Now we are in a Residence Inn and hope to be here now until the house is fit to live in. The hotels are packed with relief workers, people and pets who have lost there homes entirely, and other like us who are just waiting to get moved back in.
Tango just turned one year-old last week. You would never know from her behavior that she is still pretty much a pup! We have, of course, dragged her with us from home to hotel to new hotel for days now. Our schedule is haphazard at the moment, so although she still gets fed twice a day, the time varies from day to day. Although she’s been getting a daily walk, she’s certainly not getting the amount of exercise she’s used to. Through all of this she has been incredibly poised and well-behaved! Each morning as I take her out, I am so thankful that I have spent so much time working with her on basic obedience and good manners. Since we live in the country and have (had!) a fenced yard, she was rarely leashed, except when we were at class or in town at my favorite coffee shop. So it really amazes me that she walks quietly through a hotel lobby on a loose leash. Even when my hands are full of bags and water bottles, she still walks quietly by my side, not pulling. She sits in front of closed elevator doors waiting for them to open. (We haven’t asked her to ride in an elevator with other dogs yet. I think she’d be fine, but I don’t want to push my luck!) When people want to admire her, she sits at their feet, leaning in to have her ears rubbed! She has not jumped up on a single person. She hasn’t peed on a single carpet or chewed any table legs! She doesn’t bark in the hotel room at all the strange noises outside our door. It’s hard to believe that this is the same wild puppy we first brought home from our breeder 8 months ago.
Tango is the epitome of a Canine Good Citizen. Her good manners allow her to be welcome most anywhere we go. She has provided comfort to me and my girls, and to several strangers! It will be fun to take her Canine Good Citizen test one of these days to make it official!
Tracy S.
Ramona, CA
