So.... Dizzy comes home in 2 weeks! He'll be 9 weeks, and eventually I want to do the cgc and, if he has the right temperament (thankfully, with the breeders help, I think I chose one that seems friendly, confident, but not dominant, and medium energy), I want to get him into therapy work. After seeing the work of the dogs after 9/11 (I wasn't in NYC then, saw from afar), Sandy Hook, and now Boston, I'm really inspired, and want to get him on track for that type of therapy. I know a few people on here have therapy or service huskies, and I'm wondering what I can do to get him off on the right foot for that? Any specific socialization/training/exercises recommendations? Thank you so much in advance!

bump!

I'm curious if any one here has passed the test? If so, what series of classes did you take?

We just finished puppy class, next will be basic obedience then we will take Canine Good Citizen/Therapy Class in early 2014.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-vd5UK8clB4
this is what the test entails...the akc sent me the link
I eventually want to do this with London too

Nanook just passed his about a month ago. We just took him to kindergarden (play time mostly lol) and basic (he knew all the commands going into it it was more for the different environment/distractions and for my Wife to work on her handling skills). We then went straight into the CGC. He did well, but we had already been working on a lot of the items covered already before we even hit the class. We wanted to have Nanook be a therapy dog, but I've heard since that a lot of hospitals and such wont let you do that if they find out you're feeding your dog on the prey/barf diet.

We are in a step obedience class with Loki(currently in the last level) working toward the CGC. Our major issue the the grooming. He is a wiggle butt and hates being brushed. A lot of people of here have the CGC but I can't remember the names off the top of my head.

bttlsgtmajor wrote:

He did well, but we had already been working on a lot of the items covered already before we even hit the class. We wanted to have Nanook be a therapy dog, but I've heard since that a lot of hospitals and such wont let you do that if they find out you're feeding your dog on the prey/barf diet.

That's really lame that hospitals are not allowing a naturally fed dog to do therapy work! I wonder why? Maybe its the risk of salmonella? I mainly want the CGC for insurance proposes since I plan on owning a home someday.

eddycaaa wrote:

bttlsgtmajor wrote:

He did well, but we had already been working on a lot of the items covered already before we even hit the class. We wanted to have Nanook be a therapy dog, but I've heard since that a lot of hospitals and such wont let you do that if they find out you're feeding your dog on the prey/barf diet.

That's really lame that hospitals are not allowing a naturally fed dog to do therapy work! I wonder why? Maybe its the risk of salmonella? I mainly want the CGC for insurance proposes since I plan on owning a home someday.

https://www.patriciamcconnell.com/theotherendoftheleash/raw-diets-and-assistance-dogs found this probably why they won't....

"Delta, as you probably know, cites studies that animals fed raw diets have increased amounts of pathogenic bacteria compared to dogs fed cooked food. Indeed a study out in 2008 found that dogs fed raw diets had increased levels of salmonella and E. Coli in their stool. However, as the excellent review of this issue published in Whole Dog Journal includes, raw fed dogs also shed higher levels of Clostridium difficile and MRSA, the antibtiotic resistant bacteria that is wrecking havoc in hospitals. It is true that the numbers don’t quite balance: 25% of the cooked-food dogs shed C. difficile, compared to only 12 % of the raw-fed ones, while 77% of the raw-fed dogs shed salmonella compared to 20% of the cooked food dogs.

However, as Whole Dog Journal points out, this one study is not enough for us to truly know the impact of bringing raw food dogs into nursing homes and hospitals. Exhibit one: Dogs in a 2009 study appeared to be picking up pathogens from the health care facilities that they were visiting: Dogs who visited these locations were 4.7 and 2.4 times more likely to have MRSA or C. difficile on their fur or paws. Exhibit 2: As is often the case, there is yet any evidence that being raw-fed was the cause of higher levels of certain types of pathogens in the raw-fed dog group. There are many, many variables to consider here, and with small sample sizes and nothing but correlational data, we need to be careful about turning correlations into causes."