Archie
Archie (Gaesten Supersachie) was born on 22 September 2008. We had a very eventful trip when we went to collect him which you can read on our BLOG. Life has always been entertaining with Archie and we quickly discovered that he was smart and very intelligent (mostly because he outsmarted us!). Although we initially enrolled him for obedience classes we thenchanged to Ringcraft with the intention of showing him at dog shows. He has a confident and friendly manner in the show ring and will often ‘yodel’ after a show competition which is highly unusual but mostly amusing for those about and the judge. He has had a very successful show career so far which you can read about in our ‘dog showing’ section. We have now decided to take his training further and we are about to have him assessed as a volunteer dog for Pets As Therapy, we’ll keep you posted in the BLOG.
UPDATE: Pets As Therapy
On Saturday 17 August Archie PASSED his assessment to become a volunteer dog for the Pets As Therapy charity. The assessment took place at the Pets At Home store in Stirling. The assessment is carried out by a Trained Assessor to ensure that the volunteer dog is healthy, friendly and entirely suitable for this type of work. Dogs need to be able to walk on a relaxed lead, without excessive pulling and without the use of head collars, harnesses or check chains. They have to remain calm during the assessment without excessive commands or restraint. They have to happily accept, and not be overly worried, about being stroked and handled and having their paws, tail and ears touched. The assessor will also check that the dog will take a food treat gently without snatching. And finally, the dog will have to respond appropriately to a sudden noise or disturbance in the room whilst being tested as they should not be overly fearful of this and recover quickly. The assessment is for both dog and owner, working as a team and both Mark and I will be joint volunteers. Pets As Therapy is a national charity founded in 1983. It provides therapeutic visits to hospitals, hospices, nursing and care homes, special needs schools and a variety of other establishments from volunteers with their pet dogs.
On Saturday 17 August Archie PASSED his assessment to become a volunteer dog for the Pets As Therapy charity. The assessment took place at the Pets At Home store in Stirling. The assessment is carried out by a Trained Assessor to ensure that the volunteer dog is healthy, friendly and entirely suitable for this type of work. Dogs need to be able to walk on a relaxed lead, without excessive pulling and without the use of head collars, harnesses or check chains. They have to remain calm during the assessment without excessive commands or restraint. They have to happily accept, and not be overly worried, about being stroked and handled and having their paws, tail and ears touched. The assessor will also check that the dog will take a food treat gently without snatching. And finally, the dog will have to respond appropriately to a sudden noise or disturbance in the room whilst being tested as they should not be overly fearful of this and recover quickly. The assessment is for both dog and owner, working as a team and both Mark and I will be joint volunteers. Pets As Therapy is a national charity founded in 1983. It provides therapeutic visits to hospitals, hospices, nursing and care homes, special needs schools and a variety of other establishments from volunteers with their pet dogs.