What all am I able to do?

The most important thing that every dog should know

is the BASIC 5: sit, come, down, stay and heel. If your dog knows those basics then they will love to be with you and you will love to have him around and show him off. OBEDIENCE is also a competitive thing. You do everything basic plus much much more!

I have trained and am certified to give a dog a CGC CERTIFICATE -- CGC (Canine Good Citizen) is a test that is given to dogs of any breed or mix breeds to see how well they act around different situations. Such as walking through a crowd of people, and how well they listen to you when given the basic commands, and the hardest of them all, the 5 minute stay.

AGILITY is one of the newer sports to me but I have trained different breeds at Goose Creek and look forward to getting Topher involved in it also. It is fun for both you and the dog. Mix breeds have recently been able to enter this sport. Agility is an obstacle course that includes jumps, weaves, tunnels, etc. This tests the dogs control, courage, and balancing skills.

FLYBALL is the newest capability that I have added to my list. I have recently joined the ONLY flyball team in Charlotte, The Carolina Panters. After the first practice we know that we have a great start. If you are interested please visit their website.

Another fun thing that you can get your dog to do is THERAPY. Its a new thing but dogs love it. Therapy is where a dog will go into a hospital, nursing home, etc , with the proper certifications, and will give the people that are there some entertainment and the dogs get attention also. They give them something that no human can ever give. It is amazing to see the people improve with time and see how excited they get when they see you walking down the hall. I think it comforts them in knowing that the dog is something that loves them and will always.

One thing that I was getting JP into is what I call FUN STUFF. It is a bunch of tricks that are just for fun, and entertainment. This also includes movie and TV stuff. I had JP into a lot of interviews. With this you can get your dog used to any distractions and he will have a bunch of fun being the center of attention. Some of the funny tricks are bang (dogs plays dead when (s)he hears bang), going to get a snack or drink from the fridge, or finding your keys or remote or anything that you loose. One of the best is where you are lying in your bed and you are very comfortable and then you realize the light is still on so you tell your little bed side buddy to go turn off the light. It's very helpful but funny to teach.