Obedience training | Savannah's Paw Tracks

02 Nov 2012

Mom Has Gone to The Dogs…arwoo woo

Hiya! Savannah Here!

Today, I gave my blog post to Mom. A few days ago we had a little meow together and she told me she wanted to accept an invitation from one of our canine furriend’s blog.

Hi Efurryone, this is Mom! Thanks for letting me have this post Savvy. Brut, from 24 PAWS OF LOVE, celebrated his 6^th birthday, on October 11^th. To celebrate his special day, he created a challenge…he has given any of us who have ever had, or currently have, dogs to write a post about the following:

“What was the most monumental moment that you and your dog shared, that changed the course of your lives together. What happened that brought an understanding between you and your dog and brought our relationship closer than it was before. What story stands out in your mind that you tell over and over again.”

Then he asked us to publish our post on Thursday Nov 1 or Friday Nov 2, link it back to his blog and sign up there for a blog hop so we can all see each other’s stories.

I accepted the challenge Brut gave. There is a Blog Hop if you click on Brut’s badge it will take you to his hop.

Here is my story of my monumental moment with my first Siberian, Mischa, which changed our relationship forever into singular trust between us, we already loved each other without question.

…Mischa loved napping on the sofa all the years of her life…and she learned that from me…

…she liked to take over the whole couch when she could…and always demanded a pillow for her head…

…occasionally she would allow her younger Sibe sister to share the couch…

She was much loved and very spoiled!

Her full name was Mischa Pandi of Aslanlars, and she was from old Monadnock kennel bloodlines. She was the last of a litter, and was about 3 months old when we decided to purchase her. We did not know about rescue Siberians then, it was in 1978. The owners called her Puppy Girl so as to allow the new owners to name her properly.

…What? Muddy? Who? Me?…Can’t I come in now??…

…it is so hot in OH, glad I have this pond to keep me and my fave squeaky burger cool…

She remained our Puppy Girl until she went OTRB at 14 ½ years old in October of 1993.

She did end up with two “siblings” once we moved to Ohio, and I discovered dog shows and Siberians. That is another story for another time.

I learned that I could show Mischa in obedience even if she was spayed as long as she was purebred. I had already started her obedience training a bit in Santa Cruz, CA where we lived and where we bought her. She was about 1 ½ years old when we moved from CA to OH.

…this was our first competitive “match”…it was for practicing what a real obediance competition would be like…we were both very nervous…

Mischa was the supreme escape artist and so obedience was crucial to keeping her safe. She was never off leash outside our yard. As soon as we moved to OH we fenced our 1/3 acre backyard with chain link, which she soon learned how to unravel at the bottom and push it up with her shoulders and then run free.

This is the heart moment between Mischa and I.

I had been working hard to train her to compete in Companion Dog Obedience, the first level in obedience competition. She struggled with the “come” command, which is crucial even if you never show. You always want that dog to “come” when you call to keep them safe.

So, Mischa chose to escape again from our backyard the first winter we were in OH. She did so during a severe snow storm, the drifts were above our knees around the neighborhood. My husband and I and a dog show friend spent 4 hours tromping through snow, calling and calling her name and demanding she “come”.

…I just love the snow in OH!…

We are convinced to this day; she was never out of hearing our voices. We would find her paw prints going all around bushes, trees, as she ran merrily on her adventurous way.

Finally, in a large open field, after about 4 hours, I spotted her. She was lying in the corner of the field with her tongue handing to her legs. She had a very good time! Brat!

I yelled to her…”COME”…and waited. I knew if she did obey me, I would not be able to give her a correction and boy was I ready to correct her! She finally got up, walked slowly toward me, and then crawled the remaining 10 feet on her belly. Then she stood up, looked me in the eyes, poked her snooter into my crotch which was her trademark on all her “COME” command responses, then stepped back and sat very nicely, tongue hanging to her knees, looking in my eyes for her praise.

She came when called, hours later, but she came. She trusted me not to punish her and I trusted her to “COME” when called (of course, on her terms). I leashed her up and made her “HEEL” all the way home. I was angry, scared, happy and laughing all at the same time. I sobbed over that Puppy Girl because I was so afraid she was lost forever, but lavished her with praise going home and when we got home because she and I knew we were soul mates.

…winning her 3rd Obediance Competition and her official CD Title…

…we trained for the Companion Dog Excellent (CDX) level, but Puppy Girl so hated that stupid dumbell I made her fetch AND bring back…I only showed her once…then we retired