Kalidor’s Big Adventure – On the Road To Santa Rosa

This week, Kalidor and I,  along with two friends and a doggie puppy friend are headed to Santa Rosa to a Michael Ellis, Puppy Development Trainer’s School; an intense program for puppies to learn, grow and develop a solid foundation for further enthusiastic training in competitive sports and as well adjusted pets. While I have no personal interest in protection, agility, or competitive obedience at this time in my life, I do want Kalidor to thrive in the sport of tracking. I have a competitive spirit and have placed over 40 working titles and certifications in agility, obedience, search and rescue, pet therapy, tracking and sheep herding on my dogs over the years in addition to my service dog training background.  But, my passion is tracking.  I also want Kalidor to grow up to be well socialized and friendly, while maintaining his natural protective instincts – one of the reasons I own German Shepherds.  I think this school will fit nicely and give me a new energy boost!

While most of my readers are not interested in doing competitive sports with their dogs, I do think most of us travel with them!  There are many aspects to traveling to help keep our dogs safe while having fun!  I also thought it would be interesting to hear stories along the way!

What inspired me to write this particular series came from a trip I took almost 10 years ago to Tacoma. At that time, I had several dogs with me that were trained service dogs or in training.  One in particular, Marcus, was brilliant.  We stopped at a rest stop on Dead Man’s Pass outside Pendleton.  The stop was completely full, but there was a forest service road just beyond, where I could park, let dogs out, and still walk down to the rest area.  I opened the slider partially, then realized that my leash was in the back of the van. So I closed the sliding door on the van and heard it latch.  The next thing I knew, Marcus had opened the sliding door, releasing 5 German Shepherds that jumped out of the van, running in wild freedom and pandemonium led by Marcus in all his intelligent glory!  My embarrassment, to this day is unparalleled!  All I could think of was those 5 dogs running down to the rest stop and sniffing a picnic table full of people eating their lunch and how terrified they would all be!  Even though all those dogs were friendly, there are many folks that see a German Shepherd and are terrified!  As luck would have it, the dogs stayed next to the van, sniffed and came back quickly when they were called! WHEW!  The moral of that story is NEVER TRAVEL with a well trained dog that knows how to problem solve (and other management tools)!

I hope this trip doesn’t have any heart stopping moments like this, but surely there will be great stories!  Stay tuned for next week!