Good Citizen Dog Scheme Awards
The club held a Kennel Club GCDS Awards day on 29th August 2009. Nine handlers arrived at Brasted Hall at 1pm ready to put themselves and their dogs through their paces for the Silver and Gold Awards. The day was an accululation of one year's training and preparation - a lot of hard work.
The examiner for the day was Peter Whittaker, Member of the British Institute of Professional Dog Trainers and owner of the Pele Canine Training School in Newdigate, Sussex.
Handlers and dogs demonstrated a high level of achievement throughout both the Gold and Silver tests and the bond and relationship they had with their dogs was clearly visible and truly wonderful.
Thankfully the weather was perfect as many of the exercises were carried out in the local recreation ground. The solitary tree provided some much needed shade for dogs and handlers at various intervals during the afternoon!
After several cups of coffee and welcome bowls of water for the dogs, the group moved back into the hall for the last few remaining exercises required to be carried out inside!
Although all the handlers were clearly nervous at the start of the day, they were anxious to do well and everyone did just that, settling into the exercises more and more as the day progressed. It was a pleasure to watch the dog and handler partnerships working, although the tension proved too much at times for the instructors who had worked with the dogs and handlers over the last year!
The end result was an incredable 100% pass rate with all 9 dogs passing Gold and 2 passing Silver. Our thanks to Peter, who gave up his Saturday to put the handlers and dogs through their paces.
Report by Kaye Scott
