Dexter - Ina/Silas 2016

Ohhhhh where do I start...

The last several months have been very busy for Dexter and myself. Dexter completed his advanced obedience class just before Christmas. And he did awesome, of course. We took 2 months off and began a Rally Obedience class with our trainer to prepare for a competition at the end of April. 
Rally class friends 🐾🐕 This was not what I had in mind when I began speaking to you over 3 years ago about acquiring a companion dog. He enjoyed our obedience classes so much that I couldn't stop at just one. So.... we took a series of four, yes four classes to find ourselves at our first Rally-O competition on April 29th in Marshalltown. He competed like a champ! Taking 3rd place (out of 10) on Saturday in Rally Novice A and 2nd place (out of 9) on Sunday in Rally Novice A. It was so much fun to see him work in front of all new people and dogs. I was a ball of nerves, but he acted like a pro.
All business pre-show. I had to include this serious mug shot.

I couldn't have been more proud.

I was so excited at his ability and performance, I couldn't wait to see what what next for us. So, I set another goal for us. We are competing in the Rally competition in DSM this September! Yay! He loves to work, and I mean HE LOVES TO WORK. He shakes his chest at me waiting for the next command. Tail just-a-wagging furiously back and forth. This time I think we are going to explore the obedience ring too. Eeekkk! All the pressure is on him. And he takes it like a pro. We need just one more leg to complete his Rally Novice A title. And we will shoot for 2 legs of Obedience Novice A in September too.

So in the mean time, we are just having fun exploring the world together. 
Picking out brackets together. Every dog needs one.

Hanging out at the farmers market in downtown Des Moines. Here we have been stopped so many times to be asked "Where did you get that dog" Come to find out, everyone here knows about you and Rhonda. We even met another Snitker Golden at the farmers market. She was just as beautiful as Dex.

Walking along beautiful downtown Des Moines.

We have been socializing quite a bit. Getting him around as many different types of stimulus as we can because we are practicing for our Therapy Dog International Testing in June to become what else.... a THERAPY DOG! He brings so much life and happiness to me that I need to share him.

As I stated previously, I only wanted a "companion dog". The gift I received was much, much more. I have never shown a dog or had a therapy dog. I have to challenge him to his fullest potential, and I feel we are just scratching the surface. He is still very young at 16 months but he has so much to offer. He is quite simply, just amazing.

I hope you enjoy the pics! And yes, once we have our certificate, we will be proudly joining Snitker Therapy Club.

Until next time...
April & Dexter
May 2017