I have a 1 year old yellow lab who has had a few training classes and was doing great until we came upon classes that involved being put in a large wire crate in between turns. He has refused to go into the crate!! We have tried everything including pushing him in and he ran right out. I am not a competitive person and do not intend to get into competition classes. My goal is to make him a Therapy Dog.

My question...........will his aversion to this strange crate be detrimental in his future training? He has been crate trained at home and has no problem with our crate. It is the shipping kind which is the only difference.

I am in Bucks County PA and would like to know if anyone can recommend a place to take him for this training. Also, if you have a Therapy Dog, I would be interested to know what the requirements are if you are willing to share.

Thanks so much for your help! This is a puzzling situation!:confused:

I dont' really understand why he needs to be in a crate in between turns. I've gone to MANY classes with Lucy and I've never had to put her in a crate between turns. We're out on the floor with the other dogs the whole time. When the instructors are working with other dogs, Lucy is in a sit stay. I'm sorry, I can't help with that, but I do think its odd, but I guess every place has its policies.

Anyway, I'm looking into making Lucy a therapy dog as well. Here's a link to Therapy Dog International. It gives some good info on what you need to do and what the test involves. http://www.tdi-dog.org/

Good Luck

Thanks so much for the information. I don't understand the requirement either and I have decided not to continue with this group. I will find another place that does not require the use of a crate. It is a shame because I developed some nice friendships but I do not want to put Champ through stress needlessly.

Just want to say that I think Lucy is adorable!

You're very welcome. As I said, I'm looking to make Lucy a therapy dog as well so I looked into some info.

I don't blame you for finding another class for Champ. Why stress him out if you don't need to.

Thanks for your Lucy compliments...I'm rather fond of her myself. :D

Also, Tide'sMom and I are planning a LabFest for this weekend. Its in Princeton, NJ. There's one other person (Molly41) coming from Bucks County and I believe she's about an hour away from the dog park. Here's the link if you're interested in coming. We had a great time last time. http://www.lab-retriever.net/board/next-nj-pa-t7288097.html

Hope to see you there!

Champsmom! I am only about 20 minutes north of you, up Rt 611. I took Molly to the Hilltown Dog Training Club which, despite the name, is located in Quakertown. They are a fabulous group there. I will look up their contact info if you'd like.

Therapy training is something I would really like to do with Molly. We are continuing to work the basics for now. I also take her to local sporting events where I know she will encounter many different sounds, sights and people. So far, she hasn't shown any reaction at all to wheelchairs and walkers so I am pleased with that. However, she needs to mature a bit more, in my opinion, before I could consider having her tested.

If you can make the LabFest, I'm sure your boy would have a great time. It'd be great to meet another board member! And I'm always open for walks at a park if you want to meet somewhere.

I am really sorry ladies that I did not see this post sooner. Things have been really busy lately and I have not been on the board. We just had our first grandchild and much of the attention has been on her. Champ has been great also with her!

Please keep me posted on your outings. I would love to meet sometime. I am always open to new pointers.

I am thinking about printing out the requirements for Therapy Dog and trying to work on them myself and then looking for a testing place.

Lucy's Mom - how is that going for you?

Thanks for your replies. They say "Great Minds Think Alike" so keep those suggestions and ideas coming.:thumb4:

Would love to meet sometime. Small world!

I have a question for you..............how do I get Champ's picture to attach when I reply? Learning the tricks to chatting are new to me. Thanks for your help!

Sorry for the delay. There is a thread that explains about loading pictures. The small picture under a board name is the avatar and the one below a post is the signature picture. Most people load their pictures onto a photo sharing website and then copy the link into the appropriate place. I use Photobucket. It's free to join and store pics.

Up towards the top of the page on the left side, look for a button called "User CP". It's located in the blue bar. That will take you to your user settings. Poke around in those areas to see what's there.

Also, on the main page of the Lab Board, way down at the bottom, there is a testing site so you can play around till you like what you see. Also, I think that's where the picture how-to thread is located.

Doylestown Therapy group !!!

This was in The Intelligencer's "letters" section this past Saturday. I called this woman and we spoke for a good 20 minutes on the phone. Read her letter and, if you want more info on her group, her e-mail is at the bottom. I mentioned that I "knew" someone who might be interested and she was happy to have her e-mail address passed on.

http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/320-06272008-1555465.html

First step for Molly is to get her CGC. I have to contact Country Kennels which is on Almshouse Road...your neck of the woods?

Yes, it is a small world!!!

Small world is right!! Country Kennels is right across from my road. I could walk there. CGC is Canine Good Citizen right? I will contact them also. Thank you so much for the information!!!

Maybe we can take classes at the same time. Again, thanks so very much! Hope to meet you soon.

I'm sending you a PM (private message through the Lab Board) with some info. Look to the top right of whatever page you're on and you will see a box with Private Message information....