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  1. #1
    Senior Dog Jeff's Avatar
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    Back from Dog Scout Camp 2017

    We are back from another awesome time at Dog Scout Camp. It took me a few days to recover and get around and back into the normal swing of things.

    As usual we had a blast, we were extremely worn out when we left. We and both no longer spring chickens. I actually quit working on two badges because it was just way too much for both of us. We didn't get any pictures of Hemi swimming either. The photographers were going to come gets some pictures of us but like for example the last day I let Hemi dock dive about 9 times I could tell he was tired and when I told him that was enough he didn't put up a fight, he got all rinsed off and dried off and then put himself to bed. The photographers were just coming around as I was rinsing him off. Just bad timing and a tired, tired lab.

    We arrived Sunday, Hemi was well aware of where we were and he was ready and willing to go for a swim upon arrival. Here we are backing the RV in.


    Monday morning was meet and greet and pictures in uniform. We had several new campers which was a pleasant surprise, several returning campers and some that had not been there in years returned. More on that later.

    Always proud of my boy in his uniform.


    We earned 7 new badges this year. Only 5 are shown, 2 of them are brand new and weren't in from the manufacturer yet.
    Those shown from left to right and top to bottom, Improv, 60 weave pole challenge, Biking, Treibal 1, and Rally Free. Not shown is Doga and Copy Cat badges. Improv is actually a sport for dogs, not really a big one, that I really came to love. I will expand more on that later with pictures. The 60 weave pole challenge is as it sounds, 60 weave poles in 2 minutes with distractions such as another dog running weaves beside. Hemi just made it 1 minute 58 seconds. We did have a dog that did under 30 seconds. Biking was a continuation of last year but we needed to get the miles to finish. Treibal is another sport where there is 3 like exercise balls, the judge calls out which one and the handler directs the dog to roll the ball across a line. The dog has to get all 3 balls in the order the judge calls out. There are 3 levels to this, Hemi just got level 1. Lots of work to do. Then Rally Free, we finally got that badge. many of you may remember 3 years ago we attempted this one and failed, the course was set up by the lake, which it was again, however this was also the year I decided Hemi needed neutered, as the world was his distraction as love was in the air and hormones ran wild. We did it this year. Doga, is Dog Yoga, which many of you know Hemi has been doing for a while. Then Copy cat was another fun badge, this is based on Do as I Do dog training by Claudia Fugazza. Basically I do something, then tell Hemi to do it and he does exactly what I just did. It is being adopted by service dog training centers all over as once the dog gets the concept then for example you just walk over and flick a light switch, tell the dog to do it and it does it. You later name it and give it a command. Hemi grasped this very quickly and we have been having a lot of fun with it.


    And Yes I am guessing you wanted to see Hemi doing some copy cat videos. We were just messing with it in the RV here.
    20170624 121040 - YouTube


    20170624 121354 - YouTube


    And of course you have seen Hemi doing Yoga before.


    Improv is a sport that I really came to love. It is basically you and your dog working together and things of ways to solve different kinds of problems. Like for example, one challenge we had to do was Hemi had to go out to place marker 20 ft away however it is timed and there were distractions and all kinds of things. We failed the first couple times then I actually came up with a solution they never seen before. I put Hemi in front of me and had him back up away from me on to the mat. He couldn't see the distractions he wasn't distracted. Also he has to go out and get 6 things that are going to be strange and different the judge places randomly and bring them back and hand them to me. So for example Hemi's 6 things was a bucket, a bowling pin, some kind of toy metal hover board, a poker chip, a ribbon, and a q-tip. It is really an interesting game and I was so proud to see him working and figuring things out but as you know I have always challenged his brain since he was a puppy to solve problems.

    Hemi retrieving a ribbon, lol we got points taken off cause he wanted to play with the ribbon.


    The hover board like toy. I laughed too cause he was the only dog strong enough to muscle this thing back to me carrying it all the way. Other dogs would drag it and paw at it, nope Hemi walked right down picked it right up and awkwardly carried it back.


    The Bowling pin was another one. Only dog that actually could pick it up and carry it but took him a while to figure out how to grab it.

    Going for the pin


    He managed to knock it over now trying to figure out how to pick up the smooth round heavy thing


    I got this dad.


    Then there were the badges we quit going for as we were just over worked and getting tired. The other 2 treibal badges. Just a little to complicated right now will take more training. The Search and Rescue Directional, this one is basically think of a baseball diamond. The handler is at home plate and can not move. He has to be able to send the dog out on command to any of the bases and the pitchers mound. Not the handlers choice either it is the judges choice. This turned out to be extremely complicated, a lot of running, something we need to do especially for the other treibal badges as well but we needed more time and so I dropped it. Then we also were going to do was Triathadog, this combines obstacles, agility and obedience all in a single run. So imagine running a full agility course then the second you cross the finish line when done doing calm obedience work. We were just too pooped to do it.

    Lastly there was another badge we were working on we didn't quite get. Phodography, which is basically teach your dog to be a good photography model. The one sticking point for us was so he had to stare at an object on command for 4 seconds. The object had to be placed in different ways and different sides, up and down. I had a hard time holding Hemi's attention on the object. But we did get some good photos as required, one I really like is him sitting in a chair by the lake, oh and he remained dry!!!


    Then like I said there were some returning people. Well many people may remember the very first camp we went too. Before the forum crash. Hemi just an 11 month old boy had his first camp love. A certain white poodle that he would huff and puff his chest out to as she walked by. He was dreamy eyed with her and she just ignored him the whole time. Well she was back again this year. The first time since. He has completely gotten over her, He never paid her a bit of notice and she would wonder why. He just wanted nothing to do with her. Finally on the last day of camp he kind of paid a little attention to him, and she snapped at him. I later told him, yeah your first love is often a bitch.

    Hemi completely ignoring her.

  2. The Following 16 Users Say Thank You to Jeff For This Useful Post:

    ARTC (06-29-2017), barry581 (06-29-2017), Blackboy98 (06-30-2017), charliebbarkin (06-30-2017), hunter (06-30-2017), kaialeena (06-29-2017), kimbersmom (06-29-2017), labsnewfy (06-30-2017), Macy (06-30-2017), MightyThor (06-29-2017), POPTOP (06-30-2017), SamsonsMom (07-04-2017), Scoutpout (07-05-2017), Snowshoe (06-30-2017), Sue-Ram (06-30-2017), SunDance (06-30-2017)

  3. #2
    Senior Dog JackK's Avatar
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    That is really cool! A great vacation for yourself and Hemi. Got to watch out for those hard to get woman Hemi. They'll tear your heart out

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    Jeff (06-29-2017)

  5. #3
    House Broken ARTC's Avatar
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    Thanks Jeff, just love it when you go to camp and I get to hear your stories!!

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    Jeff (06-29-2017)

  7. #4
    Senior Dog
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    Thanks for sharing your adventures with us. The Cooycat videos were really cool!
    Stormageddon, Princess of Darkness, aka "Stormy"
    Birthday 9-13-18, Gotcha Day 11-11-18
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    Miss Kimber, CGC, 6/15/2005-1/27/2018 forever in our hearts



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    Jeff (06-29-2017)

  9. #5
    Senior Dog MightyThor's Avatar
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    Yay Hemi camp report! One of my favorite posts of the year.

    I love the copycat videos too!
    Mighty Thor, "So Much Dog", born 1/6/2014
    And baby Barley, born 3/9/2018

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    Jeff (06-29-2017)

  11. #6
    House Broken
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    Your camp reports are seriously cool. Hemi is a very lucky pup!

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    Jeff (06-29-2017)

  13. #7
    Senior Dog POPTOP's Avatar
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    Hemi, you are unbelievable. You constantly amaze me. Congratulations to both of you on the new badges.

    It's always a good trip when you come home tired and happy.

    Must say, you look super cool in your new truck.
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    Kissing Bandit

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    Jeff (06-30-2017)

  15. #8
    Senior Dog labsnewfy's Avatar
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    It looks like you both had a wonderful time again this year. Hemi looks so happy getting to spend time with his dad and earn more cool badges. His little lady is adorable by the way I can see why he was smitten their first meeting LOL maybe not so much this year is still ok too I enjoy reading about your adventures.
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    Coleman - CGC blk lab 6/02/97-2/25/08 adopted
    Tootsie - choc lab 10/19/99-8/03/13 adopted
    Bailey - CGC newf/fc 7/12/00-07/15/14 rescued
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    Sarah - blk lab 6/22/06 - 12/30/19 rescued
    rescued felines - AJ - 8/00 - 1/11, Merlin - 5/20/05-8/23/21
    Tucker - 8/3/10, Penny - 7/7/13, Toby - 6/14/21

  16. The Following User Says Thank You to labsnewfy For This Useful Post:

    Jeff (06-30-2017)

  17. #9
    Senior Dog Blackboy98's Avatar
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    Love the stories and pictures, esp. the copy cat video. Hemi, you are one smart dog and your dad is a very good teacher-what an amazing team.

    Super neat looking badges too.

    Glad you BOTH enjoyed your outing, you had a good type of being tired and so good to get home.
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    CRACKER-My Heart Dog FOREVER 6/10/2005-7/9/2011

    Mike and Gabe--GOTCHA 7/25/2011

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    Jeff (06-30-2017)

  19. #10
    Senior Dog Macy's Avatar
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    Love. Hemi's Dog Scout Camp stories are the best.

  20. The Following User Says Thank You to Macy For This Useful Post:

    Jeff (06-30-2017)

 



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