Lucky and Cloë, our two exuberant Labradors love to ‘say hello’ to everybody they meet be it other people and dogs. Unfortunately both get so excited and out of control that most people prefer to steer clear of them. No interaction leads to more excitement, and more excitement leads to even less interaction. We were stuck in a vicious circle and needed a way out!
When we heard about the Pretoria Shepherd Dog Club in January this year it felt like the answer to our prayers and it was. Despite its name the Club welcomes dogs of all breeds and just as importantly for us, also of all ages.
Two weeks later, in February 2015 we joined the PSDC with the main purpose of providing our 10-year old Lucky and 3-year old Cloë with the opportunity to be amongst other dogs in a friendly yet controlled environment. What we got from the PSDC was much more and joining the club changed our lives in more ways than one.
All of the trainers are friendly, helpful and patient yet determined to teach us, and our pooches, how to achieve our goals. Training our two dogs at the same time does have its challenges for my husband and myself, but they are learning to focus on us (their respective handlers) rather then on each other. Lucky and Cloë looked forward to their ‘homework’ which took place like clockwork everyday and on Saturdays they would become super exited, as soon as they realized that we were going for training.
It is a pity that we did not find out about the PSDC much sooner and a real shame that we were not able to continue due to our move to Mozambique, where Lucky and Cloe have joined us in Maputo about two weeks ago. We are going for walks several times a day and during this walks we encounter numerous distractions such as kids and cats! It is here where our training at the Club is proving to be really highly valuable. Lucky and Cloë listen to us and focus on us over and above the distractions.
Our sincere thanks and appreciation for the good time at the Pretoria Shepherd Club – we still cherish fond memories of our time with you!
WIMPIE AND MARIA