Michelle & Hamish

CONGRATULATIONS - Michelle and Hamish on gaining your Kennel Club Good Citizen Bronze Award (Jan 05)

Judged by Mr John Hood

Hamish is our 14 month old chocolate lab and we love him to bits. We got him when he was 10 weeks old from a gamekeeper in the borders and he was just so cute!! When we brought him home our then 18 month old Border Terrier (Jack) was a little put out, he had after all been top dog….until today!! Hamish was quite a quiet pup and it didn't take Jack long to take him under his paw and teach him every bad habit he had picked up!! We had tried training with Jack but I did not enjoy it one little bit, it was overcrowded (there must have been in excess of 20 dogs in the class) and a complete rammy of barking pups..horrible. When I got Hamish I decided I really wanted to take him to training but couldn't bear to go back to the awful classes I had taken Jack to. 6 months passed and still I had done nothing about finding another training class to attend and whilst Hamish wasn't a 'bad' dog, he definitely wasn't a model citizen!!

In August '04 my mum, who has lurchers and was also looking for a good training class to attend, came across Darcregan Dog Training, run by Yvonne Walker. We both decided to give it a try and signed up to begin. I was really quite nervous and didn't know what to expect. A few of the questions running through my mind were 'how many other dogs will be in the class?' 'What will this Yvonne person be like?' 'What will the other people in the class be like?' 'What will Hamish and I be made to do?' Five minutes into the session and all my fears were laid to rest. Yvonne is a lovely person and made us feel so welcome and nothing was a problem, it didn't matter if I hadn't fully understood what she was asking Hamish and I to do - she just explained it again and never ever makes anyone feel stupid. My concerns about the number of other dogs in the class were unfounded too, there were only 8 dogs and all the owners were really nice too - it was great!!. That first session just flew by to the point that I was disappointed when I realised it was over. Unfortunately I was to miss the next few sessions as I was going on holiday. When I returned I couldn't wait to get back to the training classes. I'm not ashamed to admit that I was very surprised by how much Hamish and I enjoy the classes (he knows as soon as I put him in the car without Jack where we're going and is just about beside himself with excitement), it's such good fun and I feel a real sense of achievement when we do something well together.

Hamish has come on in leaps and bounds and I, as his handler, think I have too. I am now keen to take Hamish further and we are attending our first agility class on Saturday - with Yvonne of course!! Hamish and I are going for our 'Kennel Club Good Citizen' Bronze award next week and I'm quietly confident that we will do well. After that we will start classes for our Silver award then Gold and then who knows what after that… as one of the girls said to me at last nights class 'you've got the bug!!!' she's dead right I have!! Not content with two dogs, Hamish and Jack got a new wee brother a few weeks ago. Angus is a black Labrador and is 10 weeks old, he's is a completely different puppy compared to Hamish, very VERY lively, I can see I'm going to have my work cut out with him but he will be starting puppy classes very soon and I know that by taking him to Yvonne's classes he will turn into a confident and well behaved young dog. I want to say a huge thank you to Yvonne and Helen who put a huge amount of effort into making the training classes so much fun, it's a great night out for dog and owner!!