Without Fear, Go: Dog Scout Camp 2010

We just got back from Dog Scout Camp. It’s an all inclusive summer camp for people and their dogs.

There is an agility field, play yard, lodge, small pond, and miles of trails.

There are seminars in which you can learn positive training methods (training without punishment) and the dogs can earn merit badges.

In the evenings there are campfires and snacks, and usually beer.

Many of the campers come year after year, and so there is a sense of community.

We’ve been taking our growing family of dogs to camp for the last 9 summers. This year was especially special because it marked our tenth year of marriage, which we got to celebrate with friends at camp.

It was also the camp in which our youngest dog, Cadence, got his official DSA title. In order to earn it, he had to show that he can walk nicely, leave food and animals, and in general, he and my wife had to demonstrate basic manners, responsible ownership/parenting and knowledge of positive training techniques.

All five of our dogs earned merit badges. In addition to his DSA title, Cadence got his backpacking and art of shaping badges (he even made a painting).

Jade got Rally Obedience.

Tristan and Django got IMPROV Obedience, which involved creative thinking to do things like retrieving pieces of siding and dropping strange objects into buckets.

Maebe got her Agility II badge and went on to win an agility competition that involved running through a circle of tunnels twice. It was a seemingly simple task and I was openly mocked (good naturedly of course) for walking the course, but when I did, I saw that it was not really a very flowing circle and there were spots where a dog could easily take another obstacle. This paid off for us as we not only finished in half the time of the nearest competitor, but we were in the minority of dogs who made it through with no off-courses.