Camp 1

Luna, Griffin, and I got back from camp 1 yesterday afternoon.   We had volunteered to do the dog activity portions and dog safety supervision at a 4-H camp that wanted to offer a "K9 Camp."     The kids did a ton of the normal camp activities (boating, crafts, etc) and some training, dog health activities, and more doggy things. 

It was really different. We're used to our camp where we have to do 100% of the supervision and planning. Here we had hours to ourselves where the staff were supervising and occupying the kids.  

The facilities were really fabulous and quite welcoming to the dogs.

While the dog kids had to have had at least three years of dog project experience, like at the other camp we run, we did not get as experienced of a group.  We modified our activities appropriately and hope that everyone had a good time and learned some new skills.

On Thursday evening, a storm passed through while we were out training in a covered shelter house.   Even standing in the center we still got wet.  But everyone kept working despite the distractions.  When the storm slowed, we hurried the dogs back to the cabins and went to an indoor building for a very enthusiastic Training Game.   Some teams progressed to cueing and stimulus control, but many kept working on shaping the behavior.  We interspersed the game with some short discussions on cues and chains.   Here's a list of all the pieces we could come up with for "Brushing Teeth".  

 

We hope the camp will be able to host the event again next year and that more kids will enjoy the opportunity.  Now to finish up some notes on that event and then prepare for our next camp.