Jacket Up A Notch RN CGC

This is the beginning of my training diary for my dog, Jacket Up A Notch. His call name is Jack and he is a larger than normal Cocker Spaniel.

First a little background about how Jack came into my life. I had been searching for a mid-size dog to help me continue to recover from heart surgery. I went to the local animal shelters and scoured the newspapers for "my dog." Over the course of six months I looked, but was unable to "click" with my special dog. A friend of mine suggested that I go to PetsMart because there are different rescue groups that utilize the store to find homes for homeless pets.

The next weekend I went to my local PetsMart to check the dogs out. I saw this black and gray, shaggy, older dog. The sign said he was about 5 years old. I thought he resembled a sheepdog, or at least had some sheepdog in him since he was so shaggy. We looked at each other and something was there, a connection. I asked to see him, while telling the person that I was looking for an older dog and he seemed to fit the bill.

Well...imagine my surprise when I was told he was a Cocker Spaniel and he was 9 months old and not 5 years old! Wow! A teenager with four legs! The connection had been made between us, though, and I would not back down. So I brought him home in January, 2006.

We began our training by walking around the neighborhood three times per day. Jack learned my work schedule and we got along great. Because I adopted him, we began our obedience training at PetsMart. We needed more training, so we went to the Orlando Dog Training Club for help.