I’ve been trying to take more pictures – but it doesn’t always happen. I rarely remember to have a charged camera, SD card with space, and actually carry the camera…
Over the weekend we helped at the Ohio 4-H Dog Expo. We had 4-H kids from all over the state attend – some have had 10+ years of experience (and were helping out for half of the day, taking an advanced obedience seminar the other half). Some of the kids were in their first year and had never attended a training session before.
The parents, dogs, and 4-H’ers were great! Even with only 3 hours of training, the event started at 9 and went until about 3pm. We had an hour break for lunch and 15 minutes between the half hour sessions.
The beginning kids went to a required session, one on basic skills, showmanship, tricks, agility, and grooming. The older kids got a few more options including run throughs and more specific obedience skills. It’s a challenge to teach – a first year 8 year old kid needs different help than a first year 16 year old kid – but we got great feedback and a majority of the participants were happy.
We had great instructors – half had assisted before (some for 10+ years!) and some were brand new. The event has been interesting to organize – we’ve experimented with different formats, hosting it in different parts of the state, and different registration processes.
I hope the 4-H’ers went home with a few training experiences and enthusiasm for the upcoming 4-H year. I’ve seen some of the kids attending for 6+ years, it’s amazing to watch them grow up, sometimes add in a new dog, and see their training skills progress.
Blaze attended as a young dog, maybe in 2002 or 2003?- he didn’t go yesterday, I wish I had taken him to get a picture!
When I hear the enthusiasm from the adults and 4-H’ers, I wonder if some of my adult students would appreciate a variation of this event – trying different things and going home with a tired dog!