Friday, March 18, 2011

A Great Prize Package




As some of you may know I took 2nd Place in the Bad Sports class at Mango Minster!


Last week a package arrived addressed to Mr. Ambrose - Gordon Setter. Notice the Mr. Ambrose, not annoying Ambrose or silly boy Ambrose but Mr. Finally I get some respect! It was from Scout and Freyja who sponsored the 2nd Place prize. There was a nice note inside.



I had to stick my head in the box right away to check out all the goodies.



Scout and Freyja put some terrific stuff in there including this great bone.



I had to play with my new Snoopy frisbee right away.



There was also a burger stuffie, treats and a Snoopy portable water dish! They even sent some nice gift tags for Barbara (which she doesn't deserve since she was so late in posting about my prize). All great stuff and I thank you, Scout and Freyja and your mom, for sponsoring this prize and sending it to me. And thanks to Judge Fiona for giving me 2nd Place in the Bad Sports class.



I will turn into a cat before I refer to my little brother Ambrose as Mister! Winning that prize has gone to his head and he actually tried to get me to play bitey face this morning before I had eaten my breakfast. What nerve!

Barbara does have some excuse for being slack with our blog. She had graduation for several of her classes last week as well as a Canine Good Citizen test and had to prepare dogs for their Therapy Dog International evaluation. Her students did very well so it was worth it.

Unfortunately Ambrose and I were subjected to all sorts of dog grooming torture last week. We both had baths. You can see how unhappy I am about that.



Then she pinned a towel on me while torturing me with the blow dryer. The towel is to prevent the dreaded fluffy butt that I sometimes get after a bath.



Ambrose is waiting on the grooming table before the bath. He doesn't seem to mind the dog grooming torture as much as I do. He is crazy.



The reason we were subjected to all this was for a trip to the University of North Carolina. Now we go for walks there all the time so I saw no need for a bath for that. However we were invited to give a demonstration of dog training to a class of General Psychology students. Their professor took a puppy class with Barbara and found that the practical application of operant conditioning is a lot harder than the theory! She asked Barbara to bring us to class to demonstrate our skills and to let the students practice with us.

It was great fun! There were almost 300 students in the auditorium and they were all looking at us!! After explaining about clicker training and showing off some of our skills, she helped students work with us on target training. We got LOTS of treats and of course many of the students wanted to pet us which we also enjoyed. Of course she forgot her camera so there are no pictures. However the professor and the class really enjoyed our work and we are invited back for next semester.

10 comments:

Fred said...

The two of you lead such exciting lives!

Tama-Chan, Benny, Vidock, Violette, Ollie, Heloise, Momo, Ryu said...

Great prizes, Mr. A!

Niamh, just make sure they never start calling you "Madam!" We think it should be Princess from the very start.... Oh, and by the way, that comment about turning into a cat.... we didn't really see it...

Purrs and Woofs,
The Chans and Tommy

Amber-Mae said...

Great stuffs in that box! Congrats on winning 2nd place, Ambrose.

Lorenza said...

Congratulations on your prizes!
And then "nice" spa time!
And then a great time there at the University!
I agree with Fred!
Happy weekend!
Kisses and hugs
Lorenza

Molly the Airedale said...

Wow! You guys are true celebrities!
Congratualations on your win. What nice gifts!

Love ya lots,
Maggie and Mitch

Arran, Arthur and Mum said...

Wow! What very exciting things. Well done on being good ambassadors for operant conditioning!
I hate baths and grooming torture too!

Stanislaw said...

You're practically famous in the psychology circuit! How fun! Do you get to play with the student after you've done your Good Boy?

Dexter said...

Oh man, getting primped for work. That is a pain, just ask my mom, but I am sure you were well received at the university.

Congrats again on your win.

Slobbers,
mango

Juno said...

What a fun moment to stick your nose, Ambrose! Sounds like you guys had a pawsome time at the university. Great work as always!!

Thank you so much for your kind words on our post.... Means a lot to us. :) :)

Momo & Pinot xoxo

Agatha and Archie said...

Mr Ambroise....hmmmph that is like saying Mr Archie.. same thing really.. Listen are you going to get teaching posts at the University?? If you do we can come and give all kinds of demonstrations for you.. We have a variety of topics already prepared and I have some on dealing with your brother that you might like to just read.. Love A++