A well-trained celebrity dog - and weight watchers
Full of character, wilful, and a little diva Gertie - a little Jack Russell (with some large, but lovely ears) - came with her mum and granny for some training sessions.Betty Stangoni and her daughter were having problems with Gertie’s recall and she was pulling dreadfully on her lead. After a few sessions Betty was in stitches laughing when practising the recall. I was trying to get Betty to wave her arms about and get VERY enthusiastic with her voice in order to get Gertie more interested in returning to her. Betty, a quiet lady of slightly more mature years, was not quite as nimble on her feet as she used to be and she could not bend down quickly (to Gertie’s level) when practising the recall, so we had to rely on excitability and volume in her voice to get Gertie’s attention.
Whilst all of this was taking place it seems that our little Diva had ideas of her own and had entered the Somerset County Gazettes Pet Idol competition. So, just as we were achieving great things in getting this little Jack Russell to be a bit more accommodating and humble, she goes and wins the competition!! Now our little Diva had something to be a Diva about!
However, despite winning the competition Gertie has maintained her good behaviour and she has spent her £100 prize money wisely on a new bed, food, bowls, toys and a new lead. What did Mrs Stangoni get out of it? Well, she has lost all her inhibitions (ok, maybe not all), she has a well-behaved celebrity dog - and she lost half a stone!