Dog Scouts of America Camp

This page tells about my experiences with my two dogs Ginger and Pooch at Dog Scouts of America's  June 2006 Dog Scout Camp! (For more info see www.dogscouts.com)
We went to Dog Scout Camp on June 19-24, 2006. I've been a member on Dog Scouts for years and been wanting to go to camp forever, but could never afford it. Then about 1-2 years ago a friend of mine told me about their scholaship program. I was really hoping to be able to go because Ginger and Pooch are both getting older and I was afraid they would be too old or just not be around to go if I kept waiting until I could save up enough money... I wrote an essay and applied for the scholarship last year, but didn't recieve it. I was told I could try again this year and I did and we got the scholarship! I was so excited! I'd been to the leadership retreat last year because I wanted to start a local Dog Scout troop, so I knew what the setting was like, and could not wait to go to an actual camp! The following is a series of photos and info about our trip to Dog Scout camp.


We shared a room with 2 other people and 4 other dogs! The first photo shows: Punch (Border Collie, R top of pic), Ginger (red Golden, R bottom), Pooch (Rat Terrier mix, L bottom) and Libby (mix, L top.) The second photo shows Noel the Pomeranian.


What We Did At Camp
Here are the events we tried at camp. The links have more info on that event/sport!
The items with a * next to them are things we qualified for a badge in.
To learn more about the badges you can earn, go here.
Here is the schedule/curriculum for the camp, in PDF form.

-Dog Scout Class (Pooch)
Pooch took "Dog Scout Class" which is training for the Dog Scout test. He did very well on the heeling and sit/down, but we ended up not taking the Dog Scout test at camp because he was not ready for the "leave it with food." He used to be fairly good at "leave it" but since his hearing loss it's harder to get his attention and get him to "leave it!" We're working on that and on "stay" so hopefully he'll be able to pass the test sometime soon... The Dog Scout test allows your dog to become a dog scout. Once they have passed they can use the title "DSA" after their name and they are eligible to earn badges. Since he doesn't have the dog scout title yet, Pooch can still do the requirements for badges, but we can't turn in the badge forms or get the badges until he passes the test.

-Art of Shaping (Ginger and Pooch*)
"Art of Shaping" involves teaching your dog to paint! Pooch had already learned to paint at a demo given by Lonnie Olsen (the director of Dog Scouts) at the Chicagoland Family Pet Show a few years ago, (you can see photos of him learning to paint and his painting here!) so we took the opportunity at camp for him to paint a couple more pictures. This one we entered in the "Art Contest" at camp. This is the other picture he painted at camp. Because Lonnie saw him learning how to paint, we were able to have her sign the badge form for Pooch. As soon as he gets his Dog Scout title, he can earn the Art of Shaping badge!
Ginger had never painted before, so most of the time I was teaching her the beginning behavior, which is to paw a board  (which will later hold the paper) on cue. She did pretty well at this but was a little unsure, so I didn't push her too hard to learn painting!

-All Dog Band (Pooch)
Since Pooch had already done the requirements for the Art of Shaping Badge, we worked on the next level, called "Fine Art of Shaping: All Dog Band." In this level you teach the dog to play an instrument. Pooch already knew how to play a synthesizer, but I was told I should teach him to play something by touching with his nose since he already learned how to "paw" in the Art of Shaping training... I decided to teach him to honk a bicycle horn. I started with having him touch the horn with his nose, but then he decided to put his mouth over it and I thought that was a better idea! I started working with him with the clicker to put his mouth around the horn. He got pretty good at that in the one session where we worked on it, but he would not squeeze hard enough to make any noise! Unfortunately we only got a chance to work on this once, but I plan to buy a bike horn and train him at home until he makes a noise with it.


The "All Dog Band"


-Dock Diving (Pooch)
Ginger tried Dock Diving at the leadership retreat and she didn't like it, so I decided to try it with Pooch. I thought his life preserver might catch on the dock or something and interfere with jumping so I didn't bring it to the lake. He can swim with or without it, but he is front-heavy so when it's not on he kicks his front legs really far out of the water to keep his head up. We went out on a small board which was set up as a "mini-dock" and he had no problem with jumping off the end of it, so after a few tries we decided to try the big dock. I threw a tennis ball into the water because he will usually do ANYTHING for a tennis ball! He teetered on the edge of the dock for a while as I encouraged him to go get the ball, and finally jumped it. When he jumped into the water he dunked about a foot under the water! He forgot about the ball after that and swam right to the shore. He would not go back in the water after that! I felt bad I had not put his life preserver on... After that when he swam at camp he kept kicking his legs way up out of the water even when he had his preserver on. We didn't try dock diving again...

-Puppy Paddlers* (Pooch)
Pooch worked on Puppy Paddlers, which is the first level of "water" badges. Ginger already earned the badge at the leadership retreat. To earn the badge, the dog must swim alone and with his handler without climbing on them. Unfortunately he was a little nervous of  swimming after his dock diving experience, but I was able to get him to swim with me and toss a ball out to retrieve and swim alone, so he qualified for the badge.

The Pond/Lake

-Beach Buddies* (Ginger)
The requirements for this badge are here (PDF). This badge was mostly fun for Ginger since she's crazy about anything to do with water and retrieving! The hardest part for her was to stay while another dog did a water retrieve, since she was desperate to jump in and retrieve the item herself! Ginger passed the badge requirements.

-Boating Safety* (Ginger)
This was a fun badge to work on as well. Here are the requirements. I have never rowed a boat before, so it was a new experience for me as well as Ginger. One day we practiced getting in and out of the boat. Ginger didn't had a problem with this, but I was a little unsteady! Ginger has never been in a small rowboat. She did go out on a boat when we did the Canine Cruise a few years ago and she did really well, but this was a big difference from the "cruise" boat! I decided to do all the parts of the water badges where I get in the water on one day, so I was practicing the parts where I didn't have to get wet first. I was going to put on my swimsuit the next day and finish them then, but it rained all day so I had to wait. Finally we got to the "check out" for this badge. I was glad I had my swimsuit on because there was about 6-8" of water in the bottom of the boat from the rain! I did pretty well at rowing the boat out into the pond with Ginger sitting nicely in front of me, but I forgot that you're supposed to turn around and row facing backwards (oops!) I did do that on the way back in, though... Ginger earned the badge.

-Water Rescue 1 (Ginger)
I really wanted Ginger to qualify for the water rescue badge and the WETT (water rescue) test, but unfortunately I wasn't able to find anyone to check her off when I was ready to try. We did get to practice a few of the requirements, though. The badge requires the dog to retrieve a life jacket from the water and also a dropped item (life jacket) that they didn't see thrown. Ginger has always retrieved things that I threw, but I knew she would retrieve toys from the water if another dog left them out there, even if I hadn't been the one who threw it, so I thought she might retrieve the placed object as well. She loves retrieving in the water and she'll pretty much grab anything. Someone was out on the boat while I was practicing, so I asked them to drop a bumper BEHIND the boat while they were rowing across the pond. They did, and I pointed at it and said "Look!" (which is Ginger's command to look around for something "interesting." It took a bit for her to figure out what I was pointing at, but as soon as she perked up her ears and saw it I told her "Go get it!" and she swam straight out and brought it back. I was so proud of her! Later I decided to see if she would retrieve a life jacket, which is bulky and awkward and she's never tried before. I tied it up so it wouldn't be as floppy and difficult to grab, and threw it in the shallow water. Ginger was a little unsure how to grab it, but she did pick it up and bring it to me! She got lots of praise and a thrown tennis ball as a reward. I tried throwing it further a few more times, and she happily retrieved it. Then I tried loosening the ties so it was a little more floppy- no problem for her! Finally I untied the straps so it was all loose, and although she had to drag it on the ground when she got to the shallow water she still retrieved it! I was very happy with this, so we gave it a break. Unfortunately though we weren't able to actually test for the badge. Maybe at the next leadership retreat...

-Lure Coursing (Ginger)
Ginger has tried lure coursing before (photos here!) at some "fun day" events around Chicago. When I've tried it before she will chase the bag but only if I keep it was out ahead of her. I think that when it's too close she realizes it's just a bag and stops, but if it's further away it looks like it could be a bunny!
I tried Lure Coursing and was hoping to get her checked out for the badge. She went around the course the first time but stopped chasing near the end. The requirements say the dog has to run the course twice.
 Later we kept trying to get her to go all the way around the course, but every time she stopped chasing before the end! We tried about 3-5 times and she chased it each time but each time she stopped before the end... I don't know why, but this meant she couldn't earn the badge. She did however have a lot of fun, get a good workout and run all-out more than she has in a very long time! She ran the course (well, most of it...) a total of 5-6 times which isn't bad for an almost 10-year-old dog!
(click for larger images)
   

-Retrieve (Pooch)
I worked with Pooch on the retrieve. We got a little one-on-one training session to work on this, and he did pretty well. He is still not ready for the badge, but he is learning the "take it" with a dumbbell very well!

-Obstacle Course 2* & 3* (Ginger)
Ginger earned the obstacle course 1 badge at the leadership retreat, so we decided to try for 2 and 3. These were pretty easy for her since she used to be an agility dog, but she stopped a few years ago because of back problems. We were able to keep all the obstacles low so she was able to do them, and she had a lot of fun-- she's always loved agility! She earned both badges.

-Agility 1* (Ginger)
This requires the dog to run a full agility course. Ginger loves agility so we had no problem with this, except for one thing... The A-Frame was as low as it could go but it was a little hard on Ginger because of her back problems. It took her a few tries but finally she cleared it! The other obstacles were a breeze. You can see some past photos of Ginger on agility obstacles on the UKC Agility Info page I set up. The photos of Ginger were taken at Windy City Agility Club, which is where we used to train.

-Good Manners (Ginger)
Here are the requirements. We checked out for most of the parts of this badge, but didn't earn the badge. I misunderstood one part of it-- I thought the dog had to sit in front of a friendly person "automatically" but I later learned you're allowed to give them a sit cue! The other part we didn't complete was the "go to mat".

-Dog Care* (Ginger and Pooch)
This badge was mostly about basic dog care. It's a new badge so their website doesn't have the info yet. The dog's requirements include allowing you to check their teeth and allowing grooming. Both dogs qualified for the badge.

-TDI Test (Ginger)
Ginger is already a therapy dog with Chenny Troupe, Sit Stay Read, and The Anti-Cruelty Society. However, all those are local organizations with their own tests. TDI is a national org and the testing allows you to visit places individually with your dog and their insurance will cover it. The other groups will only cover group visits which you engage in with them. Ginger actually passed a similar national test, the TDInc test years ago but we waited too long to send in the forms, so we were not able to join. I took the TDI test at camp so Ginger could be in a national group and we could do "lone" visits. This test was fairly easy for us since Ginger has done 5 similar tests in the past! The "walking through a crowd" part was pretty intense because they had people pretending to be (slightly demented!) nursing home residents and everyone was acting very loud and strange to see how the dogs would react. Ginger had no problem with it, or with the medical equipment which she is used to working around with Chenny Troupe... As soon as I send the forms in, Ginger will be a TDI dog!

-Tick Tack Dog Game (Ginger)
This was a fun game we played at camp. We've actually played this before at other dog events, and it's a lot of fun! It is like Tick Tack Toe but with dogs instead of X's and O's! The way you play is there is a big "board" on the ground (we used hula hoops for the squares.) Yout team chooses a square and you have your dog go into the square and do a "stay." We played "sit vs. down"-- one team, all the dogs had to sit-stay in their squares, the other had to down-stay. If your dog got up and you couldn't get them back into position within a certain time, you give up that square. With the dogs who were younger or just not as strong on "stay", their owners could stand next to them. It was a lot of fun and exciting to play! Even with 7-8 dogs staying directly next to each other at one time, there were no squabbles.

-Simon Says Game (Ginger)
This is what it sounds like- a Simon Says game for dogs/people. "Simon" would tell you to do something like sit your dog, walk around the dog, etc and your dog had to do the required moves to stay in the game, and you also had to make sure "Simon said." We had lots of fun, and Ginger and I won!

-Copy C-A-T Game (Ginger and Pooch)
This is a fun tricks game. I'm not sure who won because we got a little distracted in the middle when the dog t-shirts arrived, but it is fun to play. You can read the rules here.


Dog T-Shirts
DSA ordered some really neat T-shirts for people and dogs for this year's camps. They say "Dog Scout Camp - Year of The Dog 2006" and have a photo of a neat-looking dog on them! I ordered a long and short-sleeved shirt for myself... When the dog t-shirts arrived they were gorgeous! Unfortunately Ginger did not look good in the shirt-- it just wouldn't fit her correctly, so I only bought one for Pooch. Here is a photo of my cat modelling it!

Costume Contest
There was also a dog costume contest, which I entered Ginger and Pooch in. Their costumes were a Chicago Police dog (Ginger) and a prisoner (Pooch.) We didn't win, but we got a really neat "Costume Contest" medallion for entering.
Here are some photos from the contest (click for larger):
  


More Photos from Camp


Dog Scouts with uniforms, Group Photo
(Ginger is on the stairs at the right, behind the other dogs.)


Ginger in her dog scout vest at camp


Another photo showing the other side of her vest, taken after camp


Ginger on the dock



Photos of the dogs having fun in the off-leash area:
(click for larger images)

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On the way home, we stayed overnight in Lansing, MI. We stopped to have a look at Michigan's capitol building, and I got a few photos of Ginger posing in front of it:
  


After Dog Camp, Ginger and Pooch slept pretty much the whole way back home to Chicago!
(click for larger images)

   

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~Links~

For more photos, see my dogs' webpages:
Ginger's Golden Playground
and
Pooch's Page

For another camper's experience (from their dog's point of view) see
Merlin's Dog Scout Camp Diary

Have any questions about my dogs, camp, or anything else? Email Us!






Images and text
©Copyright 2006 Lizzi K.