My Sister Princess, The Best First Dog I Could Ever Have.

Chapter 3: Kids and K9 Camp.

Bonnie had a Kids and K9 camp that I would go to with Princess during the summer. We started going after Princess turned Three years old. I would go every year that she had it. When I got to old to be a camper, she allowed me to be a camp counselor. During the kids and k9s camp we introduced Princess to a dog sport called Dog Agility. In this sport a dog and its owner run around a ring filled with obstacles that the dog had to either jump over, jump onto, weave their body in between, or walk over.

Each object had a name. These names include, Jumps (these could be set up as single bars, double bars, and triple bars), A-Frame (a large A shaped woodeen board for the dog to walk over, Dog walk (a long board with two ends that the dog had to walk over from one end to the other), Weaves (poles that are in the ground or stand that the dogs had to weave their body between), teeter totter (a board that looks like a human seesaw, but with out the handle bars that dogs walk across and it moves), tunnels, tire jump (just like the name says a tire that is hung up that the dog jumps through), Broad jump (wood pieces that make the dog jump futher), Table ( a table that the dog has to either stand stay, down stay, or sit stay on while the judge counts down from five-one), and a closed tunnel (a small tunnel that has a sheet on the end that the dog has to go through).

Princess loved all but one of these obstacle. This obstacle was the teeter. It takes a lot of practice to get a dog use to the movement of the teeter. Princess never could get use to it. When I became a counselor Princess became a demo dog. We had lots of other fun things to do and learn in this camp. We got to create t-shirts with drawings of our dogs on them, we learned how to take care of our dogs for a vet and a groomer, we played games with our dogs.

One of the games I remember quite well was a game of ticktacktoe. Princess and I did very well with this game and had lots of fun playing it. The dogs were told to sit stay or down stay. if your dog broke their stay you had to give up your spot in the game and go to the end of the line. We had special speakers come to visit and teach us. At the end of the camp the group would wear our t-shirts and we would take pictures of us with our dogs. Some kids did not have dogs so they borrowed dogs from Bonnie and other people.

One year we had a breeder (Kristy) come and talk to us campers about showing your dog in breed handling. she had several of her shelties with some of the campers in that years kids and k9 camp. (This breeder is the breeder that We would in the future get our two shelties from. We did not know this at the time.) This breeder showed us how to show are dogs. This was the introduction to breed handling for me. I became fascinated with it. There was only one problem. I needed a pure bred dog. Princess as you have read is a mixed breed.

I only missed one year of camp. I do not rember why I miss camp. Each year the campers would get a ribbon for a job well done and a certificate of completion. I sometimes now, I wish that Bonnie and I could start up the kids and k9 camp again so that I could help lead it and that many other children could have the experience and joy of working, playing, learning, and having fun with their dog.

The tricks, teachings, and obedience that I learned from the camp will come in handy for me in the future. I did not know at the time that I would one day own a pure bred sheltie. This sheltie would bring back the many memories of my childhood with Princess. Many years go by during the time of the kids and k9 camp. Find out what happens to Kim and Princess next as they grow older. Things will happen in the next chapter...... Chapter 4: Thirteen years after we got Princess.