Candidate must be able to instinctively display calming signals , respond to directions quickly, carefully and consistently, show quiet, easy-going confidence at all times, remain non-reactive in the presence of reactive/ aggressive canine clients whether 5 pounds or 150 pounds, make all human clients feel like geniuses by responding to their sometimes clumsy commands if asked to do so, demonstrate different levels of play behavior with aforementioned canine clients and quit immediately if required. This type of dog is rare and most of the qualities they need to possess are instinctive, not trained.
Miami and Portia have been ably assisting me for the past 12 years, and, although not yet retired, they would like to begin decreasing their workload in this very demanding career.
Vida applied for the job and his first assignment was to interact with a client's 2 year old GSD who is dog reactive/aggressive among other behavioral issues. This required serious focus and exquisite communication between Vida and myself. He was able to calm this dog by his presence and they both enjoyed their playtraining sessions throughout the class. The client's dog is a recent rescue and has very limited social skills and no previous obedience training. Vida was not offended by escalating rough behavior and waited patiently during time outs.
A quietly confident dog of strong character with exemplary temperament and intelligence is absolutely essential to me in my business. Thank you, Julie, for my new canine business partner. I might have phoned Julie and shared this story with her alone but I thought it more complimentary to post it here so everyone could enjoy this great story about another super Alta-Tollhaus dog.
QuickUpdate: Tonight Vida participated in his second behavioral class with another GSD with reactive/ aggression issues. Another successful class due in no small part to Vida's good work!
I haven't decided yet what Vida's salary should be. Any suggestions?
Oh, I almost forgot. Vida is not even two years old yet!
All in a good day’s work for Vida
Margot—it doesn’t surprise me one bit that your new business partner would be an Alta-Tollhaus dog. Congratulations Vida on a job well done.
Thank you for sharing your story, Margot.
Absolutely love this photo of Vida!
Margot,
Vida is one cool dog….and now he is starting a new career. It is really rare to find a dog to fit a job description like the one you have listed. With this in mind his pay should reflect the high level of difficulty. I think deal he will broker with you is the pleasure of simply working with you!
Thank you for sharing the story. Handsome picture of the big guy!
Julie
PS I re-invested your Kiva money into a group called the ‘Vida Group” from Central America.
The VIDA GROUP!? That is so cool! Could you post a link to Kiva.org so more of our bloggers could check it out? Yesterday I made two investments at Kiva. Kiva makes the world seem smaller, doesn’t it?
Thanks for the nice comments, Carole and Julie. I’m always busy working but I was so proud of Vida that I had to take the time to tell this nice story.
Vida has such a classic noble appearance coupled with his warm intelligent eyes that most people fall in love with him and wish he was theirs. Ha! I don’t see that happening in the near future!
Here is the link to the Vida Group:
The Vida Group at Kiva.org
The Vida Group requested a loan of $2,025 for their clothing sales business. To date they have been lent $125 of what they are looking for. The Vida Group is a group of ladies from San Pedro de Macorís, Dominican Republic.
Intelligent, good-natured, devoted, handsome, healthy, and (obviously) hard-working…what more could anyone ask for!?! An exemplary ambassador of the GSD breed – a definite credit to the breeder and, of course, to his ‘Mom.’