Quincy, from Polish straydog to Dutch service dog

Ah yes, the time differance...it is evening here but not there yet :) Quincy is part doxie...still can't get over that :D Hope you get of work soon and can enjoy a calm and quiet evening, with or without the video's :)

Saskia :)

Belated Happy Birthday Quincy!

The video was great:) Quincy is so adorable, thanks for sharing this.

Quincy is part doxie?! Ah she is so cute! I love her ears!!! :D

The videos were wonderful; she is so intently focused. Such a good, smart girl. Thank you for sharing them!

Shana

Thanks all for the (belated) birthday wishes :D

Yes, I had a DNA test done on her and she is 50% Giant Schnauzer ( :eek: ), 25% smoothhair Dachshund ( :eek: ) and 25% Mudi :D If you look at the parental lines, and they go 4 generations back, than one line (either her dad or her mom) is all 100% purebred Giant Schnauzers, all 4 generations. The other line, the three generations the furtest away, are all purebred smoothhair Dachshunds and the last generation ( so the direct parent of Quincy) is a cross smoothair Dachshund x Mudi . So Quincy's father or mother was at least 4 generations back 100% purebred Giant Schnauzer and her other parent was a mix Dachshund x Mudi (with nothing but Dachshund in the generations before). The ears had to come from somewhere, right? :p Both Schnauzers and Dachshunds have floppy ears... So yes, she is part Doxie...who would have guessed :D But it is the Mudi character (for the most part) and looks that are most obvious :) What the heck is a Mudi...? :D http://www.akc.org/dog-breeds/mudi/ They have a somewhat longer fur but other then that, she resembles a Mudi pretty closely :)

Saskia,

She is just adorable and so smart! She makes me want to go home and train all four of my dogs...

WOW! What a mix of breeds.

"What the heck is a Mudi?", is right! I read the DNA results and searched to find the same link you provided... yep, must be where those ears come from. :D The picture on the top of that page looks so much like her, from what I can tell. Interesting how that is one of the smaller parts of her DNA but she looks so much more like that breed than the others.

I missed Quincy's birthday!!!

Happy Birthday Quincy!! You adorable girl!

Isn't she just a hoot! So smart and loving and willing. Gosh never seen a dog so willing to just do whatever is asked of her.

About time for some new video's :D

Quincy helping me with putting on my coat, quite unusual to see a service dog helping putting clothes on ;)
https://youtu.be/1b0Bd65OhT0

Enjoying our time together...
https://youtu.be/H4w63ECmGVc

And today's Hooperclass, our 5th :D
https://youtu.be/AwtmaEM09Bg

Someone in class today said Quincy was about to become the new Hooper Champion ;) But I told her, that I really didn't care about the Hoopers but that to me, Quincy was the champion of being happy, the only "championship" that counts...in my book ;)

But what I mean is, that I do not care if she exels or not...as long as she has fun, that's the only purpose of going to class...having fun :D

Saskia and Quincy :)

She is amazing, Saskia! How do you do it? I have all I can do to get my dogs to sit. Sibbie has that down pat now, and whenever she gets out of hand I make her sit and stay for a minute to calm down. They all know how to sit and give a paw. We are working on that with Sibbie now, but that is as much as I have been able to teach them. None of them will stay or come on command.

Well, I of course have the advantage of having just one dog and she gets all the attention, training and freetime exclusively...that helps a lot ;) And secondly, I picked her for her ability to learn and for her sheer joy in "working" that also helps a lot :D Ans thirdly, I spent a lot of time connecting with her, creating and deepening our bond...in my opinion even more important then any other training :) We play a lot, we go for walks a lot, we do the Hoopers class just because Quincy likes it so much, we cuddle a lot and we sleep together...all things hat will establish a strong and firm bond :) And about the walks...they should be walks "together" and they should be fun and fullfilling. Not the same round every day, not pulling the dog because he/she is sniffing somewhere too long and you're in a hurry... Try to go for walks with your dog...and pretend being a dog too :p Sniffing is essential! Do not drag your dog away from that highly interesting spot, not even if it takes them 5 minutes to complete their sniffing. Show interest in that spot, look in that direction...let your dog know you understand the importance. And, be a little crazy...let your dog decide where to go on a walk and in what pace :D Make it a joined experience ;) Walking the dog...is for the dog. Cause it spend a long time alone at home perhaps because you were out working. Or because is stayed indoors a lot because you were busy....doing things. If you go for a walk, make it count and make it dog time :D And besides, sniffing is very calming, satisfying and tiring to dogs. You'll do your dog a huge favour if you change routes with every walk, if you let him sniff his little heart out, if you let him decide his "dog" pace instead of making him rush because of our human schedules... It's things like this, that will create a strong and intimate bond with your dog and that will make for a willing and participating dog when you train and "work" with him :)