[alaskayorkie]

Woohoo, Jillie passed her Delta Society therapy dog test today, so I'll have TWO certified therapy dogs in the family!

Whew, this one was TOUGH! The previous tester in our state was very easy-going on grading. If you did something wrong, she'd explain but she wouldn't necessarily fail you. Eddie passed twice easily.

Well, she died, and two new testers got certified -- and they are sticklers for the rules. Not unfair -- they just give you little slack. The first test they conducted, they failed all 7 dogs who tested.

Jillie took the test a couple months ago and did beautifully, I thought. Even better than Eddie. But they failed her for "excessive licking." As cute as I think it is, they don't want her licking uncontrollably in a hospital setting.

So I taught her a no-lick command, and we tried again today. She passed! She only had one spot in the test where she struggled. Three people approached us being loud and wanted to pet her. I was carrying her, but I could tell they bothered her. Her tongue started darting out nervously and submissively.

I just backed off for a second and gave her some space, asked the people to talk in quiet voices and approach us one at a time. Jillie relaxed, and obeyed the no lick command!

Quite proud of my little 4-pound, 2-year-old girl!