I thought the audition went really well!! :D They had a VERY extensive audition process! (It was seriously close to a 20 page packet of behaviors they were testing on.) And on some of them, I had no idea how Jasmine would do. But overall, I think she did great!
The first part of the test was a sit/stay for 10 minutes. With distractions- dogs walking around, people walking around, metal sounds, reflective boards, people hugging her, etc. She did pretty good on that one.
Then she had to do a down/stay for 10 minutes with the same distractions. She broke this a few times. Especially when someone hugged her. She tried to give them loves back! I had to tell her to lie down again. The other times she broke it, I think were my fault. (Moving my hand that I was using to cue it.) So we need to work on that one.
Next was a stand/ stay for 10 minutes! I *knew* this was Jasmine's weak one. When she gets bored or tired, she just sits down. So after about 5 minutes, she sat down. And I had to ask her to stand back up again. She did for a while, then sat down again. LOL. I totally can relate. I think I would have too! ;) So we're going to work on our duration for that one.
Next, Jaz was tested for her sound sensitivity. I had NO IDEA how she would do with these! They played all sorts of sounds on a loud speaker- like a car back-firing, fire-works, thunder, a horror movie scream, etc. Jaz didn't bat an eye. She didn't care. The only one she slightly reacted to was the wolf growling. She would look towards the speakers, then look back at me. I had turkey chunks. In the end, that was more interesting than the wolf growling!
The rest of the stuff she did GREAT on! I had a ton of props (as you can tell from the pic) so we could demo all of her tricks. (and I actually forgot to bring the mailbox!) Not that I had room for it anyway!! I didn't bring the mini-fridge on purpose. I mean, I have to draw the line somewhere!! That thing is heavy!! ;)
During the trick portion of the audition, I was trying to get Jaz to demonstrate the Figure 8 (leg weave) on another girl. (who was there auditioning with her cute dog!) But Jaz wouldn't do it. She kept looking up at this girl. It didn't take me long to realize the problem! I asked the girl if I could take off her treat bag (which was at her waist.) And voila!! Suddenly, Jaz can do this trick perfectly!! LOL. When in doubt, look for the food!!
My friend Stacy accompanied me to this audition. And I'm so very glad she did! She ended up not only being my friend, but my personal assistant, videographer, navigator, and stage manager! (She got me the props I needed, and told me which tricks to do next.) :D She's awesome! :D
So... it was a really fun day. The audition went really long! It took over 2 1/2 hours. (But that was because the other dog was auditioning too.) So after all that, Jaz was pooped!! It was a busy day. But it was fun.
And good news... they are going to list Jasmine! She's now going to be with Arizona Animal Actors. :)
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