As Harmony has matured, it has become apparent that she has too much drive for a Service Dog. She is great in essentially every situation, but needs time each day to just ‘go crazy’ with a high energy game or training session. Our intention from the start was to keep her for the breeding program, rather than place her as a Service Dog. This is still our plan, now knowing that only the calmer pups will likely be suitable for Service work.
Due to her love for people, activity, and using her nose, Harmony has entered into the world of Search and Rescue. She has been doing quite well, and will hopefully one day be certified in wilderness search for lost people, handled by our Program Director, Jillian Gartner.
Harmony is almost fully-trained in Service work and is currently APAW’s back-up demo dog for giving presentations (Charlie is our main demo dog).
In addition, now that Harmony is 18 months old and can safely jump, she has started learning to play Frisbee. She is just starting to learn how to vault (push off of handler to jump higher for disc), and may eventually enter in local competitions… not many Poodles in this sport.