Taters Time to Shine: Interview with Therapy Dog, Model, Actor, AKC Agility Dog and Cancer Awareness Dog, Parker!

Well that title was a mouthful!!!
Do these to pups sound familiar? Well I am sure you know them from their FAMOUS Facebook page "ParkerPup"!

We will also be supporting ParkerPup ALL through the Hero Dog awards!!!

Interview with ParkerPup!

Q (Parker): How old were you when your mom brought you home to live with her? I was 11 weeks old when I came to live with my family.

Q (Parker): At what age did you start training? I started training the day I came home. It's all I have ever known. Q (Parker): Why do you think people should train there dog? It's good for us dogs to have a job and to be both mentally and physically active. It keeps our brains going, and helps the human-animal bond. We're more reliable when we're trained, and able to figure things out quicker if we have been exercising our brains. Many benefits! Plus who doesn't like a trained dog? Q (Parker): What type of training did you get trained using? Positive Reinforcement? Correction Based Training? and Why? I am trained using positive reinforcement and clicker training. Just like children, dogs respond favorably to praise. It's no fun learning when you are constantly being corrected and told you are wrong, right? Think back to school. It's kind of the same thing! Q (Parker): What made your mom recognize that you would be a good actor/ model and Therapy Dog? Regarding becoming an actor/model -- it was never something we actively went looking for. My family did a lot of training when I was small and got involved in a lot of things in the dog community. We met lots of people and one friend introduced us to an animal talent agent. She met me and liked me and my resume right away and I had my first job within 2 weeks. My family knew from the very first few weeks that I would make a good therapy dog. I was a very mellow puppy, calm, and eager to please. They knew I had the potential to become a therapy dog if it was something I liked (that's the other thing - whatever "job" i would eventually have, they wanted to make sure it was something I really enjoyed doing). Q (Parker): What are some of your favorite things to do in your spare time? I love to play ball! I will retrieve them for you, and if you're too busy to throw my ball for me, I will hide them under the chair and try to get them out. It's a game I made up myself. I love to learn and train. I love to do agility. I also like to eat, and play with Reser. Q (Parker): I know you bring a lot of awareness to Cancer, what can the public do to help bring awareness to it as well? Well, first it's important to realize that you are never the exception. My family never thought we would be closely affected by it, but my dad got an aggressive cancer and survived. They have also lost 3 dogs to cancer, one of which was my best friend, Daisy. Knowing the statistics is important. Then using that information to get people interested will help. Then hopefully people will understand the importance of self-checks, regular doctor examinations, checking your dog regularly for lumps/bumps/abnormalities, and getting involved in your community to raise funds for groundbreaking research. We won't ever find answers if we don't invest. Q (Parker): Did you have any funny habits as a pup or still now? My dog, Tater, will bring people a boot or pillow when he is excited to see them. I do like to greet people with a tennis ball when I have one available. Sometimes I grin a lopsided Elvis smile if I see someone I know and am super-duper excited to see (but I never do this with my own family so they have had a hard time capturing it and pairing it with a command).