Lady Priscilla Earns Her AKC Trick Novice Dog Title and Conquers the Tunnel
We weren’t expecting a breakthrough.
Honestly, we thought it would just be a solid private lesson: some confidence-building, a few laughs, maybe a little agility. But in 30 minutes, Lady Priscilla didn’t just meet expectations—she shattered them.
First came the tricks.
Jenny, our CGC trainer, had recommended making a video of Lady Priscilla running through five tricks to earn her AKC Trick Dog Novice title alongside her CGC certification next week. We thought it would be easiest to film at the Zoom Room Winter Park, one of our regular Orlando service dog training spots, where we could also borrow their equipment.
But we had forgotten that Joelle, our agility trainer, was also a certified AKC evaluator. She offered to run Lady Priscilla through the requirements right there and then. We chose five behaviors that felt fun, solid, and uniquely her: paws up on an agility table, hand signal for sit, “find it,” balance beam, and a jump over a low bar. All on leash, all focused, all completed in five minutes flat.
Then came the real magic.
We took off the harness to let her stretch and blow off some steam. And she did—bounding, bouncing, full-speed zoomies across the room. She ran like she was made of light.
And then we called her over to the tunnel.
The real tunnel. Not a makeshift setup, not a practice prop. The full-length, curved, flexible agility tunnel she’d previously avoided or half-heartedly sniffed. We covered this in detail in She Tunnels Everywhere Except the Tunnel.
At first, she poked halfway in. Then zoomed off again.
Then tried again.
And then, without hesitation, she ran all the way through.
Straight through, full speed, bursting out the other end and headbutting me in the nose with pure, joyful momentum.
And then she did it again.
And again.
And again.
On her own terms. With trust. With joy.
Afterward, she played on the A-frame like a dog who had just unlocked a new level of freedom. And honestly? She had.
We hadn’t said much to Joelle or James about CGC class.
Not because we were trying to be secretive—just… quietly figuring things out. We started coming to Zoom Room this past spring, when one of our trainers, Jenny, went on maternity leave. She had encouraged us to get Lady Priscilla into more group environments, and Zoom Room seemed like a good fit.
Lady Priscilla tested out of Obedience 1 in just a couple of weeks, but we ended up staying in Obedience 2 for quite a while—even after she demonstrated all the required skills. The team was kind, supportive, and always looking out for her well-being. But they weren’t sure she was ready for the structure and stimulation of CGC class just yet.
And that made sense. Six weeks ago, she was still working through a lot.
But Jenny returned from leave around then, and we quietly reconnected. She invited us into her CGC class—a real-deal, indoor group setting with three other dogs, which we’ve blogged about in detail.
Tonight, while chatting with Joelle during Trick Dog testing, it finally came up. I explained why we were only doing five tricks instead of ten: we were submitting the title together with Lady Priscilla’s CGC paperwork.
There was a pause. A moment of recalibration. Then Joelle asked, a little wide-eyed: “She’s in a group CGC class? Indoors? With other dogs?”
I nodded. “For the past five weeks. She had a perfect dry run last week, and she’s testing next Saturday.”
It wasn’t disbelief. It was surprise—the kind that happens when someone is quietly evolving right in front of you, and suddenly you realize… they’re not the same anymore.
We walked into Zoom Room in the pouring rain. Lady Priscilla leapt through puddles like they were playgrounds, then calmly shook herself off and strode inside—cool, composed, and radiant with quiet confidence.
Joelle and James saw it immediately.
“She’s not the same dog.”
And they were right.
She isn’t.
She’s joyful now. Brave. Sharp. Capable. And proud of herself in ways she never used to be.
She didn’t just run through the tunnel today. She ran through every shadow of who she used to be. She left them behind.
She chose joy. She chose trust. And she chose now.
Because, for all the people who said she might get there eventually?
Eventually is now.
Want to explore all of Lady Priscilla’s biggest Training Milestones? Start here.
Prefer stories about her Emotional Growth? You’ll find them here.
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