Service Dog Archives - Page 20 of 34

Puppy Swap

October 25, 2010

We're extending a warm welcome to Ike, and at the same time bidding Teddy a fond farewell and good luck on his next journey. Ike is actually General Eisenhower. And Teddy, of course, is Theodore Roosevelt.

Remember when I went away for a month? Teddy's puppy sitters fell in love with him. They've been waiting to raise a pup, but wanted an older, more stable pup. Ike was slated for them, but is still kind of a youngster and not as "easy" as Teddy is. It was then we made the realization: here's Teddy (who they're already in love with) – the easiest pup to live with, and who's already spent an entire month in their home without any trials or tribulations.

I'm always up for a puppy, so it was an easy decision to make when the Director asked what I thought of the idea. So this morning Teddy's off to his new family — who have two great young kids and another dog for Teddy to play with. And my guys are getting familiar with Ike.

There are a few things we've already noticed about Ike – he's a big-time retriever (he already knows how to pick up a keyring and a phone!) and he likes to bark.

When he's done with his meal in his crate, he announces it by barking. And barking. And then barking just a little bit more. That's definitely high on our priority list of things to work on!

Ike is a Labrador retriever and he's four months old. He was donated to Hero Dogs by a generous Labrador breeder. Ike's lines have a great history of producing dogs with excellent hips and elbows – very important for any dog, but especially for a dog who will have someone depending on him for many years to come. We look forward to sharing Ike's journey with you.

Perfecting Teddy’s “Kennel” – Video

October 22, 2010

A lot of people find it interesting to see how much work goes into training. Whether working with a service dog or a pet dog, the training is the same. Clicker training creates an eager dog, a dog who wants to be part of the process. A willing dog makes a great training partner.

Too often, I hear owners say "He knows how to do this, he's just being stubborn." In my experience, the dog isn't stubborn. He doesn't really know the behavior like you think he does. If you're confident your dog knows what you're asking, put him through the test for stimulus control. Here are the four conditions of stimulus control:

Your dog does the behavior when asked. (Your dog goes to his kennel when you ask him.)
Your dog doesn't do the behavior if he isn't asked. (Your dog doesn't go to his kennel if you didn't ask him.)
Your dog doesn't do some other behavior when you ask. (Your dog doesn't sit when you ask him to kennel.)
Your dog doesn't offer the behavior when you ask him to do something else. (Your dog doesn't kennel when you ask him to sit.)

I thought Teddy's kennel behavior was pretty good so I put it to the stimulus control test. And video-taped it. Ugh. We have a lot of work to do! Check out the link at the bottom of this post for the video. (You can see it on YouTube if it looks odd when you watch it through the blog.)

So the next time you swear your dog knows something, give him the test for stimulus control. I'll bet he doesn't really know it. That's ok. You're the teacher – get out there and work with the dog some more. We're working hard and will get all of Teddy's behaviors under stimulus control. It just takes time and training.

A Quick Talos News Brief

October 21, 2010

It's been a long, hard twelve weeks since I turned Talos in. I can't believe it's only been twelve weeks, if I'm being honest. It feels like FOREVER ago. I miss him as badly today as I did the day we turned him in.

The good news is I don't cry every day. But it took me a long, long time to even be able to look at pictures of him. Just looking at this picture here is a little difficult still.

I got a nice "Talos Update" from Service Dogs of Virginia. He's sleeping in bed with the Training Director (yay!), he's learning to retrieve, and he's doing well on his footwork behaviors.

Brace dogs need to be flexible. I don't mean the bend-y kind of flexible, but more like able to do a lot of different things with their feet. His job is going to be to help someone keep their balance. So if his person needs him to move closer, he's got to be able to figure out – quickly – how to get closer to matter which direction he's facing, where his hind end is, etc.

He's got to be able to pivot, to turn in tight quarters. That's not an easy thing for a dog as big as Talos to do! Big T is taller than me when he's on his hind legs – he's no shrimp! So I'm doubly impressed that the big lug is learning how to be so light on his feet.

I'm hoping to get his tribute video together soon — seeing as I can now finally stand to look at his picture without dissolving in tears. (One or two still slide down my face, but they're at least controllable now.)

And maybe, just maybe, I'll be able to drive down for a visit in November. My birthday present to myself. I think I can handle it. Actually I think I'd enjoy it – and be able to control my urge to run for the border with him.

Another Notch In Teddy’s Belt

September 12, 2010

In the short time we've had Teddy, he's been to:

the post office
Tractor Supply
SuperFresh grocery store
Luncheon at Holly Hills Country Club
Wal*Mart
a freight elevator
a variety of steps including all glass, no risers, concrete, metal, and circular
cafeteria
Federal government building
restaurant and
The UPS Store.

He's heard applause, amplified voices over a p.a. system, microphone feedback, loud cars, big trucks, and motorcycles.

Teddy's also gotten quite used to bouncing around from house to house, spending the night here and there.

I'm going on three back-to-back trips and won't be around for an entire month. Teddy's going to put another "experience" notch in his belt: he's going to spend a month at yet another person's house while I'm gone. All this change is very good for Teddy. He's learning to be flexible and to go with the flow. He has a good time no matter where he is - an important attribute for a service dog.

While I won't have any Teddy updates until my return, keep an eye on the blog. I will be blogging about my business trips (going behind the scenes at the Denver Zoo, participating in an animal training seminar with Ken Ramirez at Shedd Aquarium in Chicago) and all the excitement that goes with travel. And I hope to have some Talos updates as well!

Set the Bar High

September 12, 2010

It's interesting having a puppy in public training as a service dog. People are so eager to excuse Teddy's jumping or general silliness beause "he's just a puppy."

As if THAT'S a good excuse to allow a puppy to greet people inappropriately or pull on the leash!

Puppyhood is the perfect time to teach appropriate greeting behavior. If Teddy learns to sit in order to be petted, I'll never have the headache of trying to fix a jumping dog.

Teddy's young, but he's not dumb. And he's very capable of the self control needed to greet people in a polite fashion. He's also smart enough to learn that when he pulls on the leash, all forward motion stops.

If I don't teach Teddy these things now, how fair is of me to expect a full-grown, adult dog to understand that jumping and pulling is NOT what I want. Especially since those very things have been working so well for him in the past?

A little extra time, training, and patience while Teddy's still young is exactly how Teddy will learn good manners and self control. If I were to subscribe to the "but he's just a puppy" philosopy, my job would be much harder, and Teddy wouldn't understand why the rules had changed. It's better for both Teddy and I if the expectations were clear and consistent and were in place as soon as he became a service pup in training.

So have patience with us if it takes Teddy an extra second or two to gather his wits about him and sit nicely for you to give him a scratch. Your patience helps Teddy learn!

Teddy Takes on the Federal Government

September 7, 2010

It's not nearly as serious as it sounds. My husband works for the Federal government and it's a terrific place to socialize the service dogs in training. The campus is huge, there are long, shiny corridors, gigantic cafeterias, a bazillion different types of staircases, and two very different types of elevators: regular passenger elevators and big, bulky, noisy freight elevators.

You might remember Talos' experience (and video) with the very same freight elevator. I took video of Teddy's experience, too. But I need to figure out how to convert 3gp format to something my Mac recognizes. (I took the video on my Droid, not the Flip.)

I will get the video posted as soon as I figure it out, but in the meantime the report on Teddy is good: he noticed the loud bangs and ducked at the outset, but recovered super-quickly and pranced right into the vast elevator. Once he was on, he very curiously looked around like he was at Disney World!

It becomes clearer and clearer that I'm not doing enough polite walking exercises with him. He's at the end of his leash and pulling hard very often. I stop everytime the leash gets tight – and that makes for slow going. I also carry treats with me so I can reward him when he's in the right position. He gets it for a little while then is distracted quickly. Did you see the movie "Up?" He's like the main doggie character who's having an intelligent conversation and then is instantly sidetracked: "SQUIRREL!"

All in all, a good socializing experience for Teddy today.

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