Service Dog

Ever see a dog that when asked to do something, runs through his entire repertoire of tricks until he hits upon the one that gets rewarded? That's because none of those tricks (behaviors) are on cue. The dog just guesses as to which one you're asking for, and stops when he gets to the right one.

There's an easy solution to that problem: add a cue. Tell the dog what he's doing when he's doing it. And then only pay when the dog does the behavior you've asked for. So if you ask for a sit and Fido barks, gives you his paw, and then sits, don't reward that chain of behaviors. Only reward the dog when he gives you what you asked for, and nothing else. [I'll write a more detailed post about this in the coming days, as it's an important part of training.]

Here's a quick video of Talos learning about cues. In this clip, I'm asking him to either sit or back (back up a few steps). He has to listen to the word in order to get the behavior right. When he gives me a different behavior than what I've asked for, nothing horrible happens to him. I simply don't click him.

Watch as, at one point, he guesses – and guesses wrong! He tries to come toward me when I've asked for a back, and then tries sitting. I simply ignore him and get him up and moving. Then I simply re-cue the back, and voila – he gets it! Notice the enthusiasm with that last back – he gives me a little pony-like leap. If he continues to give me the leap, I'll stop reinforcing it (because I don't want him backing up and leaping at the same time). But for now, in the acquisition stage of learning about cues, I'll take it!

It's been a busy week for Talos, he's been getting lots of different public exposure. Today's adventures took him to Frederick, MD, where we got fitted for shoes, shopped, did banking, and picked up dog food.

We started at If the Shoe Fits, a terrific store with fantastic customer service and extremely helpful staff. Talos learned how to lay (not quietly yet, but we're working on it) while I got my feet measured and tried on some shoes. The staff couldn't have been nicer and more helpful, as well as gracious with Talos.

After a quick stop at the bank, it was off to Walmart, which can often feel like a circus, even without a Great Dane service dog in training by my side! It's a Super-Walmart which means it's about a mile wide. Of course, the things we needed were on opposite ends of the store, and all in between as well. Taking any dog into a public place can be challenging, but when the dog is a Great Dane — a young, spotted, blue-eyed Great Dane — well, let's just say it's a lot more challenging!

It's great experience for Talos, so as long as he's well behaved, people are allowed to pet him. At this point in his training, we focus quite heavily on socialization: we want him to have good experiences with as many different types of people as possible.

Talos performed fantastically in Walmart – walking nicely, leaving the food on the shelves, paying attention to me, and staying close. You wouldn't think a trip to Walmart would tire a dog out, but take a look at this video. We've been out of Walmart for ten minutes, I'm getting ready to put fuel in the Element and I look over to see Talos stretched completely across the car with his head on my armrest. He's getting too big for the front seat, but he doesn't realize it yet.

He got in a few good minutes of hard napping, then it was back to work because I had other stops to make. It's hard work, prepping to be a service dog. Those Walmarts are tough on a dog!