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Dog Birthdays and Milestones

May 18, 2012

Exciting times in our household this week. Tango C Mango, the love of my life Labrador, turns 9 years old today! We’ll be having a little party to mark this fabulous day. We’ll party, take pictures, and pretty much overdo something that a dog doesn’t even know he should celebrate. I don’t actually buy presents for the dogs, but I do put a little something special in the birthday dog’s dinner bowl. And, of course, give them a little extra lovin’ all day long.

Tango came to us as a service pup in training. He (thankfully — shhh, don’t tell the service dog agency I said that) tested poorly for structure (bad shoulder), so after about a year with us, the agency released him and gave us the option of keeping him. I did a dance when I heard he could stay with us. Sorry, Service Dogs of Virginia, but I knew as soon as this dog came into my house that I would fall deeply in love and I wasn’t even a little bit disappointed that he wouldn’t be a service dog.

Tango so enjoys being in public and going places with us, that after he was released from service work, he had a tough time adjusting to life as a pet dog. Pet dogs don’t have access to stores, restaurants, doctor offices, etc. like the service dogs in training do, and poor Tango just couldn’t understand why suddenly he couldn’t come with me when I left for work. It didn’t take me long to get involved in therapy work with Tango and we’re still visiting elementary schools as a therapy team. Happy birthday to my most favorite dog in the whole wide world! Here’s to many, many more, Diggity Dig!

On the same service dog subject, our lovely little Baby Caysun will be leaving us in June. Oh, the heartbreak of service work! Why do they have to leave? [Of course, I know why they have to leave, but I still ask why because it’s so tough to give them up…]

Baby Caysun (or Caysun Louise, as I like to call her) has fit in here so well. Just the other day I Facebooked my dismay that I used the “L” word with her! And at the same time, she was snuggled firmly into my husband’s lap in the recliner. We remark almost every day at how well this little girl fits into our household and our existing family of dogs. It’s like she’s always been here. All the dogs like her, she’s not over-the-top even though she’s an adolescent Labrador, and she’s really very sweet and lovey.

Such is the life of service dog raisers. You know when you bring them home, little fluff balls of cuteness, that in a year or so you’ll be forced to give them back. And for the first two weeks, you’re so exhausted with the duties that an 8-week old puppy brings, that you don’t have time to think about the letting go part. It’s in the quiet moments, when they’re snuggled into your lap, chasing a butterfly, or watching the birds fly, that you start to realize just how much you like this little dog. That’s also when you start to push down the idea of giving them up. It’s almost like: if I don’t think about it, it won’t really happen. In 11 years, that’s happened only twice (two dogs were released before from the program before turn-in — Tango and Nemo).

We’ll definitely keep raising, so a new puppy is on the horizon. We’re hoping for another Dane. I’ll keep you posted!

Three Ideas for Getting Your Dog into Therapy Work

February 13, 2012

therapy dog, assistance dog, labrador, lab, yellow lab, dog training, dog obedience, clicker, Smart Dog

Tango’s a therapy dog and his job right now is to listen to kids read.

Kids who might not read as well as their classmates, they might have a little bit of a speech problem, or maybe they can’t tell the difference between a period and a comma.

Reading in front of classmates who may snicker, giggle, or poke fun at them actually inhibits their reading skills. That’s where dogs enter the picture!

Dogs don’t care if the kids skip a word, if they can’t quite get the punctuation correct, or if they stutter a bit.

Dogs just really like it when a child sits on the floor with them, softly rubbing the dog’s fur as they struggle with each word on the page. Dogs don’t judge. Dogs don’t snicker. Dogs just eat up all the attention and will even offer an encouraging lick to the struggling reader.

Interested in getting your dog into therapy work?

You’re not limited to elementary schools and kids. Your dog could visit nursing homes, help relieve stress on a local college campus during stressful final exams, or visit wounded soldiers in the hospital.

Here are some ideas on how to get your dog ready for therapy work.

Good Manners Are A Must

Therapy dogs don’t bark. They don’t jump. And they aren’t rough with their mouth. Get your dog into a local positive reinforcement (clicker training) class that specifically teaches good manners behaviors. [Good manners are Smart Dog U’s specialty! We offer Canine Building Blocks to help teach your dog good manners!] You might need to go through your training class more than once to really solidify those good manners. Good therapy dogs are on their best behavior no matter how much the kids giggle and squirm, how roughly their handled by well-intentioned seniors, or how distracting the buzzes and beeps are on the hospital equipment. It takes time and practice, for sure.

Canine Good Citizen (CGC) Test

The bare minimum requirements are the CGC credentials. The CGC is a 10-item test and it covers behaviors like walking on a loose leash, coming when called, reaction to distractions, and sitting politely for greetings. Take a look at the full list of CGC test items. A more advanced test may be required if you and your dog wish to visit schools, detention centers, psychiatric facilities, and hospitals. The more advanced tests can be administed by The Delta Society and require that both you and your dog are tested to ensure you make a good team.

Join A Local Therapy Dog Group

Most communities have local therapy dog organizations that serve as an umbrella for coordinating all the visits and testing of therapy dogs. For help in finding your local organization, try searching for your town name and “therapy dog.”

Not every dog would enjoy being a therapy dog — two of my dogs at home wouldn’t enjoy work as therapy dogs. Nemo is a bit wary of strangers in unfamiliar circumstances and Lily is not good if other dogs are present (your dog must be good with other dogs — and by good I mean neutral [not good as in “Let’s PLAY!”]). Even Tango has his limits: one of our visits is with a class of 8 special education students who can be noisy, (unintentionally) rough, and unpredictable. One hour is Tango’s maximum in that environment — I make sure that we’re there less than an hour to ensure that Tango’s never pressed to his limit. So be sure to take your dog’s personality and preferences into consideration when you’re deciding whether to give therapy work a shot. Honor your dog.

Transitions

October 31, 2011

We've been raising service dogs since 2001. That handsome dog on the left is the very first dog we raised: Rocky. He died earlier this year, sadly. He was loved by two families: ours and the family who needed him as a service dog. It was quite a life.

We turned Ike in yesterday to Hero Dogs. He's now onto the second leg of his journey in becoming a service dog. He'll stay with Hero Dogs for another six months or so, receiving advanced training, then he'll go onto be paired with a service man or woman who needs Ike's assistance.

At each turn-in, I think a lot about the dog, naturally. I wonder if we're doing right by the dogs. They didn't sign up to become service dogs. They don't know that when we leave them at the agency, their life changes immediately. It's not like we tell them as puppies "This is just temporary. Don't get used to it. There are big changes for you, buddy."

My husband tried to console me with the thought that NO DOG chooses his home, his people, his environment. Neither do horses. Or cows. Or any animal, really. And he's right. Of course he's right. Transitions are just tough, no matter how you frame them.

It's a grand job, really, being a service dog. I think it's a much better life than the average pet dog has, to be honest. The service dog has a purpose. He's mentally stimulated every single day. He's more than loved, he's needed. He gets to go everywhere with his person. And that's pretty darn cool.

But of course, I'm a little melancholy around turn-in time. It makes me want to invent a way to communicate with Caysun so I can tell her that we've got big things planned for her. That in another year, she, too, will move on from our house (and from our dogs) to a brand new life.

But because I will fail in my quest to invent a new dog-human communication device, I will simply raise Caysun the best I can: give her lots of love, teach her to be flexible, and to enjoy change.

Ike (left) excels at flexibility. That dog is happy anywhere there are people. Or dogs. Or birds. Or wind. Or food. Or…whatever. He'll be happy wherever he lands, as long as there's a friendly hand to pet him.

We bid Ike farewell yesterday. We'll see him again – we've been invited to stop by Hero Dogs whenever we need an "Ikey fix." Which makes us feel good and soothes the sting of turn-in just a little bit.

Like every other service dog we've raised, seeing Ike with his new partner will be the medicine that will cure this melancholy. Rock on, Ikey! We'll see you soon, Boggy Doggy!

Teaching is Time Well Spent

June 24, 2011

I'm sitting in a wheelchair, Ike faithfully by my side. I cue "let's go" and Ike moves forward with me. Going straight is pretty easy for Ike, he learns quickly to keep his feet out of the way and settles at an even pace. We're at Harris Teeter grocery store, doing a training field trip and I'm in a wheelchair to help mimic Ike's future surroundings.

Here comes the hard part — now we have to turn. It's an inside turn, which means Ike has to actually go backward just a bit to keep out of the way. His circle has to be tighter (smaller) than the wheelchair's circle. Uh-oh. We've not practiced this before.

With the clicker, all things are possible. And fast.

In only three tries, I'm communicating to Ike that moving backward is a good thing. It's a pretty complex skill, I think, for a dog to acquire. He has to go the opposite way from his handler. I've spent a year teaching him that being next to me is a really good idea.

The clicker gives Ike the information he needs: what behavior he should repeat. The precision of the click — and the fact that Ike's been clicker trained from 8-weeks of age — gets a behavior happening pretty darn quick.

The turn/back still needs work. A lot of it. But with the clicker, nothing's out of our reach. And it's fast. Because Ike knows the clicker, knows he can count on the clicker for information, he's ready and willing to learn. He wants to figure out this new game. He's a full and willing partner.

And did I mention he's not only smart, but pretty stinkin' cute, too? Brains and beauty… This picture's from Ike's adventure to Lake Anna, more on that in the next post.

Grilled Pork + Feta = Easy Subway Trip for Ike

April 29, 2011

Part of becoming a service dog involves getting used to a lot of different sights and sounds. Ike had a field trip today to our local commuter train station.

It's highly likely that in his lifetime as a service dog, Ike and his partner will need to take public transportation. It's crucial to make these experiences fun for Ike.

To that end, I brought lots of yummy treats. Not just any treats, though. I brought the really yummy and smelly stuff: feta cheese and tiny pieces of grilled pork chop (leftover from dinner a few nights ago).

Ike doesn't normally get this really delicious stuff in his everyday training. Going to WalMart isn't a big deal to him now. Going with me while I get my hair cut is old hat. The treats I use for those locations are more mundane (but still pretty tasty) because he's used to those situations.

But a train station? That's big. And potentially scary.

The grilled pork and feta cheese helped Ike create favorable associations with the potentially scary train. The noise of the station, lurching left and right on the train ride, the hustle and bustle of people, and the screeching and banging that a fast-moving train makes – any one of those could have thrown Ike into a tail spin.

The feta and grilled pork helped ensure that his train ride was a fabulous experience.

In addition to the really good food, I was careful to lower my standards for Ike. He was in a strange place. With lots of odd sounds. And almost every person there was a stranger to him. So instead of asking him for newly trained behaviors, I asked him for the very easy ones – the behaviors he's been doing since he was a pup. And he got paid BIG for each of those behaviors!

This allowed Ikey to build up his confidence, to realize he really could lie down even on the rocking and rolling train. He really could sit as the train came into the station.

If you're raising a puppy, remember to use very good food treats when you're taking your pup somewhere new. Also remember to lower your standards if you're training somewhere distracting or potentially scary. Let your dog take his time exploring and deciding when he feels comfortable. The more positive experiences your pup has, the more likely he'll become a confident, well-mannered dog.

There's a lot more training ahead for Ike. But his first introduction to the trains and buses earned an A+ today! Next time we go back, we'll likely raise his criteria slightly — maybe I'll ask him to sit for a little longer. Or expect him to watch me a little more. And maybe he'll get the feta and grilled pork every second or third treat. But by really upping the treat value this first time, I've created a positive association with trains and with training. And that's priceless.

Go, Go, Go and Slow, Slow, Slow

September 2, 2010

Teddy's public debut focused mainly on getting in and getting out of locations and situations rather quickly. We stayed just long enough to expose Teddy to a new situation, make it fun, and then we're outta there.

Today, we worked on settle-in-and-relax scenarios. The life of a service dog is varied – there are times when they're in and out of places lickety-split, and there are other times when they're in it for the long haul — they might as well get comfortable.

Teddy debuted today at the Frederick Chamber's lunch event with former Governor Robert Ehrlich. This was a good opportunity for Teddy for several reasons:

Many of the attendees are service-dog-savvy. Talos did a great job of breaking them in so they'd know what to expect when a woman with a young dog walks into the room. Friendly, but not exuberant greetings are the norm with most of the Chamber folks. They make for excellent and knowledgeable distractors!
I could leave if Teddy wasn't ready for the situation or if he became unruly.
The luncheon would require that Teddy be still for a considerable period of time. We've worked on this skill at home – it was time to measure our progress in the real world.
There would be manageable distractions. Lunch being served! Delicious, hot lunches! Again, if Teddy couldn't manage, I could very easily leave.
New sounds, surfaces, people to experience. Applause, carpet, draping table cloths, microphones, hustle and bustle, noisy crowds.
Lastly, this was a "quiet" event. Quiet meaning Teddy needed to settle in, relax, and take a nap.

I went well armed: clicker and treats were at the ready! Teddy's loose leash walking skills leave a lot to be desired, but we practices stopping and starting every time the leash got tight. He's still a young dog, he has self control issues – his desire is to jump and say Hi to people, but he's starting to try to maintain his decorum and restrain himself from putting paws on people. It takes a lot of work on his part, but with lots of practice, it's becoming less of an impulse and more under control.

Applause was a little startling to him. He sat bolt upright and looked curiously around the room. He didn't appear frightened, but the noise took him by surprise. After realizing that, I had my treats ready and they magically appeared immediately after any applause started. He ate the treats greedily, which means he wasn't particularly stressed.

It's important that potentially scary things (and applause can definitely be scary) be paired with very good things from the outset. By the end of the luncheon, we'd paired applause with treats appearing out of thin air about 15 times. He's beginning to look forward to applause now!

Teddy responded perfectly to his down cue (the word "down") in the midst of a crowd of people. He also took it upon himself to curl up under my chair when he really settled in. The service dogs will be taught a "go in" cue which means: tuck yourself under the table or chair and chill until I tell you otherwise. It's basically a "you're off the clock, but don't go anywhere" message. We haven't started teaching that to Teddy yet, so I was doubly pleased to see him make that choice of his own accord today. Especially when there were so many delicious smells and interesting things to check out.

He got a chance to meet Bob Ehrlich (a dog lover) and many other people today. He didn't jump or put his paws on anyone – that's an accomplishment.

One thing people don't think about very often – Teddy also had his first experience accompanying me into the ladies room. Service dogs need to learn to accompany their person everywhere. Public restrooms are one of those things that a dog needs to be introduced to early on in his training. They're small little cubes with panels that make voices sound echo-y and loud. They obscure 90% of the person in the neighboring stall — except the feet! Of course, most dogs want to duck their head under the stall to see who those feet belong to. It's a bit disconcerting to be on the other side of the stall, minding your own business, and have a dog head suddenly join you in your stall! So not only do the dogs need to get used to going into the stalls, but they have to get very good at minding their own business when they're in there!

Both of Teddy's outings have been good experiences for both of us. He's a smart little guy who seems to enjoy this new life in public.

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