Levi Archives - Smart Dog University

Service Dogs Need Vacation, Too!

June 10, 2016

If you’ve ever wondered if service dogs get a vacation, the answer is yes!

Our door is always open for service dog puppies that we’ve raised.

service dog in training, service dog, service puppy, puppy training, Smart Dog University, clicker, Laurie Luck, Frederick, Mt. Airy — Baby Levi

We love the chance to get to know their new families and to have a little piece of our life back with the dog that we raised. It’s fun to see them as adults. They go off and work a real job with responsibilities and everything. We get to see the result of the 15 months of hard work we put in when we were raising the pup.

Until their new family drives away. Then all bets are off.

Those responsible service dogs are then allowed to have “vacation brain.” They can turn all those responsibilities off for a week or two and just be regular dogs.

We hadn’t seen Levi since I turned him in back in January of 2015.

It was only a year and a half, but it felt like forever. We were unable to attend Levi’s graduation ceremony because of one of my work commitments, so we were overdue for a Levi-fix.

I met Levi’s family halfway between our homes. As I waited for them, the anticipation was killing me! For a brief moment, I wondered “Would he remember me?” I was out of his life 18 months ago, there one day, gone the next. (I always wonder what they think about that sudden disappearance.)

When the arrived, I got out to greet them. As soon as I got out of my car, it was clear Levi remembered. I was beaming, he was jumping (allowed on rare occasions like this), and everyone was laughing. What a spectacle we must have been. Levi hopped into the car and settled in for the 45-minute drive home as if no time had passed since I last saw him.

I knew integrating him back into our house would be a breeze. The initial multi-dog excitement led to Schooner-Levi zoomies in the fenced backyard for 15 full minutes. We got to see the famous “butt tuck” run that Levi was famous for when he lived with us. (The “butt tuck” is when a dog is running hard and tucks his butt under his legs. It’s both hilarious and endearing.)

Levi spent almost two weeks with us on his vacation.

He was a good vacationer — he didn’t check email or call into the office once! I was texting with his family while they were abroad to let them know what adventures he was enjoying each day.

Having a young dog back into the house was fun and also exhausting. Our dogs are all seniors at 14, 13, and 10 years old. Schooner is 3 years old, but at his size, it feels like he’s older than he is. Great Danes are quite the couch potatoes and Schoons isn’t used to running all day long.

Thankfully, our neighbor has a dog that was Levi’s best friend when he lived with us. It was fantastic seeing that reunion, as well! Dogs don’t forget, that’s for sure.

As Levi’s family was exploring foreign lands, Levi was kicking back and relaxing in the kiddie pool. Again, none of our older dogs enjoy the pool much now, so it was entertaining to see Levi jump and dig and romp in the pool. Oh, and to run in the house fully drenched, too. I didn’t miss that part at all!

Levi was respectful of the older dogs, politely inviting them to play. And accepted their refusal with grace (most of the time). He found his old spot on the couch and settled in as if he’d never left. Same thing at bedtime: he found his favorite sleeping spot like he’d been there every night.

All good things must come to an end, and Levi’s vacation with us ended last week.

He was just as happy to see his family as he was to see us two weeks prior. And that made us all laugh and thankful that Levi has two great families to call his own.

Service Dog Training: Turn-In Day for Levi

January 30, 2015

Dreaded turn-in day.

The minute you get your new charge, that lovely and naughty little pup, you know — KNOW — the countdown to turn-in day starts. I’ve done this more times than I can remember and I’m still surprised how hard it is — and how the date sneaks up on me — even after 14 years.

Today, of course, was Levi’s Big Day.

For him, this is a fabulous day. This is the day he’s been waiting for (without even knowing it). Today’s the day he goes off to college! Late night parties, studying for tests, making new friends, finding out what he’s going to do with his life.

For me, turn-in day is a mixed day.

I’m happy that he’ll get to learn more, do more, see more, play more, work more. I’m sad that he won’t be doing that with me. It’s totally selfish. My dogs are happy — no more teenager in the house who jumps on their heads, butts his way into everything, interrupts their sleep, steals their couch space, etc. You get it: the only sad one here is me.

Turn-in itself went well.

We ran Levi through his paces, talked about his current level of each behavior so the organization has reasonable expectations. Levi did fine through all of that, even though the last time we’d worked together was before Christmas. He got some fun playtime in with our previous service dog, Schooner, which, of course, made me double happy.

All was well until they leashed him to leave. (I hate leaving the dogs, so whenever possible, I prefer for them to take the dog on a field trip or something so I’m not literally walking out on them.) Levi’s a happy guy, willing to do anything, but when they went to take him out of the building, he looked back at me and gave me a “Huh?” look. A “Shouldn’t you be coming with us?” look.

“Kill me now,” was all I could think.

I gave him a happy smile, kissed his head, and they cheerfully called his name. He wagged his tail, caught up to them, got a treat, and trotted on out to the car, happy as a lark. He didn’t think twice. I was panicked.

I hope you’ll forgive me for not having a dog-training video ready this week.

It’s ready, actually. It was done a few weeks ago. I just don’t have the umph to put it up. You’ll see it next week, it’s about out-of-sight stays. If you haven’t guessed, Levi is the star. I’ll be ready to see it next week, but to see it today — that’d be a tough one. Hahaha, such is the life of a puppy raiser.

How to Build a Solid Stay: Intro to Distance

January 22, 2015

Everyone wants their dog to “stay.”

Stay there, don’t move. It sounds easy, right? I mean, how hard can it be to just stay still? For a dog, it’s pretty darn hard — he’s social, he’s interested in what’s going on, maybe he’s uncomfortable or even scared. If you take the time to build a solid stay from the beginning, though, stays aren’t that hard at all.

The Three Parts to a Stay: Distractions, Distance, Duration

We’ve introduced the concept of an advanced stay and now we’re ready to introduce distance!

Here’s how we add distance:

Start small — take just one step away at first.
Return to your dog immediately (we’re working on distance, not duration)
Click immediately upon return to your dog (if he’s stayed in place)
Reinforce with something yummy and maybe even the opportunity to play a bit before starting again
Systematically increase the number of steps you take until you’ve reached your goal

Troubleshooting:

What if the dog gets up? You asked him for too much, too soon. Instead of scolding your dog, remind yourself to take smaller steps (literally and figuratively) next time.
What if the dog lies down (if you left him in a sit)? Leave distance behind. Go back and work on the sit position for duration, then once the sit is solid (not sliding into a down), then bring distance back into the picture.

Remember, your goal as your dog’s teacher is to set him up to be successful. Too much, too fast doesn’t help the dog get it right. The more clicks and treats your dog earns, the more he learns “the right answer.”

Talk back! Leave a comment and let us know the most distracting thing your dog has faced.

Teach Your Dog a Moving Leave It (Video)

January 15, 2015

Leave it is a great tool to keep your dog from focusing on something in the environment.

From cars, to poop, to dead animals, a solid “leave it” can prevent your dog from pulling you down the street, lunging toward those things, eating crud, or barking. If you’ve already taught the basic leave it, and the advanced leave it, you’re ready to take leave it on the road!

Here’s how to start the moving leave it.

Start with a mildly distracting item.
Place it on the ground about 3 feet off to the side.
Put yourself between the dog and the item (this makes it easier for the dog to get it right)
Start with a few clicks and treats as you’re approaching the item.
It’s important to click and treat before your dog is distracted.
Say in a happy voice “Leave it” (or whatever your word is — ours is “not yours” for Levi).
Click and treat the instant the dog looks at your or leaves the item alone.
If the dog can’t look away from the item, you have two choices:
- Use a less interesting item or
- Move further away from the item
When the dog has been successful a few times, move a little closer.

Carry your clicker and your treats with you on your regular walks and cue the “leave it” when your dog is only mildly interested in something. You want to capture as many “you’re right!” opportunities as possible. You’re building a new habit! The habit is: when the dog hears “leave it,” he swivels his head and looks at your direction. The more times you can get success, the faster this habit will be built.

It’s really as easy as it sounds — as long as you practice and you set your dog up for success.

Your turn: what’s the craziest thing your dog has left when asked?

Gift of Snow: Levi’s Turn-In Rescheduled

January 13, 2015

Service Dog Turn-Ins are the Worst

I had written several “goodbye and good luck” posts to Levi at the beginning of the year. Thankfully, my computer was busted and my iPad kept losing the posts. Tuesday, January 6 was supposed to be Levi’s last day with us. I loaded him in the car before dawn and started the three-hour trek to the service dog organization. A light dusting of snow was forecast for our area, but central Virginia was supposed to be fine.

The snow saved the day.

Our roads were awful. Interstate 70 is a major highway that runs from Maryland to Utah, surely it would be snow-free, I thought. Nope. The highway was completely snow covered, no lane markers could be found. We were going about 45 miles an hour and slipping up the hills. It was ugly.

We went about 10 miles before I decided to turn around and get the heck off the road. If I did make it there without getting busted up in an accident, it would have taken double or triple the time. Three hours one way is bad enough, I didn’t fancy double or triple that!

We got back home, snuggled up in a blanket and called it a day. Schools had been cancelled, accidents snarled traffic, and we watched it all from inside the warm, comfy house. Later that day, after the snow stopped and the sun was this peachy, glowy, lovely shade of yellowish orange, I took my camera outside to get some of these “found” moments with Levi.

New Turn In Day

So, naturally, the snow didn’t change anything except Levi’s turn-in date. He still has to go back, I still have to say goodbye, but not until the end of the month! I’m hoping we get a few more days to play in the snow. We’ll certainly make the most of our extra “found” time together!

Advanced Leave It: Distractions (Video)

January 8, 2015

Teaching your dog a solid leave it can save his life.

Imagine that you’re walking your dog on the trail and you come upon an injured wild animal. You need your dog to stay away from the animal and remain focused on you. Or, maybe your dog gets out the front door and spies a jogger running past the house — on the other side of your busy road. You don’t want your dog to approach either situation.

Teaching your dog to leave something alone — not to take it into his mouth — doesn’t have to be complicated or difficult.

It’s a relatively simple process that has just a few parts. We started teaching leave it this way.

Add in distractions.

After you’ve gotten that task accomplished, it’s time to bring the leave it skill up a notch. Here’s how we work in some distractions. When you think about it, leave it isn’t really needed unless there are distractions around!

Start by making the distraction as slight as possible. In the video, you’ll see that I wrap the raccoon tail in my hand so the toy is physically smaller and the most distracting part (that bushy tail!) is hidden from Levi.

Side note.

This toy arrived in the mail less than 24 hours before we shot this video. Right before shooting the video, I ripped the toy out of it’s wrapping. Levi’s seeing the toy for the very first time on camera. I love watching his face throughout the video — he’s definitely in love with that thing! After the video shoot, I cleaned it up, wrapped it back up and gave it to the dogs as a Christmas present! They were just as thrilled with it the second time!

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