I Really Can Train Dogs

Posted on November 12, 2008
Filed Under Care, Firsts, Mistakes, Things That Make Me Smile, Tips and Tricks | Leave a Comment

last sunday the most amazing thing happened. i finally realized that i am a dog trainer. liame would play fetch at home really well but at the dog park he would come within about 5 feet of me and then conveniently drop the ball IN THE LAKE. argh!!!! after numerous failed attempts at calling him to me in this high distraction environment, i had an epiphany, i need to somehow communicate to him and motivate him to stop directly in front of me. so, the moment he got close to me, i turned around in the opposite direction and ran away from him. this turned a game of fetch into an even better game, chase. it worked like a charm. when i eventually stopped about 20 feet from the shore of he lake, liame caught up to me and dropped the ball. we repeated the game of fetch and chase until we both were exhausted. in all honesty, i dont think i have ever had so much fun at the dog park as i did on sunday.

Yet Another Episode Of Alarm Barking

Posted on November 9, 2008
Filed Under Mistakes | Leave a Comment

we had another alarm barking incident yesterday. we went to see a live improve “unexpected productions” performance and while one of the performers was making rapping noises and hiding behind the curtain liame started barking at him. i couldnt use my technique of placing him in his crate because it wasnt there and i couldnt feed him treats because it would just have been rewarding him for the behavior so the only thing i could come up with at the spur of the moment was to place my hands over is muzzle and tell him no. all of my training says that it was a bad idea but in that moment it was the only thing i could think of. i have to think of something else to do when i cant use the techniques listed in my previous posts.

Its Like He Is Part Of The “Me” Generation

Posted on November 6, 2008
Filed Under Class, Jasper | Leave a Comment

today was my first official day assisting in a dog class. it was a lot of work but i really enjoyed it. my instructor asked if anyone wanted to lead a portion of the class and i kept my hand down. i dont think i will ever be teaching a public class unless its related to service dogs. im not a public speaking kind of girl.

speaking of public speaking my mother and i went to see bill cosby at benaroya hall on saturday. the place was completely sold out and packed from floor to ceiling with people. i had to take some anxiety medicine just to get into the auditorium and it still didnt prevent me from freaking out. if i would have had jasper there, he would have picked up on my anxiety immediately but liame didnt even seem to notice that i was in distress.

i wonder how old does liame have to be in order for life stop being all about him and instead start focusing on me a little. its like he is part of the “me” generation. if i have even a little tone of anger or frustration in my voice, jasper picks up on it immediately and starts displaying submissive body language and tries to diffuse the situation. but liame could care less if i scream at the top of my lungs. i think its because i have been training liame in a positive manner and he knows of no consequences that might occur if i get angry. jasper on the other hand was probably the victim of some type of violence by one of his previous owners to have learned what the negativity in my voice means. he is so traumatized by his past experiences that he wont even hardly let my husband tickle me without trying to get between us.

Grandpuppy?!?

Posted on November 3, 2008
Filed Under Jasper, Mistakes, Service Dog Laws | Leave a Comment

my mother came into town this week and literally within 20 minutes started undoing some of the intensive training i have been doing for the last 10 months. the infractions that occurred within the first 20 minutes included:
- slipping him some deli meat while we were shopping in the grocery store
- calling him over to her
- granting people permission to pet him without checking with me first
she kept giving me excuses about how he was her grandchild and that she only had 2 weeks to spoil him. you would think that having had spent several weeks with jasper over the course of the last few years that she would know not to do this type of stuff while liames vest was on but for some reason it didnt seem to register with her. i wonder if her lapse in judgement came from the fact that liame is still very much a puppy.

so mom, just so we are clear, liame wears that vest to serve me, not for anyone elses entertainment or pleasure and certainly not to be a substitute grandchild. service dogs are not supposed to eat food handed to them, not supposed to leave their companions side and are not supposed to greet people by jumping up and licking their faces.

More Alarm Barking

Posted on October 30, 2008
Filed Under Mistakes, Tips and Tricks | Leave a Comment

we have been having a problem with alarm barking lately with liame. in the last week liame has alarm barked while wearing his vest when:
- the doctor knocked on the door to ask permission to come into the exam room
- a noisy cart went by my cube at least 50 feet away from him
- several people have come into my cube and startlingly stating my name
this is sooooo inappropriate behavior for a service dog. the last couple times he has done this i have told him “nope” and he has gone up to the person because i have been so startled by this recent behavior that i havent had time to think about my reaction. i think this is only reinforcing it so as of today, when liame alarm barks while his vest is on at work, he will hear a “nope” (his no reward marker) and then go immediately into his crate. its the only thing i can think of doing at this point to try and nip this in the butt.
additionally we will be doing some counter conditioning. while he has his vest on i will be knocking on various surfaces and feeding him treats after the knock if he doesnt bark. if he does, he gets the same “nope” no reward marker and no treat. hopefully the combination of these two treatments should slowly reduce the alarm barking.

24 Commands And Counting

Posted on October 28, 2008
Filed Under Class, Firsts, Things That Make Me Smile, Tips and Tricks | Leave a Comment

today we learned the command “open”. having mastered the commands “take it” and “tug” we chained them together to produce “open”. this is the first opportunity i have had to chain a command. i think i like it! i want him to be able to do the “get me a beer” party trick one day to show just how special he is. so far, these are the commands he knows:

sit
down
roll over
shake
high five
bow
turn around
back up
touch
go lay down
off
leave it
take it
drop
wait/stay
come
heel (well most of the time)
thats enough
open
focus
tug
get it
nope
no

Bowling Alley As Training Opportunity

Posted on October 26, 2008
Filed Under Clubs And Organizations, Firsts, Major Steps, Tips and Tricks | Leave a Comment

today we went bowling with the university of michigan alumni club. neil asked me to not make him go because he wasnt feeling good but i told him that i couldnt bowl without him since i needed someone to watch liame while i threw the ball. i was absolutely flabberghasted at liames behavior. he was friendly, wasnt afraid of the loud noises and (this is what was amazing to me) “stayed” as instructed while i went up to the lane, grabbed a ball and threw it down the lane. a retriever did not go after the ball, now thats a small miracle in and of itself. i guess those sessions i have been having in the parking lot with him working on his distance stays are paying off. the only real thing we had a problem with was liame stealing food wrappers off a table at his level. he has SUCH a problem with trying to eat everything in his line of sight. i need to figure out a way to be more proactive rather than reactive when it comes to this eating things off the ground, tables, chairs, etc. so as it turned out, i really didnt need neil after all. both neil and i wore our michigan shirts and as we arrived at the alley i realized that we had a u of m bandana from neils mom we could have put on liame. darn it, that would have made him an even more popular attraction at the bowling alley. i wish a few more drunk and stumbley people would have approached him, it would have turned this into one of the best training opportunities we have ever had.

This Dog Is Driving Me Bonkers!

Posted on October 22, 2008
Filed Under Care, Service Dog Laws, Todays Mood | Leave a Comment

two and a half weeks of confinement to a crate has changed liame into a dog that i dont know. he is rude, jumpy, mouthy - even with his vest on. thank god he got his stitches out and has been cleared for some light exercise. he is driving me bonkers. i now know what people experience with a dog that has not been allowed to exercise his drives. i cant even give him any work to eat puzzles because that will make him too active! on the other hand, its been kinda nice to lock him up in his crate and get some things done around the house without worrying about if i dropping something he can eat.

i saw some utube videos on service dogs. i saw a video of a 5 month old performing tasks and the only one liame wasnt trained to do at that age was turn on the lights. im now feeling more inspired than ever to work on task training. even though i dont necessarily need him to pick things up or carry things for me, they are simple tasks to show people that he is trained if i am ever asked to do so in an airport.

We Could Almost Get A New Car For That Monthly Payment!

Posted on October 20, 2008
Filed Under Care, Jasper, Mistakes | Leave a Comment

im going to be contacting the people who make one of jaspers medicine to see if they can give us a discount on it. just his meds for his congestive heart failure are going to cost us over $200 a month. i tried cutting down on the vetmedin (the one that costs 160 a month) but he went back into remission within 2 weeks. the $200 a month is what we needed in order to get a new car - that 1968 VW Bug aint cutting it anymore. after paying almost $4000 for liames surgery, we just cant afford too many more hits on our finances. my husband neil is facing a strike in less than a month and who knows when i will be canned after the round of firings last month and my recent encounter with the attendance policy police.

liame tried to eat a tack today. while i was checking in to get my lungs xrayed he pulled on a halloween sign that was hanging in front of a desk and the tack fell on the floor. i didnt know what was happening since i wasent paying attention until i heard a crunching sound. i said “liame drop!” and he spat out the tack. thank god. that would have cost us at least $3000 or so to fetch it out of him.

while at the doctors office i was approached by a WW2 veteran who asked about where liame would go after he got done training. i told him i am training him for me and that he would stay with me when he was done. he looked at me rather funny and then obviously looked me up and down trying to find out what was wrong with me. he then asked if he called him over to him would he come. i told him yes he would at this point in his training since he is only 9 months old but in a year or so he wouldnt. then all of a sudden liame sees a plant sitting in the corner of the office and takes a chomp out of one of the leaves. of course the office had to be completely packed with people. how embarrassing! i had to apologize to the receptionist and hand the evidence over to her - the same receptionist that at the beginning of my visit said he was so good that she didnt even realize that i had a dog with me.

We Are Officially On YouTube

Posted on October 19, 2008
Filed Under Uncategorized | Leave a Comment

i hate to say it but my husband and i are youtube virgins. but, as of today i have lost my youtube virginity. the username is dogsfordepression. i have uploaded a video i made for googles project 10 to the 100th. i used garageband to make the music and then imovie to make the actual video. prior to 5 pm this evening, i didnt know anything about these programs and now ive made a pretty decent little commercial. thanks apple!