An Opportunity For Training

Posted on July 9, 2008
Filed Under Clubs And Organizations, Firsts, Major Steps, Mistakes, Tips and Tricks | Leave a Comment

photo taken at the citydog magazine party at the W hotel in seattle.  photo copyright citydog magazine 2008. 

i think i can safely say we are potty trained.  its been over 3 weeks since the last accident in the house.  the only reason he last incident happened anyway was that the poor guys bladder was so full he started dribbling on the floor.  i didnt think this day would ever arrive.

we went to the city dog magazine bday party this evening at the W hotel.  after initially taking off his vest so that he could mingle with the other dogs i came to the conclusion that this was a great opportunity for him to be around other dogs with his vest on and learn that he has to ignore them.  he did surprisingly well. however, since i need to proof this behavior i should really try to go to more places where he will be more likely to meet other dogs with his vest on.  currently we normally dont encountering dogs in our daily routine.  

an unfortunate issue we did have at the party was that the tables at the hotel were at shin height so liame decided that it was at perfect buffet table height.  oh boy was that embarrassing, thank god he is still wearing his “in training” patch.

i have been allowing liame to jump up and put his paws in my lap and lick my face while at home.  it didnt occur to me to train for this behavior because he offers it on his own all the time.  this behavior came in handy at the party when i got overwhelmed with all the people there.  although i dont think that liame was at all picking up on my mood, all on his own he put his front paws on my lap and try to lick me in the face, something he hasent done outside of my home before.  it was kind of nice to have him want to get my attention even when surrounded by food and other dogs.  i think i will mold this behavior into a service for him since it gets me out of the moment of what i might be experiencing (say for instance anxiety) and back into the real world.

AKC - Obedience Trials

Posted on June 14, 2008
Filed Under Clubs And Organizations, Things That Make Me Smile | 1 Comment

we went to the puget sound labrador retriever associations obedience trials today.  i originally went to watch but decided to participate after watching some dogs in the lower classes who were at least a year and a half older than liame mess up on their routines.  i was completely unprepared and so was liame.  we failed miserably but we had a fun time trying.  i now know that i dont want to do official obedience trials but rally obedience trials (where you are allowed to encourage your dogs and uses treats).  the formal obedience trials seemed too formal.  i didnt see anyone smiling during the trial and the dogs didnt seem to be having alot of fun until the people gave them their praise for doing what they were told.  the one good thing that came out of the day was that when liame bolted out of the obedience ring while off leash in a non fenced in park, he returned right to me once i said “liame come”.  the judge was sufficiently impressed with his recall having only been 6 months old.

A 100% Perfect Service Dog Doesnt Exist

Posted on May 31, 2008
Filed Under Clubs And Organizations, Jasper | Leave a Comment

today i went to the assistant dog club of puget sounds yearly conference.  although i had never been to one of their meetings and was not a member i was able to partake in the 8 hours of classes and discussions.  what i found most intreguging was that some of the dogs there acted exactly like jasper does i.e. not a 100% perfect service dog.  i give myself a very hard time whenever he does something a service dog isnt supposed to do (for example pay attention to other dogs rather than me).  now that i know others have had the same experience with their rescues i dont feel so bad.

one of the best parts of the conference was the seminar on how to pick out a good service dog candidate from the humane society.  the handout will be very useful when it comes time to start my non profit training service dogs for psychological disabilities.  i am still debating on raising vs rescuing but after today i am leaning towards rescue due to the statistics presented at the conference.

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