Get It

Posted on August 3, 2008
Filed Under Things That Make Me Smile, Tips and Tricks, Toys | Leave a Comment

weve been working on the command “get it” during my lunch breaks. the get it command is a step in a series of commands i plan to eventually use to teach him to get my medication out of my bag for me. its been relatively easy to teach this command because he wants to put EVERYTHING in his mouth.
the training for this started with games of fetch and learning the touch command. fetch provided him with the base knowledge to retrieve an item and the touch command provided him with a target for his mouth. i chose a new toy to teach the get it command because i didnt want him to have to unlearn a previous behavior associated with his other toys. i chose the toy i did because it was part ball and part tug (a game he enjoys immensely).

we started “get it” off by placing him in a sit, telling him to leave it, throwing the ball and then me saying “OK, get it” while pointing at the ball. he ran over to the ball, immediately placed it into his mouth and ran around the room with it, not even thinking that i might want the item back. i let him get the novelty of the new toy out of his system said “liame come” and then “touch”. he came over to me, touched my hand, i clicked the clicker and he released the toy in anticipation of getting his reward. we repeated this game over and over and over, eventually removing the “liame come” and “touch” commands so that “get it” meant go over to the item and bring it directly back to my hand. i then transferred the game to another object so as to allow him to associate the get it command with multiple objects. first we used an empty pop bottle and then we used a large chunky highlighter (because it was the only disposable item lying around in the room i was in).
i dont know exactly how i am going to train the novelty behavior out of him but i know that it will diminish as he gets older.

Automated Car Washes – A Training Opportunity

Posted on July 29, 2008
Filed Under Tips and Tricks | Leave a Comment

went to the costco car wash yesterday with liame in the car, although he didnt get freaked out too much, i sure did. i didnt occur to me to take him early on in those crucial developmental first weeks but i would suggest that you take your dog through the car wash with you and allow him to experience brushes coming at him fully knowing that they wont really hurt him. give him treats and lavish him with praise. make it the fun for him. im sure he will have to go through the car wash once or twice in his life and you dont want a panting drooling dog trying to crawl its way out of your car while you are stuck on a conveyer belt.

Breeds Of Dogs And Discrimination

Posted on July 12, 2008
Filed Under Clubs And Organizations, Mistakes, Tips and Tricks | Leave a Comment


this is a photo of my first dog, Penny. she was a pure bred german shepherd.

in order for us to attend the party on wednesday we had to skip our canine good citizen class at the humane society. i originally felt bad about it but once at the party, as explained in the previous posting, i used the time to train him to accept the petting of strangers and ignore other dogs while his vest was on.

i also skipped the puget sound assistance dog clubs service dog certification meeting today because i was told by the group that i didnt have access rights to the mall they were testing in. this kind of pissed me off a bit even though it was true. some of the members of the group have been refused rights to access places because of the fact that they dont appear disabled. to tell you the truth, i have never ever, ever, EVER been denied access with liame or jasper. i think part of it has to do with the fact that they are always wearing their vests and they fit the stereotypical description of a service dog (ie labrador retriever). i bet that the members of the group that were denied access did not have a lab. this is important point for all of you out there to remember: if you want as little hassle as possible get a labrador retriever or golden retriever. with these breeds of dogs you will encounter alot less discrimination than someone with a boxer or a mutt. i know its unfortunate situation that there are people out there that discriminate based on breed, but you all need to be aware of the fact that it DOES happen. if you do happen to have a non stereotypical breed for your service dog, you need to be even more prepared to prove that your dog is an official service dog than someone with a lab or a golden. and one more important point about the breed of the dog, if you do happen to choose to go with a non stereotypical breed of service dog, make sure your breed has a reputation as being a friendly breed. the point of having these dogs is to force you to interact with people on a daily basis, not scare them away with your german shepherd or pit bull. please dont spam me with your comments about how german shepherds and pit bulls are good dogs, because i am already aware of it, my first dog was the smartest german shepherd anyone ever knew, never harmed a soul and yet everyone was terrified of her.

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.

Dont Take Your Service Dog In Training To The Dog Park!

Posted on July 7, 2008
Filed Under Care, Firsts, Jasper, Mistakes, Tips and Tricks | Leave a Comment

i took liame and jasper to the dog park on friday. i made the tactical decision to go to westcrest insead of the unfenced doggie heaven known as marymoore since it was liames first time at a dog park and i wasent 100% positive he would return when called. normally i would not take liame to a dog park because he is training for service work but this was a exception to the rule because i had to make sure he got plenty of exercise and was calm for the night of the 4th. the ONLY reason why i felt it was OK for me to take him was that i am learning doggie body language through classes and reading, i knew what path to take him down so that his contact with other dogs was minimal and knew that the dog park would be relatively empty at the time i went.

if you are trying to train your dog to be a service dog, DO NOT TAKE YOUR DOG TO THE DOG PARK! unlike in a structured puppy play class there is no one there to supervise the interactions your dog has with others. you dont want to ruin your dog for the rest of his or her life by one single dog fight. i have heard of several different guide dogs being taken out of service because they got attacked by another dog at some point in their career and were now too afraid of other dogs to do their jobs properly. none of the guide dog/service dog schools allow you to take their puppys to dog parks for this exact reason. social interaction is crucial for a puppy, but unsupervised social interaction has the possibility of ruining your dog for the rest of its life. all of the problem dogs in the puppy classes i attended were dogs that went to doggie daycares and dog parks. no one wants to go to a dog park more than me but i cant risk my future for a couple of minutes of doggie playtime pleasure. to highlight this point even further, jasper almost got into a fight that day at the park.

Firecracker, Firecracker, Boom, Boom, Boom!

Posted on July 3, 2008
Filed Under Care, Jasper, Mistakes, Tips and Tricks | Leave a Comment

since getting jasper, any holiday (or the days proceeding and after) where firecrakers might be enjoyed, i am no longer a willing participant. my days and nights are spent in sleeplessness, dealing with an uncontrollable panic that not even 10mg of vallium can deal with. jasper is completely terrified of firecrackers. last night a thunder and lightening storm rolled into town. about 2 am in the morning jasper started freaking out. i had given him melatonin around 6 pm not expecting there to be an issue late into the evening but it turns out i need to start watching the weather reports, apparently washington state can have thunderstorms just like the midwest. i had to end up giving jasper a vallium to get him to settle down. liame on the other hand didnt seem phased at all by the noise – thank god. i hope that in the next couple of days i am able to keep jasper from freaking out infront of liame. i dont want liame to learn that firecrackers are something to fear. my dream is to one day be able to go see the 4th of july fireworks display from the space needle. my strategies for dealing with keeping jasper calm are the following:
make as much noise as possible (fan, tv, radio)
exercise, exercise, exercise
give melatonin at least half an hour prior to the first signs of firecrackers
get a prescription for a powerful sedative from your vet at least a week before the start of the festivities and make sure you have at least several days worth of the medication

Adolescent Ears

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

ive been rather lazy with my training lately and its showing. today while on his leash, liame pulled me around a like a sled this morning in an attempt to go play with jasper. additionally, his adolescent ears have been ignoring my “come” command. lately i havent been using the “nothing in life is free plan” where he has to earn his daily allotment of food just because it was kind of a hassle to carry a bait bag around with me all day. today i am switching back to the plan. i dont want adolescence to take control of my puppy.

Are You OK Mommy?

Posted on June 28, 2008
Filed Under Firsts, Major Steps, Tips and Tricks | Leave a Comment

today i took a tumble out into the middle of the street right infront of the path of a fire truck. even though i was disoriented, it was noisy and cars were going by while i was sitting down liame looked into my eyes and with his cute puppy face asked me, “are you ok mommy?” there is part of me that cant believe he didnt run away with his tail between his legs but i guess all that walking down 1st ave with semis going by 5 feet from us really paid off.

Positives and Negatives

Posted on June 27, 2008
Filed Under Tips and Tricks | Leave a Comment

i cant believe that when i biked home on tuesday i saw 42 cyclists doing the same thing. its cool that seattle has an infrastructure that allows people to easily cycle to work. liame doesnt seem to be able to get comfortable during his time in the croozer. he moves around and repositions his weight several times during our ride. there is a large metal cross bar to support his weight but at this point since the floor bends and flexes under his weight, i would think it would feel like sleeping on a futon support. i should be able to come up with a solution to this problem but will probably have to end up building him a custom bottom.

i have been slowly transitioning jasper out of service. i was thinking i might retire him on july 3rd since i will be between projects and my stress level should be rather low, but now that i am experiencing a rather large set back, i am rethinking that date. lately, ive had to take him home several times due to the fact that there was another dog present in the building and he just cant control his desire to play. right now liame is like the golden child and i cant expose him to the inappropriate behavior that jasper is displaying while his vest is on. not having jasper here all the time has ended up being a bit of a blessing because it is forcing me to do without him and focus on training liame. additionally, the other dog is providing a great learning experience for liame on how to ignore other dogs while his vest is on.

Mommy, Mommy!!! TODAY IS THE BEST DAY EVER!

Posted on June 23, 2008
Filed Under Mitigating Symptoms, Tips and Tricks | Leave a Comment

i am still having difficulty getting out of bed in the morning due to the cycle i am in. because i sometimes sleep on the couch downstairs and dont have to lock liame in his crate all night i have been able to train liame to hop up on top of me and lick my face when the alarm clock goes off. but sleeping in my normal bed i have to lock liame up in his crate at night because there is no way to keep him inside our bedroom during the entire evening without preventing the kitty from having access to her litter box. i dont exactly know just yet how to work around this issue. i will post an answer when i figure it out. oh and as of saturday liame now thinks that when the phone rings, its the alarm clock going off and its time to hop on mommy and wake her up. although it wasnt cute when i was trying to get a nap on saturday, now that i think about it it might be a good thing to train for since we dont get a lot of telemarketer calls.

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