Christmas with Bear

Bear picks up many objects from the floor and brings them to me for a treat. The cats have knocked off a few ornaments from our Christmas tree, Bear picks them up and brings them to me and I give him a treat. Well......let's just say Bear put two and two together.

The link below is the video. http://www.clipshack.com/Clip.aspx?key=7FD2F7C265011D35

Bear in action

The Video link is below:

http://www.clipshack.com/Clip.aspx?key=03A026D6CF5D0EC2

Church was interesting

Bear and I got to church a little early so we could pick an out-of-the-way spot. We sat way in the back next to a side aisle on the right. Every time the pastor said, "Rise." Bear did. Actually, he had a wonderful attention reaction. When I stood up, he stood up and waited for a command. When I sat back down, he laid down and chewed on the bone I brought for him.

Everything was going swimmingly until we got to the reading of the names of people who have died. There was a long pause between each name and all I could hear was Bang!, Bang!, Bang! from Bear picking up and dropping his bone. I now have a new challenge; find something softer for Bear to chew on.

Then we had communion. The church offered to bring communion to me but I declined because I am physically able to go up to the front. When it was our turn, we got up and waited in line. Bear was perfect and I could hear little whispers going on. "Oh what a beautiful dog.", "Look at the dog.", "Puppy!", etc. It was our turn to kneel at the alter. I did and the paster came and gave me a piece of bread. Bear was very interested in that because of course, I was at his level! I quickly put it in my mouth while he watched me waiting for his piece. Then while I was kneeling, Bear decided to chew on the gourd display that was so nicely laid out on the alter steps. I shoo'd him from there and we went back to our seat.

The church service went well. I wasn't sure so I sat in the back. I think we'll work our way up to the front. After church, many people came to talk to me. They wanted to know about Bear, what he was doing, how I got involved in training service dogs, etc. After most everyone had left, a woman I know and her daughter stayed to talk. Things were fine for about 5 minutes. Then Bear decided to bark - at the little girl. She got pretty scared and I could not get him to stop barking. I did explain to the little girl that he isn't mad at her because his tail is wagging. I thought he maybe wanted to play with her. I'm still not sure what he wanted.

All work and no play? NO WAY!

Ahhh......This is a wonderful Autumn activity in Minnesota. We raked all the leaves into one great big pile and we threw the tennis ball in! Happy hunting!!

Here are Bear and Grizzley wrestling in the leaves while Kiya is ball hunting in the background.

WOW! Don't those two look fierce. This is a typical wrestling session. Bear is very vocal when he plays. It's not so much barking. It's more like an imitation of Chewbaca(sp?) from Star Wars.

It's official: OUR CROWNED KING OF THE LEAF PILE!

More Training

Bear is demonstrating the "touch" command. We started on the floor like this and then we moved to the wall. It was easier for me to give him the command "rise" to get up on the wall and then "touch" to press that touch light. Now, if I say "touch" and have my hand on something like the handicap button on the door, he immediately jumps up and bangs the button with his paw. This is another command I love to use! It usually bring a lot of attention from people watching too.

If I set that touch light on the floor and don't say anything, Bear will immediately go over to it and start pawing at it, then look at me for a treat. He definitely has this command down.

Our next step is to use "nudge" and "touch" to close doors, drawers, and cupboards. 

Here is Bear using the "nudge" command. He turns on the touch light and gets a treat. He's so funny. He'll keep banging his nose into it to turn it on so he can have another treat. I almost can't keep up with him. So far, this command has been used to get him to push smaller things with his nose like elevator buttons. Paws are too big but those little pointy noses work great. I am amazed at how strong they are too. We were at another puppy raisers house and her dog was banging his nose into the door so she would let him in. It sounded like someone knocking! 

Here Bear is demonstrating the command "rise". Next I'll be working on "hold" so he can take a coin purse, rise up on the counter in stores, and pay the bill! I wish he had his own credit card!! Bear already uses "rise" when opening handicapped doors. It's helpful if I need to get him up higher and then give him another command. 

Balloons! We found out he hates balloons in Phoenix. So, we try to bring them home whenever we can and let him sniff them. The novelty has pretty much worn off. Any time these dogs are nervous or skittish about something - they just identified a training issue that needs to be worked on. We work on those issues over and over until they are no longer issues. 

Notice the cracker. Bear is demonstrating "leave it". He was struggling that day but he left it alone. This command gets used a lot in public. He finds everything and I have to dig it out of his mouth - people's gum, dirty Kleenex', broken glass, etc. You do not want your dog picking up things off the floor in public. It's dangerous and it's gross!

This is one of my favorites. This command is "go to your place." He knows that means he needs to go and lie down on his pillow. I've started putting him in a stay and timing him. He's at 1 minute right now without even attempting to move. I increase it by 10 seconds every day.

Here is "down". He used to have to follow a treat to the floor from a sit position. Now I only have to lean over a little. With practice, I'll just say it and he'll hit the floor. We use down a lot in public. He has to lie down under tables, chairs, and my desk at work in order to stay out of the way.

This is an excellent "down". He's not laying on his legs ready to jump back up. He's laying over on his side relaxing and has no intention of getting up fast. Perfect!

We are demonstrating "sit". Look at his attention to me. He is waiting for me to release him with an "okay" so he can have his treat.

Here, we are practicing "Kennel". Bear does sleep in this kennel and he spends his days in here while I'm at work. Kennel training is very easy. It should take about three days tops. If you start on a Friday night - by Sunday night it'll be just about over. The first night, Bear whined and would bark one bark every so often. This would last about 10 minutes. Then he'd start up again in the middle of the night for the same amount of time.

The second night - the time he whined was shorter and there was only one time he barked.
The third night - he started out whining for maybe 1 minute and then I never heard from him until 5:30am.

Most people don't like to kennel train. They hear the dog whining and crying and it upsets them. I know within three days it's over so I let the dog whine and bark. This is Bear's space. There isn't anywhere else in the house that is only his. He eats in there so the other dogs don't get his food, he sleeps in there and nobody can try to play with him, and he even chews on certain treats in there without fear of another dog taking it away.

Our Training Director once told me that once a service dog is placed - they can easily be taught to sleep in the bed with the client if that's what the client wants. But to do it the other way around is not so fun for the client.

Plus, I already have a dog of my own and her place is on my bed. Two or three dogs sleeping with me is not going to happen.

One of the first commands we start with is the "attention" command. They have to know their name and look at you for further instruction. I hold the treat by my face and say his name. If he looks at me - BAM! He gets a treat. It's simple but very important.

Life After Fazoli's

My Training Director suggested I use a gentle leader on Bear when we go out in public and he's working. I've used them on other dogs and I've never been fond of them. The two dogs I've used them on would dig at it and I've seen other dogs literally throw a fit when they have to wear one. But, I was at a crossroad where I either needed to try it or not go out in public.

I've never had such an easy time. Bear scratched at it once, realized he couldn't get it off, and never touched it again.

We started with McDonald's. Pretty safe place if he chose to bark. Nothing. He even left a french fry alone that was on the ground. He laid under the table until we were done and we never heard a word from him. It was fabulous!

On Sunday, we are going to try church. Say a prayer for us - we may need it!

Update!

Bear has not been on many public outings since Fazoli's. I am planning a dinner with him in a couple of weeks.

My plan is that if he barks once in the restaurant - we immediately go to the car and he stays in the kennel for 10 minutes. If he does it again - we'll do it again. This is what we do at home and it works great! I'll be working on this the next couple of weeks before his official dinner out.

Plan B is to teach him the "Speak" and "Quiet" commands. This will teach him what the command "Quiet" means. Plus, he may have to wear a gentle leader. This will also allow for me to instantly correct him with a tug on the leash.

Bear has been doing wonderfully at retrieving things. I've dropped things, pointed to them, and said, "Bear, get it." When he does then I say, "Let me see." and he brings it right to me. He even does it when the other dogs are around. It's awsome!

Grizzley's Blog Page

Grizzley did finally get his own blog. He is in a different program but with the same organization. He is being trained as a hearing response dog. His blog is:

http://allaboutgrizzley.blogspot.com/

We had a pretty normal day today. I baked dog biscuits all day for a fundraiser for American Assistance Dogs and Bear played with both dogs off and on. He got a bone filled with peanut butter(one of his favorites). Then he was put in a time out in his kennel for barking outside. Actually, he got time in his kennel twice for doing that. It's really weird. He's not barking at anything. He's either walking around and barking as he's walking and sniffing the ground, or he's running back and forth by the fence and barking. Either way, it's totally unacceptable as a service dog AND as a member of my household. Barking is okay to alert you to something and if they are playing. Anything else is not okay. In both acceptable instances Bear has to stop if I tell him to. He's about 50-50 for obeying at that time.

Go To Your Place!

Bones and Kong's filled with peanut butter, canned cheese, or soft dog food are Bear's favorite. It keeps him busy for about 10 minutes unless we freeze it first. Then he's busy for at least a 1/2 hour. This is a great cheap toy AND you can wash the bones and Kong's in the dishwasher. Bear is also sitting on his bed which is another training piece. We taught him the command, "Go to your place!" and he runs for his pillow. Then he lays down on it and waits for me to give the okay. I had never taught this before so it's a thrill to see him do it! This is a wonderful command for them when company comes over. You can give this command and they go to their pillow until you tell them they can get off.

Bear, Kiya, and Grizzley are playing the ever popular game of keep away. Kiya dropped the ball and Grizzley is seconds from pouncing on it.  

Here are all three dogs at the grazing patch. You can't even see Grizzley. 

Bear and Kiya are your typical older siblings. They have figured out a way to "ditch" Grizzley. They jump onto the 2 foot wall and Grizzley can't. Then they play on the hill while he watches. Poor Grizzley! 

TUG!

Here are Bear and Grizzley playing tug of war. This is an excellent intro to the command "tug". The next step is to play with them so they get used to doing it with a person. You also need to let them win most of the time to boost their confidence. We use "tug" to open drawers, doors, refrigerators, etc. It's one of the basic commands.

Fazoli's

This was the most embarassing outing I have had with Bear (so far!). My kids and I went to Fazoli's. Parking was difficult because the place was VERY busy plus it was raining like crazy. We ran into the building and we eventually ordered. Bear was pretty good in line. He tried lunging at things on the floor but I kept reminding him to "leave it" and he would.

We went to get our drinks and I grabbed a to-go container and filled it with ice for Bear. We found a booth, he went underneath, and I gave him the container of ice. Wonderful! Things were going great!

THEN......he ran out of ice to eat. We had already waited about 10 minutes for our food and it still wasn't there. Bear kept trying to get out from under the booth. He would go back under when I dragged him under. He was not following commands but rather looking at me like I was a nuisance. I blocked his exit with my leg resting on the other seat. He tried climbing over my leg!

Then the barking started. I already had a number of people who were close by watching me. Talk about pressure - although I have learned to tune them out. He barked a little short bark. The people within about 10 feet glanced over. I reached down and grabbed his nose and sternly said, "NO BARK!". Then I let go. He barked again a little louder. I did the same thing again. Many people were looking around to locate the dog. I'm assuming he confirmed that they did in fact hear a "bark" the first time.

Then he barked REALLY loud! I am not kidding when I say that the entire restaurant stopped talking and everyone was looking for the dog. I glanced at the counter area and the staff even stopped and looked out into the restaurant. I really debated packing up and leaving however, we still had not gotten our food!!

I took him up to the counter and asked about our food and of course we then got it right away. Once the food was delivered, Bear still tried to get out from under the booth. He kept busy for about 5 minutes by shredding the to-go container he had. Then the antics started again. He did not however bark.

A little boy in the restaurant came over and wanted to pet him. For the first time, I said no. I explained that Bear was in training and today he's not doing very well so he can't be petted. Then I thanked him for coming over and asking and I apologized. I felt really bad but I knew that being petted was a reward and Bear was doing nothing rewarding. :)

We quickly finished our meal and went to Target. Target was pretty good. He did show an interest in everything on the shelves - which he never did before but he just sniffed things. He did not open anything up or chew on anything. A couple of people came over and wanted to pet him and I let them because Bear was doing well.

I am so thankful we only eat at Fazoli's once every 2 years!

NEW ARRIVAL!!

Meet Grizzley - no I did not name him! Ironic huh? He is a 14 week old brown and white mini-aussie. Grizzley is from the same program "American Assistance Dogs" but he's being trained to be a hearing response dog. I'm sure a new blog with his name will be cropping up soon too.

http://allaboutgrizzley.blogspot.com/

Here they are all together - Kiya, Bear, and Grizzley

Here are Bear and Grizzley playing. It was hard to get Grizzley in the picture because he was just running back and forth and Bear would try to stop him with his paw as he passed.

Here they are playing again. I think both are up in the air. 

Here's a pretty good picture of his face. Again, it's hard to get him to stop long enought for a picture.

Menard's

Guess where we went? Bear is really doing well with public access. I thought this would be a routine visit but instead we walked through their Halloween area and watched a couple of motion sensor ghosts and witches. Bear's ears went crazy but he didn't bark. He only watched.

Then we bought lumbar and went through the lumbar yard. He stayed in the back being very quiet. When it was time to load the boards - the lumber yard man opened the back hatch and there was Bear! Bear did great. He didn't bark or anything. He just moved out of the way so the board could be put in.

When we went through the gate again, the security guard opened the back hatch and Bear peeked up over the seat and surprised him. I thought for sure he would bark but he didn't. In fact, the guard gave him a dog treat for being so good. He even opened the side door to give it to him. Bear didn't bark, he took the treat from a stranger, and he did it nicely!

We did not get a chance to practice handicap doors because these doors were automatic. In fact, I've noticed that many of the doors in public places are automatic. Maybe teaching them to push that button will become obsolete in the future.


http://www.menards.com/

Busy Day

Bear and I had a VERY busy day yesterday. First we stopped at MIDAS for an oil change.

http://www.midas.com/index2.aspx

I thought it would be uneventful for him but then we heard the air compressor. At first he jumped and looked over at the glass door to the garage. Then he just watched as the mechanic sprayed off the tires on a Jeep. He did great!

Next we went to my kids' school to drop off a lunch. We ended up going into two classrooms and doing an impromptu speech. First we did a Kindergarten class. WOW! Does Bear ever love small kids. He had a hard time settling down and I'm sure it's because of the energy coming off the little people.

The 5-6 year old kids asked some great questions. "Is he a boy or a girl?, Does he bite?, Can he do any tricks?" This was a pretty easy group of questions. :) My main focus with kids this age is to explain that when they see a working dog in public, they can't pet them.

Then we went to the 4th and 5th grade class. The 5th grade kids met Bear back in May right after we got him so when we walked in they were shocked at how much he had grown. Their questions were much harder. "Do you prefer to work with certain breeds?, Are there different kinds of service dogs?, Are there other animals that help people in wheelchair's besides dogs?" Then they wanted to see Bear do something. Other than basic obedience, he's pretty reliable with "rise". So I showed them "rise" on a table. They all clapped for him and I don't think he really knew what to do. His ears were going every which way but he stayed on the table until I told him "okay". Then we left.

The command "okay" is a release word. When doing obedience you always need a release word so they know when they are done. If you say "sit, stay.", technically they should do that until you release them with "okay."

Next we went to my job. He was so happy to be there. I keep a blanket under my desk for him and that's exactly where he went to sleep for the rest of the work day. Everyone there was really good about respecting the "no pet" rule and they didn't touch him (much). :)

Please Help Hurricane Katrina Disaster Animal Victims

People have asked me for a place where they can send a donation to help the animals being rescued because of Hurricane Katrina.

Here is a site for a wonderful organization that I hope you'll take a look at:

http://www.noahswish.org/

Interesting Laws

I found some interesting information with regard to airline travel and service animals. Here is the link:

http://www.tsa.gov/public/display?content=090005198004a94a&print=yes

The Arcade

The arcade is a great training place. It's dark, noisy, and has lots of people. Sometimes we run into people who are afraid of dogs and we always go the other way quickly. I certainly do not want to make people afraid. We try to be as respectful as we can