Monday, October 31, 2005
















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!

Monday, October 10, 2005

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!