The Many Faces of FLD Mike

I find myself endlessly fascinated.  Watching him.  Watching FLD Mike, but no more today (knowing how little time I have with him) than when I first brought him home and 10 months seemed like it might last for 10 years.  

You may have noticed the banner picture I added earlier today.  Can you see me gazing as Mike gazes back at me?

I attempt to capture his personality digitally, recorded on a small square computer chip via the glass and mirrors of my DSLR (digital single-lens reflex) camera.

Have I succeeded?

In the evening, Mike seduces me as I relax on the couch.       "Hey there sweetie, how's about a snuggle?"

 

 

 

I can't resist.  How's this?  Comfy?

"Oh yea...this is heaven!"

"Was it good for you?"

On the bus, FLD Mike snoozes into the aisle.

"What, they can't walk around me?"

Tuesday's Training TIP: MAT

FLD Mike stands in alert before I even hear the knocking on our door.  Gypsy blasts by him, howling, singing, and otherwise announcing the arrival.  Mike pursues in a black-lab-pant.

Mike. Mat.  I command, in vain.  When Gypsy is wound up like this, it is challenging to get Mike to pay attention to me.

But I persist.  I tell Gypsy, Quiet, and take Mike by the collar to put him on his mat in the kitchen.  Mike.  Down.   Now he looks at me and drops.  

Good boy, Mike!  Stay.  This is trying for FLD Mike.  Gypsy races by again to grab a Nylabone or Kong from the living room; whichever is closest will do.  She prances back, verbalizing as best she can around the Kong in her mouth.  I'm always amused at how many sounds she can make with a jaw-full!

Our friends enter.  Gypsy circles them, toy-in-mouth, and leads them into the living room.

The extra work on "mat" we've been doing pays off.  FLD Mike rocks his rear end onto his side and settles, content to watch.  Settling like this on "mat" is an excellent exercise in self-control, especially with the stimulation of someone new entering the household.

MAT

EQUIPMENT

• A "mat."  This can be a bath towel folded in half, or a door-mat, or a carpet scrap.
• Treats (I use bits of my puppy's food--which are included in his daily total).

SET UP

• Start with your puppy on-leash.
• Place the mat against a wall.

PREREQUISITES

• Your puppy should know the "down" command in low distraction settings.
• Your puppy should "settle" well and hold a "down-stay" for several seconds.

GOALS

• That your puppy understands he or she must walk onto the mat at the command "mat" (some say "go to your mat").
• That once on the mat your puppy should lie "down" and wait for further instructions, or release.

 

TEACHING THE "MAT" COMMAND

has two components, SEND and STAY:

1.  SEND

• On leash, stand in front of the mat with your puppy on your left side.  (When I taught "mat" to clients, I frequently had them heel their puppy over the mat first, to make sure the puppy was not adverse to stepping on it.  It's up to you.)
• Move toward the mat with your puppy and point to it.
• As soon as your puppy touches the mat, drop a treat onto the mat.
• Do NOT give the treat from your hand--you want your puppy to think the "mat" is the source of the treats.  Do not "lure" with the treat.  Drop the treat on the mat.  Treats on the mat will leave an enticing scent on the mat, attracting your puppy to the mat.  It won't take long for him or her to get the idea.
• Release and repeat.
• After a few times, add the word "mat" as you point.  Say the command ONLY ONE TIME.
• Keep things fun and your puppy's enthusiasm up by encouraging him or her as he or she walks to the mat.
• When your puppy is eagerly heading to the mat, try stopping a step away to "send" your puppy to the mat with your point and command.
• Treat, release, and repeat!

Congratulations!  Your puppy is getting it!   After 15-20 minutes, release your puppy and take at least a one-hour break from any more training.  This exercise can be repeated several times a day (with breaks in-between).

Progress slowly!  If your puppy reliably (80% of the time) steps on the mat when you stop and point from one-step away, increase the distance to two-steps.  Stay at that distance until your puppy is reliable (80% of the time), and then increase by one more step.  You should also approach the mat from different directions, from the same distance.

Leave the "mat" in the initial place for at least a week, even when you are not working the command.  Anytime you notice your puppy going to the "mat" on his or her own, give praise ("Good mat!") and be ready to drop a few treats on the mat as a reward.

After practicing at least a week, try moving the mat to a different location.  You may find you'll have to start the exercise as if your puppy forgot what to do--that's because your puppy can't generalize.  (For more on generalization, see my "Definitions" page.)

Rosie & her "wubbie."

The mat should be a pleasurable place for your puppy.  I used a folded towel to teach my first Future Leader dog, Rosie, "mat."  Rosie so enjoyed her "mat" that soon she carried it everywhere--here in the sun in the kitchen, under my writing desk upstairs, next to the couch at the end of the day.  We dubbed it her "wubbie."   

FLD Mike thinks being sent to his "mat" is a game--I "hide" his mat upstairs, down in the basement, in the bathroom, wherever...and he searches until he finds it.

2.  STAY

• After your puppy is reliable (remember that 80% of the time rule?) going to the mat on command from a step or two away, and from different directions, command your puppy into a "down" on the mat.
• Drop a treat where he or she can get it without moving out of the "down."
• Have your puppy hold the "down" for a few seconds.
• Release and repeat!
• Gradually increase the time your puppy holds the "down" position.
• Introduce distractions to insure that your puppy will stay.  For instance, have someone walk by, or play with a toy just out of reach.  Remember to praise and reward the correct behavior!

TIPS

• Gradually reduce the treats.
• Remove the leash if your puppy is reliably going to the "mat," but be prepared to re-clip the leash in a new setting, or when there are bigger distractions.
• If your puppy seems "lost" when you try to send him or her to the mat from a distance, you might have increased the distance too quickly.  Guide him or her to the mat and next time move closer before sending.
• Give your puppy a special treat, such as a peanut-butter-filled Kong, when you want your puppy to stay on the mat for longer periods.  Eventually, your puppy should be able to stay on the mat until he or she is released.

FLD Mike on his "mat."

A Bigger Job

Monday, August 9, 2010

Getting something other than a bill or junk advertising in your mailbox these days can be exciting.  But for 11 volunteer puppy-raisers this past weekend, finding the larger-than-letter-sized envelope with the Leader Dogs for the Blind return address brought lumps to all of our throats.

FUTURE LEADER DOGS

Mike, Radar, Chloe, Raven, Molly, Nora, Claire, Callie, Madison, Pepper, and Gabby (siblings all) received their first "Birthday Cards" from Leader Dogs for the Blind.

The card is a very nice gesture, but what comes along with the birthday card is what makes our hearts jump into our throats.  Our puppy's return date.  (Mike and Radar go back on the 13th of September, the others go later in October.)

We all knew what we were getting into when we signed our puppy-raiser contract with Leader Dogs last November.  These bundles of joy are not ours to keep, even though they stole our hearts.

Where did the year go?  

The first few weeks seemed to take forever--no sleep, constant vigil for signs our puppies are looking for a place to "park," a thousand times sweeping stuff out of needle-teethed mouths, three-steps backwards walking for every step forward.  The accelerated learning curve of the crucial age before 16 weeks.

Where did the year go?

Suddenly, we noticed our puppies maturing.  The females went into heat; the males began to lift their legs.  Particularly aggravating was the adolescent challenge, "You want me to do what?!"  I'm sure I haven't been the only raiser who was tempted to send a seven-or-eight-month old puppy back to Leader Dogs early!

We hung on.  We shared stories, adventures, pictures, and videos.  We aired our frustrations, offering and receiving advice and understanding via emails.  We kept in close contact through the attentions of Julia, the young girl whose family hosts Reece, the mother of these amazing 11 puppies.

Where did the year go?

Now we share some tears, knowing what's just ahead of us.

Strangers ask of us, "Isn't it hard to give them up?"  Of course it is.  But we get over it.  Many of us go on to do it again, in spite of the difficulty.  We know that what we do is more than just about us.  We are privileged to be a part of an organization that is devoted to "enhancing the lives of people who are blind and visually impaired."

Our tears are also tears of pride.  

We've done the best best we could to prepare our incredible charges for the next phase of their journey at Leader Dogs for the Blind.  

When our puppies return to Leader Dogs, they first must pass a series of physical exams.  An exceptional puppy might be selected for the Leader Dogs breeding program (by the way, host families are needed for breeders--especially moms).  Exams passed, the rest are neutered or spayed and sent into advanced training.  Four phases, four months.

 Our tears are also tears of hope.

Then we wait.  It's hard not to pester the Leader Dogs Puppy Department for news about our puppy-in-training.  Sometimes no news is good news--not every dog is cut out to do this important job.

If our puppies decide "to live an exceptional life" as a Leader Dog, they are placed with a vision-impaired person; together, they continue with 26 more days of training.  Imagine what it must be like to learn to "trust" this bundle of canine capacity to lead you through a darkened world.

Our tears are because we know our puppies are so much more than us.

This morning, I overheard my husband Andy say to FLD Mike, as Mike pestered him for attention:  "Mike,  you have a bigger job to attend to than me."

A special thank-you to Julia, for bringing us together.

Thank-you to FLD Mike's siblings' raisers, for sharing. 

A big thank-you to Andy, for understanding. 

Thank-you to everyone at Leader Dogs for making this possible.

And a thank-you to you, reader, for caring enough to read.

Dog Food

I'm writing about food today.  Dog food.

Yesterday we picked up another 35-pound bag of Purina ProPlan Chicken and Rice for FLD Mike.

"What do you figure, about one of these per month for Mike?" Andy asked as he heaved the bag into the shopping cart.  We feed FLD Mike Purina ProPlan because that's what all the dogs-in-training  eat at Leader Dogs for the Blind.

No, I think it lasts about six weeks.

It wasn't until just now as I sit typing this that I realize this might be the last bag of food I'll have to buy for Mike.  He turns one-year-old on the 17th of September and returns to Leader Dogs on September 13.  I haven't kept track of how much dog food I've purchased for him this year.  I'm not sure I want to know.  But if I bought one 35-pound bag every six weeks, that would be about eight bags, or 280 pounds.  Sounds like a lot of food, doesn't it?

Well, did you know that Leader Dogs for the Blind goes through more than 122,000 pounds of dog food each year?  Yikes!  Good thing Purina is such a good sponsor.  (Check out an article here about how Purina helps.)

Anyway, I wanted to write about food today because I learned of a pet-food recall put out by the Procter & Gamble Company on July 30, 2010.   (Click here to link to the recall.)  The dry food recall includes Iams Veterinary Dry Formulas, Eukanuba Naturally Wild, Eukanuba Pure, and Eukanuba Custom Care Sensitive Skin, in all sizes and varieties.

According to P&G's notice, the recall is a "precautionary measure because it has the potential to be contaminated with salmonella."  If you have purchased any of these foods, P&G advises that you discard them.

For more information or refund, call P&G toll-free at 877-340-8823.