Tuesday's Training TIP: PUBLIC MEET & GREET

FLD Gus needed a walk; his morning energy had nowhere to go.  

In spite of snow shards slapping our faces, I walked him up to the corner pharmacy.  I had to pick up a prescription anyway.  (Did you know they give tetanus shots every 5 years now?!  A nasty cut on my knuckle got infected and now it's antibiotics time.  Rats.)

I'm not sure that Gus's future handler would want to brave the out-of-doors and slippery sidewalks on such a wintry day, but it is important to expose this Future Leader Dog to every kind of weather, just in case.

Nippy wind and snow-dust didn't deter FLD Gus, but he forced me to walk backwards a bit as we approached the entrance to Walgreen's.  A little too eager!  Once inside, Gus morphed into a patient puppy, a fine ambassador for Leader Dogs for the Blind.

We practiced our RIGHT and LEFT turns up and down the aisles, taking the long way to the rear of the store.  Gus.  SIT, I commanded when we finally arrived at the pharmacy counter.  Gus sat, but soon slid into a DOWN.  I faked a step forward to get him up; then helped him back into his SIT.

On our way out, I paused at a display of $10 pet beds.  We finally disposed of Gypsy's old bed, tired of pulling puffs of stuffing from Gus's mouth.  A woman with an armload of items approached and asked, "We can't pet them, can we?"

Thanks for asking, I said.  I decided to test Gus.  Why don't you help me train him?  Let me get him into a SIT and then you can pet him.  If he gets up, or tries to put his mouth on your hand, just take your hand away and step back.  He needs to learn how to sit nicely when people come up to us.

Gus.  SIT.  FLD Gus looked up at me and immediately sat.  The woman juggled her purchases and stepped forward with one arm stretched toward Gus.  He raised his nose in anticipation, but did not get up.  After a few attempts at licking her (she removed her hand each time), he settled in for a nice round of petting.  Good boy, Gus!

The woman and I had the usual talk about "how hard it must be to give them up," and "such a good thing for you to do," and "he is SO precious!"  Then it was time to brave the winter storm and walk home.

Gus.  HEEL.

If Gus seemed a bit reluctant to leave the warm store and go back out into the weather, once he "parked" and we were on our way, he heeled comfortably at my side.

FLD Gus didn't start out behaving this well for a "public" MEET & GREET.  We started out practicing this at home with family and friends, and in puppy-class at Leader Dogs for the Blind.  (Read my post from November 9, 2010 to learn how to introduce a proper Meet & Greet to your puppy.)

Once FLD Gus seemed to get the idea, it has been fun to solicit strangers (who ask to pet him) for their help.  Now I am proud when Gus sits so nice!

SUGGESTIONS FOR WORKING A PUBLIC MEET & GREET

• If you've worked on MEET & GREET in a controlled setting first, try asking someone in public to help you "train" your puppy.  They are typically eager to help, and it becomes another opportunity to educate the public.

• Explain what you are going to do and how they can help.

• Get your puppy into a SIT, and then ask the person to approach.

• Don't say anything to your puppy if he or she gets up.  Ask the person to step back and calmly put your puppy back into a SIT.

• Repeat.

• If your puppy gets too excited and just won't hold the SIT, tell the person that your puppy isn't able to stay calm today.  Don't be afraid to ask them to refrain from petting your puppy.  Because you've explained everything, they will readily agree that it isn't a good idea!

• Try to get your puppy into a SIT with the person a few steps back.

• Thank the stranger for helping you.  This is a good opportunity to have your puppy hold the SIT for a few moments, with the distraction moved away.  Even though it may seem that your puppy did not succeed, remember that your puppy is still LEARNING.  He or she will do better the next time!

(Oops!  I missed posting this yesterday, on TUESDAY!  Well, I hope that it is better to post  this TIP a day late than never.  Now, out to have some fun in the snow...yesterday's storm dropped a lot more than the four inches the weather reporters predicted!)
 

Pet Blogger Challenge

Edie Jarolim, of "Will My Dog Hate Me," and Amy of "Go Pet Friendly Blog," thought it would be a good idea to look back on our blogs with an eye to the future.  They started a "Pet Blogger Challenge"--a series of questions about our blogs.  

Even though my blog, "plays with puppies," is not so much about my "pet," I still thought I would participate.  Thanks Edie and Amy, for giving me something to think about!

1. When did you begin your blog?

March 31, 2010, shortly after Rosie, the first puppy I raised for Leader Dogs for the Blind, was career-changed. Rosie was an eager, too-fast-paced black lab that made it through all of the training at Leader Dogs, but had to be held over three times for failure to find a good match.  (To read more about Rosie, just click on the label "Rosie" or the "Rosie Road.")

2. What was your original purpose for starting a blog?

I wanted a personal challenge and discipline to help me write daily.  I started my blog about my experiences raising Future Leader Dog puppies because I am interested in dog training and Leader Dogs and I thought it would be a good "niche" topic.  I wanted to integrate photography and poetry in my blog, as well as providing "training tips" for other dog-owners, or new puppy-raisers.  Ideally, I hoped my blog might inspire others to become puppy-raisers, or to become a resource for other puppy-raisers.

3. Is your current purpose the same?

Yes, although now I am raising my third Leader Dog puppy, Gus!

FLD Gus, snowboarding!

If not, what’s different?

If so, how do you feel you’ve met your goals?

Keeping this blog rolling has indeed helped me to discipline myself to writing daily, well, at least five days a week.  I'm not sure how much of a resource it has become to new puppy-raisers, but my readers seem to enjoy keeping up with my puppies!  I admit that it sometimes is frustrating to come up with fresh ideas every day.  Writing proves to be a bigger challenge when other things in my life demand attention.

4. Do you blog on a schedule or as the spirit moves you?

I have a self-imposed deadline to post five days a week.  Sometimes the spirit is not so moving!


5. Are you generating income from your blog?

Nope.

If so, how (e.g. sponsor ads, affiliate relationships, spokesperson opportunities)?

6. What do you like most about blogging in general and your blog in particular (bragging is good!)?

Blogging, in general, has expanded my exposure to others who benefit from assistance dogs.  Knowing the difference I can make in someone's life by raising a Future Leader Dog keeps me inspired to keep raising them!

One of the things I like about my blog is that it enables some of my friends to "keep track" of what I am doing.  It's a fun way to stay connected.

7. What do you like least?

I don't like posting something I've written that really needs more work!

8. How do you see your blog changing/growing in 2011?

Of course, I will continue writing about FLD Gus, my current puppy.  Next month I hope to report that my second puppy, Mike, will be placed with his new person.  He is currently in Phase IV training at Leader Dogs and if all goes well, he is scheduled to graduate next month!  That will make my year!  

And then...a fourth puppy?

A Winter's Walk

She walked him on her right side.  And was nervous about slipping.

Less than an inch had fallen, but snow was fluttering again, lightly.  Where homeowners had shoveled the inch, I lost her tracks, so I knew she traveled not long ahead.  

I paused to place my foot into her print.  Her shoes were narrower than my worn-down Merrill hiking boots, and about a big toe-nail longer.  The X-shapes carved into the snow from her tracks were most likely an ice and snow traction device made by Yaktrax.  (I looked it up on the Internet when I got home.)

The unknown woman either abbreviated her stride for increased stability where ice sometimes hid under the snow, or her legs were much shorter than mine.  At first I figured that her dog was small (under 30 pounds), but as I observed Gypsy step along (sniffing at bunny-rabbit or squirrel tracks that wove across the ribbon of sidewalk), I saw that her paw tracks were about the same size, and Gypsy's gait appeared shorter.  Perhaps not so small a dog wandered from right to left, sniffing at tree trunks and fire hydrants.

There!  A yellow mark on a snow pile at the corner of a driveway.

I glanced left at FLD Gus as he lifted his nose, swinging it side to side to scrutinize the air.  Did he smell the snow that drifted lazily down upon us?  I could not tell.  He bounced along in enthusiasm, as if the sidewalk depressed and rebounded with his weight like a trampoline.

It's funny how different my three Future Leader Dogs have been.

Rosie trotted with her head bobbling right to left like a bobble-head doll.  Mike kept his gaze steadily forward, until he dropped his sniffer to investigate this, that, and anything on the ground.  Even at seven-weeks-old, Gus preferred to look about him.

I wonder how the veteran puppy-raisers, who've raised 20 and more puppies, view their charges.  What characteristics stand out in each of them?  The lift of their nose?  What drew their attention? How they enjoyed being petted, or how they avoided?

Rose was not the snuggler that Mike was; and Gus isn't either, although he's surprising me lately.  If I sit on the floor in the evening, he'll carry over a Nylabone to lie down against my leg  Last night he climbed across my legs to chew, but soon his eyelids drifted like a lazy summer sunset, and he fell fast asleep, his heavy head cradled in my arm.

Of course, many things must have been similar, especially within the same breeds.  My Future Leader Dog puppies have all been black labs--passionate eaters who leapt ahead of me when I went to the basement to resupply their food containers, snarfed around for fallen crumbs, twirled and bounded up the stairs in a race to the mat, where they'd twirl again to drop their butt on the mat in a SIT, trembling at the sound of kibble as it hit the stainless steel bowl, but still containing themselves for my OK before they launched to bury their head into their breakfast.  Don't all Labs eat like this?

I lost the tracks of the woman and her dog.  Did we pass a house where she ended her walk?  Did she take a corner turn?

Suddenly, new marks in the snow caught my attention.  Two sets of people-steps, one set of paws, and a curious double slashing in the snow.  What caused that weird design? I wondered.  Pairs of curving arcs like five-feet-long parenthesis arced away to the street-side of the sidewalk, then arced the other direction; at every other house or so, just one long straight slash.  Maybe one of those retractable leashes and the dog ran ahead and then paused to sniff, snapping the leash into the snow?  But the paw prints stayed steady, apparently in a nicely controlled heel on the left.  Hmmmm.....

The ring of my cell phone interrupted my perusal.  My sister Anne. 

"I just have to tell  you what Natalie said this morning," she told me.  "The doctor said she should stay home from school today.  She's not feeling too bad, but she has bronchitis and he thought she should have a nice, long weekend rest.  Well, she was being a little nervous about staying home alone."  (Anne had to work from 11am to 2pm.)  "I was going over all the options with her.  'We could call aunt patti, or Miss Sharon, or Margaret.'  All of a sudden Nat blurted out, 'Hey, I have Rosie!  I'll be just fine, mom, I won't be alone, Rosie's here!'"

I smiled. 

After more than three miles of walking with my dogs on a winter's day, my face felt rosy and warm. 

Or, maybe it was just Rosie.

A regal Rosie in winter.

 

Poetry: Haiku Teeth

"at 5 1/2 months"

terrible teething

leaves blood spots and horrible breath

canine   hanging    on

FLD Gus looses another tooth.

New teeth coming in; canines still holding.

Poor FLD Gus...he doesn't quite know what to do!