FLD Scout. On Assignment.

Photo-story assignment for the Ogemaw County Voice: 

harvesting grapes for the Rose Valley Winery.

Luscious grapes awaiting the pick.

FLD Scout comes along to supervise.

It was a gorgeous day, if a little warm.

FLD Scout watches from the shade.

FLD Scout oversees the take.

Not a Black Cat

FLD Scout is eager and tries to jump up into the passenger-side floorboard of my Chevy S10 pickup. She's still a bit small to make the leap, so I scoop her up by the belly and plop her in.

Every other Future Leader Dog puppy I've raised gave me a battle about staying put when they first learned to ride alone with me, but not Scout. It's like she knows just what to do. She sniffs out the Nylabone left from our last assignment and settles in for a chew.

We're off to take pictures for an article I'm writing about a medically-discharged Army veteran of 21 years and the woman who sent him handmade cards and letters during his tour in Iraq. I interviewed the vet last week, but I wanted to photograph the two together. Theirs is a touching story, even if there doesn't seem to be a resolution.

Writing letters to soldiers-in-war is Sonja's mission. In her words, "Every one I've written to has come home safe." When she started writing to Charlie, she had no idea who he was or where he was from, but they were almost neighbors. Charlie figured it out, and when he returned from war, he came knocking on Sonja's door.

Charlie is now like a son to Sonja, and she wants me to tell Charlie's story, not hers.

According to the Army, a back injury makes him 100% disabled and unable to work. Charlie doesn't want to be retired, he misses being in the Army and serving his country. He is frustrated with the VA, not only for himself, but also for other war vets who don't get the help they desperately need.

Charlie suffers from PTSD. The little bits of northern Michigan from Sonja helped bring Charlie home safe, if damaged.

Charlie looks at the letters he saved from Sonja.

It is an Indian-summer afternoon when FLD Scout and I arrive. We sit on Sonja's porch in the shade and Charlie shows me the letters. I take pictures and get a few quotes from Sonja.

FLD Scout is a perfect puppy. She greets them, and Sonja's old mutt who wants nothing to do with her, so Scout leaves her alone and settles at my feet.

At some point, Scout gets up to quietly explore, sniffing at yellow leaves stuck to the doormat. Just inside the screen door a fat cat crouches as if she's about to pounce. Scout doesn't notice her at first and ventures closer to the door.

The cat bares her teeth and hisses. Scout freezes, her nose still on the mat. Her eyes roll up, she spots the cat.

The cat growls.

Without lifting her head, Scout tiptoes backwards in wary slow motion, one paw at a time. Off the mat, she stops and stretches to cautiously catch a whiff of this new thing. Should she be scared?

Guess not.

A puppy-breath later, Scout loses interest and bounces over to Charlie. He reaches to pet her. Her tail threatens to lift her like a helicopter. Charlie bends to embrace her and now his face is fair game to her licky-Lab tongue.

I can only match his smile as Charlie starts goo-ing over her and says, "Do you want to go home with me Scout?"

FLD Scout makes friends with Charlie.

Sonja and Charlie on a beautiful October afteroon in Ogemaw County.

Thank you, to all who serve our country!

 

Tuesday's Training TIP: LEAVE IT (again)

The LEAVE IT command can be extremely useful as we negotiate our way through stores and restaurants with our Future Leader Dog puppies.  But ideally, we want our puppies to learn to make their own decision to "leave" something.  When they eventually work with their handler, they need to be able to walk anywhere without being tempted away from their job.  After all, their blind handler won't be able to see that wayward bit of French-fry on the sidewalk in front of McDonalds and tell their guide dog to "leave it."

But how do we help our puppies learn to make the decision on their own?

• First they need to learn the LEAVE IT command.

• Then we need to help them "generalize" it in all settings (For more information about generalization, check out this website article: Generalization. What it is and Why it Must be Taken into Account for Training Success).

• Finally we need the patience to give them the opportunity to figure it out for themselves.

LETS GET STARTED

The following video demonstrates how easily you can start teaching this to a puppy.  FLD Scout was less than eight weeks old in this video; in fact, we only had her five days and we worked on the LEAVE IT command twice before filming this session.

The first time I worked with Scout, I held some food in one hand so she could see it.  When she attacked my hand I closed it so she couldn't get at the food.  Eventually she lost interest.  AT THAT EXACT MOMENT I praised her and gave her a treat from my other hand.  I showed her the food again, but again kept her from getting it.  When she lost interest, I praised her and treated her from my other hand.  We repeated this for four or five minutes.

At the second session, Scout started to look at me after she couldn't get the food.  I REALLY praised her and again, treated her from my other hand.  And repeated the process for a few minutes, not very long at all.

You can see from the video that by the third session with Scout, I started to introduce the command LEAVE IT.  Subsequently, I use the command with other things (like a dropped napkin in the kitchen) and in other settings (like walking down the sidewalk or in a restaurant).  Because Scout is still young and learning to "generalize," I've been treating her generously.  As time goes on I will wean here off the treats and just use praise.

For more details and hints for teaching LEAVE IT, check out my previous blog posts "LEAVE IT" (June 22, 2010) and "ADVANCED LEAVE IT" (September 7, 2010).

Don't be afraid to try this with your puppy.  You should be able to notice in my video that I sometimes "missed" an opportunity to reward Scout when she looked at me.  That's when she added her "sit"--evidence that this little puppy is starting to think on her own!  "If looking at her doesn't get me a treat, what else can I do? Oh, yea, I can SIT!"

HELP YOUR PUPPY "LEAVE IT" ON HER OWN

Take a walk with your puppy.  When you spot a temptation ahead, keep the leash snug enough so your puppy can't reach whatever it is, and WAIT to see what your puppy will do before saying "leave it."  Chances are, once your puppy has a few "leave its" under her collar, she'll give up trying to get it and will look to you for reinforcement.

THAT'S when you need to push the praise volto-meter off the charts!  Your puppy just left it along without being told!

YIPPEE!

(FLD Scout and I took a short walk while the video was loading. From the other room she whined because she had to "park." Yay, progress on that front!  Anyway, we worked on loose-leash walking, standing when we stop, sits and downs.  And yes, there were lots of acorns, sticks, and stones on our country-road that she oh-so-wanted to snatch!  Some she left on her own when I held her leash so she couldn't reach it (and then she was praised and treated), others I said "leave it," and yet sometimes she still managed to grab this or that.  Time to sweep my finger and clean out her baby mouth! Training doesn't happen overnight, you need patience and persistence.)

FLD Scout, a Rose Valley Winery Regular?

FLD Scout has been with us just over four weeks.

In this time we've had overnight houseguests three times, friends for dinner, and a busy trip downstate visiting family and friends.

Can I help it that when we enter the Rose Vally Winery we're greeted with, "Awwww...the puppy is here. Wow, she's grown in a week!"

BEFORE:  FLD Scout at the Rose Valley Winery tasting bar...

...while Andy and our friends (me too) enjoy a round of tastes.

AFTER:  FLD Scout snoozes, tired of waiting while we sip.

"Disclaimer: no puppies imbibed any wine during or after our visit to the winery."