I was a Guest Blogger!

I recently wrote a "guest post" for a fellow blogger, Jenny, over at Paws for Thought. (If you click on the title of her blog it will take you right to the post I wrote for her!)

Jenny has been blogging since 2007 when she was paired up with her very first guide dog, OJ. Jenny had to wait two years before Irish Guide Dogs found her a match with "the lovely black Labrador Retriever." She started her blog to document her experience with him.

Thank you, Jenny, for sharing your life working with OJ with all of your readers, and for letting me share a little bit of my life raising Future Leader Dog puppies with you.

Here's a picture that should have gone along with my post on Jenny's blog!

A very well behaved FLD Scout was a big hit at the Lions' Club Zone meeting held in West Branch on October 25. All thanks to a long walk in the rain.

Tuesday's Training TIP: Stand

Try as I might, I could not get all these videos processed in time to publish this post yesterday. So, here's a "Tuesday's Training TIP" on Wednesday!

STAND is a helpful command to teach a Future Leader Dog puppy. A standing puppy is easier to groom, and later she'll need to stand for her handler to put on the harness.

I video-taped a training session to demonstrate how I'm teaching FLD Scout to "stand"on command. This particular session lasted just over seven minutes. In the video, FLD Scout is wearing her working bandana and leash.

Step One. WARM UP.

Before any training session it is a good idea to "warm up" your puppy with some things she already knows. (Okay, "might" already know!)

I start working FLD Scout with a heel, sit, stay, and down. As I pass my dog Gypsy I tell Scout to "leave it" when she makes a move toward her, and praise her when she ignores Gypsy.

(I really missed an opportunity to let Scout make up her own mind before telling her what to do.)

Scout needs work on her "sit in a heel position" because she tends to wander out in front of me before sitting. I merely slide her back into the heel position, but to work on correcting this I will practice heeling close to a wall with no room for her to swing out.

At the end of this video, Scout is on her way to a "sit" when I give her the "down" command. Scout came home to us with such a good "sit" that I've had to work on her NOT sitting whenever we stop during a walk on leash! (While puppies are still in the breeder homes they learn to "sit" before getting picked up or eating.)

Step two.  First attempt with the STAND command.

FLD Scout likes to swing out with her "down" too. Notice that I just slide her right back into the heel position.

When I give her the "stand" command, you can see that she moves a little--a sign that she's thinking about what I want her to do. This is not the very first time she's heard this command. Normally, I would have waited a second or two to see what she would have done, but I wanted to demonstrate the little step forward that will encourage her to get up. 

When I "fake" the first step, Scout sits, so I fake a second step forward to get her to stand. I immediately step back, which causes her to take her more familiar position--the sit!

(I should not have said "nope" under my breath when Scout sits, but putting her into the "stand" is the right thing to do.)

I rub her belly a bit to keep her in the stand position. I think she would have held it after I stand back up myself, but to ensure that she doesn't drop into a sit, I immediately take her into a heel.

 

  

Step three.  STAND from a "sit" and demonstration of leash technique.

FLD Scout's "sit" this time was a little better. (See, repetition helps!) You can see that I wait a moment this time after giving the "stand" command to see if Scout would make a move.

The whining you hear in the background is cc'd Gus from his crate in the other room. This creates enough of a distraction that I have to add a verbal cue to get Scout's attention back to me. She stands with my fake step forward, but sits back down when I praise her (and Andy finally notices that I am working with her).

Again, I merely stand Scout back up. This time I loop her leash around her belly--a technique that can help keep her standing while I straighten back up myself.

 

Step four.  STAND, almost!

I treat FLD Scout for looking at me when I say her name because she still needs work with "name recognition." 

This third try at the "stand" command is the first time Scout stands without sitting first! You can see that she started moving and if I had just kept still she probably would have stood without me taking that step. (See where patience comes into play?)

Then, I praise her a bit too enthusiastically and she anticipates me reaching into my pocket to treat her. I place her back into position with a belly rub and immediately have her "stay" to try to reinforce her "stand."

After this segment, I could tell that FLD Scout was getting a bit overwhelmed. She acted like she forgot how to walk next to me and she flopped onto her side when I asked for a "down." I knew that we needed to end the session on a positive, so I picked up the pace on our walking, had her sit and stay, and threw in a "come," which she readily did, so I gave her the "OK" that released her from working. Lots of praise and fun (while keeping her four feet on the floor) and we were done.

LATER THAT DAY....

I did another session with FLD Scout. We "warmed up" and tried the STAND again. Success!!! It wasn't perfect, but I was more patient and she stood on her own with no cues.

That's what I call PROGRESS.

HINTS

• be patient

• repetition is important

• work a new command without distractions

• add distractions as your puppy masters the command

Don't be afraid to try this for yourself. Have fun and you can easily see that even if the trainer isn't "perfect" the puppy can still learn!

Guster Buster

In a gleeful mood visiting family downstate for Halloween, ironically on "issue day" (see note below) at Leader Dogs for the Blind, I received the dreaded call.

"I'm so sorry to tell you," the Leader Dog employee said, "but Gus was career-changed today."

No matter what they tell you, it is never enough information. Questions abound, you just can't believe it. MY puppy???  He was GREAT!  What happened?

You second-guess yourself.  Where did I go wrong in raising him?  Should I have done something different?  Did I take him into the woods too much?  What more could I have done to switch on the working-gene in this dog?

You can't help but think back and try to identify a clue that this was coming.  Those times he hesitated getting out of the van and then when he did he bolted to the end of his leash.  Maybe it wasn't that he was trying to avoid my bag banging against his head, maybe he didn't really want to get that working vest on and come with me into the grocery store/bank/library/restaurant...

You can go crazy thinking about it.  You can despair for the puppy you are raising now.  All your effort, all the hope.  For naught.

You second-guess the training protocol at Leader Dogs.  But you have to trust that this organization, in the business of training guide dogs since 1939, knows what it is doing; that the trainers understand the dogs and do their best to bring them along; that they've used all their tools in their training-box.  That they gave him every opportunity.

In the end, the dog decides.  It's like the rest doesn't even matter.

Two months into his formal training at Leader Dogs for the Blind, Gus decided that a job as a guide dog wasn't for him.

The official reason?  Gus "lacked responsibility" and his "body sensitivity was too high."  Simply put, he shied away from the harness and didn't want to work.

So.

GUS IS BACK!

Gus found his old bed, but he almost doesn't fit in it anymore. What do you suppose he is thinking?

Gus can hardly keep his eyes open after several hikes through our woods this day. On our first walk, on the way back, he suddenly grabbed up a HUGE tree limb, breaking it in two between two standing trees, and merrily dragged it back to the house. FLD Scout assisted--with the tree limb, and the nap. She is very happy to have a playmate now.

Waiting for the "OK" at breakfast, FLD Scout and Gus share his old mat, while Gypsy sits closest to the food dishes.

"Issue day" is the day each month that the blind and visually impaired "students" in class at Leader Dogs for the Blind first meet their new four-legged-furry partner.

FLD Scout. On Assignment Again.

WHO

Intrepid reporter for the Ogemaw County Voice (aka "puppy-raiser patti") on assignment in Rose City, with her sidekick, FLD Scout.

WHAT

1st Annual Fall Wine Festival. Free hayrides between two wineries, wine-tasting, and food.

WHERE

Rose Valley Winery and Valley Mist Vineyards in Rose City, Michigan.

WHEN

Saturday, October 29, 2011. (This was the second Saturday of the event.)

WHY

To get the inside scoop on this inaugural event with the added bonus of self-control exercises for FLD Scout with people, food, and animal distractions. (There's my two-birds-with-one-stone thing again--see my post from July 27, 2011,  "FLD Gus Goes Loony".)

(and sometimes HOW)

It was a misty fall afternoon at the wineries, but FLD Scout didn't seem to mind. Inside the tasting rooms were crowds of engaging people and scraps of food on the floor to keep her me  busy.

Even the sight of "witch" Elaine (proprietress of Valley Mist Vineyards) with her witch's brew had no adverse effect on FLD Scout.

What caught Scout's attention was outside. Horses. The winery was old-hat, but horses...this was a first!

As we approached the staging area for the hayrides, FLD Scout didn't notice the two blanket-clad Percheron teams tied up to the semi-trailer. She had her eyes on Matthew and Nathan, who were waiting for the word to harness up the beasts to the wagons. Puppy-tail-waggle going full-force for the two young men, FLD Scout suddenly saw the horses.

"Rrrrruuuffff," Scout muffled, not so sure what to think. Her waggle paused.

Scout, sit, I commanded, but she needed a finger-tap on her rump to follow through. She peered at the horses, glanced back at me, and went back to studying. I kept her in position until she settled.

FLD Scout catches site of the horses.

Her nose gets busy as we get a bit closer.

Scout, heel, I said and we took a few steps forward. I didn't want to frighten Scout, or the horses! (Matthew assured me that Scout would not spook them.)

FLD Scout walks on a loose leash toward the Percheron teams.

Scout, sit, I said. This time she sat without a tap. Good girl, Scout! I said and slipped her a treat.

We inched our way closer as I observed Scout's demeanor change from a tightly gathered "I'm not so sure" cautiousness to a waggle-returning "hey, what IS that?" curiousity.

You can see the change in her body as she takes an eager interest.

Soon FLD Scout was almost nose-to-nose with one of the horses, which quickly decided that the little black ball of fur wasn't so interesting after all.

Two creatures, almost nose-to-nose.

The big one...no longer interested. FLD Scout sits back as if dejected.

The hayride part? Not a problem. FLD Scout negotiated the metal grated steps into the wagon with just a bit of coaxing, and seemed to enjoy the rock-along pace of the heavy horse team.

Matthew and Nathan prepare to harness the team.

Our driver, Paul, and Nathan guide the team.

FLD Scout would like to climb on my lap during the ride, but soon curls into a ball on the floor when I don't pick her up.

Two wineries and two hayrides later, I had my story.

And a very tired puppy. 

FLD Scout found an open corner in the busy winery to rest.

Oh. And two bottles of wine to take home.