Hi there, my name is Austin!
Quirks: Sleeps on back in crate, will dunk entire head into water bucket to get a spider out of his bowl and place it gently and very much still alive on the ground, does not understand Donut (my stuffed demo dog for DADTC work) is not real and doesn't understand why Donut does not want to play with him
Why We Chose Him: His handlers at the prison said really positive things about him, he was the right size, age, and temperament we needed, and during our evaluation of him, he would immediately approach me anytime I sat on the ground. He has quickly zeroed in with me in his time with us. On day 5, I fell down during training and he responded by immediately rushing to me, nudging my face and arms, and then settling down beside me while I recovered. That's a promising sign for a potential service dog.
Our Goals for the 1st Month: Austin is learning basic house manners like waiting at doors and for meals, how to be relaxed and not always demanding attention, how to co-exist with Robbie and share the people, how to listen and pay attention on leash, as well as early socialization training and balance work to build muscles and body awareness. All of this will work towards laying the groundwork for me being able to teach him more challenging things in a few months with regard to obedience and early SD skill training, and of course, developing a solid bond between us.
Goals 3 Months In: Austin has begun obedience training! He is learning Sit, Down, Heel, Focus, and Stand right now. We're going on field trips several days a week to socialize him to the world. He seems to take most things in stride, and loves car rides. He is also working out on the treadmill, becoming more at ease wearing boots, learning to hand me his paws on cue, and attempting to learn that road traffic is no big deal. As a fun side skill, I'm overlaying sound cues to his natural drive to trot or lope circles around me, much like lunging a horse!
Goals 3 Months In: Austin has begun obedience training! He is learning Sit, Down, Heel, Focus, and Stand right now. We're going on field trips several days a week to socialize him to the world. He seems to take most things in stride, and loves car rides. He is also working out on the treadmill, becoming more at ease wearing boots, learning to hand me his paws on cue, and attempting to learn that road traffic is no big deal. As a fun side skill, I'm overlaying sound cues to his natural drive to trot or lope circles around me, much like lunging a horse!
As of June 2022: Austin is halfway through Foundation Obedience training. He's been training with me for about 8 months total now. He knows about 15 commands and is learning new ones. He can Heel in stores, as well as do Sit and Down in stores. Heel continues to be a bit hard because he wants to go quickly. He's doing short distance off leash recalls at home, 15ft on leash recalls at home, and is about to try 30ft recalls at home. We're taking the time to be sure he is solid on various skills before before moving, so we don't skip things. Some things he catches on very quickly with, other things are taking a little longer because impulse control and doing things our way is hard for him at times. He is really coming along with his training. We also are dealing with the loss of Robbie, which is extremely hard for me mentally, emotionally, and physically with the CRPS making the grief felt exponentially worse. I am training Austin through it, no breaks here, but in shorter bursts. He's also making better choices with small animals.