November 2021: Austin will be following the same framework for his early training that I teach with Disabled Advantage. As such, he started learning how to Sit, Down, Stand, Focus, and we began shaping his loose lead walks more towards a structured heel position. We started taking him to more public places for socialization training, but staying in pet friendly stores or working outside of non-pet stores. He also began learning skills like wearing boots, being tethered with me in the house and moving with me, and settling in nearby when I sit down to work. |
December 2021: Austin started coming to my doctor appointments, to practice settling for longer stints of time and being in a "work mindset." We're continuing to go to pet-friendly places, primarily, and working outside stores. At home, we're increasing the challenge of Sit, Down, Stand, Focus, and Heel by asking him to do them for longer, remain when I leave his side, not anticipate the cue or the release, and working with slightly harder distractions. In addition to these, he does tether work with moving with me in the house, kennel impulse where he must remain inside with the door temptingly open, running on the treadmill off-leash, galloping both clockwise and counterclockwise circles on a long line, manners with fetch, and balance games. His favorite thing to do is to work on an early task - walking assistance for me by means of him pulling in a harness on field walks for short bursts. When he is fully developed, that will transform into assistance up hills on walks. January - April 2022: Austin is continuing to work through Foundation Obedience with me and my husband. We had a few setbacks due to weather limiting what could be done outside, me experiencing multiple falls while training Austin and needing recovery time, and me recovering from my Covid booster shot which prevented me from training at all due to losing the use of my left arm for 6 weeks. It's been a long early spring so far! But - Austin continues to make good progress. We're working very hard on attention on me during Heel, learning a formal retrieve, recalls from a distance, and commands on a dropped leash. He has also begun learning the Deep Cold task, which is extremely hard for him and painful for me when he steps on me to get settled or leave the position. It's hard for him because he's being asked to get settled without stepping on me, stay calm, lay a certain way, and rise off of me on cue from me while I'm lying underneath him. There's a lot going on there dog psychology wise, so it's vital that I keep those factors in mind and proceed with patience. I wish we were progressing faster, but there is a TON to cover with a service dog in training, and training can't be rushed. We'll get there! Austin will be getting his hips and elbows scanned in May (hopefully) and if he passes them, we'll feel more confident moving forward with his training. |
May - October 2022: Losing Robbie was rough on all of us. Austin's training slacked off a bit, but picked back up again early summer. Austin passed his OFA exams, and has been making good progress with brace work, opening doors, and retrieve. Occasionally we have set backs from his stubborn streak, but we work through them in the time it takes. Austin has been coming to more business meetings with me, which he enjoys! We did 2 dog festivals, and have another coming up soon. Austin loves the high stimulation, and has a harder time with absolute quiet. He is very close to being considered a full service dog. It will take at least another year for him to learn the rest of his tasks, but he already does 4 reliably, bracing being the most crucial for me on a daily basis. He's now off-leash reliable in our yard, which makes playtime even more fun & relaxing! |