Austin's Heel work started the day we brought him home 3 months ago, but not in the sense you might be thinking. The word, "Heel" only appeared in his training repertoire the 2nd week in December. But we've been laying the building blocks of how to Heel this whole time. My approach to Heel may be different than what you've learned or seen done. Or it may be similar. It works for my team, and it's how I teach Heel to my training clients, and draws on elements used with Robbie's heel training. It can be grueling at times, and the intensity with which I'm able to devote to it is made more possible by my inability to use traditional mobility aids. That said, I do have ways to modify my method for when I teach clients who do use mobility aids so that the methodology works for them as well, but what I'm writing here is how I am teaching Austin, with my abilities and my limits. Heel is a hard command and action to learn, so I approach it from multiple angles. *For complete and personalized assistance teaching a reliable working dog Heel, please set up a training consult with me through Disabled Advantage. Written here is a rough overview, not step by step instructions to success.
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Two weeks ago, Robbie and I ventured out into the world to dip our toes back into the pool of public access. It went pretty well, though it felt like we were living in a different time. Fewer people out, some in masks, some not. Barricades at store entrances and monitors directing foot traffic. Robbie & I outside, instead of inside running errands. When we began Robbie's public access training in late 2015, our trainer was insistent that Robbie learn how to exist and how to do all of his commands near stores before ever going inside one. A list of 20 or so exercises became our bread and butter for public access work. Some were exhaustively boring, others more engaging. We were always certain to have at least 1 or 2 people staring at the spectacle of me and Robbie pretending to be statues or bouncing recalls between my husband and I. We got used to the looks. Robbie got the socialization. By the time we went inside he was more well-prepared for what we encountered. With the advent of the Coronavirus, and stores being both deserted and packed full, we've had to revisit those early exercises, working outside stores once more. It's safer for Robbie and I this way, and lets my husband shop faster without the slowness factor of having a dog with you. It's a little boring for us, but Robbie seems ecstatic to be out and about again. Once more, we'll make sure everything is good to go, in aspects of us and public health, before we go back in stores again. Store #1Robbie and I positioned ourselves about 50 ft off to the side of the entrance. He could hear and see cars drive past, watch people pushing carts, hear people talking, see people of all types, hear and see birds, and hear machinery. We were waiting outside for 28 minutes. We split that time between 2 Long Sits, about 5 minutes each, and 2 Long Downs, more than 10 minutes each. Every now and then I'd ask for Focus, like right as someone passed in the distance or when he'd hear a cart roll by. He did a really good job maintaining his attention on me with most distractions, but did struggle more with higher distractions like carts rolling fast on the pavement or seeing my husband reappear. That was to be expected, but it did tell me that will be a target area to work on as we resume PA work. This exercise is massively boring and painful, but worth it all the way. Number of Periods Waiting in the Truck: 3One errand called for a drive-thru run, and two other places didn't have available space for working, so we hung out in the truck. This was good exposure for Robbie, though, to practice being chill in the vehicle while waiting for one thing or another. Since the Coronavirus, we haven't taken him anywhere, so he hasn't been getting chances to experience being in the vehicle. Low effort for me, but still training happening! Luckily it was a cool day, otherwise this would not have worked. Not sure what we'll do once summer hits. This time around, Robbie jumped out of the truck in his bright blue vest, trotting on a 15 ft long line, ready to work. We moved ourselves to the back of the parking lot where there was a grassy area. Down side, the flat spot was at the top of a steep incline. Up side, it meant Robbie got to practice his hill assist task. He loves that one! We worked up there for 40 minutes, mixing playtime with serious work time. Robbie experienced the sounds of road traffic, tires being filled with air, birds, people talking, horns honking, the conundrum of knowing we were supposed to be inside, smells of a new place, and the pressure of lying alongside a sidewalk during rush hour. He did amazing! The biggest mistake he made was trying to break Down by belly crawling through the grass. He was so excited to be out working that at times, his enthusiasm made it a little hard to be so serious. It was a wonderful afternoon and training session for us both! Store #2Advice to Other TeamsDo what feels comfortable to you. Watch your dog for what they feel comfortable with. If they seem a little uncomfortable, ask them to keep going a little bit longer then end. We can't let their confidence or training slip. Normally I wouldn't have been okay with Robbie being as goofy as he was in his vest, but he was engaged, he was motivated, he was trying, and that was what was going to give him the best possible experience while being re-immersed in a stimulating world.
You're likely being flooded with Coronavirus articles from every direction. I am too. One thing I haven't noticed much of though, are articles aimed at service dog owners with advice on how to adapt to these challenge suddenly being thrown at us. Maybe I'm not looking in the right place.
Our lives are being impacted in what seems like insignificant ways to the "healthies" but what are dramatic ways to us. Many of us no longer have access to routine medical treatments that are necessary to maintaining our daily functionality. The few people we're normally able to hang out with to feel slightly normal we're now cut off from and restricted to virtual life only. It is not the same. From people whose lives went virtual years ago, now being told the only flesh and blood people we rely on to keep us sane have been kicked into the virtual world too is beyond not okay. On top of that, we have these amazing, hard-working dogs at our sides, who we've put thousands of hours into training so that they can accompany us into public and help us be more independent and less home-bound, who are now, also, suddenly forced into isolation with us. They're being told they can't do their jobs with business as usual either. Sure they still do a ton of work at home, and are going to be at our sides helping us through this, but all the skills we've worked so hard to teach them like how to ignore screaming children, dropped food in a restaurant, lying under a cramped table for an hour, doing polite greetings or ignoring people altogether, moving at a tight heel, opening door buttons, and so much more are not going to be a part of their weekly routines for quite a while. That's difficult on us AND them. I designed a graphic aimed at helping those owner-training their service dogs, or working with an fully trained program service dog, learn how to problem solve in these changing times. Right now, each one of us has to step up and think a little more like a trainer, and a little less like an owner simply holding the reins. Many teams have been cut off from their trainers, or have been working without one for a while now. Whatever your story is, this graphic should help you. This year, our team underwent a huge change to our sense of normal. Our landlords set in motion the process of renovating our home. During this time, we were displaced from our home, had to do laundry at family's home, had our normal routines turned upside down, and eventually had to return to the house to finish the work ourselves, effectively living in a whole new chaos. Going into this, I knew it would likely be difficult for Robbie, and wanted to do everything in my power to make it go more smoothly for him. Read on to learn how I accomplished this, and my tips for other teams or general dog owners if you have house renovations in your future.
Why: Robbie is a slow thinker. A lot of our cues that are directional based involve me holding my arm up and pointing. Retrieve is one example. Often, though, I'd find myself getting exhausted and flaring more because the effort to hold my arm up for the time it took Robbie to figure out what I meant him to get was so much longer than I could easily do. I needed a really long pointer. Enter, the Laser. How: Robbie had never played with a laser, which was perfect. It meant he wouldn't have high energy or obsessive tendencies with one. I started by sitting on the floor with him and a few treats. I'd ask him to focus on me, then point to a blank spot on the wall with the laser. Each time he looked at the dot, I gave a reward. Over time, I made the area smaller and phased out using my whole arm to point. From there I added a second target and later a third. With more targets, he had to work harder to choose the correct one to look at or nose bump - the one with the little red dot. I only rewarded the correct looks/bumps. The better he got, I introduced corrections for choosing the wrong one. Finally I folded this all into actual retrieve work, and eventually was able to use it a little bit every day. Never for Playtime: All teaching sessions had to be calm. I didn't want to encourage him to get really excited. This needed to be associated with working mode.
Downside: I made sure to balance our sessions for retrieve so that he maintained the ability to retrieve objects with or without a laser. If you switched to only ever using a laser and forgot it one day, it's possible your dog would get confused and not do the command, or make more mistakes. Also, this tool may not be an option for dogs with obsessive tendencies. What Type of Laser: I really like the laser pen, over a cat toy laser. The pen's laser button was smoother and took less effort to press down. The cat toy made a clicking sound each time you pressed the button, as well, which was grating for me.
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My Name is Sally...I have a condition called Complex Regional Pain Syndrome. This blog is about my journey training Robbie, a dog who helped me regain independence, confidence, and achieve the impossible in the face of my disability. It continues on with the training of Austin, Robbie's successor. Check Out... - "More than a Dog" was published on a site called The Mighty Categories
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