There will be days and times throughout your dog's life where words aren't needed, and/or shouldn't be used. Examples include working someplace quiet, days when you physically can't talk whether from sickness or facial pain, and times when your dog isn't feeling very confident. The others seem reasonable, but, wouldn't you want to give your dog all of the encouragement possible when they don't feel very sure about what's going on? I'm going to share what I have done and continue to do when something shakes Robbie's confidence, and answer that question from above. This is training that you can do with your own dog when something unsettles them, and new dogs who are being introduced to your life or environment and are a little overwhelmed.
0 Comments
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. Training mistakes happen to the best of trainers. I'm always learning how to be a better trainer, with Robbie's guidance and plentiful lessons for me. The spring of 2018, I made a mistake out in public because I was more preoccupied with outside perception of my team and trying to make Robbie feel better than by being his leader & teacher. As a result, I learned a very valuable lesson in stress management, and we got to turn the clock back on restaurant socialization. I wanted to write about my experience with this training stumble because I feel it's important to be honest about what it's really like to train your own service dog, and I want others to learn from my mistakes so that they can hopefully not repeat them with their own teams. Being an owner-trainer is hard, and mistakes will happen no matter how far along you are, because there is always more to learn and opportunities for you to grow. |
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
All
Archives
August 2023
|