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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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. Most people in the dog community have heard of a test called the Canine Good Citizen exam, and they probably understand that it means your dog is not a complete raging monster, but beyond that you may or may not know what the test is all about. More over, if you're looking into training your own service dog, you may be wondering if this test or the others that the AKC offer are mandatory for your dog to be considered a real service dog. In this post, I'll delve into a what each of these tests are and how they mesh with a service dog's training. 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. |
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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