Day Five: Item Retrieval, Distractions and Dining Out

The day began on a super sweet note, with Si and Abbot self-selecting to lay on the bed and cuddle together. I expected to be commanding Abbot to cuddle and rewarding him for the first few months, but they seem to be on the fast track to BFF-hood!

We started off with some specialized training-- item retrieval. This is for anyone who has limited mobility and will need their dog to pick things up when they are dropped. This training is done off-leash, and as a game. It should not be practiced more than five or ten minutes at a time, as then it becomes more like work for the dog. We practice with random items Si might have-- toys, sippy cups, etc. We throw it, say "Take it!" and then once the dog has it, say "Bring it!" and reward with a high value treat, such as Puperoni. The trainer says it is up to us in terms of whether we want the dog to place it in our hand or just set it near us. We can hold off on the treat and the praise until he puts it in our hand. Some of the items are a little challenging for the dogs to get a grip on and control, so we will keep that in mind. Abbot had a hard time getting a skinny board book, for example.

That's what we do if we want Abbot to bring us the item. Now, what if we want him to take it to Si? Well, they have trained the dogs for that, too. They use just a plastic organizing shoe-box sized bin, and began training the dog to like the box. They would put a treat in it and say "box!" and just repeat that until the dog knows that the box is a good place to go to. So now, we can put the box between Abbot and us and throw an item, say "Take it!" and then once he has it, say "Box!" and he will take it to the box and drop it in. (All followed by lots of praise and a treat!)

The rest of the morning was preparation for our afternoon at the mall. We got lots of good tips. If your dog appears to be afraid of something, like a statue or a fire hydrant, instead of avoiding that thing, you should show them yourself getting close to the item, letting the dog stay behind you so s/he  can observe that it is ok from a safe distance. That way they don't develop a phobia.

Petting: It is ok to allow people to pet a service dog when s/he is in a down. If the dog start to break his command while they are petting him, ask the people to stop for a second, correct the dog, then allow them to resume. Belly rubs are ok, if the dog is in a down. We will have little kids come up and bear hug our dogs. If that happens, we will get down close to the dog and the child and praise the heck out of our dog, so s/he learns to be ok with little ones. For readers who are wondering about service dog etiquette, you should always ask to pet first. Sometimes it may be hard to tell that a dog is doing a working task. Or the handler might have a child who has reached his/her limit and be in a hurry.  One of the times we can't allow people to pet Abbot is when he is doing balance work for Si. He will need to focus on stabilizing his body for Si.

For the handlers, we must keep in mind that no distraction is an excuse to break a command. We practiced more distractions this morning that might occur at the mall.

Abbot did great ignoring the distractions and gave daddy a high-five!

The next thing we learned was how to get the dog under the table when you go out to eat. Jeremy shared that dogs don't really notice boundaries above them, so the chairs are really the defining factors for the space. So if you are at the mall and it's just a pedestal table, you can use the chairs around it to help create a safe spot for your dog, so he does not get stepped on or tripped over. The gesture to get the dog under the table is a downward point and flick, toward the space you want him to go in, while saying "Under." I really did not even have to verbalize for this one-- Abbot knew what to do! When the dog is under the table, the handler MUST have a hand on the leash, just to be safe.

Before we left for the mall, we made sure the dogs all had a chance to relieve themselves. Jeremy also educated us about the dangers for dogs on escalators. Their nails and paw pads can get caught in the in-take and out-take at the top and bottom of the escalator. Yikes! No escalators for us! Next, we learned how to put on Abbot's harness! Then he REALLY looked like a bona fide service dog!

Si was excited to get moving and he picked up on his job to hold Abbot's handle right away!

Abbot did really well handling the excitement at the mall, even staying in a down for an hour while we sat at the kids play area at the mall! Kids were running, jumping, and screeching all around him, and he handled it like a champ. We need to work on heeling at the mall and other places. He definitely was amped up at the mall and not heeling like he has done typically at 4 Paws. We found that we could not leave the slack in his leash like you are supposed to. So we will definitely be asking for tips and be sure to practice this lots more in public.

Speaking of handling things like a champ, we have been very grateful to have my mom here with us this week. She has kept Si entertained during the "meat and potatoes" lessons that are more for mom and dad, which is no easy feat. 

Thank you, Nana, for spending this week with us! We love you!!

We also have met a very sweet little boy named Angel who has taken Si under his wing. He is in fifth grade and is also receiving a dog. He will play with Si just like a big brother would and Si LOVES it! It is so awesome to see children looking out for other children! Here they are today at the mall.

Tomorrow is another day of training and officially the half-way point! The days are going fast. Everyone is working hard, learning a lot, and dog-tired! Thanks for reading!