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!

Day 4: Shopping, "Bark" and "Place"

The day began with a little "Paw Patrol" on TV for the boys, who seem to have similar taste in programs.

Today at dog school, we did a little more work with the "heel" command, for use when we are pushing a shopping cart, wheelchair or stroller. We hold the leash in the left hand and keep the dog on the left. The dog may align the "heel" to the back wheel of the cart. This is just because they can't see around the cart if they heel to your left leg. This was actually pretty easy to do in practice, but I am sure it will be a little more challenging in the crowded aisles at the grocery store.

We also did some mass distraction training-- having all the dogs out in the center and walking around them to distract them. They did wonderfully!

Next, we went over the bark command. When practicing this, it's important to remove the dog's gentle leader collar so they really feel free to let loose and bark. We practice by standing in front of them, treat in hand, and saying, "Bark!" The trainers do it with a lot of excitement and enthusiasm. It's a game for the dogs, so you want to make it fun. A lot of the dogs started with a little "huff" of a bark, in which case you escalate your voice and excitement and say "Bark!" again. You continue this until you get the desired loudness. Be sure to tell them "Good boy!!" when they do bark. For seizure alert, we want a loud bark. One important detail is to let the dog swallow the treat fully before starting the process again, so he does not choke or projectile bark at you! Sometimes the dogs enjoy this so much that they don't want to stop barking. In this case, put the dog in a "down" and ignore, if need be.

Besides using the word "bark" to elicit a bark, we seizure families are learning how to get the dogs to bark at a telltale sound or sight of a seizure. So we would master the bark command, then do the same game, but with the seizure sound our child makes. For this, we will use the "high value" treats only.

The dogs also got their "place" mats today. These are Mutt Mats-- a thin rectangular dog bed that the dog knows as its "place". To get the dog to lay on his place mat, tell him "place" and then give him a second to get on the mat. Then throw a treat on the mat. He should naturally lay down on his mat, but if he doesn't, we give the "down" command. Abbot was great at this and Si liked sitting with him there.

Now for the Q&A tidbits. We learned some interesting facts about seizure alert today. Most dogs will only alert one time for a seizure, which is why it is so important we get that bark training down so mom and dad can go in and check on things. (This is also why it's important to discourage barking for any other reason.) As you may have read, dogs have 125 million olfactory cells, whereas humans have 5 million. But they work the same-- they get full of a scent, and then they can't smell it anymore. Just like when you go into a room with a strong odor-- after ten minutes, you may not really notice that odor anymore. It has become your new baseline. If a child is having small seizures frequently, that is the dog's baseline, so he won't alert for every small seizure. But he will alert at some point to an upcoming large seizure, because that gives a stronger scent. The dog's window for alerting can vary. Some dogs will alert 24 hours in advance, while others might not catch the scent until an hour before the seizure. The best way to figure out your dog's typical time frame is by keeping a notebook. When the dog alerts (licking ears, face, or neck; and barking) jot down the time and then jot down when the seizure happens, what kind of seizure it was, etc. Over time, you will start to see a pattern develop which will help you begin to predict how soon to expect the seizure after the alert. Pretty awesome!

Another parent asked about making sure the dog does not run out an open door. Jeremy said to use the "back" command or just use a leg to push them away from the door. Another point Jeremy made is to be proactive with discipline. Correct them when they show interest in forbidden things to avoid them pursuing those things. So say "No!" when he sniffs the garbage, to avoid him delving deeper into the garbage can tomorrow.

A question was asked about aggressive dogs, which is something I have been concerned about. We want to keep Abbot safe at all times. The first thing is avoidance-- places like dog parks are not for us. We don't know the other dogs who will be there that day and their temperaments. Second, if a dog has decided to attack full-steam ahead, there is not a whole lot we can do, unfortunately. It happens very quickly, and as a mom, I am sure I would first be getting Si out of the way of the raging dog, then tending to Abbot. That being said, if the aggressive dog hesitates, Jeremy gave us some tips. You can put your dog in a sit and scream "NO!", you can spray a water bottle at the dog, and you can throw treats at them. Someone then asked, "What would a 4 Paws dog do?" It's a good question, because the dogs are trained to serve children. Jeremy's answer was interesting. He said that dogs which are overly submissive are weeded out of the training program, because they work with kids. They need to be able to withstand a sudden full-body bear hug from their kiddo, and a super timid dog would just run away and be afraid. So 4 Paws dogs are not aggressive, but also not submissive. Perfect little helpers, in my not unbiased opinion! Before I digress too far, his final answer was that yes, a 4 Paws dog would probably defend him or her self, were they attacked by an aggressive dog. I am praying that none of our dogs ever have to experience this!

In a related vein, what about classmates that get too rambunctious with the dog? Many of our kids are in classes with kids who may not be able to understand how to appropriately touch and play with our service dogs. All of the dogs have been desensitized as much as possible. While the dogs are in the prison program, the prison trainers have touch protocols they go through daily, running their fingers over the dogs' gums, in their ears, on their paw pads, etc. This helps the dogs be ready for anything. If you know your dog will be exposed to certain behaviors  like pushing kids, you can practice with GENTLE pushes, giving a high value treat each time. This should be done AWAY from your child, because we don't want them to get any ideas. This type of training can be very important-- if you know your dog will be in a situation like this, it's best to be proactive. Any dog in the world could snap after being attacked by a child (whether the child is willfully doing so or not). Along the same lines, we do not correct a dog who breaks command to get away from someone who has hurt him. He is choosing flight over fight, and that is certainly the better choice for all involved!

Tonight is our second night with Abbot in our room and both boys are equally excited. Si likes to feed Abbot and wants to involve Abbot in all his activities. Here they are showing off their toys. They slept like rocks last night, sharing a bed, and we are hopeful that tonight will go just as swimmingly!

Day Three: Dog School and a Sleepover!

Si is starting to get in the swing of things here and understand the typical daily schedule.

 He now looks forward to hopping in the car each morning for "dog school" and he shouts, "Yay!!! Dog school!" whenever he sees the 4 Paws sign in the distance. Today was a little different because there were special guests at 4 Paws. The Iams food company is donating a HUGE amount of dog food to 4 Paws, which came in on two giant semi trucks this morning. There were some fun photo ops (and lots of distraction training for the dogs) which Si enjoyed being a part of. He even got to meet the Iams spokesdog, Griffin.

Today we learned some good information about keeping dogs healthy in extreme weather. In hot weather, get the dog out of the car last to minimize the time his paws are on the hot cement. The dog's tongue is the temperature gauge. If it is deep red, long and wide, the dog is too hot! Dogs in Ohio typically do not need protective booties, unless you are going to a lengthy outdoor event, like several hours at an amusement park or zoo where there is not cooler grass for the dog to stand on. The ice in Ohio typically will not be sharp enough to damage dog paws, but if you are going to have them standing outside for hours in January, you would want to put some booties on them. Basically, you can treat them the way you would treat your kids. In cold January temps, you would not have them play outside more than an hour or so. In the summer, you make sure they come in and get cooled off every hour or so and watch that they are hydrated. Speaking of hydration, we are keeping an eye on them right now with the hot temps. Si drank 4 "Roaring Waters Hi-C" pouches just during class today! The man plays hard! :)

Each day at the beginning of class, we have a Q&A session and get lots of good tidbits. One important thing is that, if a dog breaks a command (say, "Down") we do not correct them if they broke the command to do another command. For example, if Abbot was in a down, but goes to disrupt a negative behavior, we would reward that. Along the same lines, if a dog does not follow a command, we need to figure out if he is being defiant or if he is confused. Then we need to help him understand or correct him.

One funny story Jeremy told was about when people tell a dog "No bark!". Bark is a command that Abott knows and that we reward because that is what he will do to let us know Si is having a seizure. So let's say Abott starts barking at the mail carrier. If we say "No bark!", to him it sounds like, "No . . . bark!" So in one two word sentence we are telling the dog to stop and then do it again! Poor dog! So, like I mentioned before, we have GOT to keep it to a simple "No!" Oh, and to really correct a bark, you put your hand around their muzzle and say a soft "No."

Today's main lesson was on "heeling". So far, we had just told the dogs "Free!" to let them out of their down or sit command, and then let them kind of loosely walk with us. Heeling means they stay on your left side with their shoulder directly aligned to your left knee. You hold the leash pretty short, but with slack. You do not want to be dragging the dog-- it needs to be the dog wanting to pay attention and stay with you. If the dog starts to go ahead of you, do a 180. We are encouraged to practice heeling while walking slow, so they really learn to watch us rather than run ahead. This is the type of walking we will always do in public. Jeremy gave the example of being in airport or at the mall at Christmastime. You want the dog right next to you to avoid any entanglements with passersby.

Some dogs, when we stop walking while heeling, will automatically sit down, and that is a-ok. For seizure alert and mobility dogs, which Abbot is both, they must stand when we stop. This is to provide balance support (like a cane) and to help should a seizure strike. This is a little tougher for the dogs, so we worked a while on that command. "Stand" uses a gesture of an upside-down peace sign, with the palm facing the dog. You can put a treat under your thumb at first. You move the peace sign from their nose out about 12 inches while saying "stand". They only get the treat if they stand up and stay standing. Sometimes they will army crawl to the treat-- no treat for that! We also have to be careful not to pull up on the leash, as the dogs know this to mean "sit". If we need to correct them, we should tug parallel to the ground.

Another thing we learned today is how to get them from a "down" to a "sit". This gesture looks like a scooping movement, sort of like when you tell someone, "No, after you!" You put the treat under your thumb and scoop the hand with the palm toward the dog and say "Sit". The last thing we did today was practice all the variations of down and sit while standing in different spots around the dog. Imagine the dog is the center of a clock-- we stood at 3, 6, 9 and 12. The dogs would often turn as they did the command, so they could see us, and that is not a bad thing at all. We just want them to get used to doing them no matter where we are.

So the big big excitement of the day was that we got to take Abbot back to our hotel room. Si was so pumped to have Abbot sitting next to him in the car. We are really happy with their bonding so far!

We got Abbot to our room and let him be free to sniff around for a bit. Si loves to throw a toy for Abbot and we were able to capture a little video of that. Hopefully it will be viewable here!

The day ended with cinnamon rolls, a swim in the pool, and snuggling with his pup. I don't think any little boy could ask for more!

Day Two: Taking Obedience Up A Notch . . .and a taste of what's to come

Today was another busy day. We started by getting our dogs out for a potty break. Abbot was excited to see us, get outside, and get some kibble. We took advantage of the time outside to get a family picture by the 4 Paws sign.

Today we learned about corrections. A lot of corrections can be completed non-verbally, by a slight tug on the leash that places pressure on the dog's nose which s/he does not like. We learned that we should always use the same word to designate an undesired behavior: No. Pretty simple, and that's how the dogs like it! We practiced having the dogs stay-- which is an "implied" command. They should stay in the position we put them in until given a new command. However, since we are new pack leaders, they are going to see if we know they are supposed to do that. Just like kids with a new babysitter. :) So we started by putting them in a "sit" and walking circles around them. After a full circle, we told them "good" and treated them. Then we extended it to two circles, and then went counter-clockwise and so forth. Abbot was sooooo good at this! He seems to already respect Mike and I, which is not expected already. Here's Mike doing his circles around Abbot.

Abbot and Si are also bonding well. Si really loves Abbot and gets excited every time he sees him. One thing we need to do to facilitate their bond is to "make fireworks go off" whenever they are together. This can mean bringing out the high-value treats, like Puperoni. It can mean showering Abbot with treats and petting when Si is around and dialing that back quite a bit when Si is not around. This will not always need to be so extreme, but for the first few months, it's a good technique for helping their bond increase.

We also learned some introductory material on behavior marking. This is to train the dog to address any undesirable behaviors of the child. Si may not be having seizures for training, but he is having a good amount of undesirable behaviors. So mom  is pretty excited for this. When he whines, makes ugly sounds or says "No!" we are to mark the behavior with a treat for Abbot. Later in the week, we will see Abbot start to perk up and be ready to work when he hears those sounds. Then we can decide what we want Abbot to do when he hears that sound, such as nuzzle or put his head in Si's lap.

Si is a very busy child, and this does not change for training. Today he spent a lot of time out on the playground or in the indoor play area. He is making friends with lots of the kids. Here he is drawing a chalk "Olaf" with his new friend Ava.

When he is willing to sit in the classroom area, he loves to sit with Abbot. Today he showed Abbot how to color with a marker.

We still have a TON to learn, but Abbot and Mike are picking things up super-quickly. And Mike is a great teacher, so I am learning, even if I have to step away here and there. (Today I had a 1.5 hour work teleconference.) I have no more work scheduled for the rest of our time here, so I am excited to be FREE to learn. Thanks to all for your support and prayers. We will keep you updated!

Meeting Abbot: Our first day at 4 Paws

Today was quite an exciting day. We headed to 4 Paws and Nana was there waiting for us, much to Si's excitement. We went in and found a spot to sit, then waited impatiently for the head trainer, Jeremy, to make his announcements and bring out the DOGS! Each family was given a baggie of kibble for their dog. This was the dogs' breakfast and was the very first step in beginning to create a bond between child and dog. Si had a tough time waiting, but he made it!

Abbot sure was worth the wait! He is such a sweet and laid-back dog. Don't get me wrong, he is still a dog with all the doggie needs, but he handled a busy and crazy day, with lots of strange people (namely us!) with quite a bit of flair. One thing Jeremy reminded all of us is that each dog learns who his special person is, and for the last few months, each dog has had a trainer as a special person. Even though we knew his name and had his picture and dreamt of our lives together, for Abbot, we were brand new! So it will take time, love and treats to help him learn that we will be his wolf pack now, and Si, his number one kid. Jeremy told a funny story about how he trained a dog for someone from Tennessee, and how the words "sit" and "down" sound a lot different in a Tennessee accent. That dog needed to learn his new pack leader's dialect in order to perform as he had been taught. And the dogs do learn, but starting with lots of treats helps them really get that positive reinforcement when, otherwise they might be thinking "What did she say and does she like how I responded or not?!"

Today, we really worked on the bond by having Si give Abbot 7/8 of his treats (which were plain dog food). We showed Si how to make a "cup" with his hand and let Abbot eat out of his hand. At first, he just let the food fall to the floor, but pretty soon he figured out how to "make a cup" and then he really liked having Abbot eat a piece off of his shoe. He would set one piece on the side of his shoe and got such a kick out of watching Abbot gobble it up.

After lunch, Si got to play outside with Nana while mom and dad paid attention during training instruction. We learned about the different training collars, how to put them on, and then worked on the commands "sit" and "down". Abbot did really well with these. As Jeremy said, it's really us that needs to catch up to the dogs. They have been training since birth for this, and we are just starting now. We have a lot to learn, but I feel like we are in capable hands and we are on the road to speaking Abbot's language!

After a big day at 4 Paws, we got some dinner with another 4 Paws family, and daddy took Si for a quick swim with several other 4 Paws kiddos. Si loved it!

After that, it was time for meds and a bath. I think Si fell asleep as soon as he laid down! Now I will do the same! More tomorrow!

We're here!

Phew! It seemed like such a far-off dream, but here we are! We started the day off at church, where our pastor led the congregation in a send-off prayer for us. We are so grateful to have so many people praying for us! After church, we stopped for lunch, then hit the highway. We had absolutely beautiful weather for driving and Silas was such a good little boy. We were in the car a good four hours, since we swung by 4 Paws to make sure we knew how to get there tomorrow.

We got to our hotel, but the room was not ready, so we hung out in the lobby and ended up meeting another family here for 4 Paws! That was a big positive point in our day. It's so fun to connect with the other families, especially when we are going through such a unique and amazing experience together. We are finding that a lot of the moms and dads are teachers like Mike and I.

When our room was ready, we hustled in and unloaded all our gear. Before we knew it, it was time for another positive point our day, meeting Abbot's foster mom, Beth! We met Beth for dinner and she brought along her latest foster, Socrates. That was a good sample of what dining out with a service dog will be like. (Pretty much the same as on your own, except you have a cuddly foot-warmer under the table!) Socrates was so good with the children who wanted to pet him while we waited for a table. Si is a big tail-petter, which not all dogs find acceptable, but Socrates took it all in stride. Speaking of making things look easy, Beth is sooo good! She is currently fostering her fourth dog for 4 Paws. She has got the subtle corrections down and handles a crowded room with ease. It was so sweet of her to come meet us. She will also be at graduation, and I hope and pray we make her proud! We are so grateful for all the time and love she and her family gave to Abbot!

Here is a picture of Socrates just chilling in the waiting area of Red Robin:

We hated to say goodbye to Beth and "Soc"! We got in the car and Si said, "Beth . . . my house. Dog . . . my house." But we will have lots of stories to share when we see her in two weeks.

After dinner, we hustled back for Si's nightly meds and bath. He is excited to go "night night" in a hotel and have a TV in his room. We told him tomorrow morning he can watch a show in his bed, so he is looking forward to that. Of course, that will pale in comparison to the moment he meets his Abbot!!!

Speaking of beds, mine is calling. Thanks for reading! More tomorrow!

We have a match!!!!!

We are thrilled to share that we received our match this afternoon and his name is Abbot! Here is the letter he wrote to Silas today:

Hello buddy!

My name is Abbot cuz my brother is Costello. He is in this class, too. We were quite the team growing up, making everyone laugh. We were donated to 4 Paws when we were puppies because we were very special and when our siblings left for pet homes we left for a higher purpose and that is you!  My birthday is 5-27-2013 and of course I am boy.  Please bring me a ball! I love to play ball and I love to run and play with my brother. I also like to sniff grass and if it smells just right I pee on it. That is way cool have you tried it? I was raised in the 4 Paws foster system. I lived in a place called the Kuperfle Foster Family. I hope you get to meet them! I did my advanced training here at 4 Paws and now I am ready for you! Hurry to Ohio!  Xoxo Abbott

Below is a picture of Abbot which we printed out for Silas. Si is SOOOOO excited and he can say "Abbot" like a champ!

What a handsome guy! Here is a video of Si-- we just can't believe how well he could say "Abbot" instantly!!