Smart Dog

Ike's Public Debut

I don't have any pictures (can you say "bad trainer?!"), but Ike made his public debut today at The Kitchen Studio's tweetup. (Wondering what a tweetup is? Hang on, there's a definition coming in just a minute...) For those initial public outings, where I'm getting a handle on how Ike will behave in public, it's important that those outings be something I can leave if necessary. Ike's debut would never be at a doctor appointment, the Harry Potter premier, or an important business meeting. The tweetup did feature fresh, warm homemade chocolate donuts though, so I'm not exactly sure I would have been able to leave after all...

In any event, Ike's debut was disaster-free. No messes on the floor, no jumping on people, no thieving of donuts. He met lots of nice, new people (some kids, too!), got to experience a terra cotta floor, lots of noise, and a whole lot of just standing around. If you remember, Talos was not good at just hanging out! Ike figured out that nothing exciting was happening (read: no training was going on), so he promptly laid in the middle of the floor and took a little nap. Perfect service dog behavior -- sleep until you're needed!

We'll be out a lot more now that we've got our first notch in our belt. Feel free to stop and say hi to us if you see us on the streets (and in the stores) of Frederick and Mt. Airy!

Now, to the tweetup. A tweetup is a meet-up (get it: tweetup = meet up) of people who are on Twitter. Twitter is an online social networking tool, so most of us know each other only through Twitter, not in real life (IRL). I'm @smartdogu on Twitter and I'm a pretty active participant (follow me, I tweet lots of good dog training info). It's always fun to get together and talk face-to-face to all my Twitter friends and to get out of the office (which I share with four dogs, no people) and have human conversations. I have conversations with the dogs, don't get me wrong, but it's nice to have a two-way conversation, where my questions and comments get real, live feedback!

A tweetup is a perfect place to take Ike because it's really casual and it's a come-and-go type of event. If Ike would have turned into Cujo, it would have been very easy for me to leave and not disrupt anything. Plus the tweetup host made homemade donuts. With chocolate. Oh. My. God. Thanks @frederickfoodie!

Different Rules for Different Dogs

Ike, service pup extraordinaire, is not allowed on the furniture. My dogs ARE allowed on the furniture. That's quite a dilemma, huh? Yes. And no.

Dogs, if given clear and consistent rules, can get used to just about anything. So when my dogs jump on the couch and Ike tries to follow their lead, I kindly tell him "off," and then offer him another comfortable spot.

The picture on the left shows "Ike's couch." It's our fireplace hearth with an outdoor cushion. It's right next to the real couch and it's almost the same height. It's not the real couch, but Ike doesn't need to know that. All he needs to know is that it's his and it's acceptable.

Sometimes Ike voluntarily gets onto his couch. He gets lots of calm praise for that and he then promptly goes to sleep.

What's important to note is that we're teaching Ike an appropriate alternative behavior from the beginning. That's very different than trying to re-train Ike to stay off the couch. Many of my clients let their dog onto the furniture when the dog was a pup, but then decide they don't want the dog on once he gets bigger. 

That's not really fair to the pup, and it's ridiculously hard on the owner to teach the new rule to the dog. It would be a lot like your coming home and the locks on the doors have been changed. No one warned you that you key would no longer work, no one gave you the new key, and now it's up to you to figure out how to get in. That's just not fair!

We knew from the minute Ike walked in that we'd have a little harder time teaching him to stay off the furniture because our guys are allowed.  We had our plan in place (the alternate couch), and ensured that the boundaries were clear -- and consistent -- from the very beginning. And the best part - all the dogs are happy and we're living within the rules of the service dog organization!

 

The Odd Couple

We have three dogs who help us raise service dog pups. This is how it normally goes:

Tango, yellow Labrador, is the police officer - he keeps the pup in line. He doesn't tolerate a lot of silliness from the pups. He's the one I count on to put a silly, jump-on-your-head Labrador in his place.

Lily, black Labrador, is the school marm. There will be no funny business around here, mister. Life is serious. There isn't very much time or opportunity for play, says Lily. She also keeps a pretty tight paw on the pup.

Nemo, well, he's usually contributing to the delinquincy of the pup. He's the pal, the one who's always ready for a run around the yard, a game of tug, a wrestling match. He self-handicaps so the pup is always this close to winning. We call him the baby-sitter sometimes because he does such a good job of keeping the pup occupied that he (the pup) stays out of trouble.

When Ike showed up, he gravitated toward Tango. I cringed inwardly - neither Tango nor Ike would ultimately be happy with this choice, I thought. It would irritate Tango to have to continue to tell Ike off, and Ike wouldn't enjoy being told off. But Tango's a pretty good communicator - he gets his point across very well - so I let the two of them work it out.

Well, wouldn't you know: Tango seems to not only tolerate Ike, but Ike's actually gotten Tango to play with him! This is odd for a couple of reasons. (1) Tango doesn't play a whole lot. He retrieves. Retrieving is a one-dog sport. (2) Tango simply doesn't like puppies. At the risk of anthropomorphizing here, puppies make Tango wrinkle up his face in disgust. You can see it on his face, I swear.

Somehow, some way, Ike has broken through (or maybe it's broken down) Tango's wall. And it's not just about play, either. Ike crawls into Tango's bed and snuggles up with Tango. In the past, when a puppy has invaded Tango's space, I see the wrinkly, disgusted face on Tango right before he gets up in a huff and finds a different spot to rest.

Not this time. Not with Ike. I can't explain it, but I do have fun watching this new relationship unfold.

 

Crate Hate to Crate Tolerate

Ike came to us with the comment "He's kind of noisy in his crate." After easy-peasy Teddy, Ike did indeed seem quite noisy in his crate. He whined. He barked. He shrieked. He gave me a headache. And I think if dogs can get headaches, my three dogs had 'em!

I approached this problem like I would any other behavior problem: find out exactly what I'm dealing with (get a baseline), set goals, develop a training plan, create a management plan, implement both to improve behavior.

I started by getting that baseline. I observed Ike's crate behavior for two days before I started to work on it. I needed to see precisely what I was dealing with, when he'd bark, when he'd stop, IF he'd stop (he did, but it took awhile), and the potential triggers of said barking.

My two days of observation yielded lots of good information I used to develop a training and management plan. First, Ike was perfectly happy going into his crate. He'd leap in, turn around and happily wag his tail, waiting for his treat. So going into the crate was fine and dandy. And he didn't mind staying in the crate, either, as long as there was something in there to do. If his dinner was in a Kibble-Nibble or a Squirrel Dude, he was happy as a clam. The second the dinner was gone, though, he was unhappy. And wasn't shy about it.

I had our trouble narrowed down, then: Ike didn't like staying in the crate if he had nothing to do. I'd also observed that Ike seemed to tolerate the crate a little bit better even after the goodies were gone if he was in the same room as the other dogs. Proximity to people and other dogs was important to him.

Knowing that, I created a training plan that looked like this:

1. Continue feeding all meals (and special treats) in the crate with the door closed. 
2. Monitor Ike in the crate to determine when he was nearing the end of his food. I wanted to capture even one second of silence after the food was gone. I would gradually increase the duration of silence required to earn a click and release from the crate. 
3. If Ike began to bark before I was able to click and release from the crate (example: if I was in the shower when he finished his meal and wasn't able to click him for one second of silence), I waited until he took a breath, calmly praised him (gave him the attention he was so eager to receive), then clicked and released from the crate after a second or two of silence.
4. Send Ike to his crate at random times during the day with a food-stuffed toy so crating didn't become predictable (only at meal times or only as I was preparing to leave). 
5. After Ike was quiet in his crate for 30 - 60 seconds, I changed the criteria a little bit. I started going out of sight while Ike was eating. I'd come back into sight as he was finishing up.
6. I then clicked Ike if he was quiet for one second while I was out of sight. I'd then come back into the room and calmly let him out of his crate.
7. I gradually increased the time Ike needed to be quiet while I was out of the room. 
8. After Ike was able to be quiet for a few minutes, I changed the criteria again. I stayed in the room, but now, for Ike to earn the click and release from the crate, he had to relax in the crate. That meant Ike had be quiet and had to lay down. I didn't ask for a down, I simply kept an eye on him and clicked and released him the instant he laid down.

My management plan looked like this:

1. Move the crate to the room I was in when feeding Ike. (Remember, Ike seemed to do better if he could see me and/or the other dogs.
2. If I had to leave the house after crating Ike, I'd turn the radio or television on. I also made sure Ike was in the same room as the other dogs. (Even though I was pretty sure he gave my dogs a headache with all the barking!)

Ike's crate hate has now turned into crate tolerance. We're at Step 8 at the moment. He's able to be quiet in the crate, even if I'm out of the room, but only for a short period of time. And he's just now started to lay down to wait for his release. I'll gradually extend the amount of time he needs to lay down.

We're not yet at crate love, but we're getting there! I'll keep you updated on his progress. If your dog is a crate screamer, as we so lovingly call them, start using the protocol above and see how it goes. And leave me a comment to let me know your progress. Happy training!

 

Stage Mom Antics

Ike did a fine job during his television debut today. Teddy fans will be happy to hear that Teddy did well, too. And Libby, and Maverick. Today was a big day for Hero Dogs, the service dog organization in Brookeville, MD that provides service dogs to veterans.

Holly Morris of Fox 5 (WTTG) here in the Metro D.C. area is also a dog lover and dog owner. She was a natural and didn't mind getting down on the floor with four energetic Retrievers!

We got up at an ungodly hour to make it to the shoot in plenty of time to be briefed about the shooting schedule and get our microphones attached. Wearing a microphone when working with a young Labrador retriever -- who loves to put everything in his mouth -- stressed me out in the beginning. But once we started working, I forgot all about, and thankfully Ike never noticed it.

Hero Dogs wanted to show off some of the specific tasks that the dogs do and I was given the assignment of working with Teddy (ah, reunited) to polish his paw targeting skills before his on-screen debut. As usual, Teddy was a quick study and was paw targeting like a champion in no time. We also worked on tug a little bit, too, in case there was time to show off two behaviors.

Note to self: there is never enough time to show off anything on tv! Four minutes sounded like forever when Holly told me how long we'd be on. Ha! It felt like 10 seconds when it was really happening. I also discovered just how much down-time there is on those morning shoots. They need 30-second teaser shots as they're going to commercial, then there's about 40 minutes between segments. That's quite a bit of time. Time for puppies to get tired. Time for puppies to get over-excited. Time for puppies to need to poop and pee.

But also time to get to know the reporter. Holly Morris is a dog owner and dog lover. I didn't have to twist her arm to get her to get her phone out so I could see pictures of her two dogs. She was very comfortable with all the ruckus that four adolescent dogs brings to the scene and never batted an eye at the chaos. What a trooper!

Ike was a champion Labrador pup. He picked up keys, brought a wallet, and was an all-around crowd pleaser. He was a real treat. We did some work during one of the segments, then also let the pups be pups and roll around on the floor to show everyone that these little guys are allowed (encouraged!) to be pups. It was an exciting day. And I hope Hero Dogs gets lots of interest, puppy raisers, volunteers, and donations!

For Ike: he came home and crashed for three hours after the shoot. This whole filming thing is exhausting! Here's the summary of all the segments we did today.

Ike's Television Debut

This just in: Ike will be part of the morning broadcast of FOX5 news this Monday, November 8. Please tell me that doesn't make me a stage-mom. I don't think I can pull it off.

I do have to get my butt out of bed and have Ike to Hero Dogs by 6:30a on Monday. I hope I don't oversleep, that would be awfully embarrassing, wouldn't it?

Holly Morris does a live morning broadcast on the local FOX station and she'll be interviewing Hero Dogs and showing off some of the dogs and their training next Monday. Ike is scheduled for the 8:40a segment, but it's live television, so who knows what will really happen!

This is a great way to get to know a little bit more about the Hero Dogs organization, service dogs, and how they are trained. All the pups will be there. Attention Teddy fans: Teddy is also scheduled to be on the air, too! We're scheduled to show off the pups and what they can do. It's live tv - it's going to be exciting, to say the least!

If you're in the Washington D.C. metro area, set your DVR for FOX5 on Monday starting at 6:00a!

 

Ike Insight

Ike, the newest service pup in training has been here almost two weeks. When a new dog comes in, I spend the first several days getting to know him or her, figure out their personality, their preferences, their challenges.

Ike's an energetic Labrador puppy - into everything. And everything into his mouth! He's going to be a wheelchair assistance dog, so we actually encourage Ike to pick things up. Wooden things, metal things, plastic things, noisy things, big things, little things, knobby things, soft things. The more fun Ike has picking things up now, the easier it will be for us to get him to pick up unwieldy things like a set of car keys (which Ike has already mastered), or tempting things like a sandwich in a baggie (don't be silly, we haven't even attempted that yet!).

He plays hard and then he sleeps hard. I'm trying to merge training with play as much as possible. For simplicity sake, really. there's only so much playing Ike can do before he's sleeping again. He alternates between sleep- and play-mode, there's not a whole lot of in-between with Ike yet.

A challenge for Ike is remaining quiet in the crate. To promote crate love, I feed the pups in their crate (out of a food-stuffed toy, not a bowl) and put special snacks in their crate, too. Ike loves going into his crate, he's just not super fond of it once all the goodies are gone. The first day or two, he barked for 15 minutes. In our house, barking earns ignoring, so Ike got no attention until he managed to take a breath and remain quiet for at least ten seconds. I've got another article planned on how I'm helping Ike relax and enjoy the crate - stay tuned.

Ike reminds me very much of the first service dog I raised - a big, chunk-headed fellow named Rocky. Labradors are happy dogs, but Rocky was the happiest of Labradors. His tail would wag in his sleep, I swear. Ike, too, is a happy guy. Yesterday, he knocked into a step ladder and it slid down on top of him. It made a lot of noise and sort of pinned him to one spot. As I came to extricate him, the first thing I heard was his thump, thump, thumping tail. Like Rocky, nothing seems to bother Ike. Rocky is also a big wiggler - he wags his tail so hard and fast that his entire rear end wiggles back and forth. Same with Ike. They are two peas in a pod.

We just got the good news that Rocky will spend Christmas with us this year. Rocky will have a Mini-Me in Ike. It'll be fun to compare the two when they're side-by-side.