The Smart Dog U Blog

Ike's Challenges

Oh, Ikey. My dear, sweet, rambunctious pup. You need to settle it down just a bit. 

(If only dogs could understand our sentences...)

Yesterday, Ike and I went to Tractor Supply (for dog food) and WalMart (for dog toys). At seven months, Ike's doing a lot of things right. His down is so fast and with so little latency, I barely get the word out and he's already in position. It's challenging to get the click in there with accurate timing!

But, ah, the distractions are...well...distracting! For a social dog -- and an energetic one like Ike -- distractions are the toughest. The behaviors are easy. No problem. But those danged people. And displays. And carts. And spots on the linoleum. THOSE are exciting!

That means more foundation work for us. Lots more store visits, lots more training, lots more treats, lots more practice. Thankfully, it's clicker training, so it's fun (for me and for Ikey). 

I need to get my husband to go with us to the stores to get video so you can see the before and after. Improvement is much more impressive if you know where he started. Believe me, Ike's "before" behavior could improve quite a bit! Keep an eye on the blog, I'll keep posting our ups and downs...

On a high note, we got lots of socialization exposure. Men in coveralls, mountains of snow piled up high around light poles (making it look like people just appeared out of thin air when they come from around those piles of snow), trucks with snow plows attached to the front, and little kids in snow suits (that must look awfully strange to a dog). 

Ike Got the Salon Treatment

This post has moved to our new upgraded, cooler than cool blog! Check it out here!

Ike's Socialization Field Trip

All pups need to be gently exposed to lots of different sights, situations, experiences, people, sounds, etc. It's called socialization. The more socialized your pup is when he's 5 months old or younger, the better adjusted and less flighty/scaredy he'll be when he's all grown up. It's not hard to socialize a pup, it just takes some planning, some very good tasty food, and the willingness to leave if your pup's not having a good time.

Last week, Ike got to visit a federal building and rode on a freight elevator, saw some really strange looking staircases, and experienced a long, shiny hallway. He was unaffected by most of what he saw - watch the video below and take note of his waggy tail and happy demeanor.

If the video is cut off on the blog, click here to view it on YouTube.

 

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!

Another Notch In Teddy's Belt

In the short time we've had Teddy, he's been to:

• the post office
• Tractor Supply
• SuperFresh grocery store
• Luncheon at Holly Hills Country Club
• Wal*Mart
• a freight elevator
• a variety of steps including all glass, no risers, concrete, metal, and circular
• cafeteria
• Federal government building
• restaurant and
• The UPS Store.

He's heard applause, amplified voices over a p.a. system, microphone feedback, loud cars, big trucks, and motorcycles.

Teddy's also gotten quite used to bouncing around from house to house, spending the night here and there.

I'm going on three back-to-back trips and won't be around for an entire month. Teddy's going to put another "experience" notch in his belt: he's going to spend a month at yet another person's house while I'm gone. All this change is very good for Teddy. He's learning to be flexible and to go with the flow. He has a good time no matter where he is -  an important attribute for a service dog.

While I won't have any Teddy updates until my return, keep an eye on the blog. I will be blogging about my business trips (going behind the scenes at the Denver Zoo, participating in an animal training seminar with Ken Ramirez at Shedd Aquarium in Chicago) and all the excitement that goes with travel. And I hope to have some Talos updates as well!

 

Teddy Takes on the Federal Government

It's not nearly as serious as it sounds. My husband works for the Federal government and it's a terrific place to socialize the service dogs in training. The campus is huge, there are long, shiny corridors, gigantic cafeterias, a bazillion different types of staircases, and two very different types of elevators: regular passenger elevators and big, bulky, noisy freight elevators.

You might remember Talos' experience (and video) with the very same freight elevator. I took video of Teddy's experience, too. But I need to figure out how to convert 3gp format to something my Mac recognizes. (I took the video on my Droid, not the Flip.)

I will get the video posted as soon as I figure it out, but in the meantime the report on Teddy is good: he noticed the loud bangs and ducked at the outset, but recovered super-quickly and pranced right into the vast elevator. Once he was on, he very curiously looked around like he was at Disney World!

It becomes clearer and clearer that I'm not doing enough polite walking exercises with him. He's at the end of his leash and pulling hard very often. I stop everytime the leash gets tight - and that makes for slow going. I also carry treats with me so I can reward him when he's in the right position. He gets it for a little while then is distracted quickly. Did you see the movie "Up?" He's like the main doggie character who's having an intelligent conversation and then is instantly sidetracked: "SQUIRREL!"

All in all, a good socializing experience for Teddy today.

Go, Go, Go and Slow, Slow, Slow

Teddy's public debut focused mainly on getting in and getting out of locations and situations rather quickly. We stayed just long enough to expose Teddy to a new situation, make it fun, and then we're outta there.

Today, we worked on settle-in-and-relax scenarios. The life of a service dog is varied - there are times when they're in and out of places lickety-split, and there are other times when they're in it for the long haul -- they might as well get comfortable.

Teddy debuted today at the Frederick Chamber's lunch event with former Governor Robert Ehrlich. This was a good opportunity for Teddy for several reasons:

• Many of the attendees are service-dog-savvy. Talos did a great job of breaking them in so they'd know what to expect when a woman with a young dog walks into the room. Friendly, but not exuberant greetings are the norm with most of the Chamber folks. They make for excellent and knowledgeable distractors!
• I could leave if Teddy wasn't ready for the situation or if he became unruly.
• The luncheon would require that Teddy be still for a considerable period of time. We've worked on this skill at home - it was time to measure our progress in the real world.
• There would be manageable distractions. Lunch being served! Delicious, hot lunches! Again, if Teddy couldn't manage, I could very easily leave.
• New sounds, surfaces, people to experience. Applause, carpet, draping table cloths, microphones, hustle and bustle, noisy crowds.
• Lastly, this was a "quiet" event. Quiet meaning Teddy needed to settle in, relax, and take a nap.

I went well armed: clicker and treats were at the ready! Teddy's loose leash walking skills leave a lot to be desired, but we practices stopping and starting every time the leash got tight. He's still a young dog, he has self control issues - his desire is to jump and say Hi to people, but he's starting to try to maintain his decorum and restrain himself from putting paws on people. It takes a lot of work on his part, but with lots of practice, it's becoming less of an impulse and more under control.

Applause was a little startling to him. He sat bolt upright and looked curiously around the room. He didn't appear frightened, but the noise took him by surprise. After realizing that, I had my treats ready and they magically appeared immediately after any applause started. He ate the treats greedily, which means he wasn't particularly stressed.

It's important that potentially scary things (and applause can definitely be scary) be paired with very good things from the outset. By the end of the luncheon, we'd paired applause with treats appearing out of thin air about 15 times. He's beginning to look forward to applause now!

Teddy responded perfectly to his down cue (the word "down") in the midst of a crowd of people. He also took it upon himself to curl up under my chair when he really settled in. The service dogs will be taught a "go in" cue which means: tuck yourself under the table or chair and chill until I tell you otherwise. It's basically a "you're off the clock, but don't go anywhere" message. We haven't started teaching that to Teddy yet, so I was doubly pleased to see him make that choice of his own accord today. Especially when there were so many delicious smells and interesting things to check out.

He got a chance to meet Bob Ehrlich (a dog lover) and many other people today. He didn't jump or put his paws on anyone - that's an accomplishment.

One thing people don't think about very often - Teddy also had his first experience accompanying me into the ladies room. Service dogs need to learn to accompany their person everywhere. Public restrooms are one of those things that a dog needs to be introduced to early on in his training. They're small little cubes with panels that make voices sound echo-y and loud. They obscure 90% of the person in the neighboring stall -- except the feet! Of course, most dogs want to duck their head under the stall to see who those feet belong to. It's a bit disconcerting to be on the other side of the stall, minding your own business, and have a dog head suddenly join you in your stall! So not only do the dogs need to get used to going into the stalls, but they have to get very good at minding their own business when they're in there!

Both of Teddy's outings have been good experiences for both of us. He's a smart little guy who seems to enjoy this new life in public.

Teddy's Debut

How easily I forgot how much work a novice pup needs. Today's first public outing with Teddy brought me back to reality quickly - young dogs need a lot of work! Lots of fun experiences, lots of learning needs to take place to help a young dog learn how to walk calmly, sit politely for petting, and
how to "take it all in" without getting flustered, scared, or flighty.

Today was a perfect starter day for Teddy. I had lots of errands, but all of them would be quick, in-and-out. None of my errands were imperative - if Teddy's behavior fell to pieces it was very easy for us to leave. I had some high-value treats with me, as well as some of his regular dog food.

Because he'd be earning quite a bit of his food on this jaunt, I fed Teddy only half his breakfast. No need to get him good and full before we left - you don't need a pup who's got to go to the bathroom and then wants to take a nap when you're out for the morning running errands!

Our first stop: The UPS Store, where I had to drop some packages off. Teddy looked positively thrilled to be out and about. A customer inside the store was very happy to see us, but didn't reach over to pet him, thankfully. Teddy's experiences up to this point have been quite misleading - everyone he's come into contact has been overjoyed to see him and he's gotten very warm receptions. Teddy now believes that everyone - even in public - is going to pet him.

Service dogs need to learn to be invisible, inconspicuous - they're supposed to blend in. This one's going to be a hard lesson for Teddy to learn. He wants to stand out! He wants to jump! He wants to pull! He wants to be petted! Blending in isn't on his list of things to do...yet.

With the help of the very cooperative customer in the UPS Store, Teddy got his first lesson in being inconspicuous. The woman spoke very fondly of Teddy to me, but didn't come near him, which allowed me to redirect Teddy's attention to me. He's a smart bugger, he catches on pretty quickly and gave up on soliciting attention pretty quickly when he learned he could work with me and earn bits of his breakfast instead.

Second stop: Walmart. Walmart can be overwhelming, even to people. It's big, it's bright, and there's a lot going on. Teddy alternated between pulling ahead and lagging behind. He was quick to investigate any spot on the floor, hoping it might be a piece of food. I kept up a good, quick pace though, reinforcing him for catching up to me and pretty soon he was keeping up just fine. He sat nicely in line while I paid for my purchases - he's got patience!

Third stop: Post Office. We practiced waiting before going through doors here. I'd noticed he'd started flying through any open door and that's neither safe nor polite. After making sure there wasn't anyone on either side of the door waiting to come through, we spent a few minutes on "wait" and "at ease."

Last stop: Tractor Supply. What an interesting place if you're a dog! All kinds of different smells -- dog food, cat food, horse feed and treats, bird seed, leather...it must be intoxicating! Teddy was very curious - eyes moving all the time, nose on the ground (we'll work on that), and eager to see and meet new people.

You never know what you're going to get the first time you take a young service dog in-training into public. It never goes perfectly, but it's not supposed to. Young dogs need to learn, they need to see, they need to do. Think of all the new things Teddy experienced today:

• shopping carts banging and rolling
• bright lights
• shiny, slippery floors
• smells, all the funny (and probably delicious) smells!
• the new sounds: cash registers, public address systems, cars starting
• loud trucks revving their engine
• concentrating on me while there are so many other things to see and do!

Teddy had a great first day out. I'm planning another fun day on Thursday for him that will introduce him to sitting quietly for a period of time. Service dogs need to be able to go, go, go like we did today, and they also need to learn to relax quietly when needed as well. It's fun to watch the dogs learn new things and experience the real world for the first time.

 

Teddy's Report from Summer Camp

Dearest Teddy went away for about ten days to the service dog version of summer camp while the rest of the family went on vacation. He spent some time with the founder of Hero Dogs, was the Guest of Honor at a Hero Dogs picnic, then spent time with another Hero Dogs person. The change in scenery, people, locations, dogs, personalities, does a young dog good. It helps the dog learn to roll with the changes instead of being thrown by changes. It's a great idea for every young dog to develop this resilience, but especially important for a service dog. By all accounts, Teddy had a grand time on his vacation and nothing threw him for a loop.

Teddy's been a little fresh with my dogs. He's taken a rawhide out of Nemo's mouth, he's relentless in his play with Nemo, he barges into the water dish even if another dog is already there, he'll grab hold of a tug toy even if two other dogs are playing with it, AND he's been humping them as well.

Teddy needed to spend some time with some dogs and people who weren't pushovers. Who would show him very appropriately where the line was and tell him (appropriately) when he'd stepped even one little paw over that line. If you give Teddy an inch, he'll take a mile. Or two.

Thankfully, the Hero Dogs dog-sitter has three Corgis. If anyone'll keep Teddy in line, it'll be the Corgi's! They're little, but they're feisty! Sure enough, the dog-sitter said the Corgi's did their job and showed Teddy exactly where that line was and told him if he crossed it!

He's gotten bigger in the ten days he spent at camp! I'll be getting some new pictures up soon. We're in the middle of a kitchen renovation, though, so if the background of some of the pictures looks like we live in an abandoned house, you'll know why.

While Teddy was at camp, he seems to have graduated into some other new (and not so pleasant) behaviors. He's back to humping everything again (toys, his bed, people, the dogs), and he's started the delightful habit of counter surfing. I'll take care of the humping by simply removing the toy, dog, bed, leg the instant Teddy starts to even think about humping it! The counters - well that's easy: we don't have any right now! Our kitchen is completely bare. No floor, no stove, no dishwasher, no counters. Nothing. So there's nothing to surf. Hopefully since he can't counter surf here, that nasty behavior will go away because he won't have a chance to practice it!

Teddy's Off to Summer Camp

Teddy's off for a week of summer camp. He'll have a fun week in completely different surroundings - new people, new house, new dogs. Service dogs not only need to be very well-behaved, they also need to be pretty darn flexible. It's important that Teddy learns that change isn't something to fear, in fact change can be fun!

To that end, since Teddy came to live with us he's spent one night a week back at the service dog agency. There are some kids, some dogs, and some cats. And most importantly, different surroundings. Different noises. Different surfaces. Different schedules. Different toys. All fun and all different. He's done really well with his one-night stays, so now it's time to give him a little more time away and visiting others.

Introducing a young pup to change is helpful even if a career in service work isn't in his future. All pups benefit from spending a night somewhere else, with someone different.

Pups that are exposed to different circumstances when they're young usually adapt readily to their environment, no matter where they are. It's nice to have a dog who feels at home no matter where you take him. Adaptable dogs are a pleasure to travel and live with, as they're comfortable no matter their surroundings.

So while Teddy's off galavanting around from house to house this week, our three permanent dogs will enjoy their break from the exuberance and puppy-ness that drips from that precocious puppy!