puppies inside

Monday, June 9, 2014

Ignorance is no excuse?

April 10, 2014

Baraga

I confess. I am an accomplice. Last night I helped Tammy dream up and number 11 tasks for a training game.

During our session the next day, Tammy reaches into her magic bag of training tricks and pulls out a pair of six-inch cardboard dice. RUM Steve, standing in the background, arms folded, immediately states, "Those are contraband."

Tammy freezes, contraband burning her hands. "We didn't know!" doesn't cut it, does, it?

Tammy explains the premise of the game...that it is training for the puppies on many levels...the handler will have the puppy sit while he throws the dice, which then becomes a moving distraction for the puppy, something it will encounter in the working world...the number on the dice will determine what task the team will perform, things like wiping the puppy's feet, "giving" and "taking" a ball, loose leash walking around cones...doubles means the dice thrower will do the indicated task and throw again...

Tammy offers to get rid of the dice and move on to the next exercise on her never-ending list.

RUM Steve grins his Cheshire grin and waves her off. "Go ahead," he says.

A woman dressed in a green t-shirt and blue jeans is standing on the left side in front of a grey cabinet. A man dressed in the prison blue uniform with glasses just threw a pair of six inch dice. He is holding the leash of a golden retriever in his left hand. The golden is sitting on his left isde, leaning and looking at the dice. The puppy is wearing the blue Future Leader Dog bandana. Two other men dressed in the prison blue uniforms are standing behind and to the right. At the bottom right corner is the head and front paws of a black lab puppy, wearing the same blue bandana. The puppy is lying down on the painted cement floor and looking at the dice.

The dice are tossed. FLD Bravo watches keenly - as does FLD Bear from the sidelines.

The man that was holding the leash of the golden retriever has set the leash on the floor and is now doing jumping jacks. The golden is lying down and looking up at the man. There is an african american man dressed in the prison blue uniform standing in the background watching. Someone's knees are just visible to the right side of the photo.

The task? Do 10 jumping jacks with your puppy in a sit, down or stand.

A young black lab puppy wearing a blue bnadana is walking away from the camera toward a man that is squatting down in the background and to the left. The man is wearing a dark blue fleece jacket and blue pants. He is calling the puppy toward him, his left arm is resting on his left knee and his right hand is tapping the painted concrete floor. The puppy is dragging his leash past two large dice on the floor. There is also a small orange cone on the floor behind and to the left of the man.

FLD Bear's task is a recall across the room past distractions.

A man dressed in the prison blue and orange striped uniform is squatting on the left side of the picture, he is holding the leash of a young yellow lab in his left hand, whcih is resting on his left knee. The lab is lying on the concrete floor facing the man to the left. The man is holding a yellow tennis ball in his right hand in front of the puppy's nose. The puppy is looking at the man and not the ball.

FLD Axel must "take" and "give" the tennis ball.

An african american man is doing jumping jacks to the left of a a young black lab puppy. The puppy is wearing a blue bandana and his leather leash is draped to the floor. The puppy is facing away from the man and looking to the right. Two other men are standing in the background to the right. Another man is sitting on the far right side, half out of view.

FLD Bear thinks jumping jacks are boring.

A man dressed in the prison blue and orange uniform is squatting down on the left side, facing right. He is holding the leather leash in his left hand, which is attached to the collar of a small black lab puppy on the right. The puppy is standing facing the man, with his head down and mouth open, about to take or give a yellow tennis ball to the man's right hand.

FLD Copo readily takes and gives the ball.

A man is half-kneeling on the painted concrete floor on the left side of the photo. He is wearing the prison unform and is looking down at a small german shepherd puppy lying on the floor in front of him and to the right. The man's left hand is wiping the left rear paw of the puppy with an orange rag. The man's right hand is holding the lower jaw of the puppy, whose mouth is open. The puppy is wearing the blue Future Leader Dog bandana. There is a yellow lab puppy in the far background at the top right of the picture, lying on a mat next to a man's leg.

FLD Dax isn't too sure about having his paws wiped!

When we leave for the day, RUM Steve makes sure the contraband leaves with us. They do not remain in Unit 8.

Thursday, June 5, 2014

Training, take 2

April 10, 2014
Baraga

We manage to do a few meet & greets before morphing into a "handler's exam," another IFT standard. Puppies must allow a stranger to check eyes, ears, teeth, inspect each paw, and run a slicker brush down the back.

Puppy counselor Tammy checks each puppy. Some are more tolerant than others!

A woman dressed in a short sleeved green t-shirt and blue jeans wearing glasses and has short white hair is kneeling on the left. Her hands are checking the ears of a young black lab puppy, who is sitting on the cement floor facing away from the camera. A man is squatting to the right of the puppy. He is wearing a dark blue fleece jacket and the blue prison pants and white tennis shoes. He is holding the brown leather leash of the puppy with his left hand, which is leaning on his knee. He is looking at the woman and listening to her talk.

Tammy inspects FLD Bear's ears...

A small german shepherd puppy is lying on a tile floor. His body is facing the camera, but his head is turned to the left. The woman is opening his mouth to check his teeth. The woman is mostly out of sight except for her arms. The lower legs and feet of a man are on the right. A brown leather leash is attached to the puppy's collar and is going up to the man. The man is wearing blue pants and brown shoes. The puppy is wearing the blue Future Leader Dog bandana.

...FLD Dax's teeth...

The same woman is now checking a young yellow lab's front left paw. She is holding the puppy's head with her left hand and the front left paw with her right hand. She is on the left side and the puppy is standing facing her. He is also wearing the blue Future Leader Dog bandana. A different man is squatting behind the puppy, he is supporting the puppy's belly with his left hand and holding his collar with his right hand. The man is looking down at the puppy.

...FLD Axel's paws...

Now the woman is kneeling on one knee on the right side of the photo. She is leaning forward trying to checkt he paws of a small black lab puppy who is lying on his back on the floor. The puppy's four paws are wiggling in the air. A man is kneeling to the left of the puppy and trying to hold him still with his right hand. The man is lookng down at the puppy and laughing. He is wearing the blue prison uniform.

...a wiggly FLD Copo's paws...

A man is standing on the left and he is wearing the blue prison uniform. He is bald and is wearing glasses, he is looking down and to the right at a golden retriever who is standing on his left facing the camera. The man is holding the dog's brown leather leash with his left hand. The golden is wearing the baby blue working jacket and he looks like he has a smile on his face, his tongue is hanging out. The woman is kneeling on the right side, holding the puppy's tail up with her left hand. She is facing the camera and talking.

...and under FLD Drummond's tail.

Tammy has lots of tricks in her magic training bag. She sets out a few enticing distractions and has the teams walk by.

A man is walking from left to right, he is dressed in the blue prison uniform. He is holding a brown leather leash in he left hand. The leash is tight, attached to a golden retriever that is wearing the baby blue training jecket. The dog is on the man's left side, but is pullig toward some kind of round dog toy that is lying on the floor to the right. The woman dressed in a grean t-shirt and blue jeans is standing against a metal wall on the right, she has her hands on her hips and is instructing the man with the dog. There is a stuffed bone shaped toy on the other side of the dog on the floor.

FLD Drummond wants that toy!

This time an african american man dressed in the blue prison uniform is walking toward the camera holding the leash of a small black lab puppy. The puppy is wearing the blue Future Leader Dog bandana and is keeping a loose leash, looking up at the man, who is looking down at the puppy. The woman is still standing against the metal wall with her hands on her hips.

FLD Bear keeps a loose leash even with distractions.

A different man, wearing the same prison uniform but with a long sleeve white t-shirt under the blue shirt is walking toward the camera from the left. He has a brown leash wrapped around his left hand, attached to a golden retriever that is wearing the blue Future Leader Dog bandana. The man is wearing glasses and is looking down at the dog, who is looing at the soft bone toy ahead of him on the right. The leash is taut.

FLD Bravo is interested in the soft bone toy, but does not appear motivated to pull towards it (yet). Notice how his handler is holding the leash. What do you suppose would happen if he dropped his hand a bit to release tension on the leash?

Another man is walking left to right, with a leash in his left hand attached to a small german sheperd puppy. The puppy is on his left side, but REALLY focused on the toys on the floor. The leash is tight. The woman in green and blue jeans is standing off to the right. She has her left hand on her left himp and her right hand is at her chin as though she is thinking. She is looking at the puppy, as is the man.

FLD Dax is VERY interested. Patrick is preventing Dax from getting the toys. A strategy he might be employing is name recognition to redirect Dax's attention. Then he could move further away from the toys so they were less distracting.


FLD Axel, out for a stroll. Good boy!

Up next...contraband?

Wednesday, June 4, 2014

Training, take 1

April 10, 2014
Baraga

As promised, pictures!

First Tammy leads the group through the relaxation protocol. She mixes things up by having the puppies do one third of the exercise in SIT, one third in DOWN, and the last third in STAND.

A small black lab puppy is lying on a cement floor facing away from the camera. A man dressed in prison blue uniform is standing on the right side and leaning over to hand the puppy a treat from his right hand. Another man is sitting on a round metal seat attached to a metal lunch table. This man has his elbows on his thighs and is facing to the left. In the background is another man (both of these men are dressed in the prison blue uniforms). The man in the background is holding the leash of a golden retriever puppy, who is sitting on the man's left side. A woman is also in the background, wearing a grey pantsuit and holding a paper. She is facing the third man. On a shelf behind the golden retriever is a big yellow ball.

FLD Copo gets rewarded for holding his DOWN.

With all the puppies standing nicely, Tammy and I lightly distract each one to test "name recognition." Looking back at the handler when he says the puppy's name is one of the In-For-Training (IFT) standards that Leader Dogs for the Blind wants us to work toward with our puppies.

A young black lab puppy is standing next to legs dressed in blue pants. The puppy is wearing the blue Future Leader Dog bandana. The puppy is looking at the camera.

FLD Bear has his eyes on me.

Now the same black lab puppy is looking up toward the person standing next to him. The person is out of view except for his left leg. The puppy has a brown leather leash attached to his collar.

"Bear!" his handler says. Good boy!

A young yellow lab puppy is lying on a cement floor, he is wearing the blue Future Leader Dog bandana with his name Axel embroidered on it. The puppy had a brown leather leash attached to his collar and the leash is just lying on the floor next to him. The puppy is looking up to the left at a person who is standing next to him. Only the lower legs of the person is visibile. The person is wearing blue pants and white tennis shoes.

Good boy Axel!

Tammy then has the group practice sits, downs, and stands "around the world." This means that the pups must respond to each cue no matter what position the handler is in - on the left or the right, in front of the puppy or behind, while standing, sitting, kneeling, you name it.

Sure, maybe your puppy knows how DOWN in heel position...

...but will your puppy respond correctly to the DOWN cue when you have your back turned to him?

A small german shepherd puppy is lying on a painted cement floor, he is facing to the left and his giving a huge yawn, his mouth is open wide and his tongue is curled up o the end. The puppy is wearing a blue Future Leader Dog bandana and has a brown leather leash lying on the floor to the left.

FLD Dax complains that things aren't as they usually are...and lies down anyway!

Time to get moving around. Well, "around" at a left-hinged door. We teach our puppies to move from the normal heel position on our left side around our back to our right side whenever we pass through a door that is hinged on the left side. This protects the dog from getting slammed by the door. We walk through the door as a "unit." After a few paces safely past the doorway we have the puppy move around behind us again to return to heel position.

This is two photos in one. On the left, a man wearing a blue and orange striped jacket and the blue prison pants is reaching down with his left hand to a yellow lab puppy. The puppy is sitting with his back to the camera. The man is holding the puppy's brown leather leash in his left hand. In the photo on the right, the same man is approaching a door that has the handle on the right side, the man is just turning the handle. He is holding the leash in his right hand and the yellow lab puppy is walking around the man's back to his right side. The puppy is peering around the man's leg toward the door.

Steve gives FLD Axel a pep-talk and heads for the door. Nice around!

This is also two picture in one. On the left side, an african american man is walking away from the camera toward the same door. He is wearing the blue prison uniform and holding a brown leash in his left hand. The man is looking down at the black lab puppy that is walking next to his left leg. The leash is hanging very nicely loose. In the photo on the right side the man is passing the leash from his left hand to his right hand behind his back while the puppy is moving around to his right side.

FLD Bear keeps a nice loose leash as P walks toward the door. There is some technique to cleanly passing the leash from left to right!

We're not finished yet....

Something good, something to work on

April 10, 2014

Baraga

Puppy counselor Tammy starts our session by asking, "Tell us something good about your puppy and then what you've struggled with and need to work harder on."

Many of the team members said their puppies were quick learners, but there wasn't much talk about "my puppy sits so fast or comes whenever I call him." No. Instead, the guys eagerly shared how the puppies have improved morale. "Everybody smiles and says 'hi' to the pup," one said.

The men reported positive changes in themselves.

Problems? "They were the usual ones," Tammy said.

FLD Bear's raisers said that meet & greets, especially with women, were difficult for the young lab. We reminded the guys that emotions travel down the leash. Last month by the end of our meet & greet exercise, Bear stayed calm even when I approached him like an over excited stranger. "Perhaps you are getting too excited when women are around," I suggested. The room erupted with laughter.

FLD Copo's raisers said that other dogs are a hard-to-resist distraction. "Last month that was Axel's problem, remember?" Tammy said. We talk about proper puppy play and limiting interaction.

A yellow lab puppy is sitting on a brown carpet mat between the knees of a man who is squatting down behind him. The man is wearing an orange long sleeved t-shirt and blue prison pants with an orange stripe. He is touching the puppy's head with his left hand and his right arm is resting across his right knee. He is looking at the puppy. A second man is sitting on a stool attached to an octogon shaped table. He is also wearing the prison blue uniform. He is african american and is wearing glasses. HIs right forearm is resting on the table and he is reaching behind his left leg with his left hand.

A thoughtful Beno and Mondo with FLD Axel.

A closeup shot of a man bending over a black lab puppy. The lab is lying on a brown carpet mat. The man is cradling the lab's head in his hands and pulling the pup's face toward his. The puppy's eyes are closed. The man is wearing a dar blue fleece jacket and the prison blue pants with an orange stripe and white tennis shoes. The man is looking intently at the puppy.

Ricky and FLD Bear - can you feel the love?

The rest of our training session to come...in pictures.