puppies inside: Training, take 2

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.