puppies inside: FLD Baker

Showing posts with label FLD Baker. Show all posts

Sunday, November 9, 2014

Puppy work

June 27, 2014

Baraga

Tammy packs a lot of exercises in her training class. We work on settling with the relaxation protocol, loose leash heeling by "connecting the dots," meet & greets, and ignoring distractions.

We even play a "doctor's waiting room" game, a real-life simulation. Handlers and their puppies enter an imaginary doctor's office. They must maneuver past annoying patients who reach out to pet their puppy, take a seat, and put their puppy under the chair. They are given a clipboard and asked to write their name, their puppy's name and number, and something their puppy has taught them. A rolling cart adds a noisy distraction to a chaotic scene.

At the end of the session Tammy gives the AKC Star Puppy test to teams Axle, Bear, Copo and Dax. Everyone passed!

A young black lab is sitting next to a man's left leg. The only part of the man visible is his legs and part of his body; he is wearing the blue prison uniform. The lab is wearing the blue Futre Leader Dog bandana and is looking up at the man. There is another man wearint the blue prison uniform sitting on a chair in the backgroun with his arms crossed across his knees; his shoulders and head are not in view. There is a wadded up tissue on the carpeted floor on the right side.

FLD Bear looks up at his handler during the relaxation protocol. Notice how he ignores the tissue distraction.

A young german shepherd dog is sitting at the left side of a man standing on the left. The man is wearing a prison blue uniform, his upper body is not in the picture. Beyond the dog are three other men in prison uniforms sitting on chairs. The firs tman is looking at the dog wtih his arms resting on his knees, the second man is leaning back in the chair with his hands folded on his body, the last man is sitting up straight with his hands in his lap. The german shepherd is giving a huge yawn.

Is FLD Dax relaxing, a little stressed, or just bored?

CONNECT THE DOTS - Tammy sets up a course using orange cones at various distances apart. I demo a loose leash walking exercise with FLD Baker. The task is to treat the puppy at each cone, as a reminder to keep the rate of reinforcement high. After my demo, Tammy asks for someone to try it next. Mondo steps up first with FLD Axel.

A low shot of an orange soccer cone (on the left). A small yellow lab puppy is standing on the right looking toward the camera, he is held by a brown leash by a man sitting on a chair behind him. The man is dressed in the blue prison uniform, but his head is out of the picture. Two other men are sitting beyond the cone watching. They also are wearing the blue prison unfiorm. The man on the left is leaning his right elbow on his right knee and his left hand is on his left knee. The man in the middle is african american and is resting his forearms on his knees with his hands clasped.

FLD Farley wants to try.

Three men are standing in a row facing toward the left. They are wearing the blue prison uniforms and each has a black lab puppy sitting on their left side. The puppy in the middle is wearing the light blue "working" jacket, the other tow are wearing the blue Future Leader Dog bandanas. A couple of other men are sitting in chairs behind the row.

Teams in line for meet & greet practice.

MEET & GREETS - Tammy has the teams line up on opposite sides of the room, facing each other. Step by step they approach and retreat. Eventually the handlers are able to meet and shake hands in the middle without the puppies reacting.

A man dressed in the blue prison uniform is standing on the left with his hands at his waist holidng the leash of a young yellow lab that is sitting on the man's left side. The man and puppy are looking to the right at another man dressed in the blue prison unfiorm. Ths man is facing the camera but he is bent over looking to the right at a small yellow lab puppy. This man is holding the puppy's leash in his right hand at his right knee. He is reaching toward the puppy with his left hand, holding a treat for the puppy, trying to get its attention. A woman dressed in blue jeans and a light blue t-shirt is standing in the background behind them looking on.

Steve uses a treat to "lure" FLD Farley while Barry and FLD Axel wait patiently for them to approach.

AKC STAR PUPPY


Ricky gives FLD Bear a hug while Black looks on. One of the puppy behaviors in the Star Puppy test is the "owner can hug or hold puppy (depending on size)."

An african american man wearing the blue prison uniform is sitting on a blue chair leaning over and hugging a young black lab puppy. The man is laughing and looking at the camera, his right arm is around the puppy's neck. The puppy is tilting his head up toward the man's face.

P gives FLD Baker a big, happy hug.

A man dressed in the blue prison uniform with a long sleeved white t-shirt under his blue shirt, is sitting on a chair and leaning over toward a german shepherd that is lying on the floor at his feet. The dog is facing left and his left pay is on a stuffed animal, which he is sniffing. The man is reaching to the toy with his right hand and his left forearm is resting on his left knee. A man is sitting to the far right, just out of view.

Chad reaches to take a stuffed toy from FLD Dax. "Give" and "take" is another part of the Star Puppy test.

A man dressed in the blue prison uniform is sitting on the floor on the left, facing away from the camera. Lying on the floor facing the camera is a young black lab puppy. The man is grabbing a stuffed toy in the dog's mouth with his right hand.

Ricky "gives" the stuffed toy to FLD Bear.

A closer shot of the man sitting on the floor, only he has taken the stuffed toy from the dog and is holding it in his right hand away from the puppy. The black lab is now standing up looking at the toy. The puppy is wearing the blue Future Leader Dog bandana and his tail is wagging.

FLD Bear has given the stuffed toy to Ricky, but is still interested in it.

A low, close shot of the head of a small yellow lab puppy lying on his right side on the floor. The puppy's eyes are closed and he is sleeping. Between his front legs is the stuffed toy.

FLD Farley snuggles with the stuffed toy. The men asked to borrow the toy for the month for distraction practice. Later, Steve told Tammy that FLD Farley slept through the night all curled up with the toy.

A floor-level close shot of a small black lab puppy lying on the floor with a white nylabone toy under its front paws. The puppy has his head up looking straight ta the camera. His leash is attached to his blue collar and is off to the right. There are men out of focus in the background.

And just because. FLD Eco is too cute.

Wednesday, November 5, 2014

Bodily fluids, part 1

June 26, 2014

Baraga

Warning: This blog post contains content that might be unsettling. Do not read while eating!

When Tammy called me she was about a half-hour away from our meeting spot along northbound I-75. Her voice held a hint of panic. "Bring more towels and cleanup stuff!" she begged.

She was late coming from Leader Dogs for the Blind and had two special puppies tucked away in crates in the back of the van. FLD Farley, a male yellow lab, and FLD Eco, a male black lab, were to be delivered the next morning at the Baraga Correctional Facility. Farley was sick and Tammy had to wait for the Leader Dog vet to do a Parvo test (it was negative) and get some medication together before she could leave.

On the road the poor little guy squirted "liquid diarrhea" all over the inside of his crate. Tammy stopped to clean up but ran out of towels. "I had four and a blanket," she said when we finally met up. I brought six more, a roll of paper towels, a container of sanitizing wipes and a bottle of Nature"s Miracle.

It was more than 500 miles from the Leader Dog campus in Rochester Hills to Baraga at the west end of the U.P., a trip that should take about eight hours (without puppies). It promised to be a bit longer. "I hoped to get to our hotel before dark," Tammy said. She was thinking we'd probably be washing Farley in the hotel sink at midnight.

We stopped frequently - in St. Ignace, Chocolay Township, Ishpeming. About dusk, prompted by whining puppies, we pulled into a little roadside park somewhere along M-28, next to a small lake.

A small black lab puppy is standing on the ground looking at the camera, a long brown leash attached to his blue collar is leading off the frame. The puppy's tail is straight up.

FLD Eco was happy to get out of the van. Again.

A small yellow lab is sitting down, looking toward the camera. He is wearing a blue collar with a round silver tag. A brown leash is attached to his collar and is being held by someone in the background. The person's legs and hand are the only thing visible and it is out of focus.

FLD Farley is still pretty cute, even if he isn't feeling well.

Big mistake. The mosquitoes of the U.P. are infamous. Withdrawing back into the van was no relief - we were swarmed! The inside of the windshield was just as smeared with bugs as the outside.

The small black lab puppy is sitting down behind the back of a white van. His head is turned to the left and the leash, attached to his blue collar with a round silver tag, is looped off to the right.

FLD Eco doesn't seem to be bothered by the mosquitoes.

We arrived at our hotel 15 minutes shy of 12 hours after Tammy left Leader Dog. It was 10:15 p.m. Luckily, Baraga sits on the west edge of the Eastern Time zone and light lingers longer in the north during summer. "The last glimmer of daylight," Tammy sighed.

Crating seven-week-old puppies together cuts down on the crying, but we had to keep Farley separated from Eco in case he was contagious. We were glad I brought FLD Baker along. (Baker is a female seven-month-old lab/golden mix I was puppy-sitting for a few days.) She and Eco got to play in the room while we kept Farley quarantined.

The small yellow lab is sitting inside a large airline crate. There is a green towel bunched up behind him. He is looking out of the crate, and wearing a blue collar. The crate is sitting on a blue carpet and there is a wood and cloth chair off to the left.

FLD Farley wishes he could play too.

The medicine seemed to be working. We took Farley out to "park" several times before bed but he never pooped. About 2:30 a.m. I thought I heard something, but went back to sleep. At 3:30 we learned I should have gotten up after all. Farley had spray painted the inside of his crate brown. Again. Lights on, park time, clean up time.

Up again at 5:30 a.m. there was no going back to bed. We were expected at the prison between 8:30 and 9:00. Thanks to Farley we finally showed up on time!

A floor level shot of a black lab/golden mis puppy. She is looking right into the camera, the floor is a berber carpet. There is a blue and green plaid dog bed to the left. The background is out of focus and it is a pine wall.

And here is FLD Baker. This photo was taken at my home.

Tuesday, July 8, 2014

There comes a time...

April 11, 2014

Chippewa

The games are over.

This day's training is complete. We retreat into a small classroom in Pike Unit to process the three puppies that are returning to Leader Dogs for the Blind. It is time for them to start formal guide dog training.

FLDs Nell, Zella and Tara - the "parolees" as the guys dub them.

Three portraits of inmate raisers and their puppies that are leaving to go to Leader Dogs for the Blind. The man on the left is kneeling on one knee with his black lab standing on his left side. The man is bald and is wearing a white t-shirt and blue pants. He is smiling and has his left arm around the dog's back. The dog is wearing the blue Future Leader Dog bandana. The middle picture is a closer shot of a darker skinned man with his right arm wrapped around a yellow lab's neck in an embrace. The man is wearing the prison blue uniform and looking seriously right at the camera. The dog's head is facing up and to the left and appears to be trying to get out of the embrace. The man has the dog's leash in his right hand. The man on the right is squatting with a black lab sitting on his left side. The man is smiling at the camera, he right forearm is resting on his right knee and his right hand is holding the leash. His left arm is draped over the back of the lab. the dog is looking at the camera.

From left to right, raiser Justin with FLD Nell, raiser Abe with FLD Zella, and raiser Jeremy with FLD Tara.

There are not many questions from the somber group.

Four men are sitting on light blue plastic chairs in a row facing the camera. The first man, left to right, is wearing green pants and a white shirt and glasses, the second man is wearig blue pants and a white shirt, the third man is wearing maroon pants and a white t-shirt, and the fourt man is wearing the blue prison uniform. All the men have puppies lying down beneath them on the floor and under their chairs. The dogs are, left to right, a golden retriever, a yellow lab, a golden retriever and a yellow lab. The dogs are all lying on their left sides with their heads facing left and are asleep. The men all have sad faces.

Everyone seems tired out.

Tammy asks me to share my story about meeting Gail, Leader Dog Dutch's new partner. I meant to tell them how proud and sad and anxious I felt when I left that silly Golden at Leader Dog last November, how I tried not to think about him living there in the kennels, how waiting so long for news of his progress was excruciating. I wanted to tell them how my heart burned, especially when I chose not to take another puppy right away, yet how this prison program gave me "puppy fixes" to help with the waiting.

I only remember to tell them it was a long wait, but it was great to see Gail pick up the harness and say, "Dutch, find the door." Off he went, his tail wagging in time to my heartbeats. In the end the long wait was worth it, seeing the happy team.

A group of about 11 men circle a small carpeted room, some kneeling on the floor, others standing and the rest sitting in light blue plastic chairs. The man staning in the middle is taking a photo of the man sitting on the right with a black lab sitting between his knees. There are yellow labs, golden retrievers and a german shepherd puppy with the men.

Doug snaps a photo of Jeremy and FLD Tara. The men share a long good-bye to the three that are leaving.

Tammy asks for stories in return. Abe laughs at Zella's "snorting." Harlin remembers the first day Abe got Zella. "She dragged him all over the place!" Everyone agrees that now, Zella is Abe's "champion."

Justin is animated with his falling-on-the-ice-taking-Nell-out-to-park story. Nell stole her bandana and then Justin's full cup of coffee. The poor guy slipped and fell three times trying to round her up. "I was so mad!" he exclaims, but laughs at himself with all of us. Justin describes how the guys stored small cartons of milk in the snow banks to keep them cold. "She grabbed one of those and bit it and drank it all," he says.

Churchard tells an elaborate tale about Tara and Nell. Tara, leash dragging behind her, snuck into Nell's cell, grabbed her Kong and took it back to her own cell. Nell would have nothing of it; she trotted down to Tara's cell and took the thief by her leash to bring the toy back.

The mood lightens with the stories.

Tammy announces each puppy's grown up "dog" number as she drapes an official Leader Dog chain collar and new tag over each neck. "That's the first time a parolee gets a number going out!" Harlin says.

A close shot of a woman (on the left) wearing a purple sweatshirt putting a chain collar over the nost of a yellow lab, which is being held by the man on the right. He is wearing the blue prison uniform. Both the woman and the man are bending toward the middle over the lab. A second yellow lab is sneaking into the middle of things from the left, its leash being held by a man behind wearing a green sweatshirt and blue pants, sitting down on a blue plastic chair. This man's head is out of view.

Tammy slides the new collar over Zella's head. FLD August is curious. His turn is coming.

A man wearing a white t-shirt and the prison blue pants with orange stripe is sitting on a light blue plastic chair, leaning over onto a desk and facing away from the camera. A black lab is lying on the carpeted floor under the chair. A woman wearing blue jeans and a purple sweatshirt is standing on the right side, leaning over the desk.

Nell relaxes while Justin and Tammy fill out the turn-in paperwork.

A bald man wearing a white t-shirt and blue prison pants is on the floor with his hands on the body of a black lab. The lab is lying on its left side with its head toward the camera. The man is resting his head on his right knee.

Justin and Nell.

It is time.

There are two men on the left in the background sitting on chairs facing the camera. The man on the far left is wearing a white t-shirt and maroon pants and there is a golden retriever sitting on the carpet between the man's knees. The man next to him is wearing the prison blue uniform and is resting his forearms on his knees with his hands clasped between them. There is a man to the left coming in a door, leaning over a black lab wearing a light blue jacket. This man is wearing a white t-shirt and blue pants. On the right side are two men stting on light blue chairs facing the left. The man closest to the camera on the far right is wearing a light orange shirt and prison blue pants and is leaning over to pet a german shepherd with his right hand. The german shepherd is lying on the carpet under his chair. The next man is wearing the prison blue uniform and has his elbos on his knees. A black lab is lying on its left side under the man's chair.

Cody and FLD Baker can be seen in the background coming in from the yard.

In the bustle to leave the room, I remember FLD Baker. Cody has been handling her since we left her on our way to Baraga, but I don't see them. I finally find him in the doorway to the yard. "I took her outside because I was crying a little," he whispers.

There comes a time in every puppy raiser's life to let go. To wish one's puppy "dogspeed." This time came early for Nell, Zella and Tara's raisers. The three pups came to Chippewa as "finishers," a little older than the rest. Their leaving is bound to leave a big hole in Unit 8. The raisers still with puppies feel the pain, too.

Justin, Abe and Jeremy walk their puppies out to the Leader Dog van and put them into crates. Morrison says that when it is time for his puppy to go, "I'm going to put Bravo on a down/stay and just go to my room."

The bald man in a white t-shirt is holding the chin of a black lab and pressing his face toward the lab. The lab is inside of an airline dog crate, facing out, with the wire door open wide.

Justin says his final good-bye to Nell.

The man in the prison blue uniform is leaning in toward a yellow lab that is inside a dog airline crate. The man is gripping the wire door with his left hand and holding the jaw of the lab with his right hand, his face pressed against the face of the dog.

Abe already said good-bye, but returns to Zella one last time.


Jeremy turns away from the Leader Dogs for the Blind van after putting Tara into a crate.

Tuesday, July 1, 2014

A full agenda, inside

April 11, 2014

Chippewa

RELAXATION PROTOCOL

Starting our training session with the relaxation protocol is a great way to set a calm and attentive atmosphere. Tammy reads instructions to the group and has them vary positions. First the dogs sit, then stand, then relax into a down.

Two men stand with black labs sitting at their left sides. Both men are looking down at the puppies. The first man, on the left, is wearing blue pants and a white t-shirt. The puppy is wearing a baby-blue working jacket and is facing him slightly. The other man on the right is african american and is wearing the blue pants and shirt prison uniform. His puppy is looking up at him. There are lunch tables in the background.

FLDs Baker and Sammy sit next to Cody and Ro.

A man dressed in the prison blue uniform is leaning over a yellow lab, placing a treat in her mouth. The lab is lying on the tile floor, her leash is draped across her front legs. She is wearing panties because she is in heat. A second man is leaning against a lunch table with his hands crossed at his waist. He is bald with tatoos on his foreamrs, he is wearing green prison pants and a white t-shirt.

Abe gives FLD Zella a treat while Doug looks on. (Zella is wearing panties because she is in heat. Every puppy is a potential breeder for Leader Dogs for the Blind, so they are not spayed or neutered until after they return for training.)

NAME RECOGNITION

With settled puppies, Tammy has the handlers practice "name recognition." She and I step to each team and lightly distract the puppies with a quiet "Well, hello puppy!" or a soft clap. The goal is that the puppy will look back at the handler when its name is called. One time. All the teams do well. Then Tammy and I approach with a bit more enthusiasm. This is more of a challenge!

A floor-level photo of a young black lab trying to approach the camera. Her right front paw is mid-air. A man, sitting down on a stool attached to a lunch table, is holding the pup's collar in his right hand and her leash in his left. He is wearing a white t-shirt and blue pants with an orange strip. His head and shoulders are out of view. There is another table to the right of the puppy.

FLD Ashley has a difficult time resisting me. Good catch Robert!

SIT / DOWN / STAND AROUND THE WORLD

One way to "proof" a puppy (checking to see if it knows its commands) is to ask for a behavior from a not-so-typical, not-in-heel position. Think your puppy knows "sit?" Try asking it to sit with your back turned, or from five feet away, or while sitting in a chair or kneeling on the floor. Tammy says this exercise demonstrates where work is needed.

A man is standing on the left side with his back to a black lab. The man is bald and is wearing blue prison pants and a white t-shirt. He has his hands clasped in front of him and is looking over his left shoulder. The puppy is sitting on the tile floor a foot or so behind the man and is looking up at him. The pup's leash is lying on the floor. The puppy is wearing a blue Future Leader Dog bandana. There are several men with their puppies in the background to the right.

Justin peaks over his shoulder at FLD Nell, who sits on cue.

MEET & GREETS / HANDLER'S EXAMS

We practice meet and greets and everyone without a puppy gets in on the action. The room is filled with mayhem, but the puppies (for the most part) take everything in stride.

Next up - handler's exams. Tammy and I get the honors of putting our hands on each puppy. We check eyes, ears, teeth, lift each paw and run a slicker brush down their backs. FLD Ashely is very wiggly. "You can support her by her collar," I tell her raiser, Robert. "And try holding some treats in your hand right in front of her nose."

A man is kneeling on his right knee with a german shepherd puppy sitting between his knees. The man is holding something in his right hand above the puppy's snout. The man is looking at the camera, he has a goatee and is bald. He has tatoos on his forearm. He is wearing green pants and a white t-shirt. The puppy's leash is handing down in front of him. There are a few men in the background.

FLD Chewy looks like he is eager for more food!

We also check the puppies' weight using the Purina ® Body Condition Tool. We have the men rate their puppies on a scale from one (severely underweight) to nine (clinically obese). Numbers four and five (ribs can be felt, a waist is visible from above, and there is a "tummy tuck" visible from the side) are "ideal."

Tammy suggests that FLD Chewy's team raise his daily food allotment, as she thinks he feels a bit underweight.

GAMES

With the idea that training should be fun, Tammy comes up with all sorts of games which challenge the puppies' self-control. Stay tuned...

Sunday, June 1, 2014

Backwards

April 10, 2014

Each month our three-day UP itinerary to meet with the prison puppy-raisers takes us first to the Chippewa Correctional Facility, and then to the Baraga Correctional Facility. In April our trip runs backwards.

We'll be taking Chippewa's first puppies back to Leader Dogs for the Blind to begin formal guide dog training. FLDs Stella, Nell and Tara's raisers will appreciate the extra two days with the pups and the girls don't need to be cooped up in the van any longer than necessary.

Tammy's plan in reverse sounds easy, but that means she must leave her house at 7 a.m. to drive an hour south to Leader Dogs. Here she swaps her car for the van and loads up dog food for the prisons and crates to transport puppies. One crate holds FLD Ecko, a six-month old female yellow lab "finisher" we will drop off at Chippewa on our way to Baraga. It is only a few miles out of our way.

Tammy and I rendezvous along northbound I-75. I bring lunch and an addition for one of the crates. Sometimes being puppy-less is an advantage - FLD Baker, a five-month-old black lab/golden mix, was enjoying a two-week stint at "patti's halfway house" because her raiser was on vacation in Florida.

A young black lab/golden retriever mix puppy is sitting on a sidewalk in front of a stone wall looking at the camers. The puppy is wearing the baby-blue Future Leader Dog working jacket. A brown leash is attached to her coller. Leaning on the right side of the picture are three artificial legs. The first one, closest to the puppy, is from the knee down and it looks like a mannequin lower leg and foot. The middle one is futuristic and made of graphite, from the knee down, the one on the far right is a full leg. The foot and upper leg look like a mannegquin, but the lower leg looks like a metal piston.

FLD Baker is a sweetheart. (And she is house trained!) It is fun to have her along on my assignments writing for the Ogemaw County Voice. Here FLD Baker poses with a selection of artificial legs after my interview of the owner of Orthotec Orthopedics for a future story. (Puts a whole new meaning to the word "leg" doesn't it?)

A close up shot of a woman's face (she is wearing glasses) looking down and to the right at a very small black puppy that she is holding in her right hand. You can only see the puppy's head. The puppy is two weeks old and its eyes are closed still. The tip of its little pink tongue is just stickig out of its clsed mouth.

A two-week old not-yet-named-Baker is held by her mom's host, Phyllis.

A chocolate lab "mom" is lying down with five black puppies trying to nurse on her. Two other black puppies are nearby. The dog and pups are in a white whelping box, there is a thermometer on the left side. The chocolate lab is looking at the camera with a tired expression! All of the puppies have colorful ribbons tied around their necks for identification.

Baker's mom, Amber, nurses Baker (in the orange and purple ribbon) and her siblings. I was fortunate to act as an assistant mid-wife to Amber during the birth of of this, her fourth and last litter.

A small black lab/golden mix puppy is walking toward the camera, the puppy is looking away to the right. The puppy is walking on a wooden deck that has some snow on it. Behind the puppy are rungs of a railing.

A five-week old not-yet-named-Baker checks out the snow on Phyllis' deck. Baker was named by her raisers, Karen and Ron. Do you know the term "baker's dozen?" This little pup is the 13th puppy being raised by the couple!

Miss Baker and Tammy's FLD Harper will spend the night at Chippewa. Tammy wants to take FLDs Drummond and Bravo on furlough with us to Baraga.

We get to Chippewa sometime after 1:30 p.m. The brilliant sunshine makes the mid-50's temperature feel practically balmy. There are still plenty of snow piles in the yard where the guys are waiting for us, but much has melted. ARUS Rob directs Tammy to pull the big white van right up to the Pike Unit gate for the swap.

Gate pass prisoners carry two large bags of Purina Pro Plan Sport All Life Stages Active 26/16 and two large bags of Purina Pro Plan Focus Puppy Chicken and Rice Formula into the unit from the van. A special delivery this month - poop bags! We hand off FLDs Ekco, Harper, and Baker in exchange for the two beautiful Goldens. Tammy is distressed when Mr. Harper, for the first time ever, doesn't seem happy to stay. He barks. He stretches his front paws through a space between the gate and the fence, reaching for her. He barks again and tries to squeeze his head through.

Maybe the image of Harper's escape attempt disorients Tammy. Maybe it's just because our schedule is topsy-turvy, that we usually head for Baraga from where we spend the night in the Soo, which is north of Chippewa. Maybe it's because the roads are dry and the sun is shining for the first time in months.

Whatever.

It takes us at least a half hour before we realize we took the wrong turn onto I-75. Our travel day just got longer.