Three D's and Henry

September 11, 2014

The Soo

FLD HENRY

We took FLD Chewy with us when we left Pike Unit. Doc Bennett, the veterinarian who volunteers his service for the puppies, saw something he didn't like in the Shepherd's running gait. Tammy was charged with bringing Chewy back to Leader Dogs for the Blind for a complete checkup. But first he'd have to hang with us.

Tammy and I were late getting to the Antler's, a unique restaurant that has always been gracious to visiting Future Leader Dog puppies. This day was no different, although our group was seated in the main dining area instead of the quieter banquet room. Here the pups were treated to bells and whistles every time a ship passed through the Soo Locks.

We left little Hershel asleep in his crate in the van, as it was a cool evening. Tammy brought FLD Chewy in for Frank to handle, Rachel had her golden puppy, FLD Harkin, Kim was with FLD Kayla, and Paula had brought FLD Andie out on furlough from Chippewa. Of course, I had FLD Henry, who recently learned he has a voice. He barked a bit so I took him out to park. Afterwards he was better, but didn't really settle until it was nearly time to go. The other puppies were all well behaved.

As Henry and I got up to leave, a woman and some friends coming in for dinner blocked our passage. "Can I pet him?" she asked.  Her entourage spread out and surrounded us. I had no choice. "Can you help me with his training?" I asked her in return. She stepped forward, "What can I do?"

"Let me get him sitting and then you can approach," I explained. I asked Henry to "sit" and used "touch" to get him to focus on me. "He needs to have four on the floor and he cannot mouth you. If he gets up or licks too much, just take your hand away and step back."

The woman took another step toward us and Henry leapt forward. The woman stepped back. Henry sat down. "Yes!" I said and gave him a treat. He held a squirmy sit as the woman tried again. She stopped. Henry whipped his head around and looked at me as if to say, "This is it, right? You want me to sit, right?"

"Yes!" I said and slipped him another bit of kibble. While I was giving it to him, I asked the woman to come and pet him. Henry didn't know what to do then with his attention; his head swiveled from her back to me. Eventually he controlled himself long enough to accept a nice pet.

The crowd around us had grown. Another group was trying to leave. "Can you see how he improved?" I asked. They all agreed.

Good boy, Henry!

THREE D'S

We regrouped at a local school where Rachel works so Tammy could conduct a training session with us. Immediately we had to practice stairs to get up to the conference room. As usual, Tammy loaded her agenda, starting with the relaxation protocol in "sit," followed by meet & greets (from quiet to excited), and weight checks.

Before we moved on to "stay" we practiced ignoring distractions. Tammy stuck a three foot long piece of painter's tape on the floor, behind which we stood with our foot on our puppy's leash. The leash was long enough for the puppy to move past the tape. From a distance, Tammy wiggled a stuffed squirrel that dangled from a pole and instructed us to treat our puppy at our left side whenever our puppy moved away from the toy and came to our side of the tape.

The tape itself was enough distraction for FLD Henry - the first thing he did was to rip the tape right up off the floor!

Oh, Henry!

Again, the other puppies did much better...

Tammy increases the distraction and now bounces a ball. Frank is firmly planted on FLD Chewy's leash, waiting for Chewy to move toward him. FLDs Andie and Kayla wait their turn.

FLD Chewy looks away from the ball distraction toward Frank, and loosens the tension on his leash. Frank rewards him.

FLD Chewy resists the ball temptation, even when Tammy rolls it right up to him! Notice how Chewy has repositioned himself at Frank's left side.

On to stays. "People always want to rush stays," Tammy said. "That's why they have rotten stays." She told us to remember the "three d's." Duration. Distance. Distractions. "First is duration. Your puppy should hold position for one minute before adding distance," Tammy said. "Never mind about distractions! They come later."

I have lots more work to do with Henry and duration. He dropped into a down at about 10 seconds. "Take notice of that and treat him at eight seconds," Tammy advised.

Thank you, Tammy!

FLD Hershel is happy attacking a Milk Bone from the sidelines.

All this work tires a puppy out!

Later, FLDs Hershel and Henry have some play time in the hotel...

FLD Hershel takes off with FLD Henry close behind.

Whoo-hoo! Lab wrestling!

The party is over...

Chippewa
March 6, 2014

When the party dust settled, puppies and people relaxed.

Time for a little lovin' on FLD Bravo.

Jess talked to the group about working with her guide dog Nala. 

Jess passes her guide dog harness around for the guys to compare with a Leader Dogs for the Blind harness that her husband uses with his Leader Dog. Jess and her husband are both visually impaired.

EVENING FURLOUGH

The Future Leader Dog puppies still had more work to do with volunteers who helped take the pups out on furlough. We met for dinner at the Sundown Lounge in Pickford. If it weren't for the tails sticking out from under our chairs, no one would have known there were a dozen dogs under the table!

After dinner, we regrouped at the Pickford Fire Hall. Tammy led everyone in the relaxation protocol to start the evening training session. We played a few recall games and practiced meet & greets, loose leash walking with dog distractions, and stairs. 

Puppy raiser Kim (on the left) works the relaxation protocoal with her puppy, FLD Kayla, while furlough volunteers work with FLD Bravo (center), FLD Zella and FLD Nell (black lab on the right).

Jess and Nala made a short presentation and spoke about how important it was for her to have a dog that knew how to settle. During a job interview with a potential employer who was already "suspicious" of her ability to do the job, Jess said that a "non-settled dog would have made things worse."

A finally-settled FLD Dax mugs for the camera.

Honey works

After training

January 30, 2014

"I'm allergic," the woman explained, looking down over her shoulder at FLDs Kayla and Harper.

Kim and Judy and Tammy and I were being seated for dinner at the puppy-friendly Applebee's in the Soo after our training session at the Chippewa Correctional Facility. The woman wanted the puppies to be positioned on the opposite side of our table, furthest from where she had her back to us.

Unfortunately we had three pups, so at least one would still be behind her. She had not seen a sleepy little FLD Copo cradled in my arms. The busy restaurant was packed. The four of us looked at each other; we did not feel like getting into an educational scene about the importance of allowing access to puppies-in-training.

"Can you seat us somewhere else?" we asked the hostess.

The table in the far corner where we ended up was a squeeze, but being away from the action was actually a better choice for our tired puppies. I placed my coat on the floor between my chair and the wall. FLD Copo snuggled in for the duration. Harper and Kayla settled nicely in a heap under the table. We four gals shared stories, ate and laughed together.

As we finished, the allergic woman approached our table. "I just want to thank you for moving," she said. "Your dogs are soooo good!" she added as an afterthought, when none of the puppies stirred.

I remember the old days when smoking was prolific in public places, including restaurants. I have asthma, and allergies too, and although I often would have liked to ask someone to move away from me, I was timid, expecting to be ignored. Or worse.

This woman politely asked us to consider her condition and we acquiesced with no real consequence to us. Her subsequent gratitude and recognition of our well-behaved puppies was a pleasant surprise.

Who could resist this face? FLD Copo gazes at the camera in our hotel room. Behind him is FLD Harper and Tammy.

And I set my camera down

Chippewa

January 30, 2014

Our training plan - Tammy would take the older puppies and their handlers into the other classroom for AKC CGC (Canine Good Citizen) testing. I would run a "puppy" class with the growing group of younger pups.

Fortunately, Tammy suggested this prior to our visit so I had time to consult with Laura Fisher, Puppy Development Coordinator at Leader Dogs for the Blind. Laura teaches the under-four-months group at the bi-monthly training sessions held on the Leader Dog campus. The weekend classes, offered to all puppy raisers, are divided into three age groups, the under-four-months, four-to-nine-months (taught by Deb Donnelly), and over-nine-months (taught by Tammy). Other puppy counselors and volunteers assist as needed.

Laura was kind enough to send me a long list of information that she covers in two days: expectations, name recognition, sit, reward markers, touch, around, loose leash walking, leave it, relaxation protocol and down. I would only have an hour or two.

I set my camera down. My mouth was dry as I stood in the middle of the room gripping my list, all eyes on me. I am not used to taking the lead.

Off to my right, an excited FLD Kayla was not at all interested in what I was about to say. She jumped up on Kim's legs. The inmate who was handling Kayla said, "Off!" The pup dropped to four-on-the-floor. The inmate "clicked" and gave Kayla a treat.

I folded up my list and put it into my pocket. The topic for my puppy class had just defaulted to "reward markers."

A "marker," as defined on the Karen Pryor Clicker Training website, is "a signal used to mark desired behavior at the instant it occurs." The marker can be a "click" or a word such as "YES" and it acts as a bridge between the precise behavior and delivery of the subsequent reward.

These motivated Chippewa inmates have educated themselves with books on positive dog training, many of which they purchased with their own money. Deb and Tammy and I have been impressed with the work they've done with their puppies. Even though I sometimes feel only a step ahead of the group (the more I learn, the more I realize I don't know), I thought I still might be able to help them bring their knowledge up a notch. I would raise the criteria for them, much as we do with our puppies when they learn a new behavior.

What ensued was a lively discussion about how the (mis) timing of a marker might inadvertently reinforce the behavior we don't want instead of the behavior we want, about waiting for the reward-able moment when the puppy makes the right decision on its own and marking that, about how the behavior "sticks" when the puppy is rewarded for choosing the correct behavior instead of responding to a command, about how proper placement of the reward can set the stage for learning.

A thinking puppy, accustomed to making decisions - this is the kind of puppy that Leader Dogs for the Blind wants us to raise.

Kim proved to be a good foil. "She's been doing that a lot lately," she said about Kayla's jumping up behavior. Kim admitted that she has done the same thing, telling Kayla "off" and rewarding her for putting four feet back onto the floor.

"How's that working for you?" I asked. "Not so good," Kim replied.

It was time to try something different. I suggested ignoring the jumping behavior, to wait until Kayla put her four feet on the floor on her own. "Mark and reward that moment," I said. "And try placing the treat on the floor instead of handing it to the puppy. The behavior you reward will be the behavior that will be repeated. Trust that."

The active interaction with the group helped me gain confidence. I hope the raisers gained something as well.