puppies inside: loose leash walking

Showing posts with label loose leash walking. 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.

Monday, July 7, 2014

Outside simulation

April 11, 2014

Chippewa

One thing that stands out during the dice game is how the teams root for each puppy, even if it isn't their own. When Tammy asked Eric to heel FLD August through the cones a second time, it felt like we were in a baseball stadium, the batter facing a 3-2 count with two outs and bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth to win or lose the game. A proud Eric nodded to the cheering crowd as August rounded the last cone for a home-run performance.

As the last team tosses the dice it is about noon. Inmates assigned to clean the lunchroom hover outside the door. Tammy has more tricks in her training bag and the raisers want to keep working, so we move out to the yard. Piles of snow linger yet the sun is shining and the temperature is quite pleasant.

WAITING ROOM GAME

The set-up.

Tammy asks for five chairs; she sets two facing the door to Pike Unit and three in a row behind them facing to the side. This game will simulate a visit to a busy doctor's office. Eric and Dave sit in the two chairs. I sit in the middle chair of the group of three with a notepad and pen. A squeaky toy is staged a bit beyond.

The task.

The handler and his FLD will enter the "waiting room," maneuver around the waiting "patients" and take a seat next to me. Hopefully, he will settle his puppy before I hand him the notepad and pen. I will give three instructions.

Write down your puppy's name and number.

Write down your name.

Write down one thing your puppy has taught you.

After writing, the handler will exit with his puppy, passing by the squeaky toy.

The challenge.

Of course, nothing goes easy. Those of you who raise puppies on the outside will recognize the scenario. As the team approaches the waiting room, Tammy acts much like many people in the general public. "I know I'm not supposed to," she squeals, reaching out, "but I just HAVE to pet your puppy!" She encourages Eric and Dave to do the same. By the time the handler reaches me, the puppy is wound up and not interested in going "under" the chair. Surprisingly, most of the puppies care less about the squeaky toy.

A tall, african american man is standing in the distance in the middle of the photo, near a set of double doors, one of which is open. He is wearing the prison blue pants and a long sleeved white t-shirt. He is looking down at a yellow lab which is sitting on his left side looking back at him. The puppy is wearing the blue Future Leader Dog bandana. The man's right hand is in a fist at his chest and his left hand hanging at his side is holding the leash. In the foreground are two men sitting in light blue plastic chairs, facing hte first man. The man on the left is wearing a white t-shirt and has a ponytail, his hair is grey. The man on the right is wearing a green sweatshirt and is bald. There is a woman standing far on the right, half out of view. She is wearing dark glases, blue jeans, a grey t-shirt and purple hoodie that is unzipped. It is very sunny out.

Josh gets FLD August's attention before braving the waiting room gauntlet. Eric (left) and Dave (right) are August's raisers, so this will prove exceptionally challenging. In the end, Josh does a great job keeping the pup's focus on him.

A clsoe over-the-shoulder shot of a man wearing a white t-shirt and blue pants. The man is on the far right side and half out of the frame. He is sitting and holds a notepad on his right knee and is writing on it with a pen in his right hand. His left hand is supporting the notepad and a leash is looped around his left wrist. A yellow lab is standing at the end of the leash in front of the man, facing away and to the right. The puppy is wearing a blue bandana. They are on cement and there is snow piled up in the distance. The sun is casting a dark shadow from the dog.

Churchard writes his answers to my three questions while hanging on to FLD Ekco's leash. Managing the puppy while trying to write (and remember the questions) proves to be the biggest challenge to the men!

Playing games makes it easy to forget that all the while the puppy is being trained to maintain a loose leash, generalize cues like "under" or "sit," and ignore distractions. The waiting room game in particular points out to the inmate raisers what outside raisers deal with every day when socializing their puppies. Strong obedience skills make these situations easier to manage.

As if to prove that point, Tammy has the group do one last loose leash heeling exercise.

A group of men and puppies are walking from side to side amongst each other. The man in the middle in the foreground is wearing the prison blue uniform and is walking to the left. He is holding the leash with both hands near his waist, a black lab is walking on his left side. In the background is a man in a white t-shirt and green pants waling to the left with a small german shepherd. The woman in a grey t-shirt and purple hoodie is in the very background standing with her hands on her hips near a red brick wall.

Tammy has the group divide into two and face each other. In a series of planned steps, she has the teams approach and retreat with their puppies until they can walk closely by and swap sides. Then she has half the group sit their puppies while the rest weave in and out among them.

Coming up, time to say good-bye...

Wednesday, June 11, 2014

Furlough fun

April 10, 2014

en route to Chippewa

We have the rest of the day to get back east across the UP. Along the way we head straight onto E. Munising Ave in the town of Munising, instead of taking the sharp right turn that is a continuation of M-28. It is less than two miles to Munising Falls. Tammy thinks it is a good idea to take the golden boys, FLDs Drummond and Bravo, for a short hike. We are eager to stretch our legs, too.

The trail to the falls is snow covered, but packed down enough to walk on. Mostly.

A woman dressed all in blue wearing sunglasses appears to be kneeling on a snowcovered path with a golden retriever in front of her. There is a wooded fence along the path with trees in the background.

No, Tammy is NOT kneeling next to FLD Drummond. Her right leg sunk into the snow up to her knee!

The same woman is bracing her hands on the golden retriever as she struggles to pull her right leg out of the snow. She is blurry, but the dog is in good focus.

FLD Drummond holds still as Tammy extracts her leg.

A golden retriever is rolling in a snow bank, he has smashed his head into the snow. A brown leather leash is attached ot his collar.

FLD Bravo takes a snow bath.

Two golden retrievers stand in front of a wooden fence, their leashes are tied to the fend. They are facing each other but are looking at the camera. There is snow all around and in the background is a tall partly frozen waterfall, coming down from a limestone cliff. There are some small fir trees to the left and bare limbed hardwood trees to the right.

FLDs Bravo and Drummond strike a post at Munising Falls.

A cloer shot of the two goldens, who are now close together. One of them is sitting underneath the other one that is standing. The sitting golden has his eyes closed and looks like he is smiling. The dog that is standing is also smiling and is looking to the right. They are in front of the wooden fence, and all the rest is snow.

Silly Bravo can't get close enough to his buddy Drummond.

Tammy asks me to videotape FLD Drummond walking because she said the guys had some concerns about his gait. (We don't notice anything unusual.) The beauty-boy does a nice job of what we call "connected walking." He keeps a loose leash, yielding to gentle pressure, but is not expected to maintain a tight heel position at Tammy's left side. At one point a family carrying a small, yippy dog exits the trail onto the parking lot where we are shooting; Drummond is interested, but quickly refocuses. Good boy!