The morning after, part 4

Baraga

January 10, 2014

GAINING CONFIDENCE

FLD Bear had to park. Again. His handler slipped the blue "working" bandana off over his head before taking him out.

The bandana, and later the jacket, serve two purposes. One, it indicates that the puppy is a future Leader Dog "in-training" while out in public. Two, it simulates the guide dog harness that the puppy will eventually wear - removing the bandana or jacket to "park" teaches the puppy that it cannot relieve itself while "working."

When they returned, a squirmy Bear made it difficult to slide the bandana back over the pup's head.

"Remember how Deb showed us how to train Bear to put his head into it?" I asked. The raiser held the bandana up so there was a loop for Bear to put his head into, but Bear did not cooperate. "Say 'YES' and give Bear a treat through the loop when he looks at it," I suggested. Bear stretched his neck forward and the bandana was on.

Later, when Bear had to park yet again, the raiser slipped the bandana over Bear's head quite easily. He didn't know I was watching. "Good job, " I said. He grinned.

FLD Bear, wearing his bandana, takes a snooze.

Another raiser asked me how to tie the bandana for such a small puppy because the long ends made a tempting chew toy. You would think that after five puppies I would have this down, but I've struggled with it too - until I saw how the Chippewa raisers tied the ends so they weren't a temptation. I took Bear's bandana and showed them the Chippewa technique.

"Can you do Axel's too?" someone asked. I said, "You try it." No one ventured. The raiser who had previously learned to slip the bandana over Bear's head snatched the bandana and tied it. Just like I did.

A now-tired FLD Axel take a nap too. Here you can see the long ends of the bandana.

GOD BLESS THE INSTRUCTIONAL ARTISTS

Deb talked to the men about how puppies develop. "Their world expands daily," she said. "They use their mouths to experience the world. They can become vocal and hyper." FLD Axel's raiser piped up, "It sounds like you are talking about Axel!"

Suddenly, Axel started to retch. His raisers watched, horrified, when the pup barfed up a soggy pile of puppy chow onto his mat and proceeded to gobble it back up. The men jumped up, scooping Axel away from the mess. Others ran for clean-up supplies. RUM Steve, in anticipation of outrage from the non-raiser prison population, designated net sacks just for puppy laundry.

Deb calmed them all down. "It's probably just nerves, and maybe a bit too much food from yesterday," she said. "If they turn and re-eat it, it's not a big deal, but if they walk away from it they are probably sick." (The previous day had been a get-to-know-your-puppy party. Deb never said a word about the copious amount of kibble the guys were giving Axel and Bear.)

Today she talked to them about making decisions, about how they normally don't learn to make decisions in the regulated prison environment. "But you need to figure stuff out," she said. "Just like the puppies need to make the decisions, we are here to help them make the right decisions."

We could not have better planned the way our time at the Baraga Correctional Facility worked out. How FLD Bear taught the men the advantages of being able to "read" your puppy. How trying to quiet FLD Axel helped them get creative in solving a problem. How Axel's loss of breakfast demonstrated the need to be cognizant of their use of treats.

Back in the Leader Dogs for the Blind van during the long drive home Deb said, "The puppies could not have been better instructional artists. God bless them!"

FLD Axel and his raisers.

FLD Bear and his raisers. The men knew that I cared for Bear for 10 days and wanted to make sure I understood that they would take good care of him. "We've got his back," they said.

FLD Bear and his raisers. I need not worry.

FLD Jedi and the team who cared for him overnight.

FLD Harper and the men who cared for him overnight.

The morning after, part 3

Baraga

January 10, 2014

patti plays puppy

It smells kind of funky in this room with all these tables. Still, beneath the antiseptic odor I catch a scent of stale bread and meatballs. Sniff, sniff, sniff...not much on the floor here except dust bunnies.

Oh, here's Ms. Deb. I like her, she talks dog. There's a bunch of other two-leggeds around too. Sniff, sniff, sniff. Are those treats I smell over there? I can't get over there because there's this leash attached to my neck. Maybe if I pull harder. Darn. I can't. Get. Over. There. Maybe Deb has treats. I think I can reach her.

Wait. What's that? There's a flat thing on the floor!

"YES!" Deb says. Hey, I know what that word means - I'm going to get a treat! Yay! Got any more? I'm still worried about that flat thing over there. I glance over at it and Deb says "YES!" Another treat! Yum, yum, yum.

I wonder what that flat thing is...maybe I should check it out. When I take a step Deb says "YES!" again and I get another treat. I like this game! Now I'm really interested in what that flat thing is, I'm going over there right now. "YES!" Yippee, another treat!

Hey, maybe I should put my paw on it. "YES!" Deb says again, but this time a treat appears right from the flat thing! What the heck? Maybe if I step on it with all my paws...YAHOO! I found the mother lode!

                                                                     

This might not be what a regular puppy is thinking when it learns "mat," but that's what I was thinking when Deb put me on the spot to be her demo-puppy. My acting got more than a few laughs from the Baraga raisers, hopefully our skit gave them some ideas about how to "mark" and reward behaviors while gradually raising criteria.

FLD Axel and his raiser practice loose leash walking after coming in from "parking."

FLD Bear is groomed by his raiser.

FLD Axel and his raiser practice name recognition.

FLD Harper shares the love.

The morning after, part 2

PUPPIES CAN PLAY

Life is not all work for Future Leader Dog puppies, inside or outside. It can be helpful for puppies to burn off energy and learn bite inhibition by playing together. But there are some important rules of play for safety and to help prevent a common reason for career-change later: too dog distracted.

1. Puppies should be well-matched. This can mean puppies of similar size or age, or with temperaments or physical traits that even the playing field.

Chippewa FLDs August and Sammy, while within one week of age, were not close in size when they were younger. Even though Sammy was much bigger, August was faster and more agile, so they made nice playmates.

2. Puppies must be calm before being releasing into play with other puppies.

Puppies must never play together when they are on leash. Working bandanas and/or jackets should be removed. Puppies should be able to sit calmly while the leash is unclipped and wait to be released into play.

3. One puppy should not control the play. Puppies should change positions. For example, one puppy should not always be "on top."

Playing puppies can get very noisy; Labs are especially vocal. When Chippewa raisers were just getting to know FLDs August and Sammy, they were concerned that Sammy's play was inappropriate. In November, when Deb and Tammy and I traveled to Baraga to check out the facility, we took the two pups with us - not only to show them off to the potential raisers in Baraga, but also to evaluate their play behavior.

We let August and Sammy play in our large hotel room in St. Ignace the night before heading to Baraga. As mentioned above, we determined that the two pups actually played quite well with each other.

4. Puppies should not get overly ramped up; they should be able to be called out of play periodically.

It is good practice to call puppies out of play before they get too excited. A reward for "settling" can be a re-release into play.

In that St. Ignace hotel, something interesting developed during puppy play. A much older and larger FLD Harper (who was also with us) started to roughhouse with August. Their energy ramped up. It was clear that Harper was calling the shots. Sammy, who had been pacing around the periphery of the action, plodded calmly into the fray and forced his stocky Lab body between Harper and August.

Sammy - the play police!

PUPPY WRESTLING AT BARAGA

January 10, 2014

Deb demonstrated safe and proper puppy play with the Baraga pups and FLD Jedi. She suspected that Bear's handlers would be apprehensive about letting him loose with Axel and Jedi, both of whom were a bit larger, so she talked the men through releasing Axel and Jedi into play first.

Deb oversees the play of FLDs Jedi and Axel while the inmate raisers observe.

FLDs Axel and Jedi duke it out.

After some play time, and calling away and calming time, Deb had Bear's handlers release him too. Axel and Jedi made a beeline for Bear, almost smothering the tiny guy.

Bear squealed.

Deb reminded me of FLD Sammy as she practically body-blocked Bear's three inmate raisers from coming to his rescue. "Let them work it out," she said confidently.

"I'm shaking here," one of them said.

Before long, Bear got into Jedi's face. He meant business. Jedi backed off and headed for the door. "I'm not really scared of you," said his demeanor, "I just have to pee." An inmate took him outside. Axel took over in his place. Much to everyone's surprise, sweet little Bear growled and shook himself away, stomping off as if to say, "I showed you!"

"You see," Deb said. "Bear had to show Axel that he couldn't be bullied."

The morning after, part 1

Baraga

January 10, 2014

After one night, smiles grew. One inmate cut his hair. This was the time for stories, questions and last minute advice before Deb and Tammy sprung FLDs Jedi and Harper and we headed south.

KEEPING THE PEACE

FLD Bear's team said that the black lab slept quietly all night. FLD Axel did not.

"He was up every two hours," one of Axel's handlers said. The vocal pup wouldn't settle down; other inmates were riled and wanted him to SHUT THE PUPPY UP. "So I got into the crate with him," he said. Axel's lead raiser added, "So we just shut the door on him."

RUM Steve piped up, "Who said our crates were too small?"

Last November, when Deb and Tammy and I toured the Baraga facility, Steve showed us a prototype crate that was constructed and installed in one of the living "pods." FLD Harper tried it out for size. We thought it might need to be a little bigger, especially if they raised a German Shepherd.

It appears we were wrong.

FLD Axel gets a big hug from one of his raisers.