puppies inside

Wednesday, June 4, 2014

Training, take 1

April 10, 2014
Baraga

As promised, pictures!

First Tammy leads the group through the relaxation protocol. She mixes things up by having the puppies do one third of the exercise in SIT, one third in DOWN, and the last third in STAND.

A small black lab puppy is lying on a cement floor facing away from the camera. A man dressed in prison blue uniform is standing on the right side and leaning over to hand the puppy a treat from his right hand. Another man is sitting on a round metal seat attached to a metal lunch table. This man has his elbows on his thighs and is facing to the left. In the background is another man (both of these men are dressed in the prison blue uniforms). The man in the background is holding the leash of a golden retriever puppy, who is sitting on the man's left side. A woman is also in the background, wearing a grey pantsuit and holding a paper. She is facing the third man. On a shelf behind the golden retriever is a big yellow ball.

FLD Copo gets rewarded for holding his DOWN.

With all the puppies standing nicely, Tammy and I lightly distract each one to test "name recognition." Looking back at the handler when he says the puppy's name is one of the In-For-Training (IFT) standards that Leader Dogs for the Blind wants us to work toward with our puppies.

A young black lab puppy is standing next to legs dressed in blue pants. The puppy is wearing the blue Future Leader Dog bandana. The puppy is looking at the camera.

FLD Bear has his eyes on me.

Now the same black lab puppy is looking up toward the person standing next to him. The person is out of view except for his left leg. The puppy has a brown leather leash attached to his collar.

"Bear!" his handler says. Good boy!

A young yellow lab puppy is lying on a cement floor, he is wearing the blue Future Leader Dog bandana with his name Axel embroidered on it. The puppy had a brown leather leash attached to his collar and the leash is just lying on the floor next to him. The puppy is looking up to the left at a person who is standing next to him. Only the lower legs of the person is visibile. The person is wearing blue pants and white tennis shoes.

Good boy Axel!

Tammy then has the group practice sits, downs, and stands "around the world." This means that the pups must respond to each cue no matter what position the handler is in - on the left or the right, in front of the puppy or behind, while standing, sitting, kneeling, you name it.

Sure, maybe your puppy knows how DOWN in heel position...

...but will your puppy respond correctly to the DOWN cue when you have your back turned to him?

A small german shepherd puppy is lying on a painted cement floor, he is facing to the left and his giving a huge yawn, his mouth is open wide and his tongue is curled up o the end. The puppy is wearing a blue Future Leader Dog bandana and has a brown leather leash lying on the floor to the left.

FLD Dax complains that things aren't as they usually are...and lies down anyway!

Time to get moving around. Well, "around" at a left-hinged door. We teach our puppies to move from the normal heel position on our left side around our back to our right side whenever we pass through a door that is hinged on the left side. This protects the dog from getting slammed by the door. We walk through the door as a "unit." After a few paces safely past the doorway we have the puppy move around behind us again to return to heel position.

This is two photos in one. On the left, a man wearing a blue and orange striped jacket and the blue prison pants is reaching down with his left hand to a yellow lab puppy. The puppy is sitting with his back to the camera. The man is holding the puppy's brown leather leash in his left hand. In the photo on the right, the same man is approaching a door that has the handle on the right side, the man is just turning the handle. He is holding the leash in his right hand and the yellow lab puppy is walking around the man's back to his right side. The puppy is peering around the man's leg toward the door.

Steve gives FLD Axel a pep-talk and heads for the door. Nice around!

This is also two picture in one. On the left side, an african american man is walking away from the camera toward the same door. He is wearing the blue prison uniform and holding a brown leash in his left hand. The man is looking down at the black lab puppy that is walking next to his left leg. The leash is hanging very nicely loose. In the photo on the right side the man is passing the leash from his left hand to his right hand behind his back while the puppy is moving around to his right side.

FLD Bear keeps a nice loose leash as P walks toward the door. There is some technique to cleanly passing the leash from left to right!

We're not finished yet....

Something good, something to work on

April 10, 2014

Baraga

Puppy counselor Tammy starts our session by asking, "Tell us something good about your puppy and then what you've struggled with and need to work harder on."

Many of the team members said their puppies were quick learners, but there wasn't much talk about "my puppy sits so fast or comes whenever I call him." No. Instead, the guys eagerly shared how the puppies have improved morale. "Everybody smiles and says 'hi' to the pup," one said.

The men reported positive changes in themselves.

Problems? "They were the usual ones," Tammy said.

FLD Bear's raisers said that meet & greets, especially with women, were difficult for the young lab. We reminded the guys that emotions travel down the leash. Last month by the end of our meet & greet exercise, Bear stayed calm even when I approached him like an over excited stranger. "Perhaps you are getting too excited when women are around," I suggested. The room erupted with laughter.

FLD Copo's raisers said that other dogs are a hard-to-resist distraction. "Last month that was Axel's problem, remember?" Tammy said. We talk about proper puppy play and limiting interaction.

A yellow lab puppy is sitting on a brown carpet mat between the knees of a man who is squatting down behind him. The man is wearing an orange long sleeved t-shirt and blue prison pants with an orange stripe. He is touching the puppy's head with his left hand and his right arm is resting across his right knee. He is looking at the puppy. A second man is sitting on a stool attached to an octogon shaped table. He is also wearing the prison blue uniform. He is african american and is wearing glasses. HIs right forearm is resting on the table and he is reaching behind his left leg with his left hand.

A thoughtful Beno and Mondo with FLD Axel.

A closeup shot of a man bending over a black lab puppy. The lab is lying on a brown carpet mat. The man is cradling the lab's head in his hands and pulling the pup's face toward his. The puppy's eyes are closed. The man is wearing a dar blue fleece jacket and the prison blue pants with an orange stripe and white tennis shoes. The man is looking intently at the puppy.

Ricky and FLD Bear - can you feel the love?

The rest of our training session to come...in pictures.

Monday, June 2, 2014

Hotel time with the Golden boys

April 9/10, 2014

Baraga

We arrived at the welcoming Baraga Lakeside Inn after 10 p.m. Both Drummond and Bravo were shy to "park." They were not interested in anything except each other, so Tammy took Drummond around one side of the building and I retreated with Bravo.

Success! (Only a puppy raiser can fully understand this achievement.)

The two boys played in the room for a bit. Without being told they settled. I was surprised they didn't curl up together. Drummond headed for the corner next to where Tammy was checking emails on her laptop and Bravo stretched out at my feet.

A close up shot at floor level of a golden retriever sleeping on the floor. The golden has his chin between his front paws and is facing the camera. The carpet is teal blue and to the right of hte dog's head is a multi-colored bedspread.

FLD Bravo calls it a night. (Check out his nice short nails!)

At 4 a.m. I was awakened by the sound of panting and whining. Unable to tell from which soft-sided crate the rustle came, I decided to "park" myself before heading outside. By the time I was done all was quiet so I crawled back into bed. I got to sleep for almost another two hours. We were due at the prison at 8:30, but it is always amazing how much time we need in the morning. Parking puppies, feeding them, parking them again, packing, and grabbing a bite to eat ourselves.

When it was time to load up, I took FLD Bravo out to the Leader Dogs for the Blind van to work with getting him into the airline crate staged in the back. The day before he had balked at the jump. I wanted to give him a chance to figure out that it was okay.

FLD Bravo placed his front paws on the bumper and leaned into the crate for a sniff. As he backed out his puppy tag caught on the wire door. He startled and jumped away. The crate followed. I made a quick body check to stop it and Bravo was unscathed.

There was no getting him into it now. FLD Bravo sat at my feet for the short drive to the Baraga Correctional Facility.

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Disclaimer: Stuff happens. We managed the situation upon leaving Baraga by having Bravo get into the crate while it was sitting on the ground outside the van. Which he readily did. RUM Steve and inmate-raiser Steve lifted the crate into the van with Bravo in it. During our next day's session at Chippewa, we brought the crate inside and Bravo's raisers did some fine work helping him get comfortable.

A golden retriever is looking out from inside of a plastic airline dog crate as it is being lifted into the back of a white van by twon men. The man on the left is wearing glasses and a black pea coat and kahki pants. The man on the right is wearing a prison blue jacket and pants with orange stripes. A woman dressed in a blue hoodie, green t-shirt and blue jeans is standing to the left of the two men, holding the left van door open. It is a sunny day.

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.