Public picture!

Thanks to Teresa, she caught us in a picture at the mall, we forgot the camera.

Going into public!

Last night was a little different night, Joe had a really stuffy nose and was pretty low key, it was amazing how May just kind of read that and was very low key with him.  Put her head on his lap spontaneously several times and just cuddled.

Joe was pretty tired and wasn't sure he wanted to go to school today, but decided at the last minute he'd better go.

 

Wow! Another full day of learning.  Although some of the morning was a review it was new to the fact that we used the training collar (more like a chain) rather than the gentle leader. We did lots of heel, sit, down, distraction work.  Our new task today was preparing to go into public.  May got to do the demonstration with Trainer Jessa.  Jessa pretended to be walking through the mall and Trainer Jeremy walked past with a shopping bag full of Puperoni, May's favorite treat, May was awesome, she just kept walking.

And of course she does get rewarded for doing exactly what is expected of her!  Way to go May, you rocked it.  Lunch break, we did get her outside to run before our next task.

So, off to the Mall we go, in the sleet and snow and slush, they sent us off prepared, paper towels and bags just in case of an accident and told us to meet at Door "D" for Dog, which goes right into the food court, ok game on May.  We walked on heel straight through the food court to our meeting place, May was incredible.  May is very high energy if I have already said that, so she tends to rush her pace in a heel, so I did lots of working on correcting that in the mall, so she stays right on my left side and keeps pace with me.  She was awesome and even only needed one correction when a person in the Mall came up and started petting her. She loves people and wiggles all over the place when someone approaches her but she always stays in her command, although from a sit, because of the slippery floor she often slides to a "down" position and they said that is ok.  So we walked through a store right by the down coats which can send a hunting dog crazy and May did a "down" perfectly and let me move around the clothing as she stayed in her command. Then we took her on the glass elevator, she got a little nervous and kind of crawled into a down, we rewarded her through the ride and she was great.  We then tried the stairs on a heel and she was great, stayed right by my side the entire time, she rushed just a bit when we got to the top to get her treat, so we tried it again stopping half way and giving a treat and stopping one step to the top giving a treat, and then no treat at the top and she was perfect.  And then back through the food court to head back to the hotel. She didn't leave a heel and walked by ever thing and everyone and didn't even sniff at the food. 

Back at the hotel, Joe and May a little snuggle time, I think they are both wore out today. Public appearances I think are pretty exhausting for May to stay on task but she is great.

 We have discovered May does not like to be hot, as soon as we left the Mall, I tried to get her to go potty and all she did was roll her nose in the snow.  We got back to the hotel and she did the same thing, so no problem with our Minnesota snow, she loves it!  We do go to class on Saturday and Sunday, so watch for more details, no break for us, but we are finding out there is so much to learn.

We did ask Jeremy the lead trainer about using her "bark" command for matches and lighters and he said absolutely, they just couldn't do that because of liability.  So he said when we get home just to have her smell matches and a lighter, and give her the command, practice it several times, take a break do it again, and repeat over several days spreading out time in between tries and she should have it in 2-3 weeks.

I also want to add that we are staying at Homewood Suites in Fairborn, just 15 minutes from 4 Paws, and they are amazing.  We have a suite keeper who leaves us notes everyday, and every so often folds towels and Joe's blanket into animal shapes, hearts, etc. he loves that.  They have hot breakfast every morning, and dinner on Mon-Thurs night which is so nice not to have to come back and think about cooking, and they love it when we bring May down to eat with us, although she just tucks herself under the table and watches!  We pack a lunch to take with us to school at 4 Paws, our room has a nice kitchen area with refrigerator and microwave and cooktop too.  There is a Walmart and a Miejer's very close by to stock up on lunch fix'ins.   So being Friday and kind of yucky weather, of course this would be nothing in Minnesota, but they closed schools and other activities here, so it's quiet, but I think we will order in pizza for tonight, and let Joe and May enjoy their snuggle time!

Service Dog Identification

Day 4  Good morning boy!  Our first night at the hotel together and May was wonderful, she started on Joe's bed but got to hot and preferred her kennel, but she slept without a peep!

 Just a little more play time before we get ready to go back to school for another day!

 The morning at school Jeremy the trainer was answering everyones questions, I think May just got bored and decided on a nap, Joe was off playing with some of his new found friends.

 Work time, I put May in a "Down" and all of us people just walked around and around, and May didn't move.  She's amazing us.  So smart, I'm the one who needs to remember everything she can do.

 Now we left the room and May stays in the down position, Jeremy the trainer was in the room, but he even left and all the dogs stayed in their "Down" command. Incredible I know but it really did happen.

 Now we came back and practiced stepping over each others dogs, partly a distraction and also a safety piece the dogs practice and know.

 Oh, a wonderful command to do with my boy "Lap" and I put my head in his lap and he pets me, it's so calming for both of us.  May will actually do this command with anyone, even if your sitting on the coach or in a chair you can give the command and she will do it. Sometimes she does it on her own...for attention. She's so smart!

 May loves the "lap" of her boy, oh how calm they both are.

 May just had to sneak in some play time during class when she got bored again she army crawled over by Caesar for some play time.

We also learned how to command May to bark, most of the dogs in our class are trained to bark for seizures in children, May was taught to bark on command and we can use it for whatever we'd like, we will use this for matches and lighters, although they said she will probably bark whenever anyone has one, she may or may not differentiate that Joe is the only one to not have it, so we just have to tell her ok once she barks. 

The other big exciting thing today was we got our harness/vest for May.  This will be her identification and although it is not a law that Service Dogs wear identification it is 4 Paws for Ability requirement.  This will help us avoid any confrontational issues in public.  May's harness/vest has a pocket for our identification cards that we receive on the last day of training. We decided to get both a tethering vest and a tethering harness, the vest will be used most of the time in public, the harness is when we are going to very crowded places or places where Joe may not listen and offer resistance May will pull him to get him moving, and or if Joe wonders in another direction May will keep in close by being tethered.  Tethered is when Joe wears a belt and May will be attached to his belt, Joe also has a separate leash he can hold, different from ours and place on the vest, ours will be hooked to her gentle lead or her training collar so we will be the commander in charge or May's controller at that time.

Tomorrow afternoon will be our first public visit, we are going to the Mall to transfer everything we have learned to the community.  We have already been able to take May down to the lobby for breakfast and dinner, so I'm feeling pretty comfortable, she obeys all commands and did an "under" the table perfectly.  She is so amazing, it's me that has to remember everything she knows, if I say the wrong word she gets all confused, yet she does whatever I tell her...but I'm the one who has to say the right word.

Different Dogs have different personalities!

Day 3 we learned about how different dogs have different personalities, and it effects how you praise your dog.  Some dogs that are more energetic are often more self-motivated.  As such they need less enthusiastic praise when they complete a task.  This is our May.  She if full of endless energy and responds very easily to a calm even a quiet voice, it does not take much to make her happy, she wants to please us as she loves her treats (which are mostly just her food).  When she is happy she wags her tail and her mouth is open, she is happy most of the time.

Today we practiced distractions.  Each service dog is different and unique and fine some things more motivating, and as such more distracting than others.  May is very motivated and can become distracted by tennis balls or any ball type toy.  Other things that can be distracting include food, toys, other dogs/animals and people.  We practiced distractions in both a sit and down command, trainers threw treats on the floor, rolled tennis balls on the floor, other dogs were let loose in the room, and believe it or not May stayed in her sit or down command the whole entire time!  See us practicing below.

The next command we worked on was Jump.  We practiced having May jump onto a platform, this was in preparation to bring her home, so we give a command to jump into our vehicle, or jump on the bed.  We can also give the command Off to get out of the vehicle or off other things we do not want her on. 

Then we worked on the command under.  To place May under a table when we are in a public.  It's just from a Heel, you point under the table and command Under.  She immediately goes under the table turns around to face us and goes to a down position without another command.

Believe it or not as much energy as May has today was the first day she fell asleep in class for a few minutes... not long but she did, see below.

We also received a Mutt Matt today, this is May's Place.  Place is a command used to tell May to go stay on the Matt.  We just say the command and the first few times we may need to point or walk her to the Matt and then she will just go there on command.  She can move around anywhere on her mat just like being in a kennel with no walls.  It's amazing how well she does all of these things.

Below are pictures of May and Joe bonding while we were given instructions for taking our dogs back to the hotel for the first night.

Here's a picture Joe took of her on the way back to the hotel.

Right now Joe and May are running around the Motel room...good thing it's a suite. Joe fed her supper and they are playing together like they have been together forever already.  May follows Joe everywhere, jumps up on the bed with him, and constantly watches where he is, she truly is an amazing dog, high energy and all, she still know exactly what she is suppose to do. We have also started "marking" behaviors that we want May to disrupt.  The marking process helps her identify exactly what we want to stop or change. She is catching on so fast.  Long day, and it's time to take May outside for a walk, while Joe goes swimming, they both need to burn off some energy.

Day 2 Bonding and more commands

Today was a day of bonding and learning more commands.  Bonding is a process which begins during the placement training process and continues throughout your service dogs life.  It is very important that Joe and May's interactions be positive with benefits for each, they should enjoy spending time together.  It only being day 2 this is evident already, May sees Joe and gets excited, they are drawn to each other and May even puts up with Joe teasing her, but they love to play together, especially ball.

We also learned today the steps to "Mark" Joe's behaviors, so that May will start to identify them.  She has been trained to disrupt behaviors as much as we described and were in the videos we sent, but know she needs to learn them with Joe.  So as soon as Joe starts a behavior we go to him and at the same time give May a treat, so that she starts to recognize the behavior that she will be rewarded for.

We worked on reinforcing Sit and Down commands this time by walking in circles around them while they remain in the commanded position.  When giving May a correction we just give her led a quick snap and say "No" and repeat the desired command, no treat is given.  Treats are reserved for when May listens correctly the first time.

We learned Heel today, when prompted May is trained to Heel on your left side.  Heel is a position to be in: the area between the collar and ears in line with your leg with 18" between you and May.  When moving May will change her pace to coincide with yours, when you stop May is trained to automatically go to a sit position.  NO means that whatever you dog is doing at that time is unacceptable.  For example, if May jumped on a person while greeting them: use the command NO, because jumping on a person is never acceptable.  

 

 

 

 

                       Joe practices the sit command with May, she listens very well to all 3 of us!

                                 May watches Joe constantly and loves her treats...which are really just dog food.

                                       Joe frees May to walk around.

                           May puts up with Joe teasing her with a treat, what great bonding they are creating.
      Below, May seems to be saying he gave me the treat!

 We also learned 3 tricks that May can do today. Here Joe is practicing High Five, May also knows how to shake and Give Five...she is so smart and accepts the command from all of us!

We also brought back a kennel and food and bowls to our room tonight...tomorrow May comes with us, it will be another very exciting day.

A Boy and his dog meet!

Today a boy and his dog meet for the first time.  What a match made in heaven.  May is full of as much energy as Joe is!  How they made such a perfect match I'll never know.  So today we got background information on our dogs, May is from one of 4 Paws breeding programs. She did most of her basic training at a near by college, that's what makes her so smart. To begin we learned about equipment we will use with our dog.  The leash is a Leather Double handle leash, she has a training collar, and a Gentle leader.  We will be introduced to her harness in a few days.  Treats are a huge thing, we use treats to reward behaviors that you like and want to see more of.  It might even be a behavior that Joe develops with May and we are to reward it as long it does not hurt May.  So for example when Joe plays with her ears we reward her for allowing her to do this so she knows it is an ok behavior.  The treats are the size of a "pea" small enough to eat quickly and not too big that the dog takes several minutes to eat...so guess what we need to do, yep we have to take all the Pupperoni sticks and pinch them into a bout 30 pieces.  Then we began learning and practicing some basic commands.  When giving a command there is not reason to raise your voice, just use a matter of fact tone.  Praise tone should sound happy and excited. We learned basic obedience today, Sit, on command whether they are at your side, in front or behind you or across the room.  The are expected to stay in a sit until you release them with the command FREE.  Down is prompted by using your pointer finger indicating down, again she will stay in a down position until you FREE her.  Stay, there is no verbal command, as this is implied for each command until she is released.  This is truly amazing  May did this easily for me and Denny and even for Joe. 

Joe and May meet for the first time, they were both so excited and began bonding immediately.

   

                                May loves to kiss even from her kennel...good morning boy!

                             We have been marked as the "Howliday Class 2013"

                                            Just strolling around the room, getting used to a leash.

                                     They both can calm down after some work.

The end of the day was play time...tennis balls...May goes crazy and Joe loved it, they will be the best of pals outside together!!

It was a long first day, Joe got a little frustrated at times but held it together pretty well.  He's now in the swimming pool with Dad, letting go of some bottle energy.  As Jeremy our trainer said today is kind of like "Christmas" for our dogs, they are so excited to meet their kids and all the people they are a bit crazy too, so I have to say it really did feel like Christmas, the excited of the day we waited so long for, the families and kids to meet and our dogs to meet, and now the exhaustion of "Christmas" the day being over.  I'm sure we will all sleep well tonight.  May will not come back to the hotel with us until Wednesday night which will be another experience.  One last thing I just have to brag to all our family and friends in MN...notice Joe is in short sleeves outside, it was 59 degrees here this afternoon!!

 

The long road to Ohio...

Oh my what a day.  We left Hutchinson at 3:40am and with about 4 short stops we arrived in Xenia, Ohio at 6:30pm....7:30pm eastern time, yep a time change too...it took way longer than we thought we ran into what we are guessing as Holiday traffic and road construction almost all the way through Indiana, it was crazy.
Joe of course loved the toll roads through Illinois, he thought is was pretty fun...and he was counting how much how it cost at each stop. I'll post some pictures tomorrow, but Joe wanted to get in the pool and I went to get some supper, and it's dark anyway so pictures are not the greatest.  We are all excited to meet May tomorrow morning, I'll post tomorrow night how the meeting goes...got to go Joe's kind of bouncy right now and I have to get him settled down to get some sleep.