14 Months: Training - Days 215 - 218

Emma at 14 weeks of age.

Tuesday

Emma came into my life when she was 14 weeks old.  She was a bit shell shocked and frightened the first night.  She didn't know me or my son and she certainly didn't know the dogs in the house.  She was starting a journey she didn't understand and it took the first few days she was with me before she even felt safe enough to take food from my hand.

Emma is still shy and easily withdraws when stressed.  She's required gentle care and confidence building to get her where she is.  The last time I started to see a bit of shyness manifest into minor fear reactions I didn't take heed of her gentle nature and special need for care and accidentally pushed her too far to fast and she shutdown on me.  It was at the top of her fear period and we spent months rebuilding from that point - I was not about to let that happen to her again.

When I saw those beginning signs again last week, recognized I was part of the problem with my frustration levels too high and her triggering off of my holding my breath, I took the end of the week off and just gave her the attention and affection she needed to recover her confidence.  So, when she arrived excited and happy to return to my home I was happy for the effort I put in keeping her mood up.

We had a great start on our morning with training for Left and Right and working mat behaviors with the other dogs.  She ate well and was in a happy and confident mood.  It was fantastic to see.  When I let her and Jack out to play and run off some energy I wasn't expecting our day to end with a visit to the vet.

She went racing at 110 miles an hour along the length of the property, went to run around the end of my house like she's done a thousand times and lost her footing.  I didn't see her, but I heard her hit.  I was standing on my porch when I heard the impact followed by a scream.  It wasn't a yowl, howl or yelp, but a scream of pain.

By the time I came down the ramp Jack was slowly escorting her around the front of the house and she was hobbling with the leg she'd injured previously and looking like her world had ended.  I felt sick.

I rubbed her leg out and asked her to walk.  She put her foot down, but didn't bear weight on it and then she limped away.  My sick went to fear she'd re-injured her leg.  I called the vet and confirmed they wanted her in that night and packed her up after a call to her owner.

It turns out it wasn't a tear, break or dislocation, but a serious strain.  When I got her home, on medication for the strain, I massaged out her back and hip.  She was clearly swollen from the ribs to the knee.  Poor baby.

But the strain also meant she was to be restricted on her activity.  I had to leash relieve her and not let her run through the yard for the rest of the week.  I feared that with just getting her confidence built up we'd loose it again with forced inactivity.

What I didn't expect was her having forgotten all of her leash relieving skills.  She refused to potty on leash the rest of that day and ended up peeing on (yes, on) my power chair during the night.  Emma is one of those female dogs who raises her leg to pee on things - I've seen her do it on my fence and on plants when she's marking behind the boy dogs.  I keep telling people she's been at a disadvantage being the only girl dog in the family since April - she started lifting her leg during the summer after Attitude died.

I know it was her by two factors - the pee hit higher than Dieter can ever imagine to aim and was lower than Max aims - Malcolm is not peeing on things yet and is crated at night.  There was more pee than Dieter produces and the wrong color and less than Max produces.

Wednesday

Emma at 5 months of age.

She held out on peeing on leash until noon.  After that she did both jobs without hesitation.  She was convinced she'd wear me down and let her off lead, but learned I am more than willing to take her out every 30 minutes until she pees and/or poops.

As the day progressed she became more excitable, which is a fallback to restricted activity.  She tried a few times to start a game in the house, but quickly stopped when I said her name and came to me for a massage instead.

We worked on her Left and Right skills again and mat behavior with the other dogs.  She's enjoying this type of training and getting very good at it.  I had to do some research to find a better way to train the behavior, but she's getting it slowly.

I did a lot of emotional support with her to keep her mood up.  I didn't want this injury to set her back emotionally and massages and reassurance she was doing good by being quiet helped her.  She was in a good mood most of the day, though she was getting more and more wound up without being able to release her energy.  She's a high energy dog, though she can and does settle nicely in the house, she needs time to just run off the energy she builds up to be in balance.

One thing that has been a consistent problem with her is her jumping.  She gets excited about anything and she's bouncing off the walls like she's eaten a pound of sugar.  Touching her personnel leash from her home sends her into spasms of excitement.  Each time I seem to defuse it we loose ground and she is back at zero with her leash.  This week I was using her leash to take her out and simply would pick it up and sit and watch TV until she was past jumping, past spasms of excitement and past vibrating in place trying to keep her butt on the floor.  The first time it took fifteen minutes.

We spent a majority of the day on calm getting her leash on, calm going to the door, calm going out the door, calm going to the grass to pee, calm coming into the house and calm once off leash in the house.  It's a hard lesson she's been working on all her life.  A high pitched voice, directly looking in her eye, or even a new person sends her into bouts of jumping and barking with excitement.  It's a major issue for Emma.

I was very tired by the end of the day waiting for Emma to calm enough to take her outside and potty her, running Malcolm out every 20 to 40 minutes when he asked out and taking Jack out.  I was also in extreme pain by dinner time for the dogs and Emma was more than ready to rough house if I took my concentration off of her and Malcolm.  It's busy here during the week.

Thursday

Emma at 9 months of age.

Emma moved from 15 minutes to 10 minutes before she could calm enough to be taken out the first time in the morning.  No pee in the house, since she was once again emptying her bladder before bed, but she was even easier to hype up than the day before.  Poor girl is full of energy and no outlet.

We worked again on Left and Right - the beginning of her being directed to pick up something for her handler when he cues her.  She understood the lesson better this time, but was so excited about training her head looked like it was on a swivel.  I spent more time waiting for her to look at me than I did getting her to indicate the hand I wanted her too.

She was willing to engage the training and not showing fear signs, so I was managing to keep her mood up with the regular massages and lots of reassurance she was okay.  She was playful, her head up, her tail up and her body tall.  It was good to see that confident girl back after the week of slinking around my house just before this one.

Walter came over to do my floors in the afternoon.  Emma has learned that Walter will not pay attention to her until she's sitting and she immediately planted beside him vibrating like a toy when I told him we were working on the next level of calm.  Max greets Walter by turning sideways and leaning on him with his head down, but not so over the threshold of excitement he is out of control - it's a good greeting.  Emma needs to learn to greet in a nice soft body and then leave the guest alone - so I asked Walter to ignore her until she was calm.  I love my son, he did just that.

Poor Emma nearly exploded moving and sitting beside him vibrating in place for almost 30 minutes before she gave up and went into her normal calm behavior in the house.  He then gave her attention and when she wound into the ceiling again, he withdrew attention until she calmed.  This time it took only 5 minutes.  Much better.

She is okay with the vacuum and steamer, but also checked in with me off and on when she was a bit worried about it.  With a pat on the ribs and reassurance she was safe she went and watched Walter do the floors.

I had to go to a job interview in the afternoon and Walter watched the dogs.  I had informed him of her injuring herself and the need to take her out on lead.  What I forgot to do was inform Ronda, who knew of the interview, that Walter would be there and the dogs would not be crated when she arrived to get Jack.  She let herself in and accidentally let Emma loose.  Thankfully she did not set her recovery back, both Walter and Ronda rounded her up after a couple of round around the house.

Friday

Emma at 13 months of age.

Emma was in a fantastic mood on Friday.  She was down to 5 minutes before calming enough to be leashed and walking out of house and was walking nicely by my side and promptly doing her business.  Nice job.

She was ready for her "think on this" lesson for the weekend, so I introduced to her the idea of taking her bowl in her mouth.  We started with a bit of target and waited for her to offer mouthing it.  I didn't care if she took it and held it, I just wanted her to think that she could maybe pick up her bowl herself.  I'll revisit the idea during next week and see if I can't get her to pick up and hand me her bowl when she's done eating.

By the end of the day were were down to 2 minutes before calming enough to leash her and walking without launching out of the door.  I went out the gate with her to check the mail and she immediately put her nose to the ground.  I just shorted the leash so her nose couldn't reach and waited for her to bring her attention back to me before taking her back in the yard.  It worked and I will suggest that to her owner, who struggles on Monday's when delivering her to the house with her sniffing and lack of focus.  Her owner struggles with this weekly and I had to think of how to explain to her what to do without frustrating both her and the dog.  I think this will work best for both.

Near the end of the day she was pinging off of my bladder when I touched her leash.  We had gotten so good with the leash and she escalated.  I wasn't surprised, so I just wrapped her leash over my neck and wore it for the last hour and half she was with me.  When I saw the caretaker pull up outside I just clipped it on her and walked her out.

That was when she lost it.  The caretaker is fantastic about waiting quietly at the base of the ramp for Emma and giving me time to work her calmly to her.  Emma on the other hand, due to the shadows and it being nearly dark, was in bark and escalate mode and it took a bit to calm her down.  I did a lot of laps with her before she got to the caretaker and I could pass her off.

I need to think of a better way of explaining calm greeting behaviors with people with Emma.  Off to research some more!

Emma is progressing nicely but I want to take it slowly when doing her final public access training.  Until now she's been on more of a socialization run when out in public, but now she's ready to begin working in public and practicing her skills as she has them.  This needs to be taken slow with her because of her soft nature and tenancy to become fearful and shutdown when she's uncertain of her role.  I need to define her role clearly and build her confidence and lower her excitability when working in public to build her into a solid public access dog.

Next week will be pet friendly only locations so our expectations can be lower without her appearing untrained when learning her role as a public access dog working with a wheelchair.  I want to start with one or two outings a week and work up to daily outings by the time she graduates.  This slow build up to more outings and longer periods out in public should give her the foundation introduction to public access work will keep her from becoming overwhelmed and allow her to process and learn instead of being flooded.

We'll finish up polishing her basic skills in public and her retrieve skills before adding many more tasks.  Once she can take direction by body or eye movement and she can do a full wheelchair retrieve I'll build on it to give her a wide range of retrieve skills and then build her other basic task skills for helping her handler.  This is an exciting time for Emma.


Level 1

	Zen	Target	Come	Sit	Down
Step	Completed	Completed	Completed	Completed	Completed

Level 2

	Zen	Come	Sit	Down	Target
Step	Completed	Completed	Completed	Completed	Completed
	Focus	Lazy Leash	Go To Mat	Crate	Distance
Step	3	Completed	2	Completed	2
	Jump	Relax	Handling	Tricks	Communication
Step	1	3	Completed	Completed	Completed

Level 3

	Zen	Come	Sit	Down	Target
Step	3	Completed	2	1	1
	Focus	Lazy Leash	Go To Mat	Crate	Distance
Step	0	Completed	0	4	0
	Jump	Relax	Handling	Retrieve	Communication
Step	Completed	2	Completed	Completed	1

Level 4

	Zen	Come	Retrieve	Target	Relax
Step	Completed	0	Completed	0	0
	Focus	Lazy Leash	Go To Mat	Crate	Distance
Step	0	Completed	0	5	0
	Handling	Communication
Step	Completed	0

11 Months: Training - Day 171

Emma is learning working position when walking.

Back feet.  You would think if you had four feet you would be aware you have them, but apparently that was not part of the design of a dog.  Though their feet follow them, they are, for the most part, totally clueless they own back feet.  The funniest moment when training a dog is the moment they look back at those two follow alongs and realize they are there in the first place.  That happened today with Emma.

I am working on the next step of her leash work, which is full wheelchair skills, and thus am working on her knowing she had back feet.  It is important for a dog working with a wheelchair to realize they can pivot with it, can back up with it and can keep all four feet out of danger of the wheels.  To do this I am working with my desk chair and playing "Find My Face" and clicking for any back foot movement and then finally only for side to side back foot movement.  Right now I don't care it is right or left.  I don't care if she swings into position on my Heel or Side, what I do care is she can and will move her back end independent of her front end and thus be able to turn with a chair.

The trick is to convince Emma that finding my face is the goal of the game.  I managed that with letting her do all kinds of wiggles and woggles and spins and what not and every time she looked up into my face I clicked and then every time she was in some form alignment with my body and facing me I clicked.  It didn't take long; I could turn 180 degrees and she'd walk around and look up.  No speed, no excitement yet - just that testing mode of "is this right" in her body language.  A few more of these games and she'll know the game and come into it with confidence.

I then started clicking her back feet as she aligned with me (yes, that was the reason for the alignment) and then I clicked for sideways movement of her feet.  That's when it happened.  She turned and looked at her back foot and then looked at me.  Yep, little one, that is it.  I am clicking for THOSE feet moving.  It was both an Aha moment and a "where did those come from" moment.

We'll keep working on her pivoting with me, which is the most important part of wheelchair safety I can teach her and then transfer the lessons to the wheelchair in the house and then take it out on the road once I am comfortable with her working beside the chair and turning nicely with it.

I do not like Emma's leash personally.  I never have.  It's too wide and too long for my liking and I tend to put it aside when she arrives and use Max's old working leash.  I love that leash.  I used that leash for four years of our partnership and feel comfortable with that leash.  It's nothing special - just a straight six foot leather leash that is half an inch in width.  At first I thought I was just upset with the width of Emma's leash, but I also do not like Jack's leash.  It is narrow, like Max's, but far too long.  There is something to be said about a six foot leash.

I only need to loop Max's leash once to have it at the right length for Emma and I when walking.  It is the right width to hold comfortably for hours on end.  The leather makes it nice on the hands too.  A cloth leash, like Emma's and Jack's, over time make my hands feel dry and chafed, but Max's leash I could hold for an entire day and not feel that way.  The final advantage of Max's leash over the other two is when the dog does jerk the leash it doesn't tear or burn my hand.

I tell all my clients in my lecture that basic gear for a working dog is a six foot leash, flat collar and current tags at a minimum.  Emma's leash is at least 7 feet if not 8 feet in length and is simply too long for working a service dog.

Today I filmed Emma and I working in front of my home.  I worked on leash manners and did a bit of the circling I was talking about.  I also worked with both Max's leash and her leash.  You'll note that I need to wrap a great deal more of her leash up to work with her and keep her from tripping over it than I do his leash.

I want to explain what you are seeing in the video.  In this video I want Emma to remain by my left side as she works with me.  I want her to not pull forward more than her shoulder and not so far out that she's more than a foot away from my side.  When she lags I am not stopping, it is her job to keep up and pay attention to me and she's now old enough to take over that job.  If she lags I keep going and make her come with me without jerking or correcting her more than her hitting the end of the lead.  She is not to sniff the ground while we are walking.  Pulling to far forward or to far to the side will result in my turning sharply and walking a few steps the direction I was going and then circling back and going forward again - if she pulls too far forward again I rinse and repeat.  Sniffing the ground gets the same result.  Lagging means I keep going and if she hits the end of the lead so be it, she'll learn to pay attention.

You'll see that at first she was very excited and we did a lot of circles - we had not focal point this time, but that is okay.  This is a demo on the technique and not an actual exercise on a focal point.  She'll be doing that this weekend.  As she realized the rules still apply from last night she settled in and we started to work as a team. I am not talking to her for a reason - she needs to think and problem solve the problem; my talking will break her ability to do that.  I am removing treats as she improves on the straight and narrow, but adding them as we weave and do figure eights (she needs a ton of these too....just over and over and over until she can turn both directions fluidly with people) and as she improves on them the treats fade.  We are eventually fading treats for walking and sitting and doing downs - it's happening.  She's about to begin using these skills in real life.  During an actual training session a few treats for a very good turn and a very good, in alignment, sit and quality walking next to you is important.  She needs only good, top quality, performances rewarded once she knows the rules.  If she is struggling add more treats, if she isn't start fading them.

I am giving treats for calm behavior when cars pass - the same for people, dogs, cats and whatever she encounters.  I also set her up for it by clicking when she looks and rewarding when she looks back.  I have her sit or stand by me and I am watching her to ensure I am rewarding what I want.  This too is important.  Over time she'll have those treats faded and will be just working at your side like she'd done it all her life.

Until then, she needs practice.  This weekend and every weekend from now on she needs to be taken out and walked toward an exciting focal point.  Family is very exciting and working in silence and working this way until she can approach and pass her humans or approach and greet her humans is important.  Think of other things that excite her and work to walk her calmly to them.  Start far enough back she can work with you - 20, 30, 40 feet if need be until she can walk the distance and succeed at the goal.

It won't be long before she can and will be able to walk to people she loves and anywhere calmly.  The below video is boring, but shows me working with Emma in the moment.  Note that I do a lot of direction changes to keep her attention - when her tail goes still it does not mean she is unhappy, but focused.  When she goes into "work mode" she holds her head and tail like that and it barely moves - she's focused when that happens.  Note, once it did, she was working smoothly with me.  That is the goal we are working towards - working smoothly together.

Level 1

	Zen	Target	Come	Sit	Down
Step	Completed	Completed	Completed	Completed	Completed

Level 2

	Zen	Come	Sit	Down	Target
Step	Completed	Completed	Completed	Completed	Completed
	Focus	Lazy Leash	Go To Mat	Crate	Distance
Step	3	Completed	2	1	2
	Jump	Relax	Handling	Tricks	Communication
Step	1	1	Completed	Completed	1

Level 3

	Zen	Come	Sit	Down	Target
Step	3	2	0	0	1
	Focus	Lazy Leash	Go To Mat	Crate	Distance
Step	0	Completed	0	0	0
	Jump	Relax	Handling	Retrieve	Communication
Step	0	0	0	Completed	0

Level 4

	Zen	Come	Retrieve	Target	Relax
Step	0	0	4	0	0
	Focus	Lazy Leash	Go To Mat	Crate	Distance
Step	0	Completed	0	0	0
	Handling	Communication
Step	0	0

11 Months: Training - Day 169

No, I don't expect her to watch my every step, but I do expect
her to be aware of her leash and me and be calm when
walking with me or anyone.

Emma did not remember her calm behavior over the weekend.  I am uncertain what the break is between home and here, but there is one and I need to figure out what it is and build it up some more.  I have already asked that they not attach her leash unless she is sitting and not jumping around, building on calm behavior will take time (I am now waiting until she's not hyper vibrating, but in a slow rumble of vibration before I attach the leash) and that they pick up and carry the leash around and set it down, ignoring her bouncing excitement whenever they do.  Basically, I am asking that the charge in the leash (leashes mean good things happen in Emma's mind) is removed and it's just another object we pick up.

I have asked that they work on calmly getting to point A to point B and that they ask for calm when dealing with her.  I do know I speak with a lower pitch in my voice with less animation to keep her calm than they do and I am less animated when I am working with her.  C, her owner, is a very animated person and for Emma its like biofeedback when dealing with that level of animation.  I suspect it's time we start planning on a visit once or twice a month in their home to watch how they are working with her and communicating in both verbal and body language to help them keep her calm until Emma has developed her own internal self control.

Whatever it is, Emma was back at square one, which makes each week a repeat of the week before with little forward progress.  I was to the point of touching her leash last week and not getting more than a four on the floor body wave as she followed me about the house while I carried it.  Tuesday I touched the leash and she went into bucking, rearing and barking fits of excitement while she bounced off of my bladder again - which for me is extremely painful and I suspect for her handler, B, such bouncing, even as light as she does it, is painful also.  My goal is to have a dog who can work with a fragile and highly disabled handler without causing him pain or fear and if I couldn't use my arms or move myself out of her way I would find such behavior upsetting and even frightening, even though it is clear she has no intent to harm.

I have been a private contractor for the past two years, working from home as a web developer.  Since that job put food on my table and in the dog's bowls, kept the power on, heat or cooling going, internet/TV/Phone running and provided the treats and bones the dogs have been enjoying I have had to devote a portion of each day to working in the office.  It's a great lesson for Emma.  She learned quickly to curl up in the office behind my chair or under my desk and sleep while I work.  The same as Dieter and Max while I go into the office.  It was a modeled behavior that was well established since I have been working from home since 2008.

Originally it was an 8  to 5 job though one company that kept me hoping for 8+ hours a day.  I trained Max during my breaks and my evenings.  In 2010 that job came to an end when the contract that paid my wages was lost in a bidding war and a new company got it.  In 2011 the company that got the bid hired me to work on the projects that they'd aquired and I was familiar with.  I have been on part time work with them since then, working from home on keeping the servers running and the applications humming as a private contractor.  That contract has once again come to an end and at the end of this month the money that makes living possible comes to an end.  As a result, I put out more job applications - but it means my working from home will end.

On Tuesday I had a second job interview with a company that I really hope I get hired into.  As a result I spent the morning grooming myself and Max for the interview.  I am so glad I have built up Emma's ability to be alone long enough to let me shower without her finding trouble.  I am not a slow person in the shower.  In and out is my rule of thumb.  I am maybe out of her line of sight for a good 10 minutes at the maximum and Emma has learned to curl up on my bed and wait for me while I am.  Max curls up by the shower itself and Dieter curls up on Max's bed.  The examples they both set for her has made the transition from being crated while I shower to being gated in the room to being left unattended easier.

She's calm and relaxed when I exit the shower and can now handle my going outside of the house for five to ten minutes without getting into trouble - though I am certain I don't leave temptation laying in wait for her when I do.  I am about to buy her an x-pen to start transitioning her from being crated when I leave to being in the x-pen and eventually left to her own devices - once she's gained the self confidence and self control to not find trouble when left alone.

I then pulled out my ironing board and deployed the legs.  Emma was near me when I did this and she ducked for cover when it happened.  I laughed at her and asked her if I scared her.  Yes, I laughed.  I have done this with all of my dogs for years and it becomes the cue for "nothing is falling from the sky to crush you" for them.  The moment I laughed she moved in and checked the ironing board and then went to her spot behind my recliner (it's her "crate" when loose in the house and where she feels safest) and laid down and went to sleep while I ironed my clothes.

After that I groomed Max.  Emma, who at first hated grooming, has started to come to me the moment I sit on the floor with a brush and move in to be groomed.  She still hates her face being groomed (lots of fussing while I do), but with constant treats, kisses and praise, she's grown better about it each time we groom.  I told her it was Max's turn and laughed at her and kissed her nose.

After that I picked up her leash and boing, off my bladder she bounced.  Sigh.  It took almost five minutes, but she calmed enough for me to leash her and then it took another ten to walk on loose leash to the car.  Thankfully, that morning Robin, my friend who helps me problem solve, had called and we'd talked about the difference between loose leash and leash manners.  Emma has loose leash, but no leash manners.  We came up with a solution to solve this problem and I spent the ten minutes not so much working on keeping the leash loose, but her focused and with proper manners between the house and the car.

We spent three minutes at our destination doing the same thing.  Ronda, who owns Jack, is on vacation and agreed to watch Emma while I was out so I wouldn't have to crate her.  I dropped her off to spend the afternoon with Ronda and then headed off to do my business.

Ronda reported on my return that Emma was sedate and spent most of her time at the gate waiting for me.  She's at an age that she's noticing when people she knows well and is bonded with leave her.  Though she didn't whine or show undue separation anxiety, she did show an awareness of my departure.  Emma was curled in Ronda's lap when I arrived and the moment she heard my voice she shot out of her lap and bound to me.  I guess the little one loves me.

After letting her get past her excitement I was back, she promptly began looking for sticks and leaves to chew and was back to her confident little self playing throughout the yard.  This is not the fist time she's been to Ronda's home without me, but it is the first time I have dropped her off and left.  Normally Ronda picks her up and takes her over to her home.  This time she was shy about going out and doing her normal behaviors of exploring or chewing on things.

I let her play for a while before Ronda and I took her and Jack out to work on leash manners.  Jack is a high value reward for Emma.  She loves him, loves to play with him and walking up to him in a controlled manner is difficult for her.  We stood 20 feet apart while I worked on her walking in a calm and controlled manner to Jack and Jack worked on remaining in a stay by Ronda and staying focused.

I had to do several circles to reset her to my side the first time and second time we approached and walked away, but by the third she was ignoring the dogs looking through the fence beside us and ignoring Jack.  Jack was ignoring the dogs behind the fence and ignoring Emma.  It was a beautiful dance.

By the fourth time I went toward them I was able to walk around them and make a our way back toward my van.  We did this for five minutes getting closer in and maintaining focus on me and calm on the leash with it loose as we walked to and from a focal point.  She was on the outside from Jack for this exercise, so next time I will have her on the inside by Jack and work on even more focus as we circle them.

We then reversed it and had Emma keep focus on me and ignore Ronda and Jack while they worked on calm leash behavior.  Jack was able to go around us by the third approach and Emma did a fantastic job of staying focused on me.  Both she and Jack defaulted into a down to keep themselves under control.  We worked on this behavior for five minutes.

We then had Jack with me and Emma with Ronda and repeated the exercise for another 3 minutes each dog.  They did a fantastic job and by the time we finished both were calm, under control on the leash, and focused on their handler - no matter who the handler was.  I will repeat this exercise with Emma solo in a parking lot again this week and see if I can't get her to walk calmly to a store door from the van to the door and back with full leash manners in place.

This exercise also needs to be done by the family, so I will film what I want them to do and have them work on it this weekend with Emma to improve her self control.

This was a wonderful training session and Emma was happy and tired when we finished.


Level 1

	Zen	Target	Come	Sit	Down
Step	Completed	Completed	Completed	Completed	Completed

Level 2

	Zen	Come	Sit	Down	Target
Step	Completed	Completed	Completed	Completed	Completed
	Focus	Lazy Leash	Go To Mat	Crate	Distance
Step	3	4	2	1	2
	Jump	Relax	Handling	Tricks	Communication
Step	1	1	Completed	Completed	1

Level 3

	Zen	Come	Sit	Down	Target
Step	3	2	0	0	1
	Focus	Lazy Leash	Go To Mat	Crate	Distance
Step	0	4	0	0	0
	Jump	Relax	Handling	Retrieve	Communication
Step	0	0	0	Completed	0

Level 4

	Zen	Come	Retrieve	Target	Relax
Step	0	0	4	0	0
	Focus	Lazy Leash	Go To Mat	Crate	Distance
Step	0	0	0	0	0
	Handling	Communication
Step	0	0

11 Months: Training - Day 166

Emma is well socialized with strange dogs and can easily
join any group of friendly dogs and find the right
play style for the dog she's meeting.

Socialization is so much more than meeting people or other dogs, but experiencing sights, sounds, textures and smells too.  For Emma we've taken a slow but steady approach to new things in her life, since she's a soft dog and can easily become fearful if introducing her to new things is done too fast.  She seems to thrive on going out into the world though, which is lovely to see.

This week I planned on two outings with her to work on calm behavior in public.  I had no intention of taking her into a store just yet, just working on walking calmly from the car to the store and back as many times as I could stand it.  But, as many know, the best laid plans can change and in this case a rare opportunity opened up for both of us.

Last night, after Jack had headed home, I was cruising my Facebook news feed when I saw that a fellow Diamonds in the Ruff trainer was headed to a local pool for Dog Pool Day and decided I would take Max and Emma.  Max because it is simply normal for me to take him where ever we go and Emma because I wanted her to experience a poolside setting and greet lots of friendly new dogs and dog friendly people.  In the end I left Max.  I had thought about it and realized Max would be miserable in such a setting.  He likes side by side play with other dogs, hates dogs racing around and playing chase and really doesn't enjoy the full body contact games Labradors play.  For his sanity I left him home.

I packed up Emma though, who loves ALL of those things and took her with me.  We arrived just after 6 PM and wandered to the front of the building after peering at all of the dogs and people playing inside the pool area for a couple of minutes.  She was curious and a bit shy, but not fearful.

In the front of the building was an over the top excited Labrador and Emma slipped behind me and put space between herself and him.  I respected this and blocked her and moved further away with her.  Once he was gone I encouraged her to enter the echoing area and reassured her she was safe.  I asked the cost to enter and realized I would need to go back to the car for the money.  Emma was still twisting around and peering about with clear nervousness, but not over the top fear.  I then cued her to Paws Up on the counter and she did.  All they saw was a pair of toes and a tiny nose stick over the edge, but the moment the woman leaned over to get a better look at her Emma's fear left and she started wagging madly.  I lifted her up to visit and then we went out and sniffed the grass until she shook off.

After I got the money from the car she got to meet a tiny black pup that was a month younger than her and then headed into the building again.  There were two dogs there, but they were calm and Emma greeted them happily.  She entered the building without fear or nervousness and pawed back up onto the counter so I could lift her so they could check her Rabies tag.  Then it was off to get a bit of water poured on her back.

I asked they didn't use the hose, so they used bottled water and wet her spine.  She wasn't happy, but didn't freak out about it.  Then inside we went.  Still shy and a little worried she let me unclip her and she went off to check a new dog she met.  Then she spent the next 20 minutes moving 15 to 20 feet away from me, meeting a person, child or dog and then coming back to me for reassurance.

In 30 minutes she wasn't checking in much anymore, but trotting with her head up, her body tall and her tail in perfect position.  She was smiling and sniffing and meeting new dog after new dog and new person after new person.  She wouldn't go near the water in the beginning, staying about 15 to 20 feet away, but by the time we left she would approach to within 2 feet before she darted away.  I never expected her to swim and wasn't worried if she did or didn't.  I did want her comfortable with a pool area and be able to eventually lay quietly while people swam and wait for her owner.

At the 40 minute mark I called her to me and we walked together around the entire pool area.  She was happy, exploring and willing to meet anyone, man, woman or child with a quick nuzzle and off to explore some more.  When we passed the diving boards I asked her to paws up on the rungs and she did without hesitation.  She even thought about a retrieve for a bit, but was too worried about the activity to complete it.  No biggy.  She got lots of praise for trying and sent off to play some more.

At the 1 hour mark she returned and sat beside me, tired and ready to head home.  We left after a bit of cuddle and relaxing by me on a bench.  She was tall, proud and confident when we left.  It was a fantastic socialization session for Emma and she flew through it with a building confidence I had expected to see.

She'll have no more big outings this week, but will be taken out tonight for a quick loose lead lesson in a quiet parking lot of a store that is closed or not busy.

Today we worked on picking up socks, pens, shorts, paper, a credit card (need to work on how to make it easier for her) and a necklace.  The necklace worried her, so we worked on just being able to take and hold it and hand it back with a little movement.  She did great on all of that.

I am about to make a list of the most common things she would be picking up for her handler and begin teaching her how to deliver them properly to him.

Level 1

	Zen	Target	Come	Sit	Down
Step	Completed	Completed	Completed	Completed	Completed

Level 2

	Zen	Come	Sit	Down	Target
Step	Completed	Completed	Completed	Completed	Completed
	Focus	Lazy Leash	Go To Mat	Crate	Distance
Step	3	4	2	1	2
	Jump	Relax	Handling	Tricks	Communication
Step	1	1	Completed	Completed	1

Level 3

	Zen	Come	Sit	Down	Target
Step	3	2	0	0	1
	Focus	Lazy Leash	Go To Mat	Crate	Distance
Step	0	0	0	0	0
	Jump	Relax	Handling	Retrieve	Communication
Step	0	0	0	Completed	0

Level 4

	Zen	Come	Retrieve	Target	Relax
Step	0	0	4	0	0
	Focus	Lazy Leash	Go To Mat	Crate	Distance
Step	0	0	0	0	0
	Handling	Communication
Step	0	0

11 Months: Training - Days 164 & 165

Emma loves playing in the yard.

Mondays are always a recap day here.  I evaluated Emma to see if she remembered her break through from the week before and sure enough, she was happy to retrieve for me yet again.  I had dropped a small key fob card on the floor when I was talking on the phone and pointed to it as she stood before me.  She quickly scooped it up and handed it to me.  We hadn't yet started adding the final steps to her retrieve, which is to step up onto the foot boards of the wheelchair and hold the item until cued to release it - but she was getting better about not spinning in spot and worrying about giving up a prize.  This time there was no spin and she was prompt in putting it into my hand.  I was so pleased I told the person I was talking too and we both rejoiced in her progress.

We worked for a bit on Target to refresh it - since I have several targeting behaviors she needs to learn and Target will be her primary way of learning new tasks in the future.  She was so thrilled to play bop the hand she was running from hand to hand to get the click.  She was lit up and In The Game as we played.  We moved to targeting a post it note, which at first she was a bit worried about and she tried to check out on me, but I called her back and reassured her she was right and soon she was bopping the duct tape on the wall I was using as a target.  A moment later we were pushing cabinets closed with gusto.  She's spot on with her target behavior and I need to look at Level 3 Target and see where we are headed next.  I also need to take Level 2 Target into Home Depot and have her close a few cabinets there to generalize the idea.

Each day I spend time finding new things for Emma to pick up.  I decided to pull out my keys and have her work on them.  Metal has been her bugaboo when retrieving, though she'll take it in her mouth without issue.  I think it's the weight and sound of the metal that is the problem more than the feel.  My keys have a cloth fob on them and I had her target it, but each time she moved the keys or felt the weight she would shrink a bit.  We got to her taking the fob and handing them to me, but not picking them up from the floor.  That's fine - it's a good start.

I'll work on a spoon with her soon and see if we can get to picking up silverware and work back to the keys.  At this point, I am no longer training her to pick up and hand me things when I am standing - her job will be to work with a wheelchair bound person and thus I am training her to work with him and not a general idea of anyone.  I am now asking for behaviors as she holds the item in her mouth to increase her hold.  She can do a sit and a paws up into my lap now when holding an item she's comfortable with.  I have not introduced the wheelchair until I have a solid default paws up and patient wait for release cue.

Emma is well on her way with her primary task now and just needs to build more confidence and experience now that she's decided to join me in the retrieve game.

On Tuesday I worked Emma outside.  I took her outside of the fence while the other dogs were in the yard and worked on loose lead while walking with a person.  She did fantastic and we'll take it to the next level and go to a parking lot and work on calm leash behaviors.

We also did retrieve with distractions in a new location.  This video will tell you how that went!

As you can see, Emma's retrieve is 90% complete.  What an amazing jump in only a week!

Level 1

	Zen	Target	Come	Sit	Down
Step	Completed	Completed	Completed	Completed	Completed

Level 2

	Zen	Come	Sit	Down	Target
Step	Completed	Completed	Completed	Completed	Completed
	Focus	Lazy Leash	Go To Mat	Crate	Distance
Step	3	4	2	1	2
	Jump	Relax	Handling	Tricks	Communication
Step	1	1	Completed	Completed	1

Level 3

	Zen	Come	Sit	Down	Target
Step	3	2	0	0	1
	Focus	Lazy Leash	Go To Mat	Crate	Distance
Step	0	0	0	0	0
	Jump	Relax	Handling	Retrieve	Communication
Step	0	0	0	Completed	0

Level 4

	Zen	Come	Retrieve	Target	Relax
Step	0	0	4	0	0
	Focus	Lazy Leash	Go To Mat	Crate	Distance
Step	0	0	0	0	0
	Handling	Communication
Step	0	0

10 Months, 3 Weeks: Training - Days 150 - 154

I have a neurological disability that waxes and wanes and some days I wake feeling like someone has set every nerve in my body on fire.  I can have good mobility days were my balance isn't that bad and my foot movement is okay and I can have bad mobility days that make me look like the hunched hag shuffling along the streets in old movies.  Monday arrived with a bad mobility day, which kindly included a low energy day.  I was barely able to manage feeding and caring for the dogs and providing simple guidance without setting every nerve on fire.  I worked a bit of Zen and Target with Jack and included Emma in a refresher on her Target behaviors also.  She was spot on, not only remembering how to do a solid target on my hand, but closing cabinet doors and touching post it notes on the walls.

I then moved to a bit of Retrieve work with Emma, presenting a plastic egg to see if she would try to take it in her mouth.  I had no plan for her to pick it up, and was watching her body language to see if moving to oddly shaped objects would throw her off her rapid progress.  She was willing to try to take the egg in her mouth, but after one or two times of doing so shrunk into herself a bit.  I decided to play a bit with her instead and make things fun again.

On Tuesday I had no choice but to do laundry, even though I was worse than Monday.  The week before I simply didn't have a lot of energy, but knew a flare was coming.  I had rested as much as possible in hopes to keep it minor, but by Tuesday I couldn't even stand my arms resting on anything because it sent bone deep aches through my elbows or felt like I was rubbing my skin off.  My legs were burning as were my feet and anytime I stood it felt like I was tearing the skin and muscle off of the bone.  I was exhausted from the pain and nearly in tears.  I have nothing I can take to lighten the load when this happens and must endure the agony as best I can without becoming a sobbing mess.

I did no training with the dogs on Tuesday, but I did encourage Emma to try picking up clothes that fell from my hands when I was working with Max to retrieve my laundry.  Emma decided instead the bra that had fallen was a mat and laid on it.  I laughed at her and had Max retrieve my fallen clothes.

On Wednesday I could at least walk again and be outside without feeling like I was roasting.  I let the dogs play mostly, but worked with Emma on holding and handing me the pen when I moved my hand a short distance from her.  She did a great job with it and only got a little shy about the whole game.

When Ronda came to pick up Jack that night I had Emma take and then carry the pen to Ronda.  She would call Emma to her (Ronda was about 3 feet away) and Emma would wend and weave through the dogs and give her the pen.  Ronda would hand it back to her and I'd call her and she'd return to me.  She was having so much fun getting praised for giving us the pen she didn't realize she was training.

I was amazed and pleased with how well she carried the pen from point A to point B.  She kept a soft mouth on it, didn't drop it and held it until we clearly told her to give it to us.  What an amazing hold Emma has when she's carrying objects.

Today was the first day I felt human and had any form of energy in almost two weeks.  I spent a large part of the day catching up on paperwork and return phone calls, but wanted to address Emma's Retrieve one final time before Friday.  This weekend is a Con weekend (SpoCon is a science fiction convention I attend and will take Emma too early in the day for her public access outing) and I wanted today to be mostly relaxed and restful for the upcoming stress I will be placing her under when we go to pick up my badge.

The video attached is what happened when Emma had most of the week to think over what we've been working on.  Amazing progress!  Emma is now automatically picking up and handing me the pen!

What a wonderful breakthrough for Emma!

10 Months, 2 Weeks: Training - Days 147-149

Now Emma can pick up items and give them to me!

I know I had stated Emma's daily blogs were restarting and I had fully intended that, but then I had a major flare of my disability and the last two weeks have been a struggle to simply get through the day without falling over in tears and exhaustion from the pain.  As a result, I am behind by almost two weeks of blog posts, which I decided, since I am just starting to see my head rise above water again, to do in two large posts to catch everyone up.

Emma, on Tuesday, got the idea that maybe what I wanted was for her to take and then hand me the pen we'd been training with from progressively lower positions.  She didn't get the idea she could pick it up off of the floor and hand it to me, but she did figure out she could reach down almost all the way to the floor and then raise her head and hand it too me.  Too many repetitions of the same behavior still made her worried she was not doing it right, so I kept the 4 training sessions we did very short and with high energy and lots of praise.  Emma thrives on praise.

On Wednesday I didn't do any formal training.  With two hard days of retrieve work I wanted her to process and work through in her mind what I wanted.  I knew she was working hard on solving the problem because she became butt puppy again and was plucking plant leaves and chewing everything in sight, a sure sign she was working out stress and solving problems.

On Thursday I got some very high value treats and the pen and worked quickly from her head up and facing me when she took the pen and gave it back to her head near the floor and taking it from my palm and raising her head to hand it to me.  It didn't give her time to think MAYBE she was in trouble or MAYBE she was wrong and suddenly I just put the pen on the floor and she scooped it up and handed it to me.  I did some big hugs and lots of loves and praised the heck out of her and ended the lesson.  I didn't revisit it again until that evening.

In the evening we went from head high to head low in two rounds and she picked up and handed me the pen 3 times from the floor.  She was happy, engaged and enjoying her hugs and kisses when she gave me the pen each time.  I then went and got a dish cloth and put it on the floor.  Smart tat that she is, she decided I must be working on Mat behavior and laid on it.  I laughed with her and then taught her to quickly take and give the dish cloth and within three rounds had it on the floor.  Emma picked it up and handed it to me 2 times.  I was over joyed and we had a huge snuggle session after that.

On Friday Emma left for her grooming and went home afterwards to her family.

The break through of picking up and handing me both the pen and the dish cloth was huge.  Emma was, without question, not fearful or worried when we did these short sessions and the day off to think and work through the earlier lessons helped her solve the problem and realize she was making me happy when she did hand me items off the floor.  What a wonderful break through.

Emma has picked up two different types of objects from the floor and handed them to me at this time.  She is 2/3 of the way through Level 4 Retrieve!  She has done a plastic and cloth item and we'll work on metal and wood next with her retrieving.  After she confident with the smaller retrieve items I am working on, I am going to start adding new shapes, sizes and weights and build up her retrieve until she can and will retrieve, on cue, items I want off of the floor or other locations and bring them.  Emma is learning her first and primary service dog task!

9 Months: Training - Day 112 - 116

Emma wants to play, not be tethered to the old woman!

Monday

Last week I knew I was stretched too thin when I was so tired that I didn't even do my dishes and the thought of getting up to get the food to feed the dogs was enough to exhaust me.  By Friday the idea of heading out and taking Emma to the groomers was overwhelming and by Saturday I finally collapsed and slept for 6 hours in the middle of the day.  I woke finally feeling almost human on Sunday and today I am actually feeling energy seeping back in.  But this means I need to manage my time and energy better otherwise I'll end up needing to take a full week off just to get the strength back to train and work with the dogs and even care for myself.

Part of that struggle has been to get Emma to eat her kibble when training a higher stress task.  Retrieve is one of her high stress tasks right now.  Her confidence is low and she needs a higher rate of re-enforcement and higher value of treat to work on the skill.  I have been adding moist food, liver paste and other items to her kibble, but the kibble itself has become almost like a punishment for her when working on this task.  Today I decided to go to the same routine I used with Max when I was training him high stress tasks and simply fed her her breakfast and then cut up some very high value treats for her training for later in the day.

With both Maura and Victoria away today to be spayed I have just the core three in the house.  Emma is resting and taking it easy for the early part of the day while I work on catching up on paperwork and has a full tummy (to help boost her blood sugar and release some tension) which will be empty enough to want to train by mid-day to late afternoon.

Instead of working on Retrieve, which will keep her in the house, during our daylight training, I will take her out and do the mobile training of loose lead work and paying attention in a new and distracting location - the same I did with Max when I first started with him.  Though I can't clock the miles I did with Max, and don't dare take her down the street while the neighbor dogs are loose, I will clock some time in front of the house and pay for any attention and loose leash behavior she gives me while working.

I want her joy of training back and I was starting to see the joy slip out as we went into a rote routine of get up, watch the other dogs eat, and then work on getting her food into her while she worked on a hard task with the other dogs checking in and trying to join.  This was not doing her confidence any good and I want to build her confidence up.

Another factor stripping her confidence was that Max, who knows Retrieve well, would pick up the item we were working on and hand it to me when she took too long.  What point is there in picking something up when Max will do it for her?  Changing to a time of the day Max is more likely to be napping will increase our successes with Retrieve.

So, with her knee stronger and recovering we'll work on tug outside with the new toy, loose lead walking when my back permits and lots of follow the leader on the waist leash when I need to do chores in the yard.

We'll also work on seeing, but not barking at, the neighbors and children in the neighborhood and refresh on her basics of Sit, Down and Stay.

Tuesday

With Maura and Victoria needing extra care due to their spay and Dieter and Emma needing extra attention when taking them outside to go to the bathroom, I find my time for much of anything else is limited.  Emma is also in a stage of her life where formal training is pretty much out the window.

Emma is 9 months old, right smack in the middle of teenager rebellion.  She's testing boundaries off and on, though not too hard.  She is also in a growth stage that seems to push every know cue and behavior right out of dogs head.  She's technically at the prime re-homing age for most young dogs.  She's chewing and destroying anything she can get her lips on, has forgotten her cues and acts fearful of the most silly things.  She's not alone - Sherman, who's older than her, recently decided the toilet, which he's been around all his life, was a Poodle eating monster and ran shaking from the bathroom when it was flushed - then the next day he was perfectly okay with the evil toilet and was back to his normal self.  Emma is doing things like this also.  Before offering her a toy to chew on or a pencil to hold was something that got her tail waving, but now it causes her to shrink into herself and pee.  It's her age.  She'll come out the other side just fine, but it means it's time to give her a prolonged break and just work on what we call "practical" learning - which is applying known behaviors to life.

Another factor for Emma's moods and the changes she's facing is what is happening with her body.  Like a teenager who can feel on top of the world one day and in the slumps the next, she's feeling much the same.  Her jaw is finishing it's final growth outward and with it she is bringing in her last molars.  Like humans who bring in their wisdom teeth between 18 and 20 years of age, dogs bring in a final set of molars between 9 months and 14 months of age.  Emma is working on hers now and with this last set of molars she's more interested in decimating anything in sight than training.

Her bone plates are fusing also.  Each month has a new set of bone plates fusing as her growth comes to an end.  In her x-rays of her hips and knees Dr. S noted that Emma's bone plates in her legs are in the process of fusing.  This means her joints hurt some from the changes in the bone plates, and she's feeling "off" because of it.  Her cranial bone plates are doing their final expansion before fusing and thus her brain is doing it's final growth before maturity sets in.  A lot is happening with her body and it makes total sense that her mind is not on training and her behavior is flighty.  She's like a teenager going through puberty and her emotions and ability to handle stress reflects that.

So, I have put up the clicker for a bit and I am letting her get through this growth period while giving her practical experience with known skills.

Wednesday

Today we worked on curbing her excitement when going outside.  Picking up her leash sends her into spasms of joy and she jumps and barks and gets over excited by the leash.  Today I picked up and carried the leash through the house and then set it down at least 30 times.  I even wore it on my neck for a while.

Emma is asked to sit and wait to be clipped on to the lead and then to walk quiet and calm out of my house and down to the grass to go potty.  Emma is doing better at this, but is still to excitable when we first start.  We'll continue to work on this.

I have had yard chores to do and Emma has learned she must pay attention to me or I'll walk off and her leash will get tight.  At no point am I going fast, but she's learned she needs to watch what I am doing instead of checking the world out if she doesn't want to be pulled by the leash.

She has also learned to unwrap herself from poles and other items in the yard and even to avoid being wrapped around them.  Emma is improving on her leash skills, but has hit the "can't tell the dog is on the leash" status yet.

Thursday

Emma continues to work on walking polite on the leash when attached to me.  She only wraps herself around something when we walk about 1 to 2 times in the total time we are out.  She's starting to leave the lead loose when I am standing and doing something.  She is still walking ahead and putting pressure on the leash.  I stop when she does this and back up a step to reset her.

Friday

Emma only wrapped herself around the telephone pole once during the entire day.  She quickly solved the problem and began to move behind or closer to my side to prevent herself from getting tangled in items in the yard.

When her owner picked her up she lost her mind and couldn't do loose leash work.  I will have to devise a plan to work on that and help her learn to keep her mind when she's over excited like that.

8 Months, 4 Weeks: Training - Days 110 and 111

Emma and Maura spent the week making friends.

This is last Wednesday and Thursday's blog posts.  I have been so slammed here that keeping up on the paperwork is near to impossible.  As of today I will have four out of five animals in my home with some sort of medical care that I need to provide; Dieter with his back injury requires regular medications, escorted outside and monitored to ensure he doesn't re-injure his back yet again (which he did over the weekend).  Emma has a knee injury that requires we keep her from running, jumping and rough housing, which means when she goes outside it is on lead and I have to monitor her behavior in the home to keep her from being a puppy when that is exactly what she is.  Both Maura (formally Hale) and Victoria today (Monday) were spayed and will need meditations for pain and kept from licking and reopening their spay incisions.  I have told Max, who was limping at his Thursday class but was fine again on Friday, that he's not allowed to join the crowd - I simply am spread too thin right now and some things need to give and sitting at a computer and writing up a series of blog posts was what gave.

Emma last week didn't do a lot of formal training, but more life in action training.  With Maura joining the family and my needing to treat her ear infection and wounds from her previous housemates attack, I found I was spending a lot of time accessing her and plotting what she would need first and foremost to have her best chance at adoption.

On Thursday my Mom came over to help build more raised beds and lay sod and my helper, a young man that comes weekly, arrived.  Emma spent the day attached to me and learned how to pay attention to me while I worked in the yard.

On Wednesday Emma worked on Retrieve again and was able to pick up and hand me a spoon, but it seemed to throw her for a loop right afterwards and she stopped trying and giving me appeasement signals.  This is to be expected.  She is in a growth phase where her moods change from moment to moment, much like a teenagers, and she'll have good and bad days when training.  The best way to handle her need for less stress in learning is to switch to a new method of learning and let her process what she's worked on.

To do this I spent all day Thursday not doing "formal" training, but training none-the-less.  I had her attached to me with a waist leash and let her follow me everywhere I went in the yard while building raised beds, digging up plants and laying sod.  Though I couldn't do a lot of the heavy work, Emma discovered that yard work meant I wouldn't be in a single spot for long.  With the release from her vet to do normal walking, I used that as a way to rebuild the strength in her knee.

During our day in the yard I would walk her around with me with frequent stops and rests, occasional placement in the house for short periods when having her next to me was unsafe, and lots of figuring out how to unwrap herself from posts and trees and other objects in the yard, pay attention to me and the leash at the same time.

It was a great day of learning by doing and Emma did great.  Hopefully, with Maura under better control and not requiring so much of my time and a warm and lovely week ahead, I should be able to get back to service skills training and helping Emma learn how to focus even under higher distractions.