http://diabeticalertdog.com/forum/list.php?14 Thu, 09 Sep 2010 09:47:16 -0700 Phorum 5.2.11 http://diabeticalertdog.com/forum/read.php?14,2401,2401#msg-2401 http://diabeticalertdog.com/forum/read.php?14,2401,2401#msg-2401
There are a lot of good ideas out there. What I decided to do is to direct Indy's attention to anything I think he might fixate on and become concerned about. We tried this out at the dog-friendly custard shop and then at a busy park today. For example, we see a man walking towards us-- I say, "look! See that? Who's that?" in a cheerful voice. If I see him lift his ears in that way that might possibly mean he is looking a little too hard at something-- I do the same thing. It is amazing how well this works! I would say it-- and instantly he would relax, tail wagging, happy dog. It made me realize something, too... I can't be tense when I'm talking in such a cheerful, curious, looking-forward-to-whatever-that-is-out-there voice. This calms us BOTH down. I knew that he is very much like a mirror-- very perceptive of what I am thinking and feeling. I figured that part of the problem was me and how I feel (that's what Cesar Millan would say) when I see a stranger approaching (some strangers more so than others). After today I see that is more of a factor in Indy than lack of socialization opportunities in his past.

It was a REALLY positive day. At one point, we were crossing a bridge at the park on our way back to the car when a guy started down the bridge from the other side. This is not a wide bridge, and for a split second I felt concern-- then remembered, and said "what is that? What do you see?" and Emily said "I think he's looking at the ducks," so then I said "Look at the ducks! See the ducks?" and we passed this guy without Indy even giving him a look. That was a very good feeling! The whole day was like that, but-- that was definitely the best part of it.

We live not terribly far from an air force base, and from time to time the sound barrier is broken. It sounds, and feels, like something slams in to the house. I generally go check to make sure a car hasn't run in to our garage door, it sounds so much like that! One day this week was the strongest I've ever felt it. I don't usually react after this many years of it other than to make sure nothing has actually hit the house, but I just about jumped out of my skin this time. Emily screamed, the cats both jumped. Indy got up and walked over and sat down near me, and then just waited. I thought, that isn't bomb-proof but that's something. Sonic boom proof maybe!

All in all, it has been a really encouraging week.]]> Melissa S. TRAINING Sat, 04 Sep 2010 07:49:26 -0700 http://diabeticalertdog.com/forum/read.php?14,2378,2378#msg-2378 http://diabeticalertdog.com/forum/read.php?14,2378,2378#msg-2378
I'm currently going through my Karen Pryor Academy clicker training certification, and I'm curious to know how many of you are using clicker training methods to train your DAD? Also, are any of you from the Northeast? I'm located in Vermont and I'm wondering if there are any other people going through a similar journey up in my area of the U.S?]]> maureenbrown TRAINING Sun, 05 Sep 2010 10:43:49 -0700 http://diabeticalertdog.com/forum/read.php?14,2335,2335#msg-2335 http://diabeticalertdog.com/forum/read.php?14,2335,2335#msg-2335
Wondering if any of you are familiar with the DVD series "clicker train your own assistance dog" by Barbara Handleman? I thought they would be helpful for training the public access aspect of our future DAD, but I'd like feedback from any of you who may have seen it already? Is it worth the hundred dollars?]]> maureenbrown TRAINING Sat, 28 Aug 2010 07:00:26 -0700 http://diabeticalertdog.com/forum/read.php?14,2306,2306#msg-2306 http://diabeticalertdog.com/forum/read.php?14,2306,2306#msg-2306
If Indy is to be a service dog this will have to be somehow trained in to him, because he does act protective (bark in a warning bark way which sounds pretty scary) if he thinks there is a threat.

Knowing him as I do, I am sure that his confidence needs to be built up. For the first seven months of his life (after he left the breeder) he lived in a concrete dog run. He had almost no contact with other people. His owner was terminally ill and couldn't care for him. His wife was too overwhelmed to take care of him, and resented that he was there. Finally she convinced him to give Indy up. We heard about Indy, and that is how he became ours. Libby, his mother, also needed a home. We had her too for a couple of years before re-homing her (with an elderly lady who lived alone-- amazing the difference Libby has made in her life). Indy and Libby being together wasn't good for either of them. It seemed to keep Indy in a "puppy" stage, goofy and looking to his mother for direction. She lost her carefree attitude. They have both done sooooo well now that they are not in the same home. He has mentally grown up and is just amazing, the way he listens and wants to please, and learns so fast.

Indy did not have early socialization, though. I hear so much about how critical that is, and he did not have that. I see insecurity in him sometimes. Does anyone have suggestions of ways to help him gain confidence? We've been taking him out a lot, to give him exposure to new things and desensitize him in a way. For the most part it has gone really well, although yesterday in PetCo a guy came around the corner and then stopped, crouched down slowly, and started moving his hand towards Indy-- and Indy gave his warning bark. I have to say, this guy totally creeped me out too. There were other factors involved, I should probably mention that Indy had diarhea as soon as we got home. I knew he was acting antsy and "off", not focusing on me, then the barking and he did not comply when I told him "hush" (very unusual for him)-- his stomach discomfort had something to do with it. But he might have barked even if that weren't the case.

But I know that if Indy is ever to be a service dog this can't happen! Any suggestions? I really want to try everything I possibly can to make up for that lack of early socialization. He is a wonderful dog-- he deserves that, if nothing else.]]> Melissa S. TRAINING Fri, 27 Aug 2010 09:15:45 -0700 http://diabeticalertdog.com/forum/read.php?14,2291,2291#msg-2291 http://diabeticalertdog.com/forum/read.php?14,2291,2291#msg-2291
I think the boy is a little too food-driven to use food to reward for anything other than the major things, like scent-training. Had never thought of that as a possibility before today!]]> Melissa S. TRAINING Fri, 27 Aug 2010 10:23:59 -0700 http://diabeticalertdog.com/forum/read.php?14,2256,2256#msg-2256 http://diabeticalertdog.com/forum/read.php?14,2256,2256#msg-2256
I was diagnosed in 1977 with Type 1 at the age of 6, back before the personal blood glucose meter was available. That was rough, the only testing that could be done at home was a fasting urine test for the presence of sugar, and no way to detect lows (because my doc did not see fit to tell my parents there was such a thing, and until I had a seizure they had no idea).

Last week while out of town and terribly bored as my 6 year old daughter napped and I waited for my husband to finish a class that he was taking, I read about DAD's for the first time. I have spent as much time as I possibly can reading about them ever since. It was pretty clear to me that having a DAD would be invaluable. It was also clear to me that I had the perfect DAD candidate living with me already. Independence is the name of my dog (his mother's name was Liberty Bell). He is a 2 1/2 year old purebred Golden Retriever, with all of his health checks. Since the day we got him, I have often noticed and commented that he would be a great service dog. His temperament, everything about him. I've got quite a bit of experience with dogs and dog obedience training and this fellow is amazing. The way he responds to me borders on intuition. He will do anything I want him to do so long as he knows what that is. For example, I leave my cat's food dish out on the floor. Indy leaves it completely alone, even when the whole family is out of the house for the day. I can trust him completely.

So the minute we got home from our trip, I started his scent training. We are on day 2 right now. I have started with training him to detect lows, because that's what my blood sugar happened to be on the first test. I am testing so I know what my blood sugar is, and then holding my palm out. He licks my palm and I praise profusely if I am low (I am fairly unaware when my blood sugar is low, which I guess helps for training purposes), and am non-reactive if not.

I am so, so glad I happened to find this site. I know the posts here will be a huge help to us in the coming months!]]> Melissa S. TRAINING Wed, 25 Aug 2010 07:27:38 -0700 http://diabeticalertdog.com/forum/read.php?14,2239,2239#msg-2239 http://diabeticalertdog.com/forum/read.php?14,2239,2239#msg-2239 Shana Eppler TRAINING Wed, 18 Aug 2010 11:22:02 -0700 http://diabeticalertdog.com/forum/read.php?14,2184,2184#msg-2184 http://diabeticalertdog.com/forum/read.php?14,2184,2184#msg-2184 -Sterile wound pads
-Gloves
-Pots
-Clicker
-Treats
-Alert command down pat.
-And the essentials, one diabetic child and a dog.

I have read and re-read the training posts and there are so many different ways and idea's and they are intermingled amongst chat and stories, which is great, but I find confusing. I need a step by step program. I think I've got a good plan and then I read something else and think to myself, maybe that would work better. If I'm unsure then my dog will be unsure (I think that there maybe a little fear of getting it wrong, possibly ;) ). Can someone please write a book! DAD 101 or something! Failing that if anyone has time can you give me your ABC's of how you went about scent training?

Again most thankful for all your help and advice

Louise
Son 13yrs Diabetic for 4 years]]> NotAllThere TRAINING Wed, 01 Sep 2010 02:52:47 -0700 http://diabeticalertdog.com/forum/read.php?14,2025,2025#msg-2025 http://diabeticalertdog.com/forum/read.php?14,2025,2025#msg-2025 I am a new owner of a diabetic alert dog, Toby. Him and I are going on 2 weeks of being a team. Toby and I teamed up together through my aunt. She has a friend that trained Toby with her daughter. So I didn't get alot of training with him with a trainer, which at first I was worried about. But he has been pretty good, he listens very well in town, I can't really think of anything he does wrong. But he just seems to not know how, or maybe I don't know how to listen to him very well anyways, to alert me. He was taught to put both paws on me to alert me, and he does sometimes but there have been several times when I have gone low (a 35, 55, 65) that he has not done anything on. Each time I go low I breath towards his nose and tell him to show me and try to get him to put his paws on me. And he kinda seems like he gets it but then i get a low blood sugar sample out later to test him and he doesn't do anything! My family and I are getting frustrated. So i was thinking maybe if I could find a trainer that could help me learn how to listen to him and learn what Toby is trying to tell me, cause i feel like he and I are just not communicating on the same wave link, then this could work out. If anyone could help me out that would be wonderful.]]> Alese TRAINING Mon, 16 Aug 2010 12:08:49 -0700 http://diabeticalertdog.com/forum/read.php?14,1835,1835#msg-1835 http://diabeticalertdog.com/forum/read.php?14,1835,1835#msg-1835
After four times, told Chasey to wait and Bear to "get the bringsel" (with lots of excitement). He picked it up by the strap (not the body) and after walking around with lots of calling, finally brought it to me. Second time, picked it up and then dropped it and walked off - done with that game.

However, at least it made it into his mouth, so I figured that was a better start than last time. Will try a few more times later. Maybe we'll actually get him to "get the bringsel" after all.

Any other ideas?]]> mindi TRAINING Fri, 28 May 2010 08:07:17 -0700 http://diabeticalertdog.com/forum/read.php?14,1808,1808#msg-1808 http://diabeticalertdog.com/forum/read.php?14,1808,1808#msg-1808
Thanks to all.]]> longhorn.tim TRAINING Thu, 22 Apr 2010 21:59:29 -0700 http://diabeticalertdog.com/forum/read.php?14,1710,1710#msg-1710 http://diabeticalertdog.com/forum/read.php?14,1710,1710#msg-1710
Hand Chasey's leash off to my oldest (9yr old) to see if it would work. Could she walk her to the end of the room and back decently. NOPE! Got the same reaction as usual (when she would try to take her somewhere with a leash on her collar). As soon as Chasey got about four feet away from me, she pulled back and pulled my daughter across the floor back to me and climbed ONTO my lap. (did I mention I had a laptop sitting ON my lap at the time she squished into a ball on me). She will follow the girls if they call her sometimes, but she's NEVER let them take her away from me on a leash. (Actually, when she was 8 months old, she dragged the Animal Control officer guy to me - she had jumped out of the vehicle at the library when out with my husband, who then came home to get me (I was 8 months pregnant and on bed rest). He said, Well, I guess it's obvious this is your dog. Very nice guy, saw me pregnant and crying and didn't give me a ticket.)

Anyway,.... back to tonight. So, then I asked her "Do you want to go for a walk?" which of course, got her all excited, she sits right in front of my feet, like "let's go! let's go! hurry up!" I take a step, she moves right against my leg. Just an FYI, usually I get brought to an abrupt stop at almost every mailbox, having to call her off each one - yes, we've only been working this road for a week - so everything's still fairly new. I kept the leash short, by holding about 2 ft from the clip in my left hand, handle around the right. Started walking, she tried to detour by a mailbox, felt the pull on her muzzle, swung her head around a few times trying (like trying to shake it off), then moved up beside me in perfect heel position and trotted along. After two or three attempted detours to a mailbox or to go ahead (quickly followed by a little head shaking), I had a perfect heel. All the way up the road and back down. It was just beautiful!!!! We looked like the perfect jogging couple with her glancing up at me every few steps and pacing perfectly to mine.

Bear - didn't really seem to care. Let the girls take him outside and around the house, so we'll just work with it a few more times before trying it out in public, maybe the petstore or parking lot. And of course, I'll try him walking on the road tomorrow. On a side note, I also took just Bear and Iris to the petstore today (to get the leaders and a larger collar - yep, he's on his third already - growing quickly). He did fairly well, Iris needs more work in watching for triggers (like when he tried to go visit another dog as well as when a person stopped to pet him, and he stood up on his back legs). I had to say "No sir. Bear. Sit!" (weird - kids and dogs, you take them in public, and it's like "what am I doing?" they forget it all in new situations. - but that's ok, we'll work on it!). So, I had the talk with her about making sure he's minding his manners and call him on it if he even LOOKS like he's going to do something.

Oh, and who hoo - after more bad days than good, today's sugars ranged from 117 - 170 - finally.

Now, let's keep them there tomorrow!!!

Over all, I'm happy with how today went. Doubt they'll ever be able to walk Chasey, she's just too glued to me. At 6 years old already, I'm not too worried about changing her. I just want Bear and Iris to learn to work together.]]> mindi TRAINING Tue, 23 Mar 2010 07:58:01 -0700 http://diabeticalertdog.com/forum/read.php?14,1593,1593#msg-1593 http://diabeticalertdog.com/forum/read.php?14,1593,1593#msg-1593 Valliegirl TRAINING Mon, 16 Aug 2010 12:03:25 -0700 http://diabeticalertdog.com/forum/read.php?14,1485,1485#msg-1485 http://diabeticalertdog.com/forum/read.php?14,1485,1485#msg-1485 Valliegirl TRAINING Sun, 22 Aug 2010 12:40:26 -0700 http://diabeticalertdog.com/forum/read.php?14,1452,1452#msg-1452 http://diabeticalertdog.com/forum/read.php?14,1452,1452#msg-1452
Could you please share with me your commands and how you find them useful. I am trying to compile a list of the things I need to teach Zahra.

What Zahra knows so far:

Sit
Remote Sit (or sit from a distance)
Down
Bed
Stay
Spin
Shake
High five
Roll over
Get hypo
Come
Nudge
Shoo the chickens (When the free range chickens try to come in the door.)
In
Out
Over
Under
Up
Touch (with the touch stick)
And the most important Nooooooooo!

Commands we are learning but not so good at yet

Heel
Beg
Follow
Find test kit (think I should teach her how to find my keys as well)

We are not so good in public she still gets far too excited and doesn't want to know me or what I'm telling her. We need just a little more practice with that. ;) She is fine with a backpack on and carries light weight around while we train.

Thanks
Louise]]> NotAllThere TRAINING Sun, 22 Aug 2010 12:45:33 -0700 http://diabeticalertdog.com/forum/read.php?14,1443,1443#msg-1443 http://diabeticalertdog.com/forum/read.php?14,1443,1443#msg-1443 islanddogs TRAINING Sun, 22 Aug 2010 14:34:01 -0700 http://diabeticalertdog.com/forum/read.php?14,1427,1427#msg-1427 http://diabeticalertdog.com/forum/read.php?14,1427,1427#msg-1427 We are hoping to get a DAD that is already trained for M soon, but we know that she goes up very high in between meals, and are afraid to bolus because then she might go low when the insulin peaks at two hours. Thanks!]]> TriciaZ TRAINING Mon, 22 Feb 2010 16:10:00 -0700 http://diabeticalertdog.com/forum/read.php?14,1400,1400#msg-1400 http://diabeticalertdog.com/forum/read.php?14,1400,1400#msg-1400

Star is a Staffie cross lurch or whippet. Being part Staffie she is very vocal and frequently talks to me with barks and growl alike.

My problem is that when she is out in public and a child (annoyingly) tries to play with her, she want to go and play, but as I don't let he she gets frustrated and does little growl and whimpers almost like a child protesting in frustration that it's not aloud to join in (hope this makes sense). How do I stop her doing this??? I can get her attention for a treat but that lasts all of 5 seconds and I am not sure if telling her of is correct because she isn't being aggressive and I don't want to make her think that wanting to play is bad. Any ideas would help please?


Also I have found that people that don't like or are scared of dogs tend to stare at them again another thing that making her growl, now please let me assure you star is the least bit aggressive, her growls are directed to me to tell me something, when I have a 'starer' on my hand, Star general growls, looks at me then hides behind me or tries to get on my lap. I Don't let he do this and just tell her to stop being silly but how do I get her to not do it at all? I have a feeling that it is something that she will grow out of but in the mean time I would like to encourage her to grow out of it as well.


Help please.]]> littlekie TRAINING Fri, 19 Feb 2010 02:12:02 -0700 http://diabeticalertdog.com/forum/read.php?14,1384,1384#msg-1384 http://diabeticalertdog.com/forum/read.php?14,1384,1384#msg-1384
I try to work with Chasey while Bear is being held, and he whines and cries because he doesn't get to do it at the same time, so ... I usually put Chasey in a wait after a few minutes, then work Bear for a couple minutes. I even got a decent "wait" out of Bear; he knew he would get the treat (because I had already clicked) so he just waited for me to say "OK, get it" (a "trick" he's seen Chasey do frequently). We use cheese for 'basic training".

I also use the clicker (with liver treats - in the other room, and not opened until after we get the click) for the scent work. Again, good focus on the scent, and then when I click ("Good low Bear, that's a good low!"), just waiting for that treat to show up.

If you haven't used it, do some googling and check it out. You'll be glad you did!!!]]> mindi TRAINING Tue, 23 Feb 2010 17:39:12 -0700 http://diabeticalertdog.com/forum/read.php?14,1267,1267#msg-1267 http://diabeticalertdog.com/forum/read.php?14,1267,1267#msg-1267
It sounds like you're going to have real success with Bear if your other dogs are taking so quickly to new ways and new commands. If that's in place before Bear arrives, they'll be teaching him. My 11 yr old Patsy mostly does what she likes now, but she's so calm and laid back I don't insist. I could never get her to sit and stay at the door when someone arrived. She'd sit until I opened the door and then she just couldn't help running up for some love. Now that I'm training Trigger to sit and stay at the door, it's hard because he's watching Patsy take off. So they're both getting trained together and we're making very good progress. Bottom line is that even if Patsy continues to bolt til the day she dies, Trigger can't, so that's my focus. (I've also trained Trigger to sit and wave bye-bye when someone leaves. It's hilarious).]]> islanddogs TRAINING Sun, 22 Aug 2010 14:28:19 -0700 http://diabeticalertdog.com/forum/read.php?14,1257,1257#msg-1257 http://diabeticalertdog.com/forum/read.php?14,1257,1257#msg-1257 Here's what MD knows:
sit
down
stand
wait
come
here now
leave it
heel
watch me
touch it
nose it
open
inside/
outside
through
go to bed
crate
load
un load
quiet speak
bark
1+1
count to 3
2 squared
give kisses
high five
shake paws
bow
lay over
straighten up
find (abi, mom, dad he can find any of my sisters and my brother, low, high, toy)
help me (he helps me get his vest on ;))
get back
place
check me
show me
crawl

there is more... but this is what we use most often.
what else should we teach them?? what do your dogs know??]]> Abi&Darcy TRAINING Mon, 13 Jul 2009 09:32:07 -0700 http://diabeticalertdog.com/forum/read.php?14,1178,1178#msg-1178 http://diabeticalertdog.com/forum/read.php?14,1178,1178#msg-1178 dani1317 TRAINING Mon, 01 Feb 2010 20:37:57 -0700 http://diabeticalertdog.com/forum/read.php?14,1177,1177#msg-1177 http://diabeticalertdog.com/forum/read.php?14,1177,1177#msg-1177
This doesn't really fit with the initial topic, but goes with what was mentioned as far as getting a "bomb proof" dog. Just my two cents (or more) in training information. If you want to move it, go ahead.

Iin regards to "bomb proof", it is probably 80% or more temperment, but also training and conditioning. First, the dog has to have confidence. If you have a shy dog, there is no way they will be able to handle the stress of being out in public without reacting.

With rescues, we sometimes have to build the dog's confidence back up. Not always the easiest thing to do, especially when you're dealing with a dog that no longer trusts people. I've been blessed in that all dogs love and trust me, but I have had to teach them to trust others and rebuild confidence.

Start with just one person: this would be the primary caretaker of the dog, and the only one that handles the dog at first. Especially if there is no one the dog trusts, all you do for however long it takes (usually around a week) would be feed and pet for a few minutes, and the rest of the time, leave the dog alone (usually in a crate or "their space" where they will feel safe). When the dog knows you will consistently feed/water him, and pet him or give him space as needed, without threatening/hurting him, trust starts to develop.

Their "food drive" is usually the easiest drive to work with. You want their drives to be around a level 8 (1 - 10, 1 being "no drive response", 10 being "out of control, about to rip your hand off to get the food"). 8 would be totally focused on the food (in a sit/stay) and other dogs/people could wander around, bump the dog, etc, and the focus wouldn't leave the food. Yes, it takes consistent work to get there. Even before you get to the 8, but you're seeing improvement, you can start adding in the next step.

Building confidence in the dog via the "prey drive", maybe 5 mins at a time of obedience work "sit" etc, with pet/praise rewards always before a food reward. Then I add in 5 minutes of "prey drive" work - this is what builds their confidence, but you have to be careful too, to keep them focused. I prefer a Jute, but you could use a stuffed animal, or tug, etc in the beginning. The point it to get them to go after the toy, such as trying to pull it out of your hand, don't make it to easy, but always let them "win" (and finish with praise and petting) - again, I would only do a few minutes at a time. With a jute, I attach it to a 6 ft leash, and I'm basically dangling it in front of the door, bu spinning in circles and jerking it back and forth to get the dog to chase it, then we play tug (pulling hard, changing directions, etc) before letting the dog win by pulling it out of your hand. This helps to build their confidence.

NEVER put a dog in a situation that they can't WIN (ie - asking something of them that they can't do). In other words, if they can't behave at home, don't take them out in public and let them fail. Also, no matter what, you have to be calm and in control. The dog will read your body language to know whether they can trust you to control the situation.

Here are some things that I expect out of my dog, as an example:
1) food. I will tell her to sit, wait, leave it - with people around, other dogs in the room (being controlled of course), etc. And then throw food at her, lay it right in front of her nose, etc. She is NOT allowed to touch the food, until I give an ok. She is to be focused on my face, not the food. I can walk out of the room, and come back in, and she'll be sitting there, with a pile of drool, but the food is still there. Then I will give an OK, and of course, praise/pet her.

2) prey. She is to remain in a sit/stay when I throw a ball (or a kid hides a toy), etc. And will not go after it, until I release her. That is controlled. This translates to "there's a dog/kid/squirrel/whatever, I see it, I want it, but I will NOT take off after it, because Mom hasn't said I could.

3) trust me no matter what. Last year, we went to my Grandparents and one of their dogs attacked Chasey. She did not retaliate, just stood there, by my husband's leg while he and my uncle pried the other dog off, and removed the dog from the situation. She didn't retaliate, she didn't run away. Even after the dog was taken off, she stayed there, by his side (she was not on a leash) and then followed him out of the field and back to the house, for me to fix up her ear. That is bomb proof. Steady and reliable - regardless of the situation, trusting that we will take care of the problem.

When you get something down in one location (always practice in the same location at first), then move to a new location.. Believe it or not, a dog can be reliable in one parking square, move over to the next parking square, and it's like starting over the training (albeit, they usually catch on faster to what's expected). You will have to work them, and get them consistent in 10 or more different areas before you could consider them "bomb proof". I would start with no disactions, then add one person, then a couple people, then a couple dogs, etc. Then change the location to somewhere like a pet store, park, parking lot, etc where things change.

Just remember, always end on a good note, and never train for more than than 30 mins (I prefer less than 15 at a time, because you don't want to lose the dog's focus). If you're working on something that the dog is having problems with, finish with somethign easy like "sit" and lots of praise to end the training session.

Also, consistency is HUGE. You have to expect and respond the same way at all times. If you let your dog get away with something one time, and then try to correct another time; they will always continue to slip in the hopes that "this will be a time that I can get away with it". Oh, and a dog can be "bomb proof" for one person, and then terrible for someone else. Especially a dog like a German Shepherd - they are always testing their limits. If they can push you and get away with something, they will. Even Chasey will take huge advantage of someone, if she sees that they are afraid of her or don't know how to handle her/no confidence, etc. It's all about attitude - YOURS - the dog will respond or not based on it.

OK, wow, hope that made sense and was helpful to someone. Not sure how I got going with that, but I hate to only go half-way, so I tried to be thorough. My brain tends to run faster than I can talk or type, so if I missed something or confused someone, I'm sorry, please feel free to ask for clarification. Yes, I know other people have different training techniques, this is just what has worked for me, and I thought it might be helpful to someone.]]> mindi TRAINING Sun, 21 Feb 2010 20:12:53 -0700 http://diabeticalertdog.com/forum/read.php?14,1082,1082#msg-1082 http://diabeticalertdog.com/forum/read.php?14,1082,1082#msg-1082
I have a naturally alerting Chesapeake Bay Retriever who with some help I enhanced his alerts. I also have a young Parson Russell Retriever that I have used the methods Crystal talked about above. He is probably not suited for a all out service dog (he is young so the jury is out) but it has been handy having 2 dogs working the night. I live by myself and they HAVE GOT to wake me up.



KC]]> FetchExpress TRAINING Sat, 16 Jan 2010 14:47:10 -0700 http://diabeticalertdog.com/forum/read.php?14,940,940#msg-940 http://diabeticalertdog.com/forum/read.php?14,940,940#msg-940 Valliegirl TRAINING Tue, 15 Dec 2009 12:10:43 -0700 http://diabeticalertdog.com/forum/read.php?14,939,939#msg-939 http://diabeticalertdog.com/forum/read.php?14,939,939#msg-939
Thank you for sharing so much information! I particularly loved the specifics relating to which toys you give as rewards as well as the potential drawback of clicker/treat association. Please don't hold back on info related to your older dogs in relation to their interaction with Trigger. I too have older dogs, Scout/f/6.5yrs/yellow lab mix and Rex/m/7or 8yrs/blue heeler burmese mtn mix that we brought home from the local animal shelter. They have basic commands down and good housebroken skills but I still worry about their interaction with the new puppy (queensland heeler black lab mix born Nov 2) once I bring her home next week.

How did you introduce them the first time and how old was Trigger at the time? Did they take to each other smoothly? How do the older dogs act when you are training Trigger? Are they in another room to keep distractions to a minimum while you focus on training Trigger particular commands?


Kate]]> KateMery TRAINING Sat, 06 Feb 2010 23:31:02 -0700 http://diabeticalertdog.com/forum/read.php?14,937,937#msg-937 http://diabeticalertdog.com/forum/read.php?14,937,937#msg-937
Trigger is such a beautiful dog. We love him and we’re all having a blast working with him. He's very agreeable, affectionate, hard-working, curious, and a quick study. And lots of fun. Here’s where we are right now, with the focus on obedience:

First off, Trigger is sleeping in his “house.“ We tried him sleeping in the bed with Michael, but Michael cannot wake up to take him out when needed. So, after washing a few rugs and a few blankets, I decided that he would sleep in his house until housebroken. He‘s very good in the crate. There were only a few moonlight walks, and now he sleeps right through. No whingeing.

Like you say, nothing is for free and he must earn his reward. Trigger sits automatically now and has developed great patience. It didn’t take long to get “watch me” and now he’ll hold it pretty much till I let him go. Tonight he was in a down/stay for 25 minutes after his dinner while I was cooking our dinner. We’ve been working a lot on that and I remembered reading somewhere, probably on the DAD forum, that occasionally you should drop a treat and say Yes or Good or Good Down. It works. It grew from being able to stay for 30 secs to tonight at 25 mins when he was getting restless so I released him. Also, now I can leave the room and he doesn’t follow, he stays in his place. After his breakfast he runs into the kitchen, sits on his place, stands at attention and says “Trigger reporting for duty, ma’am!” He can’t wait to get to work. He stays in his place while I make the breakfast and pack the lunch. Same thing at dinner. No whingeing. I am starting to replace the treat with “good boy” or a scratch behind the ear. I am still working on getting him to go “down” on my command and hand signal without a treat. He will do it for a treat, but not otherwise. Am I expecting something too soon here? As a side note, we really are leaning away from the clicker and toward praise and toy reward. I used the clicker the first week home for find the low, sit, come, heel, find Michael, find Jim, find Mom, place and house. But he would shut down instantly when the treats were gone. We really can see and appreciate the usefulness of the clicker as a learning tool and a good place to start, but we found that the treat business became all consuming and crowded out the desire to please.

Heel work is progressing nicely, but today he just pulled all the way. I did a bunch of stop, turn, “watch me,“ but he just pulled. So I just packed it in for the day and I will bring treats tomorrow to get him to slow down and reward his focus and pace. He is on a slip collar and 4’ lead or puppy lead. Any tips? What should I expect at 13 weeks?

He is so so well behaved at meal time. He follows me while I get it ready, always on my left without a lead, sits automatically next to his eating area, I put the food down and he stares until I say “go ahead!” So we’re there with that one. It started out just like in Beth’s video clip where I would tell him to sit, watch me, and slowly put down the food and hold him physically with a “wait” command. If he moved before the dish was on the floor, I stood up, told him to sit, watch me, put out my hand for “wait” and tried again. It only took a couple of days for him to sync with this, but now not even the wait command is necessary, he just does it all automatically.

A few other commands:
- Find the Low - Setting him up for success without cueing might be hard at this stage. He is praised and treated for “finding“ the low and we will build from there.
- Come - I have 100% success with “Trigger, come.”
- Release - He usually releases on command but sometimes I have to roll his muzzle. He knows it’s coming when I put my fingers there, so he usually releases before I need to roll.
- House - He won’t willingly go into his crate without a treat. More work needed there. Update: this afternoon I pointed to his house and he went in, but he was sniffing for a treat. Still, success. Good Boy!
- No - Very good with “no.” If he grabs a piece of clothing and I say “no,” he drops it and I give him praise or his toy.

The chewing you talked about in your email is going on here as well, so there are many “no’s.” He has the following that he loves for different reasons, but all are fun and chewable. Hard Core Fire Hose, nylabone, nylabone Frisbee, kong, spalding (not really chewable, more for fun). In his house, he gets the fire hose. In training, he gets the spalding because it bounces, the Frisbee because it flys, the fire hose because it’s like a bringsel, and the kong for toy reward. In free time or down, he has the nylabone available. I’m not brave enough yet to take away ALL chew toys. Yikes! Let me know how it’s working out.

He hasn’t had extensive exposure to the outside world since I’m hesitant to do too much until he gets his rabies shot. But we’re out in the garden for lawnmowers, leaf blowers, trucks rolling by, dogs barking, etc. I love when the Canadian Geese fly overhead and he calmly stares up at them with that lab head tilt until they are out of sight. He loves that. Today, he stopped for a long time to watch the birds fly back and forth from the bird feeder to the trees. We take walks around the neighborhood for heel training. He comes in the car for errands and went into Petco in his kennel and rode around in the cart. Things like that for the next two weeks till his shot. Inside, I’ve introduced him to the vacuum, the garage door, the washer and dryer, the shower and tub, etc. The vacuum is tricky, and we’re not there yet, but I started by putting it in the middle of the kitchen, off, just sitting there with a treat on it. Then I did a few quick turns on and off. Then I rolled it around the house, off. Then I put on the attachments and just left it there. I finally had to actually vacuum and decided to wait until he was focused on something pleasurable, so when he began eating, I went into a far away room and started vacuuming. He came in and was crouching, hesitant and left again to eat. We’ll see. Would love to hear any success stories.

“Get busy” is our command for toilet and he is going on command, in the spot. Sometimes I think he just squeezes one out to make me happy so he can go back inside! It's getting frigid around here. And the other day when I thought he was done and we were walking back inside, he put on the brakes at the door and wouldn’t go in. Hmmm. So I took him for another spin and sure enough there was more to come. He has had accidents due to marauding Patsy’s water dish, but we’ve now orchestrated a “dog bowl ballet” to make sure they’re all up and away before Trigger can pounce.

Speaking of which, it has been huge work but totally worth it and hilarious, to have the three dogs: one 8 year old chocolate lab, Guinness; one 11 year old mutt, Patsy; and Trigger. I told Jim, “Please don’t check me in, I’m really not crazy, but we should have had more dogs all along.” I am amazed at how much they care for Trigger. I won’t lie, Patsy is just tolerating it at the moment, but she’s also riding the Trigger wave and goes wherever he goes in the hope that a stray treat will come her way! He jumps up in her face and she’ll correct him, but she would never hurt him, and he is learning from that. It’s amazing - when Patsy is eating her dinner, which she does VERY slowly, Trigger will yip at her and she’ll come over to him and drop exactly one kibble on the floor in front of him. It makes me laugh so much. Of course Guinness, the chocolate lab, can’t even grasp the concept of sharing food but he will drop a toy in front of Trigger. And Guinness will not leave his side. When Trigger jumps up at Patsy, Guinness blades between them and herds Trigger away. It’s all amazing to me.

Well, Rachel, as you can tell, I could go on and on! I’ve emailed some pictures and some time this week, I hope, I will take a few little videos of our progress, Thornton style!

I apologize for taking so long to update you all. I hate that you had to nudge me but truthfully I’ve been working on posting this for over a week but you know how it is with Christmas coming up and dogs and kids and house …

Will also email you shortly with the post-workshop feedback.

Please, all advice is appreciated and welcomed. If I've said anything you disagree with or can add to, I'd love to hear it.

Take care for now,

Kathy, Jim, Mike and Trigger]]> islanddogs TRAINING Tue, 15 Dec 2009 12:21:36 -0700 http://diabeticalertdog.com/forum/read.php?14,925,925#msg-925 http://diabeticalertdog.com/forum/read.php?14,925,925#msg-925
I'll be getting my puppy in 7-10 days and in preparation have been filling much of my spare time reading posts on this site as well as compiling a list of books to check out from the library tomorrow.

Wow... reading these posts I realize I have so much to learn... and it makes me so thankful to have the next 7-10 days to get ready!
LOVED the info on your puppies and really appreciate you posting about them. My puppy was born on November 2nd and the people are anxious to have their house cleared of all 10 puppies before Christmas... I'm not so sure that's good for the pups but I'm prepared to take one in.

It didn't cross my mind to train this puppy to be a DAD until after I'd already committed to taking one of the puppies. That was three weeks ago and since then I discovered your forum, rethought my choice of puppies and revisited them to either firm up my choice or to change it. I originally went for 'looks' but upon reading more posts about what to look for in a DAD I realized that as much as I loved the one with looks I just didn't feel any connection with him. A different pup caught my eye. This particular pup noticed me watching the antics of the litter from across the space they were confined in and she came over and stared up at me intently. She held my gaze more than once throughout the evening and displayed an ability to focus on me during times her litter mates were dog piling each other and barking/whining like crazy... all nine of them.

I've no idea if she'll be a good fit as a DAD for my 13yo T-1 daughter but I'll be training her from the get-go with that as my goal and if she displays a different talent I'll enjoy her no less. :) This DOES bring one question to mind... over the next weeks and months what exactly should I be looking for as specific indicators that this puppy has potential to be a DAD? I've read up on scent training, obedience training, etc... This puppy isn't too hyper nor too laid back... but I've yet to read of an age/stage that pinpoints or indicates any one puppy's future ability to be a DAD.

I'm sure every puppy, like children, is slightly different in reaching stages but I'm hoping with your experience that you'll be able to shed some light on what I should be looking for in reference to DAD skills specifically.]]> KateMery TRAINING Mon, 14 Dec 2009 21:45:28 -0700 http://diabeticalertdog.com/forum/read.php?14,918,918#msg-918 http://diabeticalertdog.com/forum/read.php?14,918,918#msg-918
How do you teach "under"?]]> Shana Eppler TRAINING Mon, 14 Dec 2009 19:55:02 -0700 http://diabeticalertdog.com/forum/read.php?14,803,803#msg-803 http://diabeticalertdog.com/forum/read.php?14,803,803#msg-803 I have a socialization question. In the book, "After You Get Your Puppy", Dr. Dunbar encourages puppy owners to have their puppy meet at least a hundred people before it is three months old. How realistic is this? I know the shots aren't completed until after the third month. Do you take the puppy out with you and hold it? I would love to hear some suggestions.]]> Shana Eppler TRAINING Thu, 12 Nov 2009 10:04:55 -0700