From puppies in training to veteran teams, it is nice to get an occassional update - it is an encouragement to all of us and also provides insight into the various levels of training . . . . http://diabeticalertdog.com/forum/list.php?22 Thu, 09 Sep 2010 09:44:29 -0700 Phorum 5.2.11 http://diabeticalertdog.com/forum/read.php?22,2388,2388#msg-2388 http://diabeticalertdog.com/forum/read.php?22,2388,2388#msg-2388 Today we have another half day of meetings, including a talk from the superintendent. Should be interesting to see what he says about the situation.]]> equineacres UPDATES FROM TEAMS Thu, 02 Sep 2010 06:43:52 -0700 http://diabeticalertdog.com/forum/read.php?22,2238,2238#msg-2238 http://diabeticalertdog.com/forum/read.php?22,2238,2238#msg-2238 nmckinne UPDATES FROM TEAMS Wed, 18 Aug 2010 10:24:12 -0700 http://diabeticalertdog.com/forum/read.php?22,2237,2237#msg-2237 http://diabeticalertdog.com/forum/read.php?22,2237,2237#msg-2237
My husband, Jayson, and I have a DAD, Nimbus from Wildrose, who is around 5 months old. He is doing awesome so far! He has been alerting Jayson for lows and we have been teaching him how to get the bringsel when he finds a low. He already knows to look for the bringsel when he finds a low and immediately goes and gets it when he finds one. The problem that I'm noticing is that we have to put the bringsel on the ground when he is alerting (so that he doesn't see us put it down), because if we have it on the ground or in his reach always, he will try and get it when Jayson isn't low. We want to have a place for it, so Nimbus knows where to look for it, but we want to make it clear that he is only supposed to get it when jayson is low. So far, we have just been correcting him when he gets it at the wrong time and putting it out of his reach. Any advice?

Thanks!
Nichole]]> nmckinne UPDATES FROM TEAMS Wed, 18 Aug 2010 09:55:03 -0700 http://diabeticalertdog.com/forum/read.php?22,2144,2144#msg-2144 http://diabeticalertdog.com/forum/read.php?22,2144,2144#msg-2144
Last year asked many questions of me and my family. This year the answers have started to come. My thanks to the many of you who helped me move through the year of questions; who helped me try to make sense of it; who helped me find the strength to continue fighting for justice. On Wednesday August 4 a Texas jury heard pleas against a kennel that sold inadequately trained Diabetic Alert Dogs. The six member jury returned a verdict in favor of plaintiffs and awarded monetary damages. Defendant have not yet satisfied the judgment. At least three more cases are pending.

Moving forward now, we welcome Wildrose Sam into our family. At 14 months Sam is not a finished dog, but is one alerting machine! Imagine that….]]> Keegans UPDATES FROM TEAMS Wed, 01 Sep 2010 23:32:54 -0700 http://diabeticalertdog.com/forum/read.php?22,2091,2091#msg-2091 http://diabeticalertdog.com/forum/read.php?22,2091,2091#msg-2091
We just spent two weeks with Nimbus as a guest while Jayson and Nichole went to Hawaii for their wedding. Nimbus did well and learned the routine and schedule rather quickly. I did have to keep the two pups separated as all they wanted to do was rough house and wrestle. Nimbus came to work with me each day as well. That gave him some excellent public access and socialization opportunities and we worked on getting him exposed to more things- people, sounds, traffic etc.

Both Duke and Nimbus excelled on their airplane ride to and from Colorado. They were awesome and but for some ugliness from fellow passengers in the airport in Denver, the trip couldn't have been nicer.]]> lawbee UPDATES FROM TEAMS Tue, 03 Aug 2010 16:50:57 -0700 http://diabeticalertdog.com/forum/read.php?22,2076,2076#msg-2076 http://diabeticalertdog.com/forum/read.php?22,2076,2076#msg-2076 Those who saw Boss in Colorado will not believe all of this, but - oh well! I'm so proud, In about to pop!!!

Boss is awesome. Im loving every minute with him - Trevor better grab him up quickly when it's time or I might just snatch him back ;)
Our primary focus has been CONTROL and DISCIPLINE. He is so so so similar to JD in spirit and energy and i knew it was paramount to put some CALM and CONTROL into him. He excels at place, excellent remote sit, focus improves daily, fabulous nose, nice recall - and this is the part that will be unbelievable for some : for the past 5 days we have been totally, 100% successful with "off-lead heel" (here at home training areas and inside my house) KC, I am not lying or exaggerating, i promise!!
Scent work: we are slowly building a solid foundation. I worked exclusively on "smell it, sit" for soooooooo long. Now, i hide the scent a bit more so he has to "find it, smell it, sit". I'm very pleased thus far. He is in the final stages of teething and will then do some "hold conditioning" and some formal retrieval training. Then, i will add "hold" (with a bringsel) and retreival of meter to scenting exercises. My goal is "scent, retrieve bringsel, sit, hold"

My challenges with boss have been oral fixation!!! In the blink of an eye, he can snatch up anything within "striking distance" and if it happens to be a sock, he can swallow it almost as fast. Yikes! I saw this component of him when he was itty bitty and my first steps were to heavily reward him for showing me/ bringing me whatever he "caught". I did this cos I did not want to associate too much pressure / correction around retrieving things - didn't want him to develop and "snatch and run" tendency. So, then i was left with a monster who'd pick up stuff constantly and turn to me with his mouth full. Ha ha. Socks have always been a huge problem. Uniquely with socks, if he picks one up, he sucks it down like a vaccuum cleaner! So, we have spent a LOT of time trying to "desensitize him" to socks!!! When I do laundry, he sits at heel and I "accidentally" drop all the socks from the load. He can now perform this excercise quite well. So, we are moving up a step. I now drop them and heel him near them and over them. I am requiring eye contact from him whenever he sees a sock. This has been our hugest focus!
I did have to work through a small amount of chewing issues early on, but have not had any problem at all with chewing in a LONG time.
Public outings are highly successful. He eliminates on cue flawlessly, so we have never had problems with accidents in public. Ground sniffing is a little more of a challenge when we are out - and crumbs on the floor are therefor a huge temptation. But, we'll tackle those things - he is a GREAT dog!!!

Anyway, thats my "Boss update" - I'd love to hear from some of the other pups from this litter : Journey, Jazz, Sugar, Gracie, and Juniper - and Nimbus, Aspen, and Scout, and Duke are other WR pups who are similar in age but from other litters . . . We'd love updates on these DAD-wanna-be's!!!]]> nobodybutjustme UPDATES FROM TEAMS Wed, 04 Aug 2010 14:13:10 -0700 http://diabeticalertdog.com/forum/read.php?22,2074,2074#msg-2074 http://diabeticalertdog.com/forum/read.php?22,2074,2074#msg-2074 Bottom line: I'm hungry to hear more about the famous Gracie!!! :D]]> nobodybutjustme UPDATES FROM TEAMS Wed, 01 Sep 2010 23:26:21 -0700 http://diabeticalertdog.com/forum/read.php?22,1963,1963#msg-1963 http://diabeticalertdog.com/forum/read.php?22,1963,1963#msg-1963
Thanks!]]> Shana Eppler UPDATES FROM TEAMS Fri, 04 Jun 2010 06:03:52 -0700 http://diabeticalertdog.com/forum/read.php?22,1934,1934#msg-1934 http://diabeticalertdog.com/forum/read.php?22,1934,1934#msg-1934 JD is a fabulous dog with a super-high drive and a marvelous nose
I LOVE this boy.

From the time he was born, he had been "matched" with a young girl who potentially has some mobility issues as well as being Type 1. As he grew and matured and his true self began to shine forth, I realized that he would most likely never be the perfect match for that paticular scenario. The family met JD and agreed that he was not the dog
for them :(
I feared that my boy might not find his perfect match and might be pulled from the DAD program at WR :(

He is a marvelous alerter. At puppy-picking day, just prior to the DAD workshop, he thought we'd brought Christmas to him 'cos there were so many diabetics for him to alert. He really desparately needed a job.


But, it would be a difficult fit - he is HIGH energy and he is always looking to overthrow the leadership. He needed a quiet person to balance his energy, but he needed a person who would provide the plentious excercise he needed AND he needed someone who could gently but firmly establish themselves as his leader! Wow!!

Welllllllllll-as some of you know, JD has found his forever friend. He is a " lean, mean alerting machine" (but, he is NOT mean - just a figure of speech). He is happy, so happy! And, his handler and family are overjoyed with his alerting. He is consistently ahead of the meter - enabling them to avoid lows and catching highs before they climb too high. They are working hard to become a dynamite team and I couldn't be happier. They are enrolled in a program with a local trainer and are looking for opportunies like the new WR adventure dog program or agility competition.
I have a new slide show ready to upload when I get home
from this trip and I'll make sure to include their picture so that yall can see him smiling!! He loves loves loves his job
and I could not be more happy!!!]]> nobodybutjustme UPDATES FROM TEAMS Fri, 04 Jun 2010 08:42:09 -0700 http://diabeticalertdog.com/forum/read.php?22,1899,1899#msg-1899 http://diabeticalertdog.com/forum/read.php?22,1899,1899#msg-1899 For those interested in searching the pedigrees, the Wildrose pups are:
Brandy X Widgeon puppies : Jazz, Boss, Sugar, Gracie, Duke
Widgeon X Piper : Emmett
Whiskey X Katie : Journey
Kane X Tammy : Scout
Ben X Kela : Nimbus

I currently have 2 puppies my my house -Boss and Scout. Boss is about 9 weeks old - we brought him home with us after the last diabetic alert dog workshop. Scout is about 12 weeks old and we have had her since she was 7 weeks. Our priority is to train by patterning good habits. Housebreaking, crate training, place training, loose lead walking, "here", sit, "automatic sit", "down"' and "watch" are the specific tasks that we are attempting to master in order to build a solid foundation. Also, at various times during the day, we do a little scent work as well as a couple of controlled retrieves. We build each day with structure and discipline. Every event is a training event. We require a "sit" and "watch" before everything - nothing is free for a DAD in training! They "sit" and "watch" before meal, before exit from crate, before doing out door, before any reward or retrieve. Neither pup has had any "toys" - no chew toys or Kongs at all. One of the Wildrose laws is "don't train in anything that you will need to train out later". We don't want chewing problems, so we are not encouraging chewing.

I'm hoping others will join in here to share their experiences thus far - in order to help others . . .

Happy puppy-ing!!

BTW, Scout leaves us tomorrow AM- we are gonna miss her TONS!!!



Happy Puppy-ing!!]]> nobodybutjustme UPDATES FROM TEAMS Mon, 09 Aug 2010 18:15:51 -0700 http://diabeticalertdog.com/forum/read.php?22,1870,1870#msg-1870 http://diabeticalertdog.com/forum/read.php?22,1870,1870#msg-1870
Well, this morning Drake woke me with a low alert again. He got lots of praise, and his favorite - a belly rub! Later when my numbers were in the normal range I took a sample out of the freezer. I gave him the "Drake, find the low" command - he immediately came running to me and sniffed - he located the sample in about 3 seconds!

All is not A OK, however. He recently decided that undressing time (taking off his vest) is the perfect time to play and get mouthy. My arms and hands are covered with scabs and black and blues. If I am able to get him to stop mouthing me, he bites parts of the vest and tries to engage in a tug of war with me. I'm sure this is some of his "teenage rebellion" against authority, but I'm wondering if any of you have experienced the same and do you have any suggestions.

Best regards,
Tom]]> tom UPDATES FROM TEAMS Fri, 04 Jun 2010 08:35:19 -0700 http://diabeticalertdog.com/forum/read.php?22,1848,1848#msg-1848 http://diabeticalertdog.com/forum/read.php?22,1848,1848#msg-1848
Call him AeroDrake! We went thru security without a hitch. I was able to leave his vest on because the guard said the one metal ring wouldn't set off the metal detector and it didn't. I gave Drake the command to sit - wait while I went thru the detector then the come command and he pranced right thru and sat while I gathered all of his and my equipment. What a relief!

While taxiing, Drake fell asleep, he looked up once during takeoff and put his head back down and slept until we hit some turbulence where he just looked up at me, saw I was calm, and went back to sleep. I woke him when we were pulling into our gate! What a dream!

Since I took all of this week off, I've been able to ease him into life on City Island. He's doing terrific. What a life style change. All this exercise I'm getting taking him for walks! It can only help me to control my glucose. One evening we were right in front of a church when the organist started playing the carillon. Drake leapt into the air! He immediately calmed and we sat on the steps and listened for about 10 minutes. He's adjusting to lots of new smells and meeting lots of new people.

This evening he'll get his first taste or should I say smell of Manhattan. I'm going for a stress test which lasts about 2 & 1/2 hours. I'm sure he'll be fine. My endocronologist, who is anxious to meet Drake will be there.

Drake adjusted to the Science Diet food without incident. None of the much anticipated and dreaded diarrhea.

He loves sitting on the dock and watching the shore birds. We're having a great time!
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Drake woke me at 3:30 AM this morning. I got up and did a test; my reading was 102. I told him I was OK and he went and stood by the front door. I dressed and gave him a quick chance to "get done". Numbers 1 & 2 arrived quickly and I was back to bed. As soon as I laid my head down he had his front paws on the bed and licked my face and nibbled on my ear. I said OK I'll check again - My number was 67! LOW! (optimum is between 80 & 120) Lots of "Good lows" kisses and petting. So, yes I'd say he's alerting! Often and accurately!

I had no hassle at the airport. Last night he was a dream during the 2 & 1/2 hour stress test. He amazed everyone at the medical facility. He has no idea what "curbing your dog" is all about. He just looked at me in disbelief when I told him to "get done" in an empty parking space. He definitely prefers grass.
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Hope you are all doing well and your pups are happy. To anyone considering a Wildrose DAD - GO FOR IT! I couldn't be happier with the training the Wildrose staff did with Drake. Thank you all! You've changed my life for the better! Better than I ever imagined!
Tom & Drake]]> tom UPDATES FROM TEAMS Fri, 07 May 2010 13:05:49 -0700 http://diabeticalertdog.com/forum/read.php?22,1794,1794#msg-1794 http://diabeticalertdog.com/forum/read.php?22,1794,1794#msg-1794 I would like to post a little note about our 6 year old daughter M's new puppy, Sam. He is a Standard Poodle puppy, 14 weeks old. We have had him about 3 weeks. He is a very smart guy, alert and curious. But, he tends to distract easily when he sees other dogs or people. He loves to play with them! We are working continuously on his focus. He can also overwhelm shy dogs with his friendliness.
There are several commands that he has learned: come, sit, down, wait, watch me, and crate. Others we are still working on, such as: up, off, leave it, quiet, place and stay. Leash work definitely still in progress! Did I mention he is curious? ;) Well, that means that he wants to investigate everything on walks!
We have done little scent work as of right now because we are planning on attending the WR conference in May and want to do it right! We have done a bit, though, just allowing him to sniff the low and then treating.
He is also quite mouthy, but with suggestions from Rachel and other trainers, have seen a lot of improvement. We have not the bravery to eliminate all chew toys, he still has a Nylabone and Kong for when he has to be in-crate when we leave the house.
We have not taken him out in public yet (with the exception of walks - he has also been to friend's houses and the groomer's). We are planning on starting more of that this week. He does go to puppy 101/socialization classes with a local trainer who has 30-some years' experience.
Well, that is how things are going so far, I would love any suggestions on the issues that I mentioned above, Thanks so much for reading!
Tricia]]> TriciaZ UPDATES FROM TEAMS Thu, 22 Apr 2010 18:35:18 -0700 http://diabeticalertdog.com/forum/read.php?22,1665,1665#msg-1665 http://diabeticalertdog.com/forum/read.php?22,1665,1665#msg-1665
I was thinking about this tonight (not training as I barely have a voice, but you know the "count your blessings, when you're feeling down thing... )Well, I always try to rush things, and feel like we're moving so slowly. So, I started reviewing and came up with this.

Thus far, without treat bribes, we have 100% consistency on the sits, and probably 75%ish on the "down". And he will also now obey "in the crate" on the first order (we leave the door open so we don't have to go to it and call them), although not the stay - he turns around and tries to come right back out. For now, I just stick my hand in the way and say "Stay" or a "down" (good down) "stay". We'll get there eventually.

My #1 command "Leave it" is also nailed down 100%, if he has something in his mouth, he will drop it immediately, or I can set food in front of him on the floor, and say "leave it" and he'll just look at it and whine occasionally, but won't touch it.

So, even though I feel like we're poking along, I guess he is doing pretty well. Oh, with the leave it command. I also do it at the gate to our fence (he gets near an open gate and I say "no sir, leave it", and he will consistently stop right at the entrance even though kids are going in and out, and just wait there.

There are probably things I'm forgetting, but that's some of them. I think for now we'll try something that was posted about Jude (I think) with leaving the plastic bag with the low sample on the floor and just give lots of praise when he sniffs it and "Good low".

And btw - when I can borrow a camera (mine died - with help from kids, I'm sure), I'll get a picture of him in the vest. You should see him prancing like he's something special with it on. Of course, we made a big deal about "Oh Bear, you're so cute!" etc. I was surprised though, he didn't pay it much attention at all, or try to get it off.

Now if I can just get over being sick and get back to working with him....]]> mindi UPDATES FROM TEAMS Sun, 14 Mar 2010 21:28:46 -0700 http://diabeticalertdog.com/forum/read.php?22,1511,1511#msg-1511 http://diabeticalertdog.com/forum/read.php?22,1511,1511#msg-1511 Anyways-I wish I had done this before I'd gotten lucy so I'd have an even better comparision but here are my results from the past 2 weeks.
44% of my bloodsugars were in range
Only 8 bloodsugars less than 80! Lucy alerts to at least 2 lows per day that i treat for and thanks to her I'm rarely below 80.
Average bloodsugar is 171.
Its a huge improvement from where I was a year ago. I wish I could fix highs as fast as I can fix lows. I need to do another a1c soon too.
Anyone else with a minimed pump use the carelink?]]> Valliegirl UPDATES FROM TEAMS Mon, 01 Mar 2010 18:31:01 -0700 http://diabeticalertdog.com/forum/read.php?22,1463,1463#msg-1463 http://diabeticalertdog.com/forum/read.php?22,1463,1463#msg-1463 Valliegirl UPDATES FROM TEAMS Thu, 25 Feb 2010 15:53:29 -0700 http://diabeticalertdog.com/forum/read.php?22,1435,1435#msg-1435 http://diabeticalertdog.com/forum/read.php?22,1435,1435#msg-1435
On Saturday, Drake outfitted in his new vest, went with me to Petsmart, then a trip to a local shopping mall, and ended up with a trip to Bass Pro Shop. He did very well, heeling and sitting and taking instructions well. He took his first escalator ride with me holding him on the down escalator and riding it up himself in heel position. We will continue to work on obedience and public access over the next few weeks. We will be going to a large office building in St.Louis to ride the elevator and work in the stairwells as well as riding on the Metro link subway train. Hopefully he will go to the federal courthouse with me and sit through a docket in the next few weeks. I will likely take him there on a day when I don't have to make a court appearance, but can give him my full attention as we sit through a motion hearing docket. I will send a picture if the federal marshalls let me bring in a camera. We are working on approval from the federal marshall's office.

He is cutting his canine teeth right now, so we are doing no retrieving or hold work. He is doing very well at place training and at night time will go immediately to his crate with the command "time for bed". He also goes immediately to his place in the family room after eating breakfast and dinner. He travels VERY well. He is learning to load himself up into the car and goes immediately into his crate and lays down and is quiet for the entire trip. We have made two short trips with him riding on the front seat since that is where he will likely be riding "shotgun" next to Tom, but until I receive the seatbelt harness I ordered, he won't be riding outside of his crate. He did do very well, however, on the two short trips sitting on the front seat.

Thought you would like this update and will send more as we progress through the next few weeks.]]> lawbee UPDATES FROM TEAMS Mon, 22 Feb 2010 17:24:36 -0700 http://diabeticalertdog.com/forum/read.php?22,1192,1192#msg-1192 http://diabeticalertdog.com/forum/read.php?22,1192,1192#msg-1192
Jude is doing very well! Lately, we have been doing a lot of work with heeling. Ella likes to do this as well. I hook two leashes onto Jude. Ella holds one and and I follow behind them holding the other in case a correction needs to be made that Ella misses. She does a very good job and keeping him in position and making sure he is watching her. Scent work (low bg) is coming along nicely also. We are chaining in his alert cue which is a bringsel and then a bow. Jude likes to "mouth" the scent tube or the place it is hidden so we have been working on that.

We've been working on his chewing and hyperness. Jude LOVES to chew and can get super excited with 3 kids running around! This has been the most challenging! We've been doing alot of things that require him to be patient and focused.

We still need to get out to more public places. It's just been hard with me working every other weekend and having all three kids while Ronda is at work. I tried taking 3 kids + Jude to the store once but that turned into a nightmare and near stroke! I wasn't able to pay enough attention to Jude and learned a lesson real quick :X I need to take Jude by himself and gradually work in the kids or other distractions. I knew that ahead of time and don't know what I was thinking at the time!]]> Jwatson UPDATES FROM TEAMS Mon, 08 Feb 2010 06:26:23 -0700 http://diabeticalertdog.com/forum/read.php?22,1172,1172#msg-1172 http://diabeticalertdog.com/forum/read.php?22,1172,1172#msg-1172
As far as Tammy staying in a down, I think that might be more of a breed & age thing. She's a worker. She probably only plays for about 30 minutes a day. She loves balls but after about 10-15 minutes, she's done & back to work. She also turned 2 TODAY :) so she doesn't really have those hyper, puppy tendencies. Happy Birthday Tammy (:D I've never owned a GS until Tammy but they are pretty serious by nature. In fact, she looks kind of intimidating to people that don't know better. My oldest sons girlfriend used to call her "The Grim". If she isn't asleep, she's watching everything/everybody around her like a hawk. In addition to her nature, Brady is the TASK MASTER. He doesn't put up with one second of crap from her. He never has. He is a natural with a GS. He's very no-nonsense (which surprised me). Tammy is very sweet & eager to please (us) but could be very manipulative, if allowed.]]> Bridget UPDATES FROM TEAMS Fri, 29 Jan 2010 07:17:11 -0700 http://diabeticalertdog.com/forum/read.php?22,947,947#msg-947 http://diabeticalertdog.com/forum/read.php?22,947,947#msg-947
As a few of you know, I am an attorney in solo practice in a small town about 50 miles west of St. Louis, MO. As such, I have the luxury of bringing Drake to work with me each day. It provides terrific opportunities for socialization and outings. Drake has gone to the courthouse twice and of course gets to meet all of my clients and others who come by my office. Being right on courthouse square, he gets to see and hear lots of interesting things, like sirens from the police and fire departments and lots of pedestrian and car traffic. He has also gone on a couple of outings to Lowe's and a new pet store that recently opened. He has also gone to 2 different social events with me over the past few weeks and has charmed everyone he has met.

Today, Drake was provided with a marvelous opportunity. A new client came in for their appointment with her service dog (guide dog), an 11 year old standard poodle. Drake stays in an exercise pen in the corner of my office. So, having the other service dog lying down right near his pen was a real test for him. He did well for about 30 minutes, then I placed him in his crate at my secretary's desk for the remainder of the appointment.

As I learned at the Wildrose DAD seminar a few weeks ago, Drake is not the only pup from this litter who is "vocal". We are working on basic obedience-sits, downs and heeling on lead as well as recalls. Place training is coming along, slowly but surely. I have done some scent work with him but the samples I brought home from Wildrose did not survive the seminar and then the long car ride too well. I do have an excellent source for obtaining new scent. A good friend of mine is a type 1 diabetic and is collecting low scent samples for me. It's a terrific situation as my friend is the same gender and about the same age as the gentleman that Drake will be going to.

Drake gets along well with my other dogs, "Kit", a 7 year old black lab (imported by Wildrose)--he very patiently puts up with the puppy antics and looks at me as if to say, "Ok, I'll help you train another one." Drake really enjoys spending time with my 4 year old black cocker spaniel ("Wiley"). They are best buds and play well together. They get about 5 minutes together twice a day. Wiley is a recently retired show dog, who will be starting his upland field training soon.

I have been giving Drake "Nylabone" puppy bones, but since he seems to be getting a little to rigorous with them, we will be phasing them out. He has a rope bone and some plush and rubber squeaky toys. He has not destroyed any of them, but he is supervised very carefully and when he gets too rough, the toys get a break from Drake!

Rachel, the "persistence" you described must be hereditary! I feel your pain! This puppy is incredibly stubborn and persistent, but I think that will pay off in the end. Just like we want high drive and persistance in our performance ( hunting, show, agility)dogs, once properly channeled, I think these pups will do great! It's just the harnessing and channelling that will take patience and persistence on our part!

I'd love to hear how his littermates are doing.]]> lawbee UPDATES FROM TEAMS Tue, 15 Dec 2009 17:07:41 -0700 http://diabeticalertdog.com/forum/read.php?22,921,921#msg-921 http://diabeticalertdog.com/forum/read.php?22,921,921#msg-921
I'm new to the forum so my apologies if you've already posted info on the following:

how old was your puppy when you first got him?
what did you name him?
how is the training coming along?

Thank you!
Katherine]]> KateMery UPDATES FROM TEAMS Wed, 16 Dec 2009 09:38:48 -0700 http://diabeticalertdog.com/forum/read.php?22,911,911#msg-911 http://diabeticalertdog.com/forum/read.php?22,911,911#msg-911 He has enjoyed public outings outside initially - parks, playgrounds, sidewalks near stores THEN we began very short , positive experiences in controlled indoor public settings. This week we briefly visited walmart, hobby lobby, and the mall. He practiced sitting in front of door and waiting for command to enter / exit with each doorway. He practiced "focus" / "eye-contact while in distracting environments. I invited people to interact with him to build positive experiences. He sat calmy by automatic doors and I rewarded his calm focus on me. We practiced "under" benches and watched carts, wheelchairs, strollers and walkers pass by - and bouncing, noisy children. We did short visits, took potty break and rewarded, and then re-entered.
Baby-steps , but all positive - laying a good foundation on which to build more experiences.
He is doing a GREAT job!

Time to hear from these pups : Drake, Trgger, Jude, and Precious are all from this same litter - we'd love an update on these Widgeon/ Brandy pups!

BTW, I posted a funny little clip of Bear in the tub at :
www.YouTube.com/nobodybutjustme
he just needed his muddy paws cleaned but didn't want to waste the opportunity to have some "clean" fun!!]]> nobodybutjustme UPDATES FROM TEAMS Fri, 11 Dec 2009 09:45:17 -0700 http://diabeticalertdog.com/forum/read.php?22,786,786#msg-786 http://diabeticalertdog.com/forum/read.php?22,786,786#msg-786 ALL of you.]]> Bridget UPDATES FROM TEAMS Mon, 09 Nov 2009 15:52:38 -0700 http://diabeticalertdog.com/forum/read.php?22,747,747#msg-747 http://diabeticalertdog.com/forum/read.php?22,747,747#msg-747
You wait for the time they will be letting you know when they need to go out. Even then, you must be right on top of things so you can let them out right away or they might just not be able to hold it.

Casper will let me know he wants to go out by going to the door, but if I am not watching, he will go anyway, oops. I am thinking about getting a bell and ringing it each time I take him out, attaching it to the door knob and teaching him to ring it to let me know "I need to go out NOW".

He does really well at night, without needing to potty in the middle of the night, and he has since we brought him home. He has only needed to potty during the night 2 or 3 times. He will go into his crate easily and seems satisfied to be there. That was accomplished by letting him be next to his "big brother" Duke. The first time I put him in a crate, he began to protest and Duke came over and placed his nose right in front of him as if to calm him. I took my cue from that and always made it easy for Duke to reach him during the night.

He is learning some basic obedience, but I must confess, I have not done as much with him as I should. I have had a lot of things interfer with training lately. On top of family considerations, Goldie had a litter of puppies that all the dogs adore, we almost lost our Schnauzer, Sugar Baby, who had an infection and had to have an emergency hysterectomy. She is now home and I am trying to keep the house as calm as I can until she is back to normal.

I will get back to a better schedule soon and I expect him to do very well. Duke is doing well with his training, his public access is great, he loves going and being around people. I am just waiting on samples to train for alerting.]]> idamac UPDATES FROM TEAMS Sun, 08 Nov 2009 08:31:10 -0700 http://diabeticalertdog.com/forum/read.php?22,739,739#msg-739 http://diabeticalertdog.com/forum/read.php?22,739,739#msg-739 Jwatson UPDATES FROM TEAMS Fri, 06 Nov 2009 20:35:08 -0700 http://diabeticalertdog.com/forum/read.php?22,298,298#msg-298 http://diabeticalertdog.com/forum/read.php?22,298,298#msg-298 Bridget UPDATES FROM TEAMS Mon, 23 Aug 2010 06:10:58 -0700