As part of the bonding, we have Jacey feed and water Dublin both for breakfast and dinner. We caught a few giggles while feeding him dinner this night.
Enjoy!
Amy
Jacey Feeding Dublin Dinner
PS Hopefully I'll be able to figure out how to post videos to my actual blog without it timing out.
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Day 3 of Training at 4 Paws
I thought I was pooped yesterday...I'm exhausted today! Judd and I waited for Jacey's bedtime to finally get here and I was soooo ready to just crawl into bed. Since Jacey is in bed but not asleep yet, I figured I'd better get this done before I fall over dead! :o)
Today was yet another amazing day. We split our class into two groups yesterday for tracking. I opted to go for the first session at 9:30 am so we wouldn't have to fight Jacey on getting back in the car and going again. I figured she might be a little bit mellow more towards the early morning than the 11 am session when she might start getting hungry.
We followed another family to the park that we would be doing our tracking at and waited for the first session families to all arrive. When it came time for Jacey to go and hide, I was a bit nervous on how she would do with going for a "walk" with Dad and Christie (she is the trainer that Dublin has been tracking). She has been blowing our minds with how good she has been doing things that are not part of her normal routine. She graciously held Daddy's hand and went off to hide. Jeremy and Jessa suited Dublin up in a harness for tracking and allowed him a little more time to watch the direction they went.
Tracking is a very interesting thing...as I am learning! The dog's nose has approximately 125 million olfactory cells to a humans only 5 million olfactory cells. Essentially it is like smelling a candle over and over. Eventually you aren't able to smell it in approximately a minute because your olfactory cells are filled up. You have to move away from the candle momentarily to clean out your cells to be able to smell it again. So, the dog has the ability of sniffing a scent for a much longer period of time. They train the dogs to track using scent obtained from our skin cells that shed constantly. As you shed the skin cells they actually go up in the air above you, I believe, about two feet before falling like snow down to the ground. These cells naturally don't fall directly back on the path that the individual took considering the air is moving. Needless to say, the dog will not follow the exact path or trail that your child took to find where they are at. They follow the path of the skin cells and where they landed on the ground. The longer the skin cells are on the ground, the "cooler" they get. It's like a game of playing "Hot or Cold." The dog sniffs the cells and can tell the ones that are warmer (or more recently dropped) and will follow that trail. As the dog goes about smelling, they naturally make an S shape over and over again as they go from warm to cold smelling the skin cells.
I don't know if I'm explaining this very well, but tracking is a very intriguing thing these dogs do! I would say it took longer for Judd, Jacey, and Christy to go hide than it did for Dublin to find them. Jeremy was kind and did not sprint with Dublin as my belly is bulging a bit these days and I find running a tad bit difficult! :o) Dublin was tracking not Jacey but Christy, because that is who he has been trained to track. What we are doing is adding Jacey's scent to the mix and will eventually take Christy out of the track entirely, leaving Jacey's scent the only constant. This doesn't mean that we will just allow her to run off and hope that Dublin finds her. But we will have a different adult go with her to hide each time so that Jacey's scent is the only constant in the scent equation.
After all of the first session families had their chance at having their dog track, we went back to the 4 Paws facility for more training indoors. We met with Jennifer, who is the next down from Jeremy in training...I believe her title is "Head Trainer" whereas Jeremy's is "Executive Trainer" or something to that effect! :o)
Anyhew, Jennifer went over distractions again while the dogs are in "sit" or "down". We also practiced, one at a time, heeling and walking around the other dogs that were in a "down". We then moved on to dropping the leash and walking to the other side of the room. We wanted to make sure that our dogs obeyed their command of "down", which Dublin did fantastic with. It is amazing to see how he is really starting to listen to my commands well...granted, he had a moment in class where I think he just wanted to lay there and not get up.
After lunch, Jennifer talked of the command "under" and how to use it. This will be done when we are in public and need the dog out of the way. For example, when we go out to a restaurant, we can't exactly have Dublin laying in the aisle tripping people. So I will give him the command "under" and point under the table and toss a treat (for now) under the table. Once he is finished eating the treat, I will then give him the command "down" where he should remain until given the "heel" command. We were told we could use "free" during class to practice but we never want to use it in public because it basically means the dog is free to do whatever, which is not the case when in public. They also showed how we need to put our hand on the front shoulders and apply a small amount of pressure to keep the dog doing what it naturally wants to do - ShAkE! No one wants a dog shaking next to their dinner plates! :o)
I knew it had been a day when Jeremy began talking about the details of tracking and how it all worked. I got a little too comfortable on the couch and would have loved to just close my eyes...just a little. :o) I resisted but Judd didn't. I learned this when I heard him start to softly snore. Yep, not good in class! I got his attention and he was a little better about being alert! :o)
We had our dogs fitted with their harnesses and Jacey was given a short two foot leash for helping "walk" Dublin. It attaches to his harness so it doesn't interfere with what I am doing with the actual leash. She was pretty cute walking around the room holding onto it, helping Daddy walk Dublin.
The day went quickly and I'm looking forward to another morning of tracking. We were told that it is important to go on as many tracks as possible, including other peoples, so that we can learn the body language the dog gives with the head snaps and the S shape tracking. This way, we will truly know what to expect when we are in charge of the leash on a real track. Apparently, we may be going to the mall tomorrow. We just started all this training on Tuesday afternoon, and I'm a bit nervous about going to the mall. Dublin is very good about following my commands but I fear what the mall will do for his attention being on me. I guess we'll find out soon enough!
Well, it is only eight o'clock here but the thought of crawling into bed has already crossed my mind many times! Until tomorrow...which hopefully goes smoothly...
Good Night from Judd, Jacey and me!
Today was yet another amazing day. We split our class into two groups yesterday for tracking. I opted to go for the first session at 9:30 am so we wouldn't have to fight Jacey on getting back in the car and going again. I figured she might be a little bit mellow more towards the early morning than the 11 am session when she might start getting hungry.
We followed another family to the park that we would be doing our tracking at and waited for the first session families to all arrive. When it came time for Jacey to go and hide, I was a bit nervous on how she would do with going for a "walk" with Dad and Christie (she is the trainer that Dublin has been tracking). She has been blowing our minds with how good she has been doing things that are not part of her normal routine. She graciously held Daddy's hand and went off to hide. Jeremy and Jessa suited Dublin up in a harness for tracking and allowed him a little more time to watch the direction they went.
Tracking is a very interesting thing...as I am learning! The dog's nose has approximately 125 million olfactory cells to a humans only 5 million olfactory cells. Essentially it is like smelling a candle over and over. Eventually you aren't able to smell it in approximately a minute because your olfactory cells are filled up. You have to move away from the candle momentarily to clean out your cells to be able to smell it again. So, the dog has the ability of sniffing a scent for a much longer period of time. They train the dogs to track using scent obtained from our skin cells that shed constantly. As you shed the skin cells they actually go up in the air above you, I believe, about two feet before falling like snow down to the ground. These cells naturally don't fall directly back on the path that the individual took considering the air is moving. Needless to say, the dog will not follow the exact path or trail that your child took to find where they are at. They follow the path of the skin cells and where they landed on the ground. The longer the skin cells are on the ground, the "cooler" they get. It's like a game of playing "Hot or Cold." The dog sniffs the cells and can tell the ones that are warmer (or more recently dropped) and will follow that trail. As the dog goes about smelling, they naturally make an S shape over and over again as they go from warm to cold smelling the skin cells.
On the way to tracking...
I don't know if I'm explaining this very well, but tracking is a very intriguing thing these dogs do! I would say it took longer for Judd, Jacey, and Christy to go hide than it did for Dublin to find them. Jeremy was kind and did not sprint with Dublin as my belly is bulging a bit these days and I find running a tad bit difficult! :o) Dublin was tracking not Jacey but Christy, because that is who he has been trained to track. What we are doing is adding Jacey's scent to the mix and will eventually take Christy out of the track entirely, leaving Jacey's scent the only constant. This doesn't mean that we will just allow her to run off and hope that Dublin finds her. But we will have a different adult go with her to hide each time so that Jacey's scent is the only constant in the scent equation.
Dublin found Jacey on the track!!!
After all of the first session families had their chance at having their dog track, we went back to the 4 Paws facility for more training indoors. We met with Jennifer, who is the next down from Jeremy in training...I believe her title is "Head Trainer" whereas Jeremy's is "Executive Trainer" or something to that effect! :o)
Anyhew, Jennifer went over distractions again while the dogs are in "sit" or "down". We also practiced, one at a time, heeling and walking around the other dogs that were in a "down". We then moved on to dropping the leash and walking to the other side of the room. We wanted to make sure that our dogs obeyed their command of "down", which Dublin did fantastic with. It is amazing to see how he is really starting to listen to my commands well...granted, he had a moment in class where I think he just wanted to lay there and not get up.
Jacey came and sat next to Dad while she colored with a pen.
Jennifer teaching us about corrections and adding distractions.
After lunch, Jennifer talked of the command "under" and how to use it. This will be done when we are in public and need the dog out of the way. For example, when we go out to a restaurant, we can't exactly have Dublin laying in the aisle tripping people. So I will give him the command "under" and point under the table and toss a treat (for now) under the table. Once he is finished eating the treat, I will then give him the command "down" where he should remain until given the "heel" command. We were told we could use "free" during class to practice but we never want to use it in public because it basically means the dog is free to do whatever, which is not the case when in public. They also showed how we need to put our hand on the front shoulders and apply a small amount of pressure to keep the dog doing what it naturally wants to do - ShAkE! No one wants a dog shaking next to their dinner plates! :o)
I knew it had been a day when Jeremy began talking about the details of tracking and how it all worked. I got a little too comfortable on the couch and would have loved to just close my eyes...just a little. :o) I resisted but Judd didn't. I learned this when I heard him start to softly snore. Yep, not good in class! I got his attention and he was a little better about being alert! :o)
You can tell that Jacey was done. Pretty sleepy since she got up at 6 am.
We had our dogs fitted with their harnesses and Jacey was given a short two foot leash for helping "walk" Dublin. It attaches to his harness so it doesn't interfere with what I am doing with the actual leash. She was pretty cute walking around the room holding onto it, helping Daddy walk Dublin.
The day went quickly and I'm looking forward to another morning of tracking. We were told that it is important to go on as many tracks as possible, including other peoples, so that we can learn the body language the dog gives with the head snaps and the S shape tracking. This way, we will truly know what to expect when we are in charge of the leash on a real track. Apparently, we may be going to the mall tomorrow. We just started all this training on Tuesday afternoon, and I'm a bit nervous about going to the mall. Dublin is very good about following my commands but I fear what the mall will do for his attention being on me. I guess we'll find out soon enough!
Well, it is only eight o'clock here but the thought of crawling into bed has already crossed my mind many times! Until tomorrow...which hopefully goes smoothly...
Good Night from Judd, Jacey and me!
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Day 2 of Training at 4 Paws
Oh boy...what a day. Last night I stayed up past my bedtime and then had coughing fits throughout the night thanks to this nasty cold that entered into my life as I was preparing for this trip (go figure!).
We arrived a few minutes early to allow Dublin to run free before class started to burn off any "extra" energy. Judd took him out to the fenced area and also to the bathroom. Judd decided to take Jacey to Walmart to pick up a few items that we were needing. They also went for a drive through town and got back towards the end of the morning session. Jacey did not want to go to the play area, but preferred begging me for our backpack of stuff. It turned into a meltdown, seeing that there was nothing in the backpack for Jacey besides her water, graham crackers and fruit snacks. I eventually took Jacey over to the play area and held her. She wanted a deep pressure hug but as usual, I wasn't allowed to sit down and give it to her...so I stood and held her. It was nice to snuggle her as our other classmates worked. I heard most of what was going on even standing in the play area.
We reviewed our commands from the first day - "sit", "down", and "free". We continue to increase the amount of time we expect Dublin to stay in the command given. We added "jump" and "heel" to the list of our commands. Like I said yesterday, Dublin made me look like a pro with heel. There were only a few times that I had to correct him. I'm definitely learning about the times to praise and when to correct him. As other class members went to try out "jump" with their dog, I thought, "Oh, Dublin will get this one." Maybe not. When walking towards the table and giving the command, he would instead walk to the side of the table to where he wasn't going to run into and wouldn't have to jump up. He did this three times. Jeremy, the head trainer, had to up Dublins reward from dry dog food to a Beggin' Strip. It worked. Dublin jumped up on the table.
We will use the command "jump" when wanting Dublin to get on the bed with Jacey or in the car, etc. We are not going to allow him on any furniture other than Jacey's bed. I am definitely learning from watching others in the class. Jeremy will point out different things for us to observe as someone is working their dog or tell us what just happened and what we need to do. I was the spotlight on one of these moments when I put Dublin in a down and he shortly jumped back up to a "sit". I corrected properly but when giving the command for "down" again, I had a treat in my fingers that Dublin was sniffing to death. I didn't give him the treat but thought that I'd better verbally praise him since I didn't want to tease him with the treat. I guess when you have corrected your dog for disobeying, you do NOT give praise or treats...my bad! Hey, at least I'm learning and we still have nine days for perfecting (or something close to it) the things I am being taught! :o)
I took a quick spin around "4 Paws Market" with a shopping cart, simply walking around the room with the cart and having Dublin "heel". He did great with heeling and turning both left and right with the shopping cart.
We also began to add a few distractions for our dogs when they were given a command. I told Dublin to sit(no need to say "stay" because they are supposed to stay in that command indefinitely until you "free" them). Once he was sitting, I walked around behind him clapping my hands or snapping my fingers to see if he would break the command. He did very well with it. We also stepped over our dogs a few times and then would praise them for staying "down". We also tossed treats out away from our dogs to see if they would break their command. If they didn't we praised them and gave them a different treat other than the one on the floor. Jeremy is a great teacher and explained everything very well as to why we do it the way we do it!
I must say that Sushi, a golden retriever in the class was hilarious! Apparently she LOVES tennis balls. It was quite the challenge for her new handlers to keep her in her "sit" or "down" as a ball was bounced nearby. Jeremy took over to show exactly what should be done when the dog breaks a command. Jessa, a 4 Paws trainer, began to bounce the ball and you could see Sushi's head go up and down with the ball. The closer the ball came to her the more temptation there was to disobey. Jeremy told them that if they can master her staying where she is told with a ball rolling or bouncing by her, that going to the mall will be a piece of cake for them. :o) Sushi was so tormented by watching that ball bounce knowing that she wasn't allowed to play with it right then. I wonder what will be the funny thing my classmates think of for Dublin as I did with Sushi in this situation.
Another thing we did was change locations for where we were standing when giving our dog a command. I would place Dublin in a sit and walk behind him. I would then give him the command for "down" and he was very good about listening and paying attention to me. By doing this, it allows our dogs to learn that "sit" and "down" and other commands mean the same thing and should be done no matter where we are standing in relationship to the dog. This teaches allows Dublin to know that I expect the same thing from him no matter where I may be in the house. He did really well with this and always wanted to turn and face me as he moved to his new position. It was great to see that he is really paying attention to me!
Jeremy also went over the difference between "no" and "off". You would think that you could use them interchangeably but you can't! When giving the command "no", I am telling Dublin that this is a behavior that I do not want...EVER. For example, jumping on people. This is never allowed so if Dublin does this behavior I am to correct him with his training collar and a "no". "Off" is used for something that your dog may normally be allowed to do but at that moment is not allowed. For example, we will allow Dublin on Jacey's bed at bedtime to sleep with her but I may not want him on at any other time. I would use the command "off". I may also use this command if I want Dublin to jump down out of the car. I could also use the word "free" for this. This was a very good thing to learn as I don't want to confuse Dublin as to what my expectations are of him.
Jacey again fed Dublin his dinner, one tossed handful at a time. She then got to pour his water into his water bowl. Jacey enjoys these tasks very much. I know that there was a lot more discussed in class, but at this moment my brain and body want to shut down for the night. I'm pooped! I now understand what previous classes mean when they say they were drained by the end of the day, both physically and mentally!!! I would so love to go climb into bed right now (8:15) and not see the light of day until tomorrow morning. BUT....I know that I need to go practice with Dublin obeying commands with distractions so that I may feel confident with his ability to listen to and obey me - especially if we are going to the mall on Friday. Eeeek!
Today has been a great day filled with lots of information that empowers me to be Dublin's capable handler. I can't wait to see what I will look like next Friday as we graduate with Dublin, the Service Dog. (Hopefully Jeremy won't fail me!!!) Until tomorrow...enjoy!
We arrived a few minutes early to allow Dublin to run free before class started to burn off any "extra" energy. Judd took him out to the fenced area and also to the bathroom. Judd decided to take Jacey to Walmart to pick up a few items that we were needing. They also went for a drive through town and got back towards the end of the morning session. Jacey did not want to go to the play area, but preferred begging me for our backpack of stuff. It turned into a meltdown, seeing that there was nothing in the backpack for Jacey besides her water, graham crackers and fruit snacks. I eventually took Jacey over to the play area and held her. She wanted a deep pressure hug but as usual, I wasn't allowed to sit down and give it to her...so I stood and held her. It was nice to snuggle her as our other classmates worked. I heard most of what was going on even standing in the play area.
We reviewed our commands from the first day - "sit", "down", and "free". We continue to increase the amount of time we expect Dublin to stay in the command given. We added "jump" and "heel" to the list of our commands. Like I said yesterday, Dublin made me look like a pro with heel. There were only a few times that I had to correct him. I'm definitely learning about the times to praise and when to correct him. As other class members went to try out "jump" with their dog, I thought, "Oh, Dublin will get this one." Maybe not. When walking towards the table and giving the command, he would instead walk to the side of the table to where he wasn't going to run into and wouldn't have to jump up. He did this three times. Jeremy, the head trainer, had to up Dublins reward from dry dog food to a Beggin' Strip. It worked. Dublin jumped up on the table.
We will use the command "jump" when wanting Dublin to get on the bed with Jacey or in the car, etc. We are not going to allow him on any furniture other than Jacey's bed. I am definitely learning from watching others in the class. Jeremy will point out different things for us to observe as someone is working their dog or tell us what just happened and what we need to do. I was the spotlight on one of these moments when I put Dublin in a down and he shortly jumped back up to a "sit". I corrected properly but when giving the command for "down" again, I had a treat in my fingers that Dublin was sniffing to death. I didn't give him the treat but thought that I'd better verbally praise him since I didn't want to tease him with the treat. I guess when you have corrected your dog for disobeying, you do NOT give praise or treats...my bad! Hey, at least I'm learning and we still have nine days for perfecting (or something close to it) the things I am being taught! :o)
I took a quick spin around "4 Paws Market" with a shopping cart, simply walking around the room with the cart and having Dublin "heel". He did great with heeling and turning both left and right with the shopping cart.
We also began to add a few distractions for our dogs when they were given a command. I told Dublin to sit(no need to say "stay" because they are supposed to stay in that command indefinitely until you "free" them). Once he was sitting, I walked around behind him clapping my hands or snapping my fingers to see if he would break the command. He did very well with it. We also stepped over our dogs a few times and then would praise them for staying "down". We also tossed treats out away from our dogs to see if they would break their command. If they didn't we praised them and gave them a different treat other than the one on the floor. Jeremy is a great teacher and explained everything very well as to why we do it the way we do it!
I must say that Sushi, a golden retriever in the class was hilarious! Apparently she LOVES tennis balls. It was quite the challenge for her new handlers to keep her in her "sit" or "down" as a ball was bounced nearby. Jeremy took over to show exactly what should be done when the dog breaks a command. Jessa, a 4 Paws trainer, began to bounce the ball and you could see Sushi's head go up and down with the ball. The closer the ball came to her the more temptation there was to disobey. Jeremy told them that if they can master her staying where she is told with a ball rolling or bouncing by her, that going to the mall will be a piece of cake for them. :o) Sushi was so tormented by watching that ball bounce knowing that she wasn't allowed to play with it right then. I wonder what will be the funny thing my classmates think of for Dublin as I did with Sushi in this situation.
Another thing we did was change locations for where we were standing when giving our dog a command. I would place Dublin in a sit and walk behind him. I would then give him the command for "down" and he was very good about listening and paying attention to me. By doing this, it allows our dogs to learn that "sit" and "down" and other commands mean the same thing and should be done no matter where we are standing in relationship to the dog. This teaches allows Dublin to know that I expect the same thing from him no matter where I may be in the house. He did really well with this and always wanted to turn and face me as he moved to his new position. It was great to see that he is really paying attention to me!
Jeremy also went over the difference between "no" and "off". You would think that you could use them interchangeably but you can't! When giving the command "no", I am telling Dublin that this is a behavior that I do not want...EVER. For example, jumping on people. This is never allowed so if Dublin does this behavior I am to correct him with his training collar and a "no". "Off" is used for something that your dog may normally be allowed to do but at that moment is not allowed. For example, we will allow Dublin on Jacey's bed at bedtime to sleep with her but I may not want him on at any other time. I would use the command "off". I may also use this command if I want Dublin to jump down out of the car. I could also use the word "free" for this. This was a very good thing to learn as I don't want to confuse Dublin as to what my expectations are of him.
Jacey again fed Dublin his dinner, one tossed handful at a time. She then got to pour his water into his water bowl. Jacey enjoys these tasks very much. I know that there was a lot more discussed in class, but at this moment my brain and body want to shut down for the night. I'm pooped! I now understand what previous classes mean when they say they were drained by the end of the day, both physically and mentally!!! I would so love to go climb into bed right now (8:15) and not see the light of day until tomorrow morning. BUT....I know that I need to go practice with Dublin obeying commands with distractions so that I may feel confident with his ability to listen to and obey me - especially if we are going to the mall on Friday. Eeeek!
Today has been a great day filled with lots of information that empowers me to be Dublin's capable handler. I can't wait to see what I will look like next Friday as we graduate with Dublin, the Service Dog. (Hopefully Jeremy won't fail me!!!) Until tomorrow...enjoy!
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