Irwin: Sitting Tall

SSD Irwin has been working on his “sit.” His down-stay had become so automatic that he stopped sitting on cue every time. To fix this, Donna started cuing him to sit every chance she got. He caught on quickly, and loves to turn it into a game whenever they’re training! Donna would put Irwin into a down-stay on the deck and then hide. Then she’d call Irwin to “come,” and he comes bounding over with enthusiasm to find her. If he sits on cue, he gets a jackpot of treats. Look at how tall he sits, like he’s trying to stretch up as high as possible.

In addition to working on the hand signal and verbal cue for sit, Donna has added some additional challenges for Irwin. When giving the verbal cue, sometimes she’ll say it in a normal voice, sometimes in a whisper, and sometimes she’ll just mouth the word “sit.” This is great practice because you never know how you’re going to be able to deliver a cue in a real world situation.

Irwin loves chewing on sticks, and since his puppy raisers have an orchard, he’s in stick-chewing heaven! However, he isn’t always allowed to play with sticks, so Donna has been using them for “leave it” practice. After they pruned some of the trees, she brought some branches back to the house, and she and Irwin walked around and through the sticks and branches, using the “leave it” cue. He’s gotten really good at it! He can now walk through the orchard without dragging branches and sticks to chew and play with. He can also walk through Donna’s flower beds without biting at the plants and flowers or picking up sticks, pine cones, or pebbles.

Irwin has been supervising Donna when she works in her flower beds and vegetable garden. He goes with her and Donna asks him to sit-stay for a good five minutes before she cues a down-stay. She started having him sit for an extended time so that “down” doesn’t become his default position, regardless of the cue he actually received. Sometimes Irwin gets to play with a toy or a bone and other times he just hangs out in an extended down-stay. Donna keeps him fairly close to her in case she needs to cue him to “leave it.” As a power treat reward, Irwin has been getting sweet potato skins and banana chips, which he loves to crunch. 

In May, Irwin started swimming! Donna and Jim have a pond, and Irwin used to be very hesitant about swimming, even though he saw Judge paddling around. Then one day at the end of May, he went it, and before he knew it, he was doing a high stepping doggie paddle! He stretches his head up as high as he can and his legs look like he’s marching. Now that he enjoys swimming, it has become his reward at the end of the day when they get back from the orchard. With practice, he learned how to doggie paddle more efficiently, and he no longer high steps in the water. 

However, now that the pond is a big reward for him, Donna has also been using it for “leave it” practice. They’ve been working on Irwin’s behaviors while he’s off leash. She and Irwin have been walking the perimeter of the pond with Irwin off leash. He’ll stay right next to her and ignore the pond, as long as she clicks and treats. He also knows where there’s a dead toad in the driveway that had gotten run over, and he can walk by it without going toward it to sniff or pick it up. He also discovered a dead dove by the fence one day while they were playing ball. When he spotted it, he jumped back and then sniffed at it. When Donna said “leave it,” he chose to pick up the ball and return rather than go after the bird.

When he’s off leash, he has also learned that he doesn’t always get to go in the ATV. Irwin watches Jim leave in the morning, and then looks at Donna, who cues him to stay. Irwin looks back at Jim driving up the road to the orchard, but he chooses to stay rather than run after the ATV.

Although Irwin is growing up and learning lots of new skills and behaviors, he can still get into mischief. He chewed the stuffing out of a second pillow bed! After cleaning up the mess, Donna put him in his crate. After a little while, she let him out, but told him to stay in the mudroom rather than joining her and Jim while they had coffee. Irwin stayed in the mudroom, even though his usual routine is to join them. By their second cup of coffee, however, they invited him to join them, and Irwin got his usual belly rub.

Meet SSD Parks

Meet SSD Parks! She’s part of the American Heroes litter and named after Rosa Parks. Right now, she’s finishing up her first week of Team Training with her new partner!

For the past two years, she has lived with her puppy raiser family. Her puppy raiser Kali describes her as “smart, a workaholic, sassy, spunky, determined, playful, and lovable!” Parks loves to play with squeaky balls and any treat-dispensing toys. 

Although Parks loves all food, some of her favorite power treats are sweet potato puffs and goldfish. One of her all-time favorite foods is peanut butter!

Although she has been in advanced training since November, she still returned home to her puppy raisers on most weekends and holidays. Just because she was in advanced training didn’t mean her puppy raisers didn’t have to continue working with her. They working on extending the duration of several cues, such as “lap” (resting two legs in a person’s lap) and “visit” (resting her head on the person’s hand or lap), and worked on easy treat taking. Even though they still did some training, Parks got plenty of time to relax, play, and of course, catch some Zs.

Advanced training can be tiring for the dogs, no matter how well-adjusted they are to life at the kennel. “One day after picking Parks up from advanced training, we stopped at the store and left her in the car since she was so tired,” said Kali. “When we got back, she was in the passenger seat where I sit. I opened the door, and she would not budge. I pushed her and tried to pick her up. All she did was look up at me with those puppy dog eyes. Guess who rode in the back seat the whole way home?”

Recently, Parks and Kali walked in the Highmark Walk for a Healthy Community. Parks did fantastic! They also traveled to Washington, D.C., where Parks rode the Metro and got her picture taken with the newly unveiled statue of her namesake, Rosa Parks. 

If there’s one thing Kali would like Parks’ new partner to know, it’s that Parks will never give up. “She will work until you stop. She’s full of love and energy!”

Should I Use a Head Collar on my Dog?

When you see our dogs in advanced training, you may see them wearing a Comfort Trainer, which is a type of head halter or collar. The Comfort Trainer can be a valuable tool for people who have service dogs, especially if they do not have the strength to handle a bigger dog in some situations. In those situations, the Comfort Trainer helps keep the person safe while they work with their life-changing service dog.

However, it’s important to remember that a Comfort Trainer or other head collar is never a replacement for training good loose leash walking. A dog that walks perfectly on a loose leash while wearing a head collar must also walk perfectly on a loose leash with a flat collar.

For example, our director, Nancy, took SSD Meade to the Highmark Walk for a Healthy Community last Saturday, and she decided to use a Comfort Trainer, even though Meade doesn’t usually wear one. She had been having some walking issues, but finishing the entire 5K Walk was important to her. She knew that the Walk would have lots of distractions for Meade and he would want to pull even though he’s normally good at loose leash walking, so she introduced the Comfort Trainer for her own safety.

By the morning of the Walk, Meade had adjusted to the Comfort Trainer, and he did a great job staying right by Nancy’s side for the entire 5K!

However, when Nancy and Meade did a meet & greet later that day, she decided not to use the Comfort Trainer, and something strange happened. Meade started pulling. He had no self control. The next day, Nancy took Meade back to the same location, using a regular flat collar, and Meade did wonderfully, even though there were more distractions than the previous day.

So why did Meade, who is normally very good at loose leash walking, pull so hard after the comfort trainer had come off?

The answer, Nancy believes, lies in teaching the dog self control.

At SSD, we work really hard to teach our dogs to have self control. They must wait at their food dish until they’re released to eat. They must walk through a doorway, turn around, and look at us rather than simply charging through. They must ignore food dropped on the floor, stay calm while being petted, and never jump on friends and visitors. One of our puppy raisers’ biggest jobs is teaching self control.

The hardest lesson in self control is loose leash walking. It requires constant vigilance and consistency. Dogs must never be allowed to pull. We start training loose leash walking when the dogs are just puppies, and we continue working on it for their entire lives.

If a dog pulls, a head collar of any kind never fixes the problem. A head collar will help keep you safe if you have a serious physical issue, but it will never teach your dog loose leash walking or self control. When Meade wore the Comfort Trainer for the Highmark Walk for a Healthy Community, he didn’t have to exercise self control to stay by Nancy’s side. Once the head collar came off, he decided that he still didn’t need to use self control, so he pulled and pulled during the demonstration.

If you need to use a head collar for safety reasons, make sure to practice loose leash walking with a flat collar in easier places. The goal is to train your dog so that he or she has the self control to walk on a loose leash attached to a flat collar. If loose leash walking is very challenging for your SSD dog, please talk to us or to one of our wonderful puppy raiser mentors. We’re happy to help.

Irwin's Latest Experiences

Over the weekend, Irwin celebrated Memorial Day by going to the Memorial Day Parade in Gettysburg. However, he slept right through almost the entire thing! Donna and Jim took their daughter and grandson with them to the parade, as well as Irwin and SSD Judge. First, they stopped at the park to let their grandson Timmy play, and they had a picnic before walking to Gettysburg Square for the parade.

As they walked to the Square, Irwin had to be especially focused on loose leash walking because of the crowds and store displays. He did fine with the noise from motorcycles and all the people, including the people dining outside. He did get a little excited when other dogs passed by. The other dogs barked, but Irwin didn’t, although he did pull their way. However, with the help of apple slices as power treats, he kept returning to focus on Donna again.

With all the people, Donna took the opportunity to practice Irwin’s greetings. He did some very nice ones. He even ignored the ice cream cone the one child was holding as she greeted him.

When they arrived at their blanket for the parade, Irwin settled in next to Donna and fell fast asleep. If you’ve ever been to a parade, you know they’re noisy. This one had fire trucks, marching bands, cars driving in circles, horses, flags snapping in the wind, bag pipers from Canada, and more. Irwin slept right through it all. He only opened his eyes when reenactors marched by playing the fife and drum. He must have been one sleepy dog!

Back on Mother’s Day, Irwin went with Donna and Jim to the hospital to visit Jim’s father. Because Jim’s father was accidentally lying on the call button, Irwin experienced the red and blue lights and the alarm sounds that alert the nurses. Later, Jim’s father had to go for some tests, so Donna and Jim got a wheelchair for him. Once he was seated, he wanted to see Irwin up close. Donna had Irwin do “lap” (put his front legs in Jim’s father’s lap) so he would be able to pet his head. Irwin gave him puppy kisses! 

Irwin accompanied Donna and Jim back to the hospital the next day for Donna’s mammogram appointment. Irwin practiced several of his skills: waiting at doors to “go on through” and using the elevator. Several people were already on the elevator when Donna and Jim got on. Donna had Irwin sit and wait while she blocked the elevator door from closing. Then she asked him to “go on through” and had him walk backwards to the back of the elevator. Then she asked him to sit again. They reversed the process to exit the elevator. It’s very important to enter and exit elevators this way with your dog because it will prevent the door from closing with the dog on one side and the handler on the other. 

In the waiting room, Irwin settled into a down-stay and later accompanied Donna into the dressing room. However, he stayed with Jim in the hallway during the actual mammogram. Being in a hospital is great experience for Irwin. One day, he may need to accompany his partner there, and these experiences now will help make sure he can continue to do his job despite all the new distractions.

All of our dogs have their hips tested to make sure they’re healthy enough to become service dogs. Irwin recently had his done, which meant that he wasn’t allowed to eat breakfast that morning. It also meant that he couldn’t get any training treats. Donna wasn’t sure how she was going to keep his attention on her without treats, so she took his small tennis ball with her to the vet. It worked like a charm! 

In their waiting room, the Palmyra Animal Clinic often has a crate with a cat looking for a good home. The cat is near the scale, and when Irwin got on the scale to be weighed, he sat on the scale and zeroed in on the cat. When the vet tech said his name, however, he turned and looked at her. She then brought a leash out and he did “get dressed”—he stuck his head right through the loop and pranced back with her. 

When Donna and Jim picked him up later, the vet staff said that Irwin and his brother Outback kept licking each other through the kennel wires! He walked out calmly for the vet tech until he saw Donna and Jim, and then he got so excited to see them. But he kept all four paws on the floor. As soon as they got outside, Donna was happy to see that Irwin got busy (pottied) right away, which means he probably didn’t have any accidents in his crate at the vet!

Because Irwin did so well, Donna and Jim stopped and bought him a new Chuck It Ball. It’s now one of his favorite toys!

Irwin at Sesame Place and the YMCA

“Irwin really seems to thrive being out and about,” says Donna. “The more challenging the better—for him, not for me!”

This past month, SSD Irwin went to Sesame Place with Donna, Jim, and their grandsons. What an experience for him!

It was a beautiful day, sunny in the mid-70s, but it felt much warmer. Donna kept checking the pavement to make sure it wasn’t getting too hot for Irwin’s paws, but it stayed cool enough. They also cooled him off in the water misters, which he loved! 

All of the rides at Sesame Place are set up so that everyone, regardless of disabilities, can ride them. Irwin went everywhere but the water park! As long as Donna and Jim thought he would be okay on a ride and he actually got on the ride, he rode it! He went on the carousel, tea cups, flying fish, the balloon ride, and more. The rides went up and down, around, and back and forth. Donna and Jim’s grandchildren joined them in the tea cups, but they didn’t spin the tea cup while Irwin was in it. The attendants were very impressed with his behavior every time he got on and off the rides. 

They watched the parade, and Irwin did great being in a tight space. The music was loud and there were lots of characters dancing. For some dogs, the characters can be very scary, so it’s important to take it slow and give them lots of treats to make it a positive experience. Irwin seemed to take it all in stride, though. Streamers popped out of a float with a bang and floated down on the spectators, but he ignored it all and stayed in his “down.”

The lines at the restaurant where they stopped for lunch were crowded. Donna figured out that she could navigate the buffet successfully by keeping Irwin to the side of the buffet line and having him back through the line.

 

Throughout the day, Donna and Jim had plenty of opportunities to share information about service dogs and Susquehanna Service Dogs. They talked to people from all over. One person even hailed from Canada. (Fun fact: Irwin’s mom, SSD Scotia, originally came from PADS in Canada.)

The learning opportunities weren’t just for other people in the park. Donna and Jim’s grandsons used a public restroom with Irwin. They were amazed that he didn’t touch anything.

Throughout the day, Donna and Jim made sure that Irwin had plenty of water and time to rest, since it was a busy day. On the way home, they stopped at the Macaroni Grill. It was nice and cool inside, and Irwin fell asleep. He snored! People kept looking their way, and Donna and Jim’s grandsons giggled every time he snored.

Irwin also went to the YMCA’s kid’s day. It was hot and humid in the pool area, and very crowded and noisy. Puddles of water were everywhere, and Donna was a little concerned that Irwin would try to drink from them, but he walked right by them. He calmly walked by the swimmers and didn’t mind getting splashed. In fact, he seemed content to watch the activity around him. Eventually, he fell asleep. 

He had to maneuver through tight crowds, and he did it, staying in a heel position right by Donna’s side. They had to navigate the registration tables, popcorn, drinks, and popping balloons. Irwin did great!

As they left, there was a band singing Johnny Cash songs outside. The loud drums and kids dancing entertained everyone, including Irwin!