Lots of New Experiences for Nubble

Nubble had his first elevator ride this past week. His puppy raiser, Donna, wasn't sure how he would react, but he didn't seem to mind it at all. Stairs are a different story, though. Donna doesn't have stairs in her house, except in her basement, and Nubble refuses to use them. While they were at a department store, Donna decided to practice stairs with him. Unlike the basement, these stairs were wide and well lit. Nubble was still very intimidated by the stairs. By clicking and treating, Donna got him to put his front feet on the stairs, but he didn't want to put his back feet up. At one point, he bolted up seven stairs and came right back down. By the time they left, he was able to do three or four steps. Donna plans to spend more time working on stairs with him.

He also went to the hair salon, but no, he didn't get his fur done! While Lindsey got her hair cut, Nubble practiced sitting patiently at Donna's feet. She had to tell him to leave it with the hair on the floor and the hairdresser's shoes, but he was very well behaved.

Last week, SSD's Northeast Division went on a puppy outing to Wegmans. Nubble loves grocery shopping, and he really enjoys being out in public. Although he behaves differently when there are other dogs around, he did very well on this outing.

The amount of exercise Nubble gets affects his attention span. He pays more attention to his puppy raisers after he has worked off some excess energy. When Donna took him to a weight loss class, she let him run and play in the parking lot first (being extra careful of cars, of course). After that, he settled quietly at her feet during class. At one point, he crawled under her chair and just watched everyone.

He did have one new experience at the class. Nubble has not been around little kids very much, but he met a toddler that night. The little boy loved dogs and wanted to pet Nubble. Nubble just wanted to jump all over the little boy. Fortunately, the little boy wasn't afraid of this yellow lab and kept coming back to pet him - which was great for Nubble. Donna plans on giving him more experience with little kids.

Donna's brother has two Shih Tzus (Angel and Sparky), and Nubble got to meet them. Donna and her brother introduced the dogs slowly, giving them plenty of time to get used to each other. It went very well, although Nubble just wanted to play with Angel, and Angel just wanted to be left alone. Sparky was a little timid around Nubble, who tends to play rough. But Nubble was not aggressive at all. He just wanted to play. Donna and her brother are going to keep working on it.

Besides going out in public, Donna has been working on loose leash walking. Sometimes Nubble is great about it, and other times he practicatlly pulls Donna's arm out of its socket! But he's starting to get the idea, and soon he'll really catch on.

He now loves to play keep-away. If he picks up something he knows he shouldn't have, he runs away, either to another room of the house or to his crate. If he's outside and off leash, he runs and stops just out of reach. When he plays keep-away, Donna has been ignoring him so he gets the idea that this is not a fun game. So far, it seems to be working, but it is frustrating for the puppy raisers. Gizzy, the family pet, likes to help out. When Nubble takes a glove or slipper in the house, Gizzy barks and growls for him to leave it.

Look for more about Nubble next week!

Nubble's Progress

Snow is now one of Nubble’s favorite toys. Lucky for him, there’s a lot of it! He burrows into it and pops up covered in the white stuff. He loves snowballs, too. Gizzy, his puppy raisers’ other dog, follows in the path he forges through the snow.

He’s getting much bigger! Look at the difference between him and Gizzy!

He now has very nice self control when Gizzy is eating. He lies down nicely and just watches her. Self control is very important in a service dog. They need to focus and not give in to whatever distractions may be around. Nubble still has some work to do – he still wants to investigate cigarette butts and food wrappers – but his leave it skills are improving every day.

As the dogs grow, they usually go through “phases.” One day they’ll perform skills beautifully and be perfectly behaved, and the next day they’ll “forget” the skills they know and want to romp and play all day. Nubble has been having a great time with a play retrieve, running for the toy and bringing it right back. Lately, however, he’s been playing keep-away with the toy. Donna and Lindsey have been ignoring him when he plays keep-away, but right now, he still thinks it’s a fun game.

Last Wednesday, Nubble had his first puppy evaluation. We evaluate each puppy to make sure that they’re on track with their training and to make sure that training to be a service dog is still a good fit for them. We also check in with the puppy raisers. Good news: Nubble is proficient in the puppy cues (sit, come, down, etc.)! And though his puppy raisers need to work on their handler skills a little bit, they’re doing great!

Donna and Lindsey have been working on shaping with Nubble. They borrowed a small platform, and they’ve been shaping him to stand on it. So far, he has progressed from just sniffing at the platform to putting one foot, and then two feet, on the platform. He does step all the way up with all four feet, but he still thinks he’s supposed to walk right over it, not stand still on it. We’ll update you on his progress next week!

Recently, Nubble went to the gym. His puppy raiser didn’t plan on working out. She just wanted to see how he would react in the new environment. When they first went in, he sniffed around a lot and pulled at the leash, but then he settled down. They walked around, and Donna sat on one of the weight machines. Nubble sat nicely in front of her. Nubble thought the treadmills were very interesting, and Donna used this as an opportunity to work on stay. First they practiced while just being close to the treadmills. Next, Donna stood on a treadmill and faced Nubble. When he showed that he could stay when she stood on the treadmill, she turned around as if she was walking on the treadmill – and he still stayed! Nice job, Nubble! They also practiced stay around the ellipticals, and he did great there, as well. Needless to say, his puppy raiser was very proud of his behavior at the gym!

We’ve mentioned that the dogs-in-training learn to give behaviors in all sorts of different environments and surfaces. This week, Nubble encountered several new surfaces. At the gym, Donna had parked next to a drain grate. Nubble walked right over it, no problem. After he got across and heard the water rushing underneath, though, he wouldn’t go back across. It took some time listening to the water before he grew accustomed to it.

He also walked on a frozen lake. (If the lake wasn’t frozen, it would have been only six inches deep.) Nubble went slip-sliding all over! He loved it.

Look for more about Nubble next week!

Meet SSD Aladdin!

You’ve met SSD Nubble and Onyx – now say hello to Aladdin!

You probably noticed from his photo that Aladdin is not a little puppy. He’s actually in advanced training, although he is currently on medical leave. Aladdin and his brothers Phillip and Caspian are recovering from surgery to correct Cauda Equina Syndrome (see our Help the SSD Princes blog post to read more about these dogs and Cauda Equina Syndrome). The good news is, they’ll all be back in advanced training by March!

Aladdin is currently at home with his puppy raiser family. Cindy remembers the day SSD placed the little black lab in her arms. He looked up at her with his heart in his eyes, as if to say “I’m yours, for a little while.” He seemed to know he was on a path toward something bigger.

Over a year ago, Cindy and her family answered an ad for puppy raisers. While they were waiting for a puppy, they puppy-sat for SSD Burke and SSD Sadie. Then the Royal litter was born, and Cindy and her family were weeks away from holding little Aladdin! During those weeks, they attended a few puppy classes, where they worked with SSD Gretel and Terra. They also went on several puppy outings to learn more about clicker training and loose leash walking before the big day at the kennel when they finally held the little black lab they would be raising for the next 15-18 months.

Even though Cindy and her family were excited to raise a puppy, there were times during the early days when she wondered what she was doing. It was sometimes difficult to juggle all the classes, puppy outings, vet appointments and the daily effort to raise a puppy, on top of a large family. But it was worth it! “I’d just see those huge brown eyes looking up at me, saying ‘What will you teach me today!’” says Cindy. “I kept working harder with Aladdin, and if we missed a class or an outing because our lives got so busy, you couldn’t tell because Aladdin caught on so quickly. He never let me down.”

Aladdin seemed to like everything. Well, except for their one outing to the Bass Pro Shop. The first time Cindy and her family took him there, he pooped on the floor. It was as if he were saying, “I’m not gonna be a hunting dog!”

He seems to be meant to serve people. “Everything he does, even if I don’t ask him to do something, he does for me,” says Cindy. “He does it for love.”

Aladdin does have a playful side, though. When he was playing outside with Cindy’s daughters, he would grab them by the seat of their pants and drag them through the yard! He also has a protective side. Every time they went to the park, Aladdin would stick close to Cindy’s three-year-old daughter, watching.

When Aladdin entered advanced training at the kennel, it was both exciting and heart-breaking for Cindy and her family. Exciting because he was moving on to the next step in his training, but heart-breaking because it meant he was no longer going to spend every day with them.

Even though the dogs go to the kennel for advanced training, they still return to their puppy raiser families for the weekends. Cindy’s three-year-old daughter loves to pick up Aladdin at the kennel, but Sunday night or Monday morning inevitably bring some tears when he goes back to continue his training.

It was during one of his weekend stays that one of our trainers had to tell Cindy that Aladdin had Cauda Equina Syndrome. The nerves in his lower spine were compressed, which was very painful for him, and he needed surgery. Cindy was devastated for Aladdin. If the surgery to correct it didn’t work, he would not be able to continue training to be a service dog.

After the surgery, Cindy brought him home to recover. She tried to explain about the surgery to her three-year-old, so her daughter wouldn’t think he was back for good. Her daughter responded by calling him “Aladdin with a tear” because of the “tear in his back,” as her daughter called the stitches. Aladdin has been healing nicely, although he did have to have his stitches put back in. We’re all so glad he will be returning to advanced training in March!

While Aladdin was still in advanced training, Cindy and her family received another puppy to raise – SSD Shamrock from the Crayon litter! Shamrock is much more free-spirited than Aladdin, but the two dogs got along great right from the start. Now that Aladdin is well on his way to recovery, meal time is a challenge. Cindy has quite a time making sure that each dog gets the right food dish with the right pills! (Aladdin gets three pills to help with his recovery, and Shamrock takes vitamin C.) She labeled their bowls so that she wouldn’t accidentally mix up their food and give the dogs the wrong pills. But labeling the bowls only helped prevent human error. It didn’t take Shamrock into account!

One morning, Cindy had just finished getting the dogs’ breakfast and pills ready when Shamrock jumped up and knocked both bowls out of her hands! She dove to the ground and tried to cover up all the pills and food so that Shamrock and Aladdin wouldn’t scarf down the wrong pills! Luckily, her kids were home to help out.

Look for more of Aladdin’s adventures as he continues to recover and reenters advanced training!

Two Weeks with SSD Nubble

It has been a fun and busy two weeks for SSD Nubble! He went to the SSD Northeast Division holiday party, where he made all sorts of new SSD friends! Just like most puppies, he wanted to play with the bigger dogs. He seemed a bit intimidated by SSD Slate, a puppy that's about a month older than Nubble. It may be a good balance for Nubble, however, because he tends to dominate Gizzy, his puppy raiser's family dog. But even though he was intimidated by Slate, that didn't stop him from making friends. Donna and Lindsey, his puppy raisers, think he has a crush on SSD Sky, a pretty, black, 13-month-old female. All in all, he held his own, even though he was the youngest puppy there.

On the Saturday after New Year's Day, Donna took him to run some errands. They started at Walmart, which was a real test of Nubble's skills. The place was packed! Even though Donna only needed one thing from the store, Nubble has reached his limit by the time they left. He usually does very well with loose leash walking, but in Walmart, he wanted to chase every little piece of trash on the floor, and he was fascinated by people's shoes. Leave it worked fairly well, but it was still a more difficult trip. However, he did great at the next two stops! At Redner's and Wawa, he sat beautifully next to Donna while she checked out.

Nubble is growing, growing, growing! Donna has 2.5 acres for him to run around, but when they first got him, he could barely make it 1/4 of the way around the property. Now he runs the entire thing! He even found a new toy to play with outside - leaves, especially leaves blowing across the snow.

He is very smart and loves to learn, but just like a child, he'll play and get into trouble if he's left alone. "I really need to stay focused on his training. Otherwise, he just acts like a typical puppy," says Donna.

And Nubble is not a typical puppy. Although he's certainly allowed plenty of play time, he also needs to learn the skills and behaviors that will help him successfully assist his future partner.

In puppy class this past week, the Northeast Division worked on shaping. (To learn more about shaping, read Clicker Training: Shaping a Behavior.) This class was a learning session for the puppy raisers as much as for the puppies. The goal was for Nubble to move a mini-skateboard. To shape this behavior, his puppy raisers started by clicking him for looking at the skateboard, then for touching it with his paw, and finally for pushing it with his feet.

At home later, Donna and Lindsey continued working on shaping with Nubble. He had received a toy plush box from the volunteer leader of SSD's Northeast Division, and Donna and Lindsey used shaping to get him to pull a squeaky toy out of the box. It went well!

This past Saturday, Nubble went with Lindsey to her winter track meet at Lebanon Valley Community College. What a well-behaved boy he was! Donna took the opportunity to work on going in and out of doors. All SSD dogs are trained to wait patiently at the door, only allowed to go through once they get the "go on through" cue. Donna found that even though he was in an unfamiliar place, Nubble had a much easier time waiting patiently at doors during the track meet than he does at home, possibly because there were no other dogs or cats around to distract him.

Nubble was fascinated by the runners and their bright shoes! With runners constantly going past, it was a good opportunity to practice sitting nicely while they went by. Eventually, Nubble got the hang of it, and by the end of the day, he chose not to chase every single runner. However, he did try to take a toddler's toy, and Donna spent some time working on leave it.

Overall, the track meet was a very successful outing. Nubble did great! Many of the adults at the meet asked lots of questions about him. In fact, people seemed to recognize that his purple puppy harness meant that he was a service dog-in-training. Because people seemed familiar with service dogs, they tended not to rush over to pet the puppy - one less distraction for Nubble.

"It makes me feel good when we have a successful day!" says Donna.

Needless to say, Nubble slept very well that night. Instead of whining for a long time when he goes into his crate for the night, now he only whines for 30 seconds before falling asleep. What an improvement!

Look for more about Nubble next week!

Meet SSD Nubble!

In the middle of a snowstorm, a little yellow lab puppy arrived in Hamburg, Pennsylvania. That car ride from Maine to Pennsylvania marked the beginning of a very important journey for SSD Nubble. He began his journey to becoming a service dog.

We're going to be following Nubble as he learns new skills and behaviors. Over the next 18 months, you'll find out exactly how a cute little puppy becomes a highly skilled service dog. Last week, you met SSD Onyx, and we will soon be following SSD Aladdin as well. Look for weekly posts about these three dogs' journeys.

Meet Nubble

Most of SSD's dogs come from our own breeding program, and the names of each litter center on a theme chosen by the mother's breeder caretaker. Nubble, however, comes to us from a program in Maine. He gets his name from the Cape Neddick Light, a lighthouse in Maine known as the "Nubble Light" by the locals.

Nubble joined his puppy raiser family on December 5. He is the first puppy they are raising for a service dog organization. Donna and her 15-year-old daughter, Lindsey, are raising him together. They are part of our Northeast Division, which is spread across northeastern Pennsylvania. Although they have a dog of their own, a terrier mix named Gizzy, raising a puppy to become a service dog is completely different from raising a family pet. It has been a learning process for everyone. Having a strong network of other volunteer puppy raisers in the Northeast Division has helped. They can ask questions and get advice and feedback from other volunteers. What do Nubble's puppy raisers have to say about having him in their family? "Nubble is an absolute joy to have in the house!"

He and Gizzy get along extremely well. When he first arrived, Gizzy was very gentle with him. as he has grown, she has adjusted her behavior toward him, starting to treat him less like a puppy. And of course, she doesn't hesitate to let him know when he's pushing his boundaries with her!

Nubble does very well in the car. Other than that first long car trip, he has not gotten car sick. He spends most of his time in the car either sitting or sleeping. When he and Gizzy are in the car together, she sits on him and he lets her get away with it.

Already, Nubble has learned several cues. He knows sit, come, down, and up (on the couch), and responds to his name. He also targets his puppy raiser's hand. Right now, he's working on stay. He's having a little difficulty with this one, but with some practice, he'll get it. He's a very smart puppy, and he really wants to please his puppy raisers. These cues are part of basic obedience and are an essential part of a service dog's training. All of our service dogs must master these skills. In addition, a willingness to please their handlers is important.

And Nubble is constantly learning and exploring. You know how babies and toddlers explore their world by putting things in their mouth? Well, one of Nubble's favorite things to do is chew. And chew. And chew some more. He will chew on anything. "It's like having a toddler in the house. You can't take your eyes off him," says Donna. Since getting Nubble, Donna has changed the way she manages her household so that Nubble can get into as little mischief as possible. Although there isn't much she can do about chair legs, doorstops, door knobs, rugs, floor tiles, the dishwasher and the refrigerator, she has removed all other items that he could possibly chew on. In fact, the family decided to get a small Christmas tree this year and put it on a table, so Nubble wouldn't have the opportunity to try to gnaw on it. "He would have eaten the whole tree, decorations and all!" says Donna.

As his first outing, Nubble went to a pet store, and everyone who saw him, loved him! They loved him so much that it was difficult for people not to pet him. However, regardless of how cute the puppy is, service dogs and service dogs-in-training are working dogs, and they should not be petted, fed, or distracted in any way while they are working. (General rule of thumb: If a service dog is wearing his vest, he's working.) But, despite the distractions of people trying to pet him, Nubble's first outing was a success! He met a lot of people and came into contact with many new smells - an important part of socialization and becoming comfortable in any environment.

Since then, Nubble has been to convenience stores, a bookstore, a grocery store and the vet. He's usually very well behaved, thanks to the clicker and lots of treats!

Once Nubble has been fully housebroken, he will be spending time with Lindsey at school. So far, he has been to school for 10 minutes to meet the guidance counselor and principal and show them what he has learned.

When people find out that Donna and Lindsey are raising Nubble to be a service dog, they often ask, "How are you going to give him up?" "Honestly," says Donna, "when you decide to do this, you understand that the puppy has a greater life ahead of him than just being your dog. I feel very blessed that we can help do our part for someone else."

SSD Holiday Party

The holidays started early for the service dogs. Last week, we held our annual holiday party. Puppy raisers, partners of service dogs, SSD staff, and of course, the dogs got together for food, fun and a little socialization for both people and dogs. What a great time!


We started off the evening with a huge potluck buffet. Each person brought a dish to share. As more people arrived, it became a puzzle to fit all the food on the table - and it was all delicious! While the people ate, the dogs waited under the table or at their handlers' feet. Even the little puppies! A great display of how well our puppy raisers are doing with their dogs.

After dinner, it was game time! The dogs and their handlers got a chance to show off some of their skills in D-O-G. In this game, dogs and their handlers form two teams. The first team chooses a dog to perform a trick. The other team needs to find a dog that can also do that trick. If the other team cannot perform the trick, they get a "D." The goal is to NOT spell the word "dog." We took some videos of the dogs and their handlers playing D-O-G:


SSD Gideon picked a quarter up off the floor. It seemed like this trick was going to be too difficult for the other team to counter. But then SSD Dutch came forward. Instead of picking up a quarter, Dutch picked up a dime!

SSD Midge challenged the other team to perform a "hold." This seemed like a pretty routine trick until Midge's handler revealed the object the dogs had to hold: a hot dog! After Midge held the hot dog in her mouth for a few seconds without eating it, the other team had to find a dog that could do the same thing. SSD Pearl stepped forward, and she held the hot dog, too! Great job, Midge and Pearl!

SSD Graham Cracker was able to step up to the plate when the other team challenged him to walk between his handler's legs and sit.

Even one of the puppies from our most recent litter, SSD Slate, was able to match some of the tricks. When the other team challenged him to do sit-ups (going into a sit from a down position), he proved that while he may be a puppy, he was more than ready for this challenge!

Slate is being raised by a puppy raiser in our Northeast Division. We're very glad they were able to come to Harrisburg to enjoy our SSD party with us!

If you'd like to see photos from our holiday party, visit our Facebook page.

We have a wonderful evening of good holiday fun! If you'd like to join us next year, become a puppy raiser! Applications are available on our website.

You're Invited to Tails from the Bark Side!

You’re invited to Tails from the Bark Side, a Howl-o-ween costume dinner dance to benefit SSD’s Northeast Puppy Raising Program!

When: 6 p.m. on Saturday, October 10, 2009

Where: VFW Post #3448
B. Gregory Krummell Memorial
440 Sterling Road
Tobyhanna, PA

Tickets: $25 per person (must be purchased by Sept. 28)

Tails from the Bark Side includes a 50/50 raffle, Chinese auction, music, food and costume prizes! Entertainment will be provided by Long Time Comin’. Costumes are optional.

To purchase tickets, please email pattydo65@hotmail.com.

Service dogs and any SSD dog are welcome!