The Gemstones Are Growing Up

You may have noticed on the Puppy Cam that the whelping box is gone. Coral, Opal, Aqua, Topaz, Taz, Amber and Diamond have moved on to a much larger space. Crystal enclosed part of the room, so the puppies have lots of space but aren't able to get into mischief.

The puppies have lots of new surfaces and objects to walk on and explore, including a wooden board, an aluminum pie tin and a big red ball. Not only do these new objects stimulate their minds, but they also get the puppies used to encountering new things in their environment. These puppies may become service dogs, and they'll need to take changes in the environment in stride. For example, a balance dog must be able to walk calmly over drainage grates. If the dog were to swerve to avoid the grate, he may injure his partner, who is using him for balance.

The pups are also learning crate behavior. It's important for the dogs to be calm and quiet in their crate. There will be times when a service dog needs to be crated, and they need to stay calm and not get stressed. When we first start crate training the puppies, we fill the crates with soft blankets and toys. We also put open crates in their whelping box or area. The puppies are free to come and go in the crate as they please, and sometimes they even go in to curl up for a nap. When the puppies are three weeks old, we start closing them in the crate with at least one littermate. After three to five minutes, we open the door and let them out again. Overall, we want to make sure the puppies learn to associate the crate with good things, so it becomes a place where they can relax.

Some of the Gemstones puppies like the crate more than others. Most of the puppies want to jump right out and start playing again. But not Taz! In the short time he was in the crate with the door closed, he curled up and went to sleep. Crystal just left him there with the door open. He woke up in a little bit and wandered out of the crate. However, he just looked around, and then went into the neighboring crate to sleep again!

Part 6: Crate Behavior

We mentioned in Part 4: Canine Manners Around Food that crates are a source of comfort and relaxation for our service dogs. Crates are not a form of punishment. In fact, because crates become a happy, stress-free place for our dogs, the dogs sometime choose to go in them just to hang out and relax. One SSD puppy once fell asleep in his crate - he was flopped on his side, perfectly relaxed, with his head lolling out of the crate door!

Since we use crates in training and they become an important part of a service dog's life, we have certain expectations for behavior when dogs go in their crates. When they're in their crate, service dogs should be able to chill out and relax - no whining or barking - and they wait patiently for a verbal cue to leave the crate.

To get puppies used to their crate, we feed them at least one meal inside it. Receiving a meal in the crate helps the puppy associate the crate with good things, so it becomes a happy place.

When we're teaching puppies to wait quietly and patiently until they're released from the crate, we use a method similar to our method of teaching dogs not to bolt through other doors. (Read Part 5: Dogs and Doors - Patience Is a Virtue for our post about bolting through doors.) If the puppy starts to move when we open the crate door, we close the door and don't let the puppy out. When the puppy is once again waiting quietly, we try opening the door again. If he tries to barge through again, the door closes. The door only opens completely when the puppy stays patiently. Similarly, if the puppy starts barking or whining when we start opening the door, the door closes until the puppy quiets down. Sometimes this takes patience on our part, but it's important to outlast any vocalizing. When the puppy is both quiet and staying patiently, we then open the door and signal the puppy to exit the crate by saying "okay."

Throughout the process of opening the crate door and releasing the dog with an "okay," we don't use the "stay" command. We want our dogs to learn that when they're in a certain environment, in this case the crate, they must always "stay," even if there is no specific command. Service dogs often need to be as unobtrusive as possible, automatically giving behaviors depending on the environment and other cues.