Team Training: Fun at the Whitaker Center

Team Training was full of fun and games today! We went to the Whitaker Center for Science and the Arts, where our new service dog teams practiced their skills.

There's always something new at the Whitaker Center, and this time was no different. On November 10, Bret Michaels is coming to the Forum, and in honor of his appearance, the Whitaker Center created navy blue bandanas, which are Bret Michaels' signature item. All of our service dogs, partners and trainers got to wear one of these bandanas. They even let us keep the bandanas!



While dressing up in the bandanas was fun, it was also a nice training experience for the dogs to let their partners dress them in something other than their service dog harness. SSD Phillip sported the bandana just like Bret Michaels - folded and tied around his head - but Phil decided it wasn't quite his style, and he wore it around his neck for the rest of the outing.

The Science Center at the Whitaker Center is a wonderful place for the service dogs and their partners to practice their skills. There are all sorts of distractions, from loud noises like the rain machine and the earthquake simulator to visual distractions such as floating beach balls and fake food in the children's area. Because it's getting close to Halloween, there was a special table set up where children could learn about pumpkins. SSD Phillip's partner loved this area! Not only did she learn whether a pumpkin floats or sinks in water, but she also got to explore the insides of a pumpkin! Watch the video of her removing the seeds. Notice how SSD Phillip hangs out at her feet the entire time she was at this table.



SSD Caspian and his partner enjoyed going through the different exhibits. In this video, Caspian is very interested in the whiffle balls spiraling in the funnel, but he is still able to pay attention to his partner.



In addition to practicing their skills (and having fun!) in the exhibits, our service dog teams worked on skills that may seem simple but are still very important. They practiced getting on and off the elevator, and going up and down stairs. At the elevator, the dog must wait until their partner blocks the doors to keep them from closing. Then, when they receive the cue "go on through," the dog walks into the elevator, turns around and looks at their partner. Their partner can then move all the way into the elevator. The process is the same for exiting the elevator. It's especially important to enter and exit the elevator properly because you don't want the doors to close while you are inside the elevator and your dog is outside.

On the stairs, dogs must walk calmly beside their partner without pulling. If a dog barges up or down the stairs or pulls on the leash, he may cause his partner to fall, and the risk of injury is much higher on the stairs. Watch how SSD Teddy walks calmly next to her partner as they walk up the stairs to the next floor of exhibits.



Thank you so much to the Whitaker Center! It's a great training experience for the dogs, and we always have a wonderful time!

Gemstones and Flowers Soak Up New Skills

Young puppies are sponges when it comes to learning new things, and the Gemstones and Flowers are no different. Aqua, Opal and Topaz (the Gemstones) and Daisy and Dandelion (the Flowers) attended Early Socialization Class at the kennel on Wednesday.

Because it was a gorgeous evening, we let all of the puppies run in the field, which is an enclosed, woodsy area. The pups had a great time playing!



Of course, we turned their time in the field into a training opportunity, and we practiced recalls. Each puppy raiser went to a different part of the field while the dogs were running around and then called their dog to come. They did great! In the following video, Opal is in the process of begging for treats from Topaz's puppy raiser. But when her puppy raiser calls her, she bounds straight over to him.



It was starting to get dark, so we moved class from the field to the training room. And of course, we turned the relocation into another training opportunity. One at a time, each puppy and puppy raiser practiced loose leash walking from the field to the training room. Daisy demonstrates loose leash walking in the next video. The leash is nice and loose, forming a "J," and Daisy is focused on her puppy raiser.



Topaz's puppy raiser does a nice job getting Topaz refocused for loose leash walking. when he starts to pull, she backs up so Topaz can't reach what he wanted. She then turns in a circle to get him reset, and they continue on their way. Look at how nicely Topaz walks on a loose leash after that!



Once everyone was inside, we went over all of the cues in the puppy manual. When puppy raisers first get their puppies, we give them a bag full of goodies for the dog (tug toy, ear wash, heartworm and flea and tick meds, leash, etc). We also give them a puppy manual that contains information about dog health, clicker training, shaping, socialization and more. In the back is a list of all of the cues the puppy raisers will be teaching their puppies.

Now, we did not go through the list of cues because each puppy needs to know them by the next class. We went through the cues so that our puppy raisers were aware of what they are. It's important to use a verbal or hand cue only once the puppy has learned a behavior. Otherwise, the word is just going to be meaningless to the puppy. Or the puppy might start to learn that the cue means something completely different than what you intend it to mean. For example, if you see your puppy starting to lunge for some food on the floor, your instinct might be to say the cue "leave it" as you pull the puppy away from the food. When you say "leave it," you mean "ignore that food on the floor and look at me." But if the puppy doesn't know that behavior and he always hears the "leave it" cue as he's pulling towards food, he could interpret "leave it" to mean "pull really hard to try to get that tasty food on the floor." So it's important not only to wait until the puppy knows the full behavior before adding the cue, but also to be aware of what the cues are so you don't inadvertently start using one before the puppy is ready.

We spent some time practicing "leave it." To start, each puppy raiser held some kibble in a closed hand. Of course, the puppies wanted to get the kibble, so they nosed at the hand. The second their puppies stopped trying to get the food and looked away, the puppy raisers clicked and treated with food from their treat pouches. It didn't take long for the puppies to learn that they'll get treats for ignoring the food in the hand. Watch Aqua quickly give up on trying to get the food out of her puppy raiser's hand.



By the end of one training session, some of the puppy raisers were able to leave food in an open palm and the puppy would ignore it. Watch Dandelion . She ignores a whole pile of food in her puppy raiser's open palm. Notice that when she does turn her head toward the food, her puppy raiser immediately moves his hand out of her reach. Soon she is staring intently at her puppy raiser, ignoring the food next to her head.



This was an excellent early socialization class! We can't wait to see what these puppies will learn by next week!

Nubble's Summer Fun

July may have been extremely hot, but Nubble has a way to cool off. His puppy raisers got him a kiddie pool, and he has been having a blast playing in it! He runs around, runs through the pool, and lays down in the water.

He has been having even more fun since Donna and her family fenced in part of their yard for the dogs. Nubble can now run free without Donna worrying about him running away. They've been working on his recall outside, especially now that they have the fence, and he has been doing great! He has also been improving on stairs. Donna has several steps leading from the back door, and at first, Nubble wouldn't go up them. However, after a little work, those stairs are no problem!

The Northeast Division had another puppy outing. This time, they went to a Wilkes-Barre Yankees game, the local minor league baseball team. Even though Nubble is a Phillies fan, he seemed happy to wear the Yankees' hat for the evening. As the ball game, the dogs-in-training practied up on the chairs. The cue up asks the dogs to put their front feet on an object. Even though the chairs were slippery and the dogs couldn't get a very good grip, they still did a great job with up! They also practiced on a glass fence.


Nubble and the other dogs met the Yankees' mascot, Champ, and Nubble had no fear of him. Sometimes, when a dog encounters a mascot or someone in costume, he will be very hesitant or even fearful. The handler then needs to work with the dog, using the clicker and lots of treats, to help him learn that costumes aren't something to be afraid of. But Nubble had no fear of the mascot.

Later, Nubble enjoyed his first ice cream cone. Boy, did he love it! It was a very successful outing for him. He seemed to take everything in stride. Even when it started to rain and people swarmed the exits, he was still able to focus and sit.

This past weekend, he got to play with a five-month-old German shepherd. They had a wonderful time running in the yard from the kiddie pool to the dirt pile to a leaf pile and back to the pool. They then chased each other round and round the pool. There were two other dogs visiting as well, and Nubble quickly learned which dogs wanted to be his playmate and which ones would rather be left alone. It was good experience in dog manners for him.

Nubble did get into a bit of mischief this weekend. He picked peppers out of Donna's friend's garden! He would run by and just grab a pepper and bring it to her friend! Needless to say, after all this running, he was exhausted by the end of the weekend. He slept from 7:30 p.m. on Sunday to 9 a.m. Monday!

Donna has been working on go to bed with Nubble. He seems to need constant refreshing. He does great by the end of the training session. Donna is using shaping to teach the behavior. The next day, however, she finds that she needs to back up a few steps to remind him what she wants him to do. That's the nice thing about shaping - it's so easy to back to up where the dog can be successful and move forward from there.

Next week, Nubble is going on his first camping trip with his puppy raisers! It should be quite an adventure for everyone. They're staying by a lake, so Nubble will be able to do one of his favorite things - swim! We'll share the tale of his camping adventures next time.

Nubble, PawsAbilities and More

Nubble loved coming to PawsAbilities! He even got his paw stamped! Although Donna and Lindsey didn't enter him in any Dog Olympics, he enjoyed just walking around. He really loved being around the other dogs, especially the big dogs. He met SSD Thunder, Sunshine and Iris.


While they were at PawsAbilities, Nubble met his grandmother! She is a hunting retrieving dog with the Northern Piedmont Retriever Club. Nubble sat on the bleachers and watched her retrieve, and then Tom, Nubble's grandmother's handler, asked if Nubble wanted to try retrieving. So Nubble got to romp around in the demo ring and practice retrieving! Such a fun time!


He went to the bank with Donna, and every time they go, they practice under. Nubble has gotten pretty good at it. He goes under the table where you fill out your deposit slip and lays down. For some reason, he loves the floor at the bank. He always flops onto his back and rolls around a bit. Donna isn't sure whether he just likes the coolness of the floor or if he's excited because he knows he gets a biscuit at the end of the visit.

He went in a public restroom this week. As a service dog, he would accompany his partner everywhere, including public restrooms, so it is important that he is comfortable there. He did fine while he was in the stall. While his puppy raiser washed her hands, he practiced under. Then, as she dried her hands, he stuck his head under the hand dryer. What a surprise! The noise didn't bother him, but the hot air definitely surprised him! It didn't bother him too much, though, because he stuck his head back under it.

This past week, Donna and Lindsey have been working on heel. They had been using the purple box and shaping him to work his way around it, and now, they're working on heel without the box. Although he doesn't heel as quickly as some of the older dogs-in-training, he is definitely making progress. They've also been working on stay. So far, Nubble is progressing nicely. He has learned to stay when Donna walks through a door. Staying when she moves out of his line of vision is much more challenging for him, but they're working on it.

At puppy class, the Northeast Division coordinator brought a kennel to practice kennel behavior with the dogs. The dogs are trained to go into the crate on the cue kennel. Well, Nubble is really good at it because when she asked the group "Do all the dogs kennel on cue?", Nubble ran right into the kennel and sat down facing everyone!

Once a dog was in the kennel, they practiced stay with the kennel door open. To increase the difficulty, other dogs were walked past the kennel door. The addition of the dogs walking by was a huge distraction for Nubble, but he did pretty well with stay.

The kennel is a safe place for the dogs to relax. Although Nubble doesn't go into his kennel at home without being cued, he does go into Gizzy's kennel - sometimes while she's inside, too!

Nubble loves spending time outside. Donna took him for a nice long walk this week and discovered that he's much better behaved when Gizzy doesn't come along. This is a bit of a challenge because both dogs need their walks, but there's not always time to walk them separately. Eventually, Nubble will get to the point where he can walk with other dogs without getting too distracted.

With spring arriving, the robins and other birds have been hopping around the yard, at least until Nubble chases them away. He hasn't had much exposure to birds, so they are still a novelty to him. We'll keep you posted on his progress as he gets used to spring.

Enjoy the warmer weather with your dogs!

The Personality of a Service Dog: Temperament Testing

Sit, down, stand, stay, leave it, come, loose leash walking, waiting patiently at doors - by the time our service dogs-in-training are one year old, they should know all of these skills. And to make sure they know them, we test each dog when they turn one year old.

On Friday, we held our 12-month evaluations for the dogs that are between 11 and 13 months old. This testing allows us to see the progress the dogs have made and discover skills and behaviors the dogs still need to work on. This is also the time when we start to make decisions on whether a dog will continue in the service dog program. Some dogs' skills may be better suited to other lines or work. For example, SSD Honeycrisp (renamed Chloe) and SSD Penny (now called Jade) are now working for the UN, sniffing out explosive devices. Both of these dogs were too focused on their sense of smell to be successful service dogs; however, that same sense of smell makes them perfect for their present position with the UN.

During the 12-month temperament test, we evaluate the dogs in cued and un-cued attention, self control, recall, shaping skills, basic obedience and interactions with other dogs, animals and people. We will compare their results with their results from their 8-week evaluations, so we can see their progress.

Our dogs get evaluated throughout their lives. We test their temperament when they're eight weeks old. Our puppy raisers also complete the C-BARQ (Canine Behavioral Assessment and Research Questionnaire), which is a standardized evaluation of dog temperament and behavior. Puppy raisers answer questions about how the dogs typically respond to common events, situations and stimuli in the environment. The C-BARQ compares each dog's scores to the scores of other SSD dogs, as well as other dogs in a similar category. This questionnaire is especially helpful because it flags any scores that are untypical, so we know what areas a dog needs to work on. (Note: The C-BARQ is not limited to service dogs. Pet owners can take the questionnaire for their own dogs.)

On Friday, we evaluated 12 dogs from the Old West and Hill Top litters - Oakley, Cimarron, Stetson, Denver, Zane, Journey, Thunder, Star, Sky, Sunshine, Hawk and Misty Morning. We also retested one dog that had already been placed with a partner but needed a reevaluation. We will be comparing their results with the results from their 8-week tests, so we can see how they have improved. Usually, we see great improvement, thanks to our wonderful puppy raisers!

In one of our next posts this week, we will share some of the highlights of the dogs during the test.