We Have Gone to the Dogs!

Guest post by Revenda Bierley, puppy raiser and volunteer for Susquehanna Service Dogs

When our youngest child went off to college, my husband and I decided our nest was too calm and quiet for our taste.  Enter SSD Aunt Laura.  We attended several training classes and passed a home inspection, crossing our fingers hoping we would soon receive a call to raise a puppy.  As luck would have it, our wait was short lived.  On May 24, 2014, we were handed an exuberant yellow lab from the recent Aunts and Uncles litter to raise, socialize, train, and love for Susquehanna Service Dogs. 

Unlike our children, Aunt Laura came with a manual of instructions, which adorned a small nook in our kitchen.  This manual was read and reread as we learned the new language of dog training.  Necessary commands were practiced daily and for the first eight weeks, we attended weekly training classes, after which, classes were held every two weeks.  Aunt Laura proved to be a wonderful student, eager to please and quickly mastering the mandatory list of basic skills. 

Raising and training a service dog requires a fair amount of work and perseverance.  We soon realized that raising this puppy was also a lot of fun.  After all, you take the dog everywhere you go—grocery stores, restaurants, sporting events etc.  The goal is to expose the young dog to any and every place a person needs or wants to go, from riding an elevator, to navigating stairs or even passing food on the ground.  These experiences are vital to their success and each accomplishment is one step closer to making a difference in the life of an adult or child with a disability. 

Maybe it was a moment of weakness or the fact that we were enjoying channeling our parental energies into raising a service dog that when we received a call this past February asking us to take another puppy, we accepted.  Two days later, we welcomed SSD Elsa into our home.  Elsa was tiny with a very large personality.  Her name alone was a crowd pleaser with children and she eagerly accepted the adoration.  Elsa embraced life and her new surroundings enthusiastically and gratefully accepted SSD Aunt Laura as her mentor.  She too has proved to enjoy her training sessions and is quickly mastering the cues we teach her.       

With two service dogs, our appearance in public places that are otherwise off limits to dogs arouses people’s interest.  In some cases, it has inspired others to inquire about the dogs and become raisers as well.  However, most people simply question us as to how we will be able to give the dog up when the training is finished.  I admit, we have not crossed that threshold yet and I am sure it will be difficult.  I am also sure it will be worth it to the recipients of the dogs I raise.  In the meantime, we have found new connections and we are part of an extraordinary community of individuals with the same purpose—help support the mission of Susquehanna Service Dogs.      

How to Clicker Train Your Velociraptor

*This post may contain mild spoilers for the movie Jurassic World. But we promise it’s nothing that will ruin the movie for you.

The Internet has been full of movie clips and memes of Chris Pratt’s Jurassic World character Owen wrangling four velociraptors. If you haven’t seen any of the trailers, you can watch one here. The first 35 seconds show Owen interacting with the velociraptors.

The cool thing that you don’t see in the trailers, though, is that Owen trained these dinosaurs using clicker training. That’s really exciting! Clicker training is a positive reinforcement method of training where a desired behavior is marked and rewarded. This type of training can play a role in the bond between an animal and the trainer, creating “a relationship based on respect” as Owen says in the movie.

All of our service dogs are trained using clicker training. We start then when they’re very young. Our dogs go to puppy raisers when they’re eight weeks old, and our raisers start by clicking and treating the puppies just for making eye contact (“attention”). The pups learn that every time they hear the click, they get a yummy treat, so of course they want to repeat the behavior that caused the click.

The wonderful thing about clicker training is that it’s a very clear form of communication. The click clearly marks a behavior, so the dog knows exactly when they’re doing the right thing. The treat then rewards them for it, so the dog is much more inclined to repeat the behavior and even build on it. Using this method, we can easily train a dog to do more complex behaviors, like turning on a light switch, picking up an item, or opening a door. Because the dog is having fun and being rewarded, they often learn quickly.

Plus, the dogs love it! After a while, when our puppy raisers don their clicker and treat pouch, the dogs come running!

Watch the video of SSD Aunt Laura learning how to “heel.” Listen for the click. Revenda, her puppy raiser, clicks every time Laura moves her back legs into the correct position at Revenda’s side. Notice that with each click, Laura gets a treat.

Since this video was taken, Laura has mastered “heel” (swinging into place on her handler’s left side) and “side” (swinging into place at her handler’s right side). You can tell from the video that Laura is enjoying herself. Her tail is wagging and she’s engaged with her raiser.

Now, we know that the clicker training portrayed in Jurassic World is a far cry from what it should actually look like. But we understand that choices undoubtedly had to be made for cinematic effect.  We’re still happy to see this positive training method get a few moments on the big screen.

So we want to know. What behaviors have you taught your “velociraptor” using clicker training?