I can't believe it has been almost 5 weeks since I have posted. My life has been very hectic and stressful. In addition to my normal issues of fighting my MS, working full time, going to doctors, teaching genealogy classes and training Willow. My life got crazier. My husband had surgery to remove some skin cancer on his back and we found out they didn't get it all the first time so he has to have another surgery on November 12th. My father got pneumonia again and nearly died and I found out his lung cancer is now stage 4. Our family is devastated. But enough of the sad stuff.
Here is some of what i have been doing with Willow since I lasted posted. We continue to work on our foundation behaviors (Sit, Stay, Down, Off, Come, potty on command, touch, leave it, loose leash walking, heel). Some days she is a star student and an absolute genius. Other days she looks at me like she has never heard the command before. It must be her age and the preteen or teenager in her. Overall she is getting a lot better. In fact last week I went to my local PetsMart and one of the people who came to talk to me there was their trainer. She was asking a lot of questions and of course wanted to know what I was doing for training. She asked if we could go into the training area and if she could see me work with her. Then she asked if she could work with her. She said she was extremely impressed because most 4 1/2 month old dogs do not respond as well or as quickly as Willow does. That makes me feel good because that morning was a particularly difficult training session. It was like Willow had forgotten everything she ever knew. She did better in the afternoon.
We have also been working on public access. I have been picking smaller places that are less busy for the most part. We have gone to two places that she doesn't want to go into so I don't make her. They are Quizno's and Papa Murphy's. The places she has really liked going into are of course PetsMart and PetCo, the local health food store, Taco Time, Subway, Maverick, Home Depot, Walmart, and the doctors office. When we do the public access I have been setting a timer so that I stay in no longer than 5-10 min at a time. She is getting so much better when we are in these places. She will actually sit quietly beside me part of the time and also walk with a loose leash part of the time.
I am hoping to have a friend tape us training a couple of times so that I can post to this blog.
Halloween was a real eye opener. When the first kids came my husband had a hold of her leash. She doesn't listen to him very well so she nearly pulled his arm off trying to get to the door. He wanted me to put her in her crate for the night but I wanted to see if she would do better for me. So when the next batch of kids came by I had her leash (short leash). She pulled a bunch but not enough to turn my hand red so for her not bad. She got excited to answer the door every time the doorbell rang or someone knocked. She had no fear of the costumes. She and the kids and their parents had a great time saying hi. I was also impressed that she didn't try to jump on any of the kids or adults. She did remarkably well.
I will post pictures in the next post.
Till next time my friends...
Showing posts with label Service Dog. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Service Dog. Show all posts
Tuesday, November 4, 2014
Tuesday, September 30, 2014
New Places, New Faces
Where have the last few days gone? Life has been so busy. Let's get up to date on what's been happening on the training scene.
In the last couple of days Willow and I have had a couple of adventures. I am continuing to take her new places and having her meet new people.
Some of the places we have gone are walking in the neighborhood, the local park, the IFA Store, Maverick, and standing outside at Costco. She has been able to meet short people, tall people, fat people, skinny people, black people, brown people, old people, young people, little kids, infants, etc.
She is becoming pretty comfortable going to new places. She really likes seeing the people even when I don't let them pet her. Something I am noticing is she walks much better when I walk her and use my cane rather than the walker. It's kind of odd but the walker seems to bring out the puller in her. Whereas using just a leash she will walk loose leash 75 - 80% of the time.
Sunday our home teacher and his son came by. Willow did good with them. We had a little trouble getting the son to understand that you don't want to reach your hands up to a dogs head. With Willow she thinks you want to play and will try to grab your hand. When she did this to the son he got scared. We need to work with him more especially since they are thinking of getting a dog of their own.
Monday was a good day. Willow played nicely in the office most of the day while I worked and so she only had to spend a minimal amount of time her crate. I gave her a treat last night and let her sleep with me. She thought she had died and gone to heaven and she settled right down and went to sleep.
Today was my birthday and I took the day off work. Willow and I had a very busy day. We started by going to my neurologist. Willow was a huge hit at the office and did very well. She did get a little antsy in the exam room while we were waiting for the doctor to come in so I worked on her training. I was quite happy that she would still give me focus attention, respond to her name, and do the hand and sticky note touch, even when the tech and later the doctor were in the room.
After the doctor visit we went to Home Depot so the employees there could meet the dog they helped raise money for. Again, she was a huge hit and she behaved like such a little lady. I was so proud of her. Especially since there were so many new and strange sounds there.
From there we went to the Ma & Paw Bakery and bought her a bully stick. She loves it! Then I took her to the Utah Dog Park where she was interviewed for going to doggy daycare. She did really well and ended up staying the rest of the day. When I picked her up tonight she was so tired she fell asleep in the car.
She and I are calling it an early night tonight because we are both so tired.
Till next time friends....
In the last couple of days Willow and I have had a couple of adventures. I am continuing to take her new places and having her meet new people.
Some of the places we have gone are walking in the neighborhood, the local park, the IFA Store, Maverick, and standing outside at Costco. She has been able to meet short people, tall people, fat people, skinny people, black people, brown people, old people, young people, little kids, infants, etc.
She is becoming pretty comfortable going to new places. She really likes seeing the people even when I don't let them pet her. Something I am noticing is she walks much better when I walk her and use my cane rather than the walker. It's kind of odd but the walker seems to bring out the puller in her. Whereas using just a leash she will walk loose leash 75 - 80% of the time.
Sunday our home teacher and his son came by. Willow did good with them. We had a little trouble getting the son to understand that you don't want to reach your hands up to a dogs head. With Willow she thinks you want to play and will try to grab your hand. When she did this to the son he got scared. We need to work with him more especially since they are thinking of getting a dog of their own.
Monday was a good day. Willow played nicely in the office most of the day while I worked and so she only had to spend a minimal amount of time her crate. I gave her a treat last night and let her sleep with me. She thought she had died and gone to heaven and she settled right down and went to sleep.
Today was my birthday and I took the day off work. Willow and I had a very busy day. We started by going to my neurologist. Willow was a huge hit at the office and did very well. She did get a little antsy in the exam room while we were waiting for the doctor to come in so I worked on her training. I was quite happy that she would still give me focus attention, respond to her name, and do the hand and sticky note touch, even when the tech and later the doctor were in the room.
After the doctor visit we went to Home Depot so the employees there could meet the dog they helped raise money for. Again, she was a huge hit and she behaved like such a little lady. I was so proud of her. Especially since there were so many new and strange sounds there.
From there we went to the Ma & Paw Bakery and bought her a bully stick. She loves it! Then I took her to the Utah Dog Park where she was interviewed for going to doggy daycare. She did really well and ended up staying the rest of the day. When I picked her up tonight she was so tired she fell asleep in the car.
She and I are calling it an early night tonight because we are both so tired.
Till next time friends....
Tuesday, September 16, 2014
09/15 & 09/16
The time just seemed to get away from me yesterday and I didn't get a post in. Yesterday was my first day working from home and dealing with a puppy. Though in all honesty I didn't have her a lot of the day. Willow had a vet appointment and ended up spending the day at the vets. She had a blast and they are all in love with her. The vet gave us great news. Willow's UTI is all cleared up! YAY!!! We had a good time playing before going to the vet. While at the vet's she played extremely hard. They had something like 7 puppies there that day and they all got along great and played great. According to all the tech's and the vet Willow had a great time. I know she was sure tired. They actually had to wake her up to bring her to me. That's just not like her. Apparently Willow and another pup were playing and they both fell asleep while playing. Training was a little tough yesterday. Willow's heart just wasn't into it. She would respond to sit, touch, or her name 2, maybe 3 times and then just lay and close her eyes. So I decided the one 5 minute session would have to do. She was just too tired to concentrate. She slept REALLY well last night and she slept in this morning.
Today was a good day. We both slept in a little and so we were running late. I barely got started on my work on time. I decided to do an experiment this morning. After she had eaten and gone potty I brought her into my office with me. She did wonderful for about 45 min. She was chewing on her antler and a couple of her stuffies (stuffed animal chew toys). She lay down right next to me and was very quiet and mellow. Then she started getting restless so we took a quick trip outside to potty and then because she still seemed tired I put her in her crate for awhile with a small milk bone and her toys. Checked on her 5 min later and she was fast asleep. Came back in 2 hours and woke her up. We went for a short walk, played in the yard, did some more training on touch, sit, down, off and then came in and chilled in the office for another 45 min. Went back outside to potty, came back in had lunch, back out to potty, rest time in crate. Then spent the rest of the afternoon alternating between being outside, training, working in office, and crate time.
I have noticed that she is most active first thing in the morning and later in the evening after it begins to cool down. Willow definitely doesn't like the heat.
This evening we decided we wanted to go to Quizno's for dinner so Willow and I went down to get our food. At first when we went in she seemed a little unsure of herself but as we were turning around to leave other people started coming in and she got so excited to see them that she forgot to be nervous. There was a tall heavy set gentlemen who wanted to pet her and I let him. There were also 2 young women who looked at her but wanted nothing to do with petting her. And that was fine. Willow got her first taste of not being able to have everyone make a fuss over her. When she tried to pull away from me to get to them (or so I thought) I redirected her attention. I called her name and since she turned her head towards me I clicked and gave a jackpot treat (a small piece of cheese). Every time I could get her to look at me I clicked and treated. I wanted to reward her for looking at me with major distractions around. Three people in the restaurant, One of whom brought food from Subway and sat the bag on the floor (that's what Willow was trying to get to) plus there were all the yummy food smells from Quizno's. It was enough to make your mouth water, let a lone a little pup. I was very proud of her today.
Till next time...
Today was a good day. We both slept in a little and so we were running late. I barely got started on my work on time. I decided to do an experiment this morning. After she had eaten and gone potty I brought her into my office with me. She did wonderful for about 45 min. She was chewing on her antler and a couple of her stuffies (stuffed animal chew toys). She lay down right next to me and was very quiet and mellow. Then she started getting restless so we took a quick trip outside to potty and then because she still seemed tired I put her in her crate for awhile with a small milk bone and her toys. Checked on her 5 min later and she was fast asleep. Came back in 2 hours and woke her up. We went for a short walk, played in the yard, did some more training on touch, sit, down, off and then came in and chilled in the office for another 45 min. Went back outside to potty, came back in had lunch, back out to potty, rest time in crate. Then spent the rest of the afternoon alternating between being outside, training, working in office, and crate time.
I have noticed that she is most active first thing in the morning and later in the evening after it begins to cool down. Willow definitely doesn't like the heat.
This evening we decided we wanted to go to Quizno's for dinner so Willow and I went down to get our food. At first when we went in she seemed a little unsure of herself but as we were turning around to leave other people started coming in and she got so excited to see them that she forgot to be nervous. There was a tall heavy set gentlemen who wanted to pet her and I let him. There were also 2 young women who looked at her but wanted nothing to do with petting her. And that was fine. Willow got her first taste of not being able to have everyone make a fuss over her. When she tried to pull away from me to get to them (or so I thought) I redirected her attention. I called her name and since she turned her head towards me I clicked and gave a jackpot treat (a small piece of cheese). Every time I could get her to look at me I clicked and treated. I wanted to reward her for looking at me with major distractions around. Three people in the restaurant, One of whom brought food from Subway and sat the bag on the floor (that's what Willow was trying to get to) plus there were all the yummy food smells from Quizno's. It was enough to make your mouth water, let a lone a little pup. I was very proud of her today.
Till next time...
Saturday, September 13, 2014
Welcome to my training journal for Willow
My name is Jacqui and I have Multiple Sclerosis (MS). Here is a link to the National MS Society. You can find lot's of good information here about MS.
My MS affects me in many ways. The major effect is on my balance. I feel like I am walking on a small ship most of the time and in the last 6 months I have begun to have a real problem with drop foot on my left side.
Another way that MS affects me is that it sorely tries my patience! I have never been overly patient and now I am having to learn to be patient with myself. I absolutely hate it when I stumble, fall, trip over my words and when my thoughts just won't work well together. I have never had these problems before and often I find myself saying "Why ME?"
While researching treatments and ways to slow my MS progression and ways to keep from having to use a cane and walker all the time I came across articles that talked about Service Dogs for MS patients.
When I saw my doctor I asked her about it and she said a balance/mobility service dog could very well keep me out of a walker and/or wheelchair full-time for a couple of more years. I absolutely adore dogs so I thought this would be a very good idea. I immediately began researching where to get a dog and the costs involved. That was very depressing. Because I am a large woman the agencies that give out dogs for free would not consider me for a mobility dog. Mostly because most of them use Labs and Golden's which would be too small. The agencies that would consider me wanted $30,000-$50,000. Way more money than I have and way more money than I would be able to raise.
So I began to look for an adult dog at local shelters and online trying to find one that was the correct size, temperament and personality to be a service dog. That's when I received another rude awakening. Many of the rescues would not even consider me for their dogs because I wanted a dog to be a service dog and they felt that dogs should never have to work. Rescues have had enough problems and needed to live a life of leisure and not have to work. The ones that would consider me had dogs with so many problems I didn't feel like they could ever be a good service dog.
That brought me to the next phase of my search. I finally decided to look for a puppy so that I could get the breed that I knew would work for me size and temperament wise. I put this off for a long time because I have absolutely no experience with puppies and I have never done the potty training thing. I knew I would have to have a great trainer to work with. The breed I chose is the Greater Swiss Mountain Dog. I got Willow on August 30th and she is beautiful. She is currently 13 weeks old and her birthday was June 10, 2014. No she isn't named after the movie. Willow is just a name I like and the name of my favorite tree. The breeder I got her from is Blue Hill Swissy's. To find out more about the Greater Swiss Mountain Dog (GSM Dog or Swissy) go to the Greater Swiss Mountain Dog Club of America they have a lot of wonderful information on the breed.
The purpose of this blog is to journal my successes and failures with training Willow. I will have help along the way. I am working with a wonderful trainer, Laurie of Side by Side Dog Training. She is a local trainer in the Salt Lake City area.
Welcome to my journey!
My MS affects me in many ways. The major effect is on my balance. I feel like I am walking on a small ship most of the time and in the last 6 months I have begun to have a real problem with drop foot on my left side.
Another way that MS affects me is that it sorely tries my patience! I have never been overly patient and now I am having to learn to be patient with myself. I absolutely hate it when I stumble, fall, trip over my words and when my thoughts just won't work well together. I have never had these problems before and often I find myself saying "Why ME?"
While researching treatments and ways to slow my MS progression and ways to keep from having to use a cane and walker all the time I came across articles that talked about Service Dogs for MS patients.
When I saw my doctor I asked her about it and she said a balance/mobility service dog could very well keep me out of a walker and/or wheelchair full-time for a couple of more years. I absolutely adore dogs so I thought this would be a very good idea. I immediately began researching where to get a dog and the costs involved. That was very depressing. Because I am a large woman the agencies that give out dogs for free would not consider me for a mobility dog. Mostly because most of them use Labs and Golden's which would be too small. The agencies that would consider me wanted $30,000-$50,000. Way more money than I have and way more money than I would be able to raise.
So I began to look for an adult dog at local shelters and online trying to find one that was the correct size, temperament and personality to be a service dog. That's when I received another rude awakening. Many of the rescues would not even consider me for their dogs because I wanted a dog to be a service dog and they felt that dogs should never have to work. Rescues have had enough problems and needed to live a life of leisure and not have to work. The ones that would consider me had dogs with so many problems I didn't feel like they could ever be a good service dog.
That brought me to the next phase of my search. I finally decided to look for a puppy so that I could get the breed that I knew would work for me size and temperament wise. I put this off for a long time because I have absolutely no experience with puppies and I have never done the potty training thing. I knew I would have to have a great trainer to work with. The breed I chose is the Greater Swiss Mountain Dog. I got Willow on August 30th and she is beautiful. She is currently 13 weeks old and her birthday was June 10, 2014. No she isn't named after the movie. Willow is just a name I like and the name of my favorite tree. The breeder I got her from is Blue Hill Swissy's. To find out more about the Greater Swiss Mountain Dog (GSM Dog or Swissy) go to the Greater Swiss Mountain Dog Club of America they have a lot of wonderful information on the breed.
The purpose of this blog is to journal my successes and failures with training Willow. I will have help along the way. I am working with a wonderful trainer, Laurie of Side by Side Dog Training. She is a local trainer in the Salt Lake City area.
Welcome to my journey!
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