#training progress

We did it, folks. In just under a year, Mars went from a neurotic, sick mess of a dog with no manners who wanted to KILL my cats. He stole food and despite the fact he was housebroken, he had accidents of the solid nature fairly frequently.

After some upset following my vacation, his crating got SCREWED and he screamed all night like the first night he was home all over again. So I tested him. I started letting him stay unkenneled while I went for work and the roommate would be home soon, so just a few hours at a time. We gradually worked up. But it made his night time crating more hateful and he started to bark again.

This past week, I really chanced it. I let him out uncrated over night.

AND NOT A PEEP. Not a word, not a poo! A little pacing the first night but as soon as we established a routine he was set. I can finally sleep in again!

Knows and Responds w/ Distractions:

Sit (On every surface I can think of, with an implicit “wait” that I release him from. He will sit and allow people, cats, birds, squirrels, and skateboarders/bicyclists/roller bladers to pass him. He has a hard time staying in “sit” while dogs are nearby.)

Down (With an implicit “wait” that I release him from. He will down-stay through anything, except for tiny children screaming at him and reaching for him and dogs who want to play with him.)

Up (Immediately come up out of the sit/down/sleep I have him in into a standing position)

Watch Me (eye contact)

Heel (We walk loose leash w/ a head harness, he has an explicit “heel” command to remind him to come walk with his head right in front of my leg within 12 inches of my left foot.)

Down-Stay (He will stay in a down-stay for about 3-5 minutes normally in formal down-stay (ie. not a “settle”), we’re working on extending this)

Kisses (Tactile stimulation, kisses to the face until I tell him to stop)

Pressure (Deep pressure therapy. When possible, I lay down and he lays down “hugging” my neck/shoulders to give kisses and put pressure on my chest. When I am completely dissociated, he will jump into my lap if I am in a chair or up onto my thighs if I am standing and give persistent alerts and stimulation until I start reacting to him.)

Alerting to bouncing leg

Alerting to changes in breathing

Wait and Go (For food, dropped treats, doors (this is now implicit - he will sit and wait until I release him when we approach a doorway), and to greet people)

Tuck (under my chair, desk, and tables)

Through (When I am sitting down, e goes under my right leg, entering from the right side, and lays down. This gets him out of the way when we are riding the bus, are in a waiting room, or in other environments where there is nowhere for him to “Tuck”. He will also do this command if I am standing, which I use to put him under me and out of the reach of strangers.)

Knows and Responds w/ No Distractions:

Drop (If I have my hands on the thing he’s supposed to drop, he will do it immediately. If it is something I can’t get my hands on, he won’t do it yet.)

Leave it

“Go Pee”

“Go Poo”

Working On:

Always ignoring passerby

Not jumping up when people make obnoxious sounds

Socialization with children

Not lunging at other dogs to play with them or vocalizing because of the presence of another dog

Socialization with more dog types (smaller dogs in particular)

Trick-based:

Shake (I also use this to have him lift his paw for me to untangle his front paws from his leash.)

High Five

Sleep (Play dead. Lays on his side.)

Roll Over 

We have come a loooong way since the last time I did one of these, in almost all aspects of our training. There are some ongoing things we need to work on, and sometimes I get frustrated when I feel like we aren’t making “enough” progress, but he really is just a baby, and he’ll never be a robot.

With winter break starting, I am going to be organizing doggy play dates for him to work on him interacting with other dogs nicely, and training while there are dogs around. He does well in our “home” environment with my family dogs, but that’s completely different context-wise from being able to ignore a strange dog walking down the block. He is better at being able to sit or down-stay while another dog passes, though I have a hard time getting him to truly focus on me while there is another dog around. I have to be pretty heavy-handed with his treats, or use banana chunks (which are his ultimate treat - I think he would kill for bananas). 

We go by the campus day care while the kids are out on recess and I work with him on paying attention to me while the children are fenced in and being noisy with each other. I think this is the best way for him to learn to ignore them and be able to handle their obnoxious noises at this point, as they cannot approach him even if they are screaming and reaching at him. To be clear, we don’t get very close to the fence to respect the potential allergies of the children as well as to not drive the day care workers completely bonkers.

He is the exact model of what I want him to be when we go to math class - or went to math class, I guess, now that I’ve taken the final. He ignored everyone and either went straight into a “settle” or fell asleep with his head on my foot. He wakes up to alert - I’m not sure by what superpower precisely, but I’ve never had him miss one in class. He doesn’t sniff anyone, stays tucked under the table, and only occasionally needs a treat or to be reminded that he ought to be laying down. In this setting, he is absolutely perfect. I have my schedule set up next semester so that he can come to everything but labs, as they’re broken up into chunks that are manageable for him to be working at his age/status of training. 

We will be doing a lot of pet-friendly PA in hardware stores and pet stores over break, as well as walking around outdoors to get him used to ignoring passerby and focusing on me in all environments. Dogs and children continue to be the two things he is foiled by, and it’s only through the sheer amount that he loves them and wants to play with them and love them. When people ask nicely, I usually allow them to pet him so that I can work on his “go” to greet others. The next person who reaches out and just touches him for no reason will probably get their hand smacked, though. I’m learning that all the stories I’ve read on here of things people say/do to service dogs and their handlers are all too true, and all too common. People really can’t handle themselves sometimes.