Summer School

I usually play ball with Morey several times a day (typically before work, during a lunch break and then before heading home from work). But since the weather has turned hot I have changed Morey's schedule to include indoor training sessions instead of outdoor ball time. Morey loves to train so he doesn't mind this change a bit!

Morey and I are working on a few different training goals right now, most of them for agility. I taught Morey "left" a while ago and now am teaching him "right". Having directional cues makes it a lot easier for me to direct Morey through different obstacles when I am farther away from him. And, since he is much faster than me, it doesn't take much for him to get ahead of me!

Another training goal for Morey to learn "spot". This will be used for the contact obstacles (dog walk and A-frame) which require the dog to make contact with the bottom of the obstacle before moving on. I want Morey to do a "2 on-2 off"- basically to stop with his two front paws on the ground and his two back paws still on the obstacle.

All ICAN dogs learn the "shaping game" which is kind of like playing the "Hot Cold" game. The person has an end goal in mind- it can be a real task or a training goal just for that session. It's common to use an object and have the dog do something with it- touch it with their nose, put their front feet on it, pick it up with their mouths. You click and treat the dog any time it does something close to what you are wanting and continue until they figure it out. So you might start by clicking the dog for looking at the object and then for moving toward it and then for sniffing it, etc. If the dog does something different you ignore it (equivalent of telling a human "colder") and wait for them to offer another behavior.

When a dog know the game it is lots of fun! You can bring out an object and they will immediately start offering behaviors, trying to figure out what will earn them a treat. It's a great way to build your bond with your dog and since it makes them think it can tire them out as much as physical exercise. I have really enjoyed breaking out my clicker and doing some shaping with Morey!

What I realized with Morey is that he must have never been shaped to do anything with his back feet. It's almost like he doesn't know he has them! It took a really long time for him to step on the board we are using with his back feet. It's been slow going but each session we make more progress. By the time "summer school" is over and we go back outside I am sure he will have it down! Practice makes perfect!

Pushing Buttons

One of Morey's favorite jobs is pushing the automatic door buttons. He knows that pushing the button is supposed to open the door and if the door doesn't open he will keep pushing the button again until the door opens. The building where I work has five different entrances with automatic door buttons and Morey knows where they all are. Since I don't use a leash with Morey I can send him to open the door from quite a distance.

 Below are some short videos showing Morey opening the different doors at my office building. Enjoy!

Don't you wish you were that enthusiastic about going to work in the morning?? As you can tell, Morey can multi-task by holding a ball in his mouth and opening doors at the same time! Because I arrive at work at 7am before our office technically opens I don't usually put Morey's vest on him in the morning. But that doesn't affect his ability to do his job!

 

This is actually a double set of doors so Morey has to push two buttons for us to get inside

 

  Leaving work at the end of the day. This button is lower than the others so Morey doesn't have to do an "up" in order to touch the button.

Back to Reality

After spending three and a half weeks away from Texas Morey and I finally returned back to Austin and started the process of adjusting back to reality. I think it was tough for both of us! It was in the 90s when we got back and neither Morey nor I were prepared for the heat or to go back to work!

Morey was happy to see my roommate and all his toys. One night shortly after we returned I went in my room and found Morey laying on my bed with his bunny toy right next to him. Maybe next time Morey will bring his bunny with him when we go on a trip!

A number of people commented on how fit Morey looked. He was getting a lot of exercise at Grandma's with all the ball chasing, toy tugging and swimming and I think it toned him a bit more than his "desk job". I will have to switch up his activity schedule so he can keep that nice lean look and muscle mass he built up at Grandma's Boot Camp!

ICAN Give Back

I have been connected with ICAN in a variety of ways- first as a furlougher, then as an assistant trainer, then as a staff member and finally as a client. I started volunteering with ICAN when I was 18 and my experiences have definitely shaped me personally and professionally.  Training a service dog takes so many people helping in so many ways and every dog that graduates is a product of a lot of people who gave their time, energy, money and emotion.

Since I live in Texas now it is hard to stay connected with ICAN as much as I would like. Morey and I still have a lot of friends with ICAN and whenever we come back home for a visit I like to try to connect and see if there is an opportunity for me to see familiar ICAN faces and meet new ones.

This summer while I was home I was fortunate to have two opportunities to share my experiences as a service dog partner. ICAN is training a new class of furlough volunteers (folks who take the dogs out of the prison to practice their skills in real world settings) and I was invited to give them some perspective on how the work they are doing will help the dogs work with their future clients. I had Morey demonstrate some of the tasks he does for me and emphasized the importance of the "boring" skills, like walking on a loose leash, "leave it", "stay" and "come". I also answered questions about the matching process, the follow up, and the retirement process. It was great to see the new volunteers so eager to learn and hopefully hearing about my experiences helped them realize how valuable they are to a service dog's success!

Team Training (the time when new clients learn to work with their new dogs) also took place while I was home so I got to speak to these new clients about public access and going out and about with their new service dog. Taking a dog out in public can be intimidating at first and I hope I was able to give the clients some idea about what to expect and how to respond when people ask to pet their dog (or when they don't ask and do it anyway!), what to say if they are questioned about their dog and how to set themselves and their dog up for success.

Life with a service dog is an incredible journey! I am thankful to have the opportunity to share my experiences with Morey and help give people a better understanding of what it is like to live and work with such a special creature!

To Grandmother's House We Go!

I was invited to go to Russia for ten days as part of a sports diplomacy program. The only way I felt comfortable going was because my mom agreed to watch Morey while I was gone. So, we both packed our bags and headed to Indiana so I could drop Morey off before heading to Russia.

 At first, Morey wasn't thrilled because we were packed in my car pretty tightly on the way to the airport. Traveling with my rugby gear and luggage isn't easy and when you add a dog to the mix I must look like a traveling circus (or the "dog and pony show" as my sister calls it).

I travel a lot with Morey and he doesn't usually know where we are going. But when I tell him "we are going to see grandma" he gets excited. He can recognize the Indianapolis airport and once we get up the jet bridge I tell him to go find grandma and he starts running! It's kind of fun to have him pull me through the airport but I actually have to be careful because he gets going so fast! This time I was able to capture his enthusiasm on video. Enjoy!