Marshall solves another problem

Yesterday Marshall tried to get me to play by putting his toy in the bathtub. Well, I was busy getting ready for work and I told him he would just have to figure out how to get it himself.

He mustered up the courage and got his toy. Of course he got lots of praise.

Now I can't get him out of the bathtub!

Another fun search thing...Yesterday I was mowing the yard. When I went around front he went in and out the doggie door to watch me out the front window. When I finished and returned to the back yard to sit and rest. You could tell he was looking for his toy for me to play. Again, I told him he would just have to find it. He searched the back yard circling several times. Went inside...back outside to search the yard again. I kept telling him "search".

By now it was getting rather dark.

One more time he went inside, long enough for me to wonder just what he might be up to.

Here he comes out the doggie door with his toy! He found it in the dark and didn't give up until he found it.

His reward? Playtime...and of course some directed jumping and go outs.

Marshall makes friends

I was walking Marshall in the neighborhood last night. We met a dog that usually leads or sometimes follows us. Although he barked, he quickly sat and I do believe he was actually wanting to be friendly!

When we met again on the back side of the walking loop, Marshall just looked at the dog and kept on walking!

:)

Teacher or student?

Oh, Marshall...He makes me laugh. He is so competitive for attention between my other dog.

Tonight I was working with my dog on scent articles (pick the one I touched out of a pile) and Marshall thought it would be a good idea to put his toy in the middle of the pile. He did just like I did...put something in the pile and walk back to where I was standing.

When my dog picked out the proper article and wasn't the least bit distracted by the toy (that used to be his, by the way) and returned it to me Marshall went and got his toy and brought it to me. The problem is, he doesn't let go too easily just yet.

Little does he know that he helped to train my other dog to ignoring distractions and showed me that with focused training, I'll just bet he'll be able to retrieve anything you ask...He can already get his bone from another room if you tell him to "search for his bone."

So much instinct yet to be honed for a purpose. What a joy to watch him develop.

School is in session

Marshall still has school despite the holiday. Here he is learning to jump according to a direction. Although you can't see another jump on the right hand side, Marshall was seated between two jumps and directed to take the jump on the left.

While this is a fun game now, it builds the foundation for searching for a child. If a child gets lost, a parent can direct the dog which direction to search by pointing.

Marshall still needs to learn "go out" which is another element of a search assignment...go out and search for (child).

Lots of small building blocks for a hopefull future.

Lake Learning

Left: Nikki tries to save me from drowning. Okay maybe she just needed a rest from swimming but either way she is a sweetie.











Left: Don't ask. We were in the sun for a while and poor Calhoun had to deal with our shenanigans. Bless his heart.

Left: Calhoun and Nikki in a battle for the coveted stick of the day.

Left: Nikki- the beach bum

Marshall - Man about Town

Marshall had an extended "public" day today. He was stretched and passed several "tests."

We started off the day in downtown Greenville to attend an event behind the Peace Center. We parked up the road on Main Street and passed through the Farmer's Market and past several dogs, to which he gave hardly a glance--his first test of the day.

We mingled among the crowd like a star. We saw our friend Otto, but he didn't see us. He was busy learning his job, too.

After downtown, we went to the Women's show. A very heavy crowd. Marshall held his sits or chose to plotz while I visited with varous vendors at their booths and traversed the crowd with ease. DFA did not have a booth at the show, but lots of people learned about DFA today.

And perhaps he was tired from charming the crowd, but as we left, Marshall walked right over the remnants of a trail of cheerios without breaking his stride.

SWIMMING LESSONS

We took the dogs swimming yesterday afternoon. Unfortunately, after a decent hike, I realized my camera didn't have the memory card in it so there are no pictures to share. However, Nikki is like a fish in the water. She LOVES to swim. Our Lucy- not so much. In fact, I was wondering exactly what it was that she was doing. She looked as if she was killing the water or something. Anyway, the girls ran off leash for about 4 hours chasing, jumping, swimming, digging. Lucy likes to wander a bit more than Nikki so we introduced Nikki to the "Find Lucy" command. Lucy is her charge so it came quite naturally. She really helped us keep tabs on Lucy. Calhoun had to be confined to his VERY long leash though. He really likes to... explore. He was still able to play in the water though. What a great day we had! Everyone including Ashley and me were exhausted. We plan to do it again soon so I will post pictures then!

This week Bear is visiting us, and is teaching Tucker lots of manners that can only be imparted by an older male! Rule #1: All sticks belong to Bear, although he shares if it is big enough for two.

Having one of these shepherds around this week reminds me why these are such perfect dogs for the DFA program. Bear is not just smart, he is intuitive in ways I can only imagine. It's something you can't teach -- it's just there.

I had one very interesting experience with him. I was on the couch trying to nap, Bear was sleeping near me, and Tucker was on place. As I was drifting off, Tucker started chewing on a bone -- and you all know how loud and grating that can be! I think I told him "leave it" a couple times -- I was kind of in and out of sleep -- but anyways, the sound was irritating me. Then I heard Bear get up and watched as he walked over to Tucker, took the bone from him, went back to his spot, dropped the bone on the floor, threw himself back onto his spot, and went back to sleep! So either the bone crunching was bothering Bear (unlikely), or he knew it was bothering me and was just taking care of the problem! Either way, these shepherds are amazing dogs!!!

Tucker is really going to miss Bear when he leaves, and so am I!

Learning to Share My Space

Is Marshall:

1) learning to share?

2) wearing his "roomate" down?

3) taking his guardianship job very seriously?

As a much younger puppy Marshall was intent on "taming" the black furry thing with no legs that moved just to tease him. It could have been a scene from "Untamed and Uncut." Now, I wonder who/what has tamed who?

Baby Steps

As I posted previously, several weeks ago, Marshall started getting "grouchy" with other dogs. He has received some specialized training to address this issue. I have been striving to continue that training with short evening sessions. First in my back yard, then slowly in the neighborhood and into the world.

Marshall has made progress with the neighborhood dogs, so tonight we ventured out into the world. We went to a little music event in downtown Simpsonville. I hoped that we would see some dogs, but not too many. As luck would have it, the event provided lots of bouncing children and only one dog. Although we passed behind the dog on the way in, Marshall didn't see him thannks to all the distractions of the crowd, bmx bikes and skateboard demonstrations.

Marshall worked the crowd as only a proud DFA puppy can do. He plotzed well for about 30 minutes of music, showed no interest in my ice cream, and layed down while I visited with acquaintences.

On the way out, with the crowd thinning, Marshall spotted him....perked up his ears, started to look, moved toward the dog with a perky posture....and....responded to my "let's go" without a hitch. There was one big smile on my face! But you can never stop reinforcing and working through an issue, espcecially one as critical as doggie manners.

Training continues....

This weekend he'll have a chance to mind his manners with more exposure to his cousins ans siblings, as we lend a hand at the PupStart Center.

It will be a tough environment, but a great opportunity to work and proof our most challenging issues.

What time is it?

Marshall made me laugh today.

He really does seem to be adaptable. During the past several months he's been out of my home for several reasons. He always seems to be back "on schedule" within just a few days.

During my post surgery days, I've been accustomed to taking a nap around 1 or 2p every day. Marshall has been back in my home just since Monday.

Today, I took Marshall with me on a clothing hunt--Target, Walmart and Haywood mall. We were out about 2 hours.

When we returned home, we spent some transition time in the back yard. Suddenly Marshall gets up and heads for the house. I open the door and he immediately goes to his daytime crate and lays down. I guess he was telling me it was time for our nap. The time was 2:30p!

Marshall's Back

Another thing new for Marshall his week...real cookin' in the kitchen for breakfast! (He's supervising a creation of pecan pancakes.)

Marshall was away getting some extra training while I am recouping from surgery. THANKS does not say enough for this extra work that went into him. It truly takes many people to make one service dog.



It's interesting to see the different dog that is resulting from that extra attention AND having enough stimulation during the day. Over the past few days, we've played search games, continued on our collar conditioning and actually got wore out. His retriever 'brother' can get him in trouble, though. I just had to call both dogs off a baby bird that my retriever was trying to share. The good thing is, is that Marshall actually came away from that new tempting 'toy!" His training continues...



Did you know this little guy actually lays down on your feet in the evening after a busy day?

Fun in the Yard

Nikki (middle) is a Dogs for Autism dog. She is sandwiched by her best buds, Lucy and Calhoun who are wild and crazy boxers and do their best to teach Nikki lots of bad stuff.


















Nikki smells mischief in the air. Oh no wait a second... ugh LUCY!












Calhoun takes a break from the girls.















Lucy is under the watchful eye of Nikki.

Training

Tucker and Carole try desperately to control Tucker's loving spirit during class and well... all the time. Tucker is a typical golden retriever. He is beautiful, smart, loving and VERY excited about life.



Jason and Hazel look on as Krista and Lucy give directed jumping a try. Hazel belongs to Jason and Krista. She felt left out when Lucy went to class so she comes along for the fun. AND she is super smart too!

Backseat Driver

Nikki is on her way to class. People often take a second look at a red light when they see this pretty lady looking back at them!

Like a good passenger, she always wears her seatbelt.