Milliken has been at "Camp Julie" for a week now, and Alyssa brought him home today. Thanks to Julie (for Camp Julie!), Sherry (for meeting me in Greenville on Saturday) and Alyssa (for driving him all the way from Easley and coming into my home and showing me how to handle him) for your intervention. It's great that Dogs for Autism has such a supportive team of dog trainers to help novices like me! Here's a photo of Alyssa arriving at my house with Milliken.I was so glad to see him-and so was Mary Kate! Alyssa showed me a few new rules that we're going to be following. "Wait" for eating, and for entering or exiting a doorway. Here are photos of Alyssa and me hand feeding Milliken and having him "Wait." Photo is of Mary Kate telling him to "Wait." He's being taught respect.
Since Milliken is a dominant dog, we're changing from a pinch collar to a choke collar with a rubber leash because he requires a hard correction. Life is not easy for a puppy in training to be a DFA Service Dog.
Milliken is one tough cookie of a puppy. As the saying goes...we hope he is now a little bit sadder and a lot wiser, knowing the world does revolve around his whims. Jan, you are a trouper! He's a sweet boy, but definitely takes VERY much after his Grandma Hannah. Translation: all brain components set in concrete.
ReplyDeleteGreat news. We'll be waiting to hear how it works so we can all learn from your experience.
ReplyDeleteStay firm!