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.

Next litter coming up

DFA is happy to announce the impending arrival of our "P" litter puppies. This is picture shows "Gryffyn" the momma-to-be. The sire is "Bear," which will make this gang half-siblings to the "M" litter, including Marshall! :-) They are due approximately August 29th.

For those of you watching the fundraising on our website, you already know that we're more or less overloaded with trainees....so why (logical question) you ask are we planning more pups? Easy answer! More places than DFA are in need of these dogs. Part of our mission is to increase the use of service dogs for autism in as many places and as many ways as possible. It took DFA around 10 years to establish a breeding colony of dogs that are appropriate for the specialized function of assistance dogs for autism. Though there is a limit to how many service dogs DFA can "handle" in these early years of program focus, there are many, many more parents, trainers, and even programs looking for appropriate dogs. That's a need to which DFA can contribute--so it makes sense to use these very special parent dogs to produce candidates for the jobs. It's one way that we are able to help people beyond the immediate area of Greenville.

We'll keep you posted.

Looking for my brother

Interesting observation about Marshall last night...

For various reasons I am currently walking my own dog and Marshall, separately.

Last night "brother" got to go first. I walked around the block in one direction.

Marshall was second. Because I had agreed to meet up with the neighbor with her puppy on my next turn around, I decided it would be best to walk the other direction to burn off some of Marshall's energy before meeting up with the puppy.

On our way, around the block, I thought I would see what Marshall would do if I asked Marshall to search for Bo. I remembered, mostly where we had walked and what bushes, my other dog had "visited." So I kind of helped direct Marshall on the path.

But at one point, Marshall's nose was clearly on the ground and he was definitely searching for something. You could tell he was on a mission. I don't think it was a rabbit, because his line did seem to closely follow where we had walked not just 30 minutes before. Unfortunately we came up the path to meet the neighbor for our visit.

So, certainly something we'll have to play with in the future. It was very interesting to watch. I can't wait to develop a real test in the near future.

Camping is for the dogs

Marshall and his foster family just got back from camping. What another camper called "city camping", in a cabin with A/C and TV! The campground is designed for people to camp with their dogs, so Marshall had some work to do on his social skills. But I wouldn't risk taking him to the dog park unless we were the only ones there. He still has some growing up to do.

We walked about a million miles around the roads and through the woods, worked our skills in the Rally-O (a type of obedience) yard, ran in the agility playground (Marshall didn't have a clue what all those obstacles were). One day Marshall watched his retriever "brother" catching sticks in the pond. Marshall likes to retrieve so the pull of wanting the stick got him in the water...but only just a little bit, I think he thought the ground went out from under him. He lifted his legs high, trying to "walk on water." I would have worked with him more, but some other campers came, and I didn't want to test Marshall's "social" skills with strange dogs, so we packed up and left. And, it was difficult to stop laughing!

When it was his time to be left alone in the cabin (crated) he didn't carry on nearly as poorly as his "brother." And I didn't hear either one of them howl when I stepped up to the karaoke mic!

While we pretty much stuck to our daily schedule time-wise, it was a nice break to test Marshall in a new environment, and wear his little heart out! And, although I wish he would have been the perfect angel and not have been so verbal with passersby with their dogs (we had to work really hard on his attention skills-he sat still for this picture!), he wasn't offended by the golf-carts driving past him, and he was quiet at night and in the morning.

Even if he wasn't the star of the campground as I wanted him to be--I think he earned a camping badge!

Dog Tired!

I had quite the little scare last night. I put Marshall in his crate, spent a few minutes tidying up the house before bed. When I looked in the crate, he wasn't moving. Poking his ribs didn't move him. Tickling his toes didn't move him. Even the flash of the camera didn't phase him.

I guess he must have had a busy day.

(It's kind of hard to see a black dog on a black crate tray, but he is belly up, shoulders turning the corner and back feet tucked against the wires! Kind of like how you and I sleep and wake up complaining about back problems!)

Lazy Summer Evenings

What is a creative way to spend a hot summer evening?

Training your DFA puppy (Marshall) to catch a cookie (kibble or puppy size dog bisquit) off his nose!

Certainly not very practical for future "work" but it helps him learn to sit still, focus, and wait for a command. He's not always successful, but more and more, he has the reflexes to move his head and catch the cookie before it reaches the ground.

Settling Back In

After Marshall's "water vacation" he has been back in my home about a week. He was at Camp Julies for about two weeks, where he got to experience running in fields, and lots of exciting things; that both good and bad got him out of his routine, which meant some adjusting when he returned back into my home.

He is now staying in a very large wire crate, versus being gated in a bathroom. Truthfully the size is probably about the same, but the crate affords more restriction from adventure--unless he learns to pick the lock--you never know!

Although it wasn't fun to come home to, he had to get reacquanted with his restroom habits to match my work day. Thankfully by Wednesday (only two days being crated) I came home to a clean crate.

One funny thing to report. Marshall has two separate crates, in two separate rooms. One for night and one for day. Whether it be day or night, when we come in from outside for the last time, I can say (while still in the kitchen) "Get In" and most of the time he picks the right room and the right crate where he is schedule to stay.

One other adjustment we need to work through is his "proudful" attitude when walking and meeting other dogs. Before camp he wasn't as vocal when approaching other dogs. But I'm told that he's turned into somewhat of a teenager while he was away and is trying to make himself bigger than he is. For me, this means backing off walking Marshall and my own dog at the same time for my own convenience, and stepping up focusing on Marshall's attitude on training walks with only him.

As I stood visiting with neighbors last night while several dogs passed by and the visiting neighbors also had their dogs on a leash visiting with me, I think I can say Marshall showed some progress on calming down when asked (well...TOLD to do so), so there is hope that this "rebellious teenager" will become a well mannered "adult" ready to work.

This evening, he layed by my feet in the kitchen while I cooked...something he hasn't seen in months!

Puppy classes go on!

DFA trainee, Nelson, 7 months old, takes a break at puppy class. He's observing his co-worker canines who are studying directed jumping and go-outs.

Standing Still

I've recently been working with Marshall on a "stand stay." He has to stand still while I walk away. Today, I wanted to test him while he worked the booth at the farmers market.

I instituted the help of another puppy raiser and the children of another. I got Marshall to stand while the "helper" touched or nudged Marshall with their knees, kind of pushing on him to get him to move. He is not allowed to move until I return to him and release him.

He's still a work in progress, but he did pretty well.

I even think this training spilled over to his "pr work". I would have him standing and a person from the passing crowd would be asking about him, and it seemed Marshall would look over to me as if to ask, "can I stop standing now?" I would tell him 'ok' and he would sit to be petted, as commanded.

It's times like thesethat offer great opportunities to work in a little training for more real-life environments to which he might be exposed--lots of things to look at, but learn to focus on the job.