19 Months: October 28th, 2013 - November 1st, 2013

Handsome Jack.

Mr. Jack is back!  He was on vacation last week with his Mom and truly enjoyed the one on one time he had with her.  She's been working on supporting his current training goals and doing a fantastic job.  Ronda reported to me that he helped her pick up her clothes in the bathroom; she asked for her socks which he gladly gave her, but when she went to leave the bathroom he scooped up some of the dirty clothes and wanted to keep working for her.  She said he wasn't happy until the job was done and he had nothing else to hand her!  What a break through!

She worked on Zen and Stay and he's improving with her as well.  It's nice to see.  She loves that she can call him to help around the house now and I noted that she's feeling so much better, no longer in the serious pain she was in prior to his break through.  She is still in pain, but with Jack's help she's not aggravating the pain in her spine like she did before doing daily tasks - which was the goal of teaching Jack retrieve in the first place.  She's starting to see the advantages of having a trained service dog.

Jack has entered the task training phase while polishing his basic skills.  I will be switching between them as I continue his training.  At this point I am seeing a huge boost in confidence and look forward to finishing up his training within the next 4 to 6 months with focused work on both our parts.

During this time I will work on his public access skills and start taking his training on the road.  What an exciting period to be entering with him and Emma!

Monday

Malcolm loves playing with Jack.

I am announcing on all of my dog's blog pages that Monday's are paperwork days.  I have been burning the candle on both ends and in the middle and have decided I need to dedicated on day a week on paperwork and teaching the dogs how to relax beside me while I work.  This will be interesting since I'll be teaching a very young puppy the same skill.

This morning, while waiting for Emma, I decided to see how this past week with his Mom had gone and dropped a bit of cardboard on the floor.  Jack rushed in, scooped it up and handed it to me with perfect control!  Amazing progress!

I then dropped a knitting needle and he did it again without hesitation!  Amazing!  I handed him the needle and he walked several steps to hand it to me without chewing on it.  Perfect!

I then dropped my keys.  He's a bit worried about keys, but after a few attempts we had success and he handed them to me!  I am very pleased.  I am at the stage of asking Jack to help me around the house, just as his Mom did all week long last week.

He's learned how to play with Malcolm and Emma and adjusts his play and he's showing a lot of increased confidence.  I am very happy.

Tuesday

Jack really doesn't like his picture taken.

I had a lecture on Wednesday and needed to finish the power point presentation for it.  I fed the dogs first thing in the morning, let Malcolm wear himself out playing with Emma and Jack and as he lay tethered by me I finished the presentation.

Just as I was preparing to take Malcolm his vet visit for his shots my friend Robin called to check in with me.  She is my mentor and my ballast when working with the dogs.  I, like any other trainer, can get locked into a "must get this done" mode and miss all the other tiny things happening around me.  Robin brings me back into focus and helps me better understand my two soft natured dogs in training.  She gets them, understands them in ways I don't and helps me see them for their strengths and abilities and helps me solve how to approach a dog who needs extra care and love to succeed.  I can't thank her enough.

I mentioned how Jack and Emma were glued to me and I couldn't move or breath without one or both of them touching me or imploring me for attention.  She understood and talked me through my frustration.  I am not the type of person who enjoys that type of constant contact and find it overwhelming.

With her insight I could see that Malcolm's inclusion had disrupted our schedule enough that everyone needs extra time and love from me to reassure them that I still love them.  That wasn't as much of a possibility on Tuesday, but I planned on making up to Jack and Emma on Thursday and Friday as best I could.

I had to crate Jack for my run to the vet.  I hadn't intended to be gone for several hours, but a client was at the vet office when I arrived and asked I attend her dog's examination by the vet.  I agreed to do it.  Ronda picked up Jack from my home while I was away and said he was calm and relaxed in his crate and very happy to see her when she let him out.

I requested she keep Jack home on Wednesday due to the fact I would be out of the house a great deal during the day and it was unfair to ask him to be crated at my home for all the time I was away.

Thursday

Jack teaches Malcolm tug-a-dog.

What a busy and fun filled day.  With a break on Wednesday from Malcolm and my chance to think and work through how to approach training four dogs during the day I was up and going on Thursday.  I used part of Jack's breakfast to train Sit/Stay and Down/Stay.  I was able to get a 7 second Sit/Stay with me 15 feet away from him and a 10 second Down/Stay with me 15 feet away from him while working for his breakfast.  We also worked on Floor Zen.  I used the last half of his breakfast to work on ignoring food dropping on the floor, him and near him.  He did fantastic.

For Lunch we did the same lessons again and he was still strong on his Sit/Stay and Down/Stay.  I also worked on staying in position with distractions but not duration.  I wandered the house and banged, whistled, yelled, clapped and opened the front door and closed it and rewarded him each time he stayed in position.

When Ronda arrived we worked on Sit/Stay with distance but not duration.  I watched to see what Ronda was doing different than me and didn't translate well for Jack and helped her work the problem out with him.  She was able to get over 20 feet away from him.  Very nice.

Jack is a gentle soul and he enjoyed playing with both Emma and Malcolm at the same time.  It seems that as long as Emma is here he is very tolerant of Malcolm and is more than willing to include him in the games he and Emma play, but when Emma is away he is less tolerant and tends to grouch and tell Malcolm to go away.  He's never hurtful to Malcolm, just not as likely to play and after half a day when it's just Jack and Malcolm as playmates he stops enjoying the puppy kisses and feet on him.

When Emma is there he can change intensity of play and truly enjoy a good romp with her.  Overall though, Jack is a very tolerant dog I would gladly use as an adult dog with any puppy to help them learn how to deal with strange adult dogs.

Friday

Do you still love me too?

Emma is off for grooming today, so our morning is out of whack according to Jack.  I fed everyone when he got here and then packed him into the crate and left with Emma, Malcolm and Max.  He was calm and happy and quiet when I arrived home about 40 minutes later.  Nice to see.

I didn't do training with him today.  He's feeling left out and today is HIS snuggle day.  I have spent part of the day working on blogs and paperwork and still need to run to the bank and get a shower, but overall, I have taken extra time with Jack to hug, kiss and love on him when I can.  I am hoping by next week Malcolm will have a bit more manners under his belt and the routine will start to return to normal again and all the dogs will be less needy.


Level 1

	Zen	Target	Come	Sit	Down
Step	Completed	Completed	2	Completed	Completed

Level 2

	Zen	Come	Sit	Down	Target
Step	3	4	2	1	Completed
	Focus	Lazy Leash	Go To Mat	Crate	Distance
Step	1	Completed	2	5	1
	Jump	Relax	Handling	Tricks	Communication
Step	1	4	Completed	1	4

Level 3

	Zen	Come	Sit	Down	Target
Step	0	2	2	1	0
	Focus	Lazy Leash	Go To Mat	Crate	Distance
Step	0	Completed	1	0	0
	Jump	Relax	Handling	Retrieve	Communication
Step	0	0	Completed	2	0

Level 4

	Zen	Come	Retrieve	Target	Relax
Step	0	0	5	0	0
	Focus	Lazy Leash	Go To Mat	Crate	Distance
Step	0	Completed	0	0	0
	Handling	Communication
Step	Completed	0