2 Years: Training - January 29th - 31st, 2014

Good boy, Jack!

Wednesday - Friday

I had a bad week last week with my arms on fire and feeling weak and rubbery.  I couldn't stand the feeling of any pressure or even clothing against my skin and my mood was a bit sour because I really didn't feel good.  As a result I didn't get the blog posts written and even though I kept notes on what we did during the week on his FB page, I can't remember any details.  I am heading into another round of brain fog, so these catch up blogs are short and sweet.

Jack worked on Level 3: Step 2 Retrieve last week.  We worked on sharing the hold together without him pulling back or flipping his head around, just a quiet hold.  I can finally position my hands on his face so I am cupping it or just touching under his chin so he has an idea he's doing something and going still.  I did this and got up to a 5 second hold on occasion, but mostly a 2 to 3 second hold with him.  I am not hearing the pencil crunch in his mouth and I am seeing tiny dents in it, but not chips of paint coming off any longer.  He did pull back hard enough to crack on and stopped when he heard the wood break; it was right after that he understood it was a hold and not a tug game.

He is improving on the hold and I can see the wheels turning in his mind.  I am seeing less of the flashy playful side of him and a more serious working side.  This doesn't mean his playfulness is gone, just his work ethic is becoming stronger than his desire to play when working with me or Ronda.  Ronda told me she's noted it the tiny changes when he puts his uniform on.  He's shifting from goofy Jack to working Jack when the snaps are clicking into place.  This is what we had been hoping for, the subtle, but very real, work mode to appear.  I am very happy to hear it is not just with me, but with his handler also.

He has been doing his counter balance work when she is out and she's completely pleased with the difference it makes in her ability to complete shopping events or other errands.  She took him out over the weekend to several stores and she said he was not only spot on, but when she picked me up to go out with them both, I could see he was calm and relaxed and enjoying his work.  Jack is officially a SDiT (Service Dog in Training)!

He'll continue to complete his public access training and polish his task training, but it won't be long before Jack will be a working service dog.  I am very happy with Jack!

Level 1

	Zen	Target	Come	Sit	Down
Step	Completed	Completed	Completed	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