RSS Feed

Category Archives: Training

Unicorns, dog frogs and the odd duck

Posted on January 22, 2012 by Donna Black-Sword
Dog Frog and his noshable  friends

Introversion ain’t all it’s cracked up to be

Sometimes it’s tough living life as an introvert in a world that seems to be run by extroverts. You got all these Type A people out there on the front of the stage running the show, while all us quiet, unassuming folk are back in the wings holding things together. Go on out there, we say, we got your back, dude.

According to the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, you can sum up these personality diffs this way:

  • Extraverts are action oriented, while introverts are thought oriented.
  • Extraverts seek breadth of knowledge and influence, while introverts seek depth of knowledge and influence.
  • Extraverts often prefer more frequent interaction, while introverts prefer more substantial interaction.
  • Extraverts recharge and get their energy from spending time with people, while introverts recharge and get their energy from spending time alone

As a highly functioning introvert, I’m pretty much in agreement with all this. I’m ok with the task of being the thinker behind the doer. And while I absolutely can do high energy adventures like give a speech or go to a party, it’s just that a nap afterwards would be quite nice.

I’m somewhat familiar with the Myers-Briggs personality test thingy, having gone through it a couple of times or so in the interest of career development. And while the results provide some comfort to know that my core personality doesn’t change, it remains unsettling to find that I fall into an “exclusive personality category which contains only one percent of the population.”  Huh, one percent. I try to think positive as I ponder on this nugget of info.

So, I’m unique, y’all! Creative, clever and sensitive! As rare as a unicorn in a world of plow horses!  No, no of course I know what this means. If you should find your personality style anywhere less than even 10% of the general public, well, it means people look upon you as a bit of an odd duck.

And so thanks so much, Myers-Briggs, for confirming that with your nifty little test.  Like the high school experience wasn’t enough to prove it.

Socializing the yellow dog

So, you might think taking Yaxley out for socializing would present a challenge for me. In a world where I prefer to go about my business within an imaginary cloak of invisibility, that taking a dog would knock me off my groove. It’s true, walking Yaxley through “no pets allowed” facilities negates the invisibility cloak. You’re gonna get noticed.

It can be turned into a game, of sorts.  I flash a friendly smile at anyone we encounter who makes eye contact. The sport of it is to tally up the reciprocated smiles against any askew skunk eyed glares. The smiling faces always win (there’s bonus points if you get an awww).  Skunk eyes can go on their way and live to stink up someone else’s day, I say. But only because I’m weird.

After reading fellow dog blogger Something Wagging This Way Comes‘  post titled  5 Ways Dog Save the World, I was reminded of our local farmer’s market and their no-pets-rule. A rule that I find a little off. The PNC 2nd Street Market is an effort in sustainability with organic food and handmade natural products. Come on folk, what’s more organic and natural than a dog?  But really, I do understand. Space to move about the indoor market is limited, not much room to maneuver a dog through there, organic or otherwise.

Animal Snackers Bakery

In the winter months though, the crowds have dispersed providing a shopping experience at a leisurely pace. Yax and I popped by the 2nd Street Market for some power socializing.  With his CCI logo cape, he is easily identified as a trainee. But he pulls himself off as a pro. Walking by my side, sitting when we stop. Shaking paws on command as he meets toddlers and adults. A fine ambassador for CCI, he is. Good dog, Yaxley.  

We made time to stop at the Animal Snackers Bakery, a shop run by the volunteer group Friends of the Humane Society.  These folk make healthy and tasty dog cookies as fundraising for the Humane Society of Greater Dayton. I stop by here every trip to the market to grab some baked goods to support the fine work these volunteers do. And because the dogs love it when I bring home some goodies for them. They nosh upon all of the varieties with eagerness, but it does seem their favorite is the peanut butter Dog Frogs.  How can I tell? I measure the drool strings.

Hey Food Lady, the cookies are glowing!
Kinda like a unicorn does!

The farm market experience gave us a couple of things to check off Yaxley’s New Experience List:

  • Tight traffic areas and how to position the yellow tail safely.
  • A really big guy in a clown suit making balloon animals.
  • Balloons popping before becoming said animals.
  • A dog cookie store and ignoring the treasures that are within easy reach.
Another successful outing with this masterful puppy. He went out there and wondersmacked the world while raising awareness of Canine Companions for Independence.

Ah, twas a good day. Now, please excuse me, won’t you?  I think I’ve earned myself a cat nap.  Wish me sweet unicorn dreams.

Chickie Chompers
The dogs aren’t the only food motivated ones here. Tasty fare from Baan Thai Noi

4 Comments

Posted in CCI, Training, Yaxley. Bookmark the permalink.

Freshly baked road apples

Posted on July 23, 2011 by Donna Black-Sword

As a Boy Scout leader, I have opportunities to mentor these young fellows so they’re clear on certain important facts.

For example, one cold, rainy morning we’re ironically covering the risks of heat exhaustion during outside activities. I tell the boys to drink lots and lots of water and how to identify the signs of a heat emergency – heart rate, sweating, mental disorientation, and the such.

And as a scout leader of the female gender, I want to make sure they are clear on other important facts topical to this subject. Just in case their moms haven’t hit on this learning yet.

Listen up, boys, cuz you need to know this one for later.

Boys sweat. But girls glisten.

It’s true, of course. There’s another lesson involving how women blossom, but that’s off topic.

(And so while we’re off topic. Have you even been riding in the car with your lab puppy sound asleep in the back seat and he releases a blossom so aromatic that he actually wakes himself up?  Yep, Yaxley did that.  He lifted his head, twitched his nose and looked at each of us in the car with a look on his face of  “dang people, which one of you guys dealt that one?”)

Breyerfest or bust

But back to the subject at hand of how to have fun in the Midwestern sun. It’s not just for Boy Scouts, you know.  We girls know how to have a good time in the great outdoors, too.  It’s just we need to have horses around to make the dehydration worth our while.

The two nieces and I make an annual trip to the Kentucky Horse Park each July. An overnighter with two days of adventure in the Kentucky humidity. This year we brought CCI pup, Yaxley, with us. And because life is so boring when things are too easy, one niece breaks a bone in her foot the week before and is using crutches.

Not a problem, I say. We’re hardly delicate flowers here. Pack up your water bottles, girls, and let’s hit the road.

So we do. Actually I’m glad we’re bringing Yaxley on this trip. He was a walking advertisement for CCI and helped to raise awareness of the work the organization does. And more, we were able to introduce him to some new sights, sounds and smells.

New experiences are pretty important in the socialization of a young service dog in training. So, let me share with you some of the new and different that the young Yaxley got to experience in his recent southern adventure.

Number one on his New Experience List happens just as we enter the horse park.  The wondrous scent of road apples.  Just what is that magical mound on the road?, Yaxley is wondering.  Heavenly.  I don’t pretend to understand the relationship between dogs and horse manure, but I do know to firmly steer him away from the temptation that is recycled hay.

And this next photo, you say?  What is going on here?  We see the fair Princess of Gimp as she stands next to her would be knight in soldered armor. First, I’ll tell you to not be too worried about the horse. It’s not real.  The fellow, however, is spam in a can in that suit under the blazing Kentucky sun. I never saw the guy move. He reminded me of the campfire dinners you make in aluminum foil. And I was left hoping there wasn’t some poor hapless fellow that got second shift in that well-seasoned armor.

Sir Knight of Lexington with his well-armored steed, a fair princess
and a yellow dog. 

Okie-doke. So we can check off 1) fake horse in armor and 2) a talking can of person.  Now let’s find some real horses.

But before we do, a quick stop at the craft tent for face painting.  An adorable painted cat face for one niece and a lovely butterfly tattooed on the other.  Yaxley waits patiently for the girls as they get their Kentucky ink. He enjoys the attention from some kids watching a magic show.

A nice chin rub (and free advertisement for the Gentle Leader)

Ok, let’s start small, so to speak. Maybe I should have had the girls stand next to the miniature horse. Then we could have seen it in the photo.

 
Well, that went well with Yaxley.  He’s just taking this all in and moving right along with things. Going just swell until the Sheriff’s horse gave him a hearty snort. Yax put that interaction into the category of that just ain’t right, so we go off to find a gentler horse that doesn’t look like it wants to eat dogs for breakfast.

Yax keeping a comfortable distance from the Snort Monster.
Seeing spots
A new and, um, different sight. For all of us.

 

Pecos, a dazzling Andalusian Stallion

 Yaxley checks out the Parade of Breeds

Ah, here’s a truly benign equine.  Doesn’t move, doesn’t smell funny.

And doesn’t snort at you.

And then there’s this sight to behold.  I’m wondering, in his doggy mind, does Yaxley see a critter with two heads and four legs? What must be rolling through his noggin on this one?

The afternoon was wrapped up with a handful of the obligatory Kentucky Horse Park photo opps.

Man O’War monument way off in the background.

Yaxley is rewarded for his good behavior with some ear ruffling and belly rubs from his new fans.

 

 And we prepare to leave Kentucky Horse Park and begin to look forward to next year’s trip.

I’ll hold his leash. 
No, I’ll hold it! 
Not quite ready to leave our Kentucky adventures behind, we decide to stop at the Georgetown Cracker Barrel for a late lunch. So here we are as we walk through the door . . . an obviously fatigued chick who appears to be one step away from heat stroke. Gimpy girl on crutches sporting a butterfly tattoo and hollywood shades. And Cat Girl walking her caped crusader dog on lead.
The restaurant manager stands at the hostess station and moves his eyes – in this order – from the yellow dog, to the cat, to Miss Hollywood and then resting on the obvious leader of this rock band – the chubby and heavily glistening broad. He apparently has not seen the likes of us in recent times and needs a moment to wrap his head around this charming image standing before him.
“Excellent!” He says, smiling and showing more teeth than you would expect to see, “Let’s find you fine folk a table.”  
Thanks, cowboy.  The girls and I are so hungry, we could eat a . . . um, well I guess we could eat a spinach salad or something.

3 Comments

Posted in Kentucky Horse Park, Training, Yaxley. Bookmark the permalink.

A food motivated dog is a piece o’cake

Posted on June 19, 2011 by Donna Black-Sword

Puppy kindergarten

Our little boy has started school ~sniff~. They grow up so fast, don’t they?  One minute you’re inhaling puppy breath like it’s snickerdoodle scented or something and then [blink] next thing you know, the dog is asking for a lift to Petsmart so he can meet up with that cute golden-doodle he met in puppy class.

People remark on how well-behaved Yaxley behaves in public. Well, the dog is kinda with me all the time, so he’s bound to get some attitude adjustment during the day. So when we head off for some structured obedience training, I have a talk with the trainer at Petsmart just to give her a heads up.

I brief her on CCI’s command words and let her know we have the basics covered – Sit, Down, Bed, Heel, Come when called – but it would help to reinforce these in a distracting environment. Like, say, around hyper puppies who may not have the upper advantage of hanging with their person all day, every day.

Vulcan mind meld thing going on
with Food Lady

So she wants to see if Yax can test out of basic obedience and start directly into the intermediate class. As I step aside, she puts Yaxley in a Sit and walks a circle around him. She drops a dog treat onto the floor, but he doesn’t break eye contact with her. Another dog treat, then another, bounces off his paw. The two of them have some kind of Vulcan mind meld thing going on.  Yax doesn’t move.  She grabs a handful of tennis balls and bounces them one by one past him. The thought bubble over his head is “what’s a guy gotta do around here to get a dog biscuit, anyway?” And there’s a slobber string that’s now touching the floor.

Ok, she says.  Let’s try something else.  She tells me to walk Yaxley through the store, in Heel position, while she walks ahead of us.  Then she’s flinging dog treats on the floor — as we’re walking past the cat adoption section. So can you picture this: there’s kibble pinging off the vinyl flooring in front and cats all fuzzed up and flipping out and Yaxley is doing his thing.  Perfect.

We go back to the training room.  And she says, “what is it you want to work on again?” Um, basics with distractions?

Yeah, so we may need to kick things up a notch for the next class.

Why focus is so important

Because Yaxley is training to be an assistance dog, he needs to be focused on his handler. What is it you want me to do next, Food Lady?  An assistance dog will go anywhere his human partner wants to go, which would, of course, include restaurants. I’ll be up front about it and admit that my pet dog in a restaurant would only result in an embarrassing event that may or may not involve the authorities.

Not so with the CCI pup, though. These fuzzies are not pampered with people food or fed from the dinner table. You know that first rule of dogdom – “if it hits the floor it’s mine.”?  CCI pups have to waive that rule. The new rule is “it’s yours when you’re told it is.”

I realize that can sound a little harsh, maybe not the way you would treat the dog that you love so much.  But let’s think this through for a minute. So number one, the dog is not starving by any means. Instead he’s certainly well fed, well loved and (Bonus!) well behaved.  And the pup does get treats; lots of them actually. But each one is earned. No gimmies. A good Sit with eye contact is sometimes all that’s being asked.

And – this is the important part -a person going into a restaurant needs their assistance dog to focus on what’s going on.  Not what’s yummy on the floor.  Hoovering the carpet all the way to the table is not a desirable thing here.

It’s too late for Jager; way too late. Too much street dog in his history to do anything about his nasty little habit of food stealing. So he’s banished from the kitchen when I’m cooking up dinner. Not because I’m witchy mean in the evenings, but because I’ve tripped over the goober dog while he’s right there mentally willing stuff to drop from the counter.

The Yax man, however, is comfortable on the kitchen floor. Just watching and happy to be hanging with me. Pretty darn good for a little guy, I think.

Jager attended the school of hard knocks.

 

These aren’t dog biscuits.
They’re my puppy rocket blasters! POW POW

4 Comments

Posted in CCI, Jager, Training, Yaxley. Bookmark the permalink.

Oh, the places you’ll go!

Posted on March 7, 2010 by Donna Black-Sword
“Today is your day! You’re off to great places! You’re off and away! You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes.”  Right, so definitely not shoes.  Many thanks anyway to Dr. Suess for the fun segue. (Notice that rhymes. Dr. Suess would be proud, don’t ya think?)

Micron is five months old and we are so outta here. We got things to do and people to see. He has earned his big boy cape. Because he is only five months, we start off pretty slow with quick in and out trips to the local places.  During Inga’s puppy raising we found certain businesses around town that were supportive of CCI, so we hit those first. Grabbing a latte at the Starbucks kiosk in Kroger was our first stop. Grande vanilla, nonfat with cinnamon sprinkles, in case you felt the need to know. And of course, the Northmont Library where they still don’t know my name, but remember Inga’s. The Wendy’s around the corner is a good stop too.
We did have an interesting thing happen last week that I wanted to share. Micron and I met my mom (Hi Mom!) for lunch at K’s Restaurant in Brookville. K’s is another wonderful supporter of CCI. You ever really notice the floors at restaurants? Sit down with a dog and you will. I love K’s spotless carpet. Anyway, as we walked past a table we heard a growl. “Dang, was that somebody’s stomach?” was my first horrified thought.  But when the barking started from two tables down we saw a service dog under the table. I want to be clear right now that this was not a CCI dog. Micron handled things like a pro. He looked at the dog, looked at me (“play?”), and was given a Down command. Which he did, much to my pride and relief. How utterly and completely perfect of him. As the handler could not get their service dog to settle, Mom, Micron and I moved to another table out of line of sight so they could enjoy their lunch in peace. The moral of this story is this is exactly why CCI demands so much of their service dogs. These dogs must be solid in every situation, regardless of distractions. At five months, I’d say Micron is off to a very good start.
On to another topic, here’s a fun side trip. Micron’s brother, Mars, has a blog on the 7 News Denver Channel website. It’s written from the pup’s point of view and is very clever indeed. Being a widely read blog in Denver, it’s a wonderful way to raise awareness of CCI. Mars had received an email from Micron and here he tells his puppy raiser about it:  Mars.
One more bit of bragging them I’m done here.We just finished puppy classes at Dayton Dog Training. At the end of the course, an evaluator tests the pups for the AKC S.T.A.R. Puppy Program. I’m so proud that Micron is now a card carrying S.T.A.R. dog. He, however, is very humble about the whole thing and only wants to eat the medal.
You know what’s missing from this picture? A puddle of drool.

1 Comment

Posted in birthday, Micron, Training. Bookmark the permalink.

A fine taste in shoes

Posted on January 16, 2010 by Donna Black-Sword

And so it begins . . . puppy teething. Micron will be four months on January 23rd and right on schedule for starting on the adult teeth. We all thought it was oh-so-cute when he lost his top two front teeth and then we noticed his new attraction to leather shoes. Well, all shoes really, but leather is always a puppy’s favorite it seems. Ok, so shoes and table legs and door frames and well, you know, anything that will fit inside that adorable puppy maw is at grave risk of dental imprinting. We are now on Puppy Alert Level of Yellow-Elevated. And he is answering to the sing-song call ringing throughout the house of Micron-Whatcha-Chewin’-On?

That’s him in the pic at the top carrying both of Derek’s size 12’s around the living room. His snout is completely inside. One of the cardinal rules of dog training is that you can’t laugh when giving a correction. Not a problem here; he couldn’t see a thing.

On a bit more positive note, we’ve turned a corner in his obedience training. Things are starting to click in that cute little blonde head of his. Micron’s maturing out of his little furball stage into a young pup. A couple of weeks ago I was getting a blank stare for “shake.” Today, it’s a solid paw slap into my palm. Good stuff. We’ve introduced the CCI commands of Sit, Down, Wait, Release, Shake, Heel, Kennel, Let’s Go, Car, and the ever important command of Hurry for toileting on command.
So with that training arsenal in place, we began puppy classes at Dayton Dog Training this week. I strolled in there fully confident that I had a star pupil on the end of that leash. And was immediately and completely humbled. Inside that intelligent puppy brain is, of course, a puppy. His thought process for the next 60 minutes included things like, hey-hey-hi-i’m-a-puppy-are-you-a-puppy-too-wanna-rassle and hey-hey-what’s-that-smell-yow-gotta-pee-hey-there’s-another-puppy. Right. I’m taking some better treats next week.
For a closing, I’m including a couple of frosty nose pics from that last big snow we had.

Leave a comment

Posted in Jager, Micron, snow, Training. Bookmark the permalink.
←
Newer Posts →