Tag Archives: Training

Age of Socialization

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Think about the dogs you’ve known.

How many of them had some kind of quirk? Stella, a neighbor’s dog, did not like bikes. She barked like crazy whenever a cyclist went by—including me. I once helped my neighbor chase down Stella as she chased after a cyclist. Some dogs don’t want to walk on wet grass. They freak out if they hear a train. They bark at people in hats. Think about the dogs you’ve known. What were their quirks?

Now, think about a service dog and the myriad of situations she will find herself in, situations normal dogs never encounter: the city bus, grocery store, place of employment, restaurants, etc. Imagine the trouble it would cause if the dog won’t walk across a metal grate or board a bus or barks at the bearded coworker, etc.

Imagine that the person who spooks the dog is really important to her human’s life—a coworker or a home care assistant. Imagine that person is from a country where people don’t keep dogs as pets or is afraid of dogs. If the service dog is not absolutely well behaved, the dog will jeopardize that relationship. There are any number of reasons a person and a dog won’t get along, among them are because the dog does not know how to respond to the person’s beard or skin color or manner of dress.

Seva is at that age when things that make an impression on her, both the positive and negative, imprint permanently. Her future behavior is being shaped by her exposure and reactions to people and things now. This is the age of socialization.

Part of my job is to make sure she meets all kinds of people in a friendly, supportive manner. Fortunately, most people like puppies and she is really cute!

On Sunday, Scott and I took Seva to Urbanimal. I knew we’d have a good time in Uptown, and I was right. Urbanimal has a totally mellow shop cat named Ben. Seva saw Ben as just another four-legged-friend and was in immediate pursuit. She sniffed Ben, then licked him, tail wagging nonstop. When Ben had had enough, he swatted Seva, which she took as an invitation to wrestle, puppy style. This was where we intervened—to save our puppy. I think Ben could take care of himself.

Seva & Ben at Urbanimal.

Then it was off to Lake Calhoun and the busiest trail in town.

Seva can walk nicely. Really, she can. But, boy, you put a few hundred people around her with bikes, blades, strollers, and dogs…forget about it! She did not know what to do with herself. She was too stimulated to even open her mouth for a piece of kibble, never mind listen to me. I kept a tight grip on a short leash and managed her enthusiasm.

Seva's first trip to the big city.

Seva met a bunch of people and dogs on the trail. She got a close-up look at some in-line skates, and she watched an ice cream bike go by. She wanted to meet every person and every dog she saw, whether they wanted to meet her or not. When she’s tugging at the leash to meet someone and he passes her by, I swear it hurts her feelings. I know I’m anthropomorphizing, but you should see the look on her face. Seriously, if you ever see us on the street, make sure you stop to say hello. And if you’re wearing mirrored sunglasses or a giant hat or a welder’s mask, all the better.

At Lake Calhoun

(Also see Me and My Shadow.)

Cheesy Rice

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Something amazing is happening in Seva’s brain, right now! Just like in humans, her synapses are firing constantly, forming the mental pathways that will shape her personality and worldview for the rest of her life.

Trainers take advantage of this developmental stage to shape desirable behaviors. Some of these shaped behaviors are contrary to natural, typical dog behavior. For example, if you’ve been around dogs, you’ve probably been warned not to bother the dog while it’s eating. This is because dogs “resource guard.” They instinctively signal ownership by growling or snapping at anyone who approaches them while eating or enjoying a prized treat, like a new found stick.

In this video, Seva is 9 1/2 weeks old. She illustrates several service dog behaviors.

Scott and one of our children have also put their hands in her food bowl while she is eating, and she is just as nonchalant. The ability to accept people other than her main handler is important, since ultimately she will belong to someone else.

Training Basics

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Right now, Seva is working on two crucial skills, Watch and Sit. Service dogs need to pay constant attention to their handler so they are always ready to receive the next cue. The focus is amazing.

A Helping Paws dog at the Wag Walk & Run

You can see in the photo that while this person is watching the disc dog demo, the dog in the vest is facing and watching her with intense concentration. This readiness to work and the ability to watch a handler for cues is the foundation on which the other skills are built.

This always amazes me. This dog is surrounded by not only a crowd of people, but other dogs, and there’s activity all around him, and yet, he’s waiting for the next cue.

Seva is not there yet. In fact, a stick is far more interesting than I am. Sometimes I lose out to dirt. But she is on her way, which is beyond cool.

When we train, I have a clicker and treat bag on me. For Sit, every time her butt hits the floor, I click and give her a piece of kibble. Over and over. Between each click and treat, I move a little and she follows me. This resets the behavior. Pretty simple stuff.

For Watch, she has to make eye contact to get the click and treat. This is harder. Seva tracks the hand that feeds her–who wouldn’t? So I put my hands behind my back. She looks at the feed bag, she looks at my knees, my hips, finally my face and I click. She does catch on fast, and the eye contact comes more readily after a few minutes of practice.

A dog quirk, however, is that she likes to circle me between repetitions. She gets a treat, I step away, she follows, walks around me, then sits down. Sometimes she decides to sit behind me and watch my hands. Not so good for eye contact. I ignore this behavior and wait for her to reposition.

Today, Seva was sitting behind me, waiting a few seconds, then standing up and putting her paws on me: “Hey, I did it. Click me already!” This kind of behavior is neither rewarded nor punished. I help her get her paws back on the floor and we try again.

It’s important that the dog be able to perform anywhere, so we train in the kitchen, the hallway, and outside. As she can handle more distractions, I’ll increase the number of places we train. As I said, there are times when I still lose out to dirt.

She is a smart girl. Tonight when she was ready for dinner, she did not look for her bowl or whine. She parked her butt and stared at me.