"Under" my wheelchair
Yesterday we worked on "under" and "paws up" using the little table I mentioned earlier. It went well, and by the end of the day Keisha was so tired, she went to sleep as soon as I put her in her crate for the night.
Today I started using the table for "under", but then had a thought. I was sitting on the floor, and thought why don't I use my wheelchair! It's the perfect thing because when using the table sometimes Keisha lets her back end roll out from under it, and sometimes she sticks her head out from under it.
She's been having naps under my wheelchair since she was a little puppy. I guess she feels protected while under me, and she can still stay close. I pulled my wheelchair in front of me, and held a piece of kibble between the back and front wheel. I told her "under" and she crouched down, went right under it and curled up!
This is perfect because she should fit under there even when she's fully grown. A lot of the time it's hard to fit Sophie under tables at restaurants because the table is so small and the front of my wheelchair takes up so much space under there. Sometimes there's a pedestal in the middle of the table, and she has to lay at the side of it, and a lot of the time she ends up having to squeeze along the side of the table in the aisle.
By teaching Keisha to lay under me all of these problems are solved! She can tuck herself under me between my back wheels and as long as there is room enough for me at the table, she will have enough room too!
Of course she can lay under tables when there is enough room so she can stretch out more, but having her laying under me can come in handy in more than one situation. If we are in a situation where it is crowded, and I am staying in one place, she can do this, and she can also do this on public transportation when there isn't room for her to lay in front of me or at my side, just to name a few.
This could really come in handy! I'm not sure why service dog schools don't use this.
4 comments:
What a smart idea! I would never have thought of that though I do not use a wheelchair at this point in time it's good to know if I even need to teach my service dog to do that task. Only one thing I would think about is to teach tuck the tail in if your dog sticks it out. I taught all my dogs to tuck tail due to car doors slams, paw and head as they sometimes get really comfortable and stick a paw out or their head or even tail. More the tail as they thump at times. lol
I haven't taught her to tuck her tail in yet. Right now I'm concentrating on getting her body where I want it. A lot of the time she tucks her tail in herself, but there are still times when she deosn't. Being a husky, she usually curls up in a ball when she is laying down and covers her nose with her tail.
My current guide dog is really good most of the timeabout tucking her tail and paws in out of the way. It's really good when space is tight.
It's always best to work on the full body first. I do not know what your method is but when she tucks the tail on her own do you praise and reward as well within your task training? Curious!
I had a Husky once and she would do the curl too. Only once in a while when she gotten excited she would just flip that tail back and forth.
You are doing a great job. It always amazes me how our dogs adapt so fast especially when we make it fun.
I decided to wait until she is putting her whole body under my chair where I want it before concentrating on her tail. I can't see where her tail is, so I thought I would wait until she is doing great with the rest of the task, then I can just concentrate on her tail without having to pay attention to other things as well.
She's doing really well with it! You can read the entry I did explaining how I taught her here:
www.keishastraining.blogspot.com/2008/05/under.html
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