"Shut the drawer"

2008-09-30T04:29:00.005-04:00

I thought I'd post this video I made awhile ago of Keisha shutting the drawers in the kitchen. She learns things pretty quickly, and sometimes it's hard to keep up with her! I'll make some more videos and add them to this blog when I get a new tripod. The one I have now is broken and I need both hands free when I'm teaching her new things.

Happy 1st Birthday Keisha!

2008-09-06T21:57:00.003-04:00

It's hard to believe, but Keisha turned 1 today! It only seems like a few months ago that we went to pick her up.

She's grown so much! She's almost as tall as Sophie now, and you can probably tell from the photo that she's no longer a little puppy. She even has her "big husky howl" now. Her voice has changed and gotten deeper.

She has calmed down quite a bit too! She still runs and leaps and can't seem to stay still, but every now and then she lays down for awhile. She even likes cuddles now! She also likes sitting up on my lap and watching Sophie. She looks down at her like she's saying "I'm up with mom and your not!" It's like she thinks my lap is shrinking! She doesn't realize she is growing. Pretty soon I'll have a fully grown husky on my lap trying to cuddle! She's even treating Sophie a lot better now! That's an accomplishment on it's own!

I went to the store earlier today to buy her something for her birthday. It's a small store, and the only think I could find was a package of Busy Bones. They are for small to medium dogs and have two in a pack so I thought they could share them. I gave the package to Keisha and she carried it around a bit before I opened it and gave them a bone each. Keisha loved hers. She ate most of it before I took it away. I didn't want her to be sick from eating all of it so she'll get the other half tomorrow. Sophie sniffed hers but didn't eat it. She don't really chew on anything besides her Nylabone.

They laid down together for awhile with their bones before supper. They are both laying down to have naps now. I also made a video of them earlier and I'll add it to an entry when I edit it. Right now I'm going to go make supper for myself. It's almost 10:30pm.

Explaining Why I Have Two Working Dogs

2008-08-16T18:38:00.003-04:00

I was just thinking about how to explain why I have two working dogs to people. Usually if you see a guide dog or service dog they are alone with their handler, not working alongside another guide or servie dog.

Things were simple when I just had Sophie. When we went out it was just me and her and if I wanted to go somewhere nothing held us back. If I traveled I packed her bowls, some food, her bone and a favorite toy or two and off we went. If we were going out for awhile I made sure I had her foldable bowl, water and some bags to clean up after her. I didn't have to plan ahead when doing things at all. She has as much right as anyone else to go into any public place and if anyone had an issue with it I knew I could call the Police and have them deal with it either by giving out a fine, or even jail time to the person or company that refused us acess.

Since getting Keisha things have changed a bit. Now I have to plan things out more. She is still a puppy in training and I won't be able to teach her guide work until her bone plkates have fused. She will be doing some pulling and I don't want her to injure herself because she isn't fully grown.
I know some people would have a problem with seeing someone work with two service dogs at the same time. It just don't seem "right" to some people because they aren't use to seeing it. If we decide to go on vacation we have to talk to the airline to make sure we can take both dogs intot he cabin of the airplane with us, talk to the hotel to make sure we can have both of them stay in our room without being charged (they can't charge extra for working animals), and deal with access into the places we go when we go out.

The biggest issue out of these is the flying one. I know the best thing to do is call ahead and explain to someone that I have two service dogs and I need to fly with both of them because I am blind and a quadriplegic. Sophie is my guide dog and she guides me, while Keisha is trained to do service dog tasks to help me. I work with both of them right now because Sophie was trained as my guide dog long before I became a quadriplegic and wasn't trained to do service dog tasks and I am training Keisha to take over Sophie's work so she can retire. But, I can't train Keisha to do guide work yet because she isn't fully grown and there is a lot of pulling involved and she can't pull safely until she is fully grown. She will eventually learn to guide me along with doing the service dog work and Sophie will retire.

Is that too confusing? Should I write a letter and send it to someone high up at whatever airline we choose. If I do that and get a response I could print it off and bring a copy with me when we travel.

I've heard so many stories of bad experience traveling with guide and service dogs on airplanes before. I've never had any major problems with Sophie but she has her guide dog id card from the school and things. You don't legally need this, but the airlines and other buisnesses still say you do even though it's not written in any law. They get so full of themselves sometimes.

Do you think the way I explained it is too confusing? Do you know a different way that would work? Maybe I should type out something and print some copies off becuase it would get pretty annoying having to explain the same thing before booking the flight, to the hotel before booking it, at the airport when we arrive, going through security, to the customs people, at the gate, to the flight attendants, to customs again, to the rental car people, at the hotel etc.

It's easy to say "she's my guide dog" ten different times, but having to explain things further can take up a lot of time! Even now people don't think Sophie is my guide dog because I'm a wheelchair user. They assume she is my "service dog" because you can't be blind and use a wheelchair! I had to go and hog up all the disabilities to confuse people lol! I have to admit I get some twisted enjoyment when the people around me don't realize I can't see though! I've been living here over a year and the people here still don't realize I can't see, or that I'm a quad. Apparently I don't look or act blind and people assume if you can move your arms at all then you can't be a quad. It is going to be fun at the starting line when I get my racing wheelchair wearing dark sunglasses (yeah, I'll go for the blind look), and "blind racer" written across the back of my chair though! That'll freak the other racers out a bit lol. I wonder if it wil be like when I use to play basketball and everyone would just get out of my way lol?!

A Good Looking Husky and She Knows It

2008-08-15T19:04:00.003-04:00

As you may have noticed from the photo Keisha and Sophie are getting along a lot better lately. Keisha has calmed down quite a bit, and Sophie tolerates her more because of it.

I took Keisha downstairs with me earlier today to get the mail. When we got on the elevator she saw herself in the mirror and put her paws up on the railing to get a better look! When I told her to get down she decided to put her paws up on my legs so she could admire herself in the mirror that way! She's just like Sophie when it comes to mirrors. Whenever Sophie walks past a mirror, even if it's on the side of an escalator she slows down to watch herself! They both know how good looking they are.

This was the first time I left Sophie alone and took Keisha with me. I think she handled it pretty well. She was waiting in the hallway for us as soon as we came back in the door, and she was sitting instead of laying down and waiting like usual. I don't think she was too upset by it though. We were only gone for a few minutes and I didn't make a big deal out of it on purpose.

I was thinking about taking Keisha outside, but there was a lot of mail to carry so we came back upstairs. By the time we got back up here it was raining. I thought it would start raining before we left, but didn't think it would so quickly. Things cleared up after that, but the rain started again a little while ago and we just started having thunder. We have had record rainfall this summer, and I'm so sick of it!

I'm going to go finish watching Two and a Half Men and hopefully the weather will clear up again pretty soon. I really don't like storms because we do have funnel clouds around here, and I can't see them, even if it's in the middle of the day. They don't usually turn into tornadoes, but they still stress me out!

Upset Stomachs

2008-08-06T01:20:00.002-04:00

I did something I'm regretting yesterday evening. I went to the store and had to get some dog food there for Sophie and Keisha to eat for a day until I did a grocery order. I knew the store wouldn't have a lot to choose from, but it's the best I could do at the time.

They had Dog Chow, Puppy Chow, Purina and Beniful. The tiny bags were like $8 and I really didn't want to pay that much for dog food that isn't actually that good. After all it was just for a meal.

I decided to get a couple of cans of Pedigree instead. I got beef and chicken and thought it would be fine. When I got back home I let Sophie pick the can she wanted open and she choose the beef. I gave her and Keisha half a can each and they seemed to really like it.

Keisha went outside right after she ate and had some diarrhea. It wasn't watery or anything, but wasn't really solid either. I didn't think it could have been the food because it barely had time to even enter her stomach! I decided to just keep an eye on her and see if she had any more. It's been hours now and she is still ok. She had a bath and is happily laying in her crate.

Hours after they ate Sophie got up from the floor and ran towards the door. She layed down with her nose up againt it and I quickly let her out. She ran outside and had quite a bit of diarrhea herself! She has gone out a couple of times since. I bought her bed out into the living room for her and gave her Duckey (her favorite toy). She isn't drinking any water, but had some ice cubes earlier. She doesn't drink a lot anyway, so that's not really worrying me. She has a full bowl of cold water next to her if she wants any.

She's laying on her bed next to the door with Duckey under her head now. She's not happy because she is on a leash so she can go in and out whenever she needs to. There are openings at either end of the fence that goes around the patio area here where she could get out into the neighbours areas.

I know now that it was the food that made their stomach's upset. Neither of them are use to canned food and I definetly won't be making that same mistake again! Sophie's stomach is pretty sensative, and I feel really bad about making the decision I made!

I really hope she is feeling a lot better soon! I'll make her some boiled rice and chicken when her stomach settles down. Hopefully she will be better today!

Things have been busy around here

2008-07-12T22:42:00.003-04:00

I know, I know I haven't written in awhile. Things have been really busy around here. Things are going well though. Keisha and Sophie are even getting better! Sure Keisha will still tackle Sophie when she gets bored, but as long as she has something better to do she totally ignores her!

I just finished giving Keisha a bath. She's been shedding a lot lately and it's really hot outside so I thought I'd give her a nice cool shower. She even sat under the water and relaxed a bit cooling off. I didn't ask her to, but she decided that it was a nice way to cool herself off.

She's in front of the door right now and has been going in and out since her bath. I'm going to sit down and groom her when she dries off, but for now she seems happy just to be cooled off.

When Julian gets back we are going to take her out to one of our favorite restaurants with us and Sophie. That's going to be an experience for sure! I thought I'd take her when it's not busy and sit outside on the patio with her. By the time we walk there she'll be tired out a bit and want to lay down, so that will work on our side! I'm sure she will be great though. We were in for a pleasnat surprise at the Wheels In Motion event, and I'm sure her first time at a restraunt will go just as well!

Thunder and fire alarms in the same night

2008-06-01T04:46:00.006-04:00

You know how in the last entry I mentioned Keisha howling when the fire alarms went off? Well, shortly after I wrote about it, at about 3:50am have a guess what happened. That's right. The fire alarms started going off, and Keisha started howling!

I had a feeling it would happen, because it's been a little while since we had an alarm. It's always the same people who sets it off at really odd hours of the morning. Every time the alarms start I know there's a very good chance it is coming from the 30th floor of this building. When will people realize that when their smoke detector goes off when cooking something at 3am they should shut it off before the main alarms start going off? They should get fined each time. That would probably teach them!

I'm thinking about teaching Keisha to get her harness and leash and bring them to me when she hears the alarms. They happen pretty frequently, so there's plenty of opportunity to practice! I'm thinking if I teach her to go get her leash and harness when I ask her, I can ask her to get it when the alarm starts, and after awhile she will get it automatically.

I don't even worry about the alarms anymore. I know I probably should, because one of these days it could be a real fire but after so many false alarms you get out of the habit of worrying if the building is going to burn down. When I hear the alarms now, I just curse the people who set it off, and go about whatever I was doing, or calming Keisha down while I wait for the announcements saying that the fire dept. has been called, they are accessing the situation, and that it was a false alarm.

Awhile after the fire alarms stopped I was finishing some laundry and decided to try Sophie's raincoat on Keisha. I wanted to compare the size Sophie was when I got her to Keisha's size. It's still a bit big for Keisha, but she's almost as long as Sophie in her body. She's also only about an inch and a half shorter than Sophie right now. I also tried Sophie's winter coat on Keisha just for fun. I attached her to the leash on the patio door handle so she wouldn't dive into the laundry I had on the floor in the hallway and hunt for socks to eat!

Before you start thinking about how odd I am for dressing up my guide dog, I got her the rain coat because she has to work in all kinds of weather and takes a long time to dry. I'd rather put a raincoat on her than have a wet dog that gets everything she touches damp all day, and smells like, well a wet dog. I got her the coat for winter because it goes down past -30°C (-22°F) or colder in the winter, and I can't just leave her home and go out alone. She also has boots for the winter because the salt that is used on sidewalks and streets makes her paws crack and bleed and it becomes very painful.

With Keisha I will use the boots in the winter, just so she will be more comfortable when working outside, but because huskies are bred for cold weather she won't need a coat. She also doesn't smell like a typical wet dog when she is wet, which surprised me a bit. I read that huskies don't smell when wet, but didn't believe it until I found out for myself. It was a very pleasant surprise!

Thunderstorms

2008-05-31T02:06:00.002-04:00

I was sitting here earlier and all of a sudden it started raining. I wasn't expecting it at all, because it was so nice earlier in the day, but I didn't pay too much attention to it because Sophie was sleeping on the couch, and Keisha was asleep in her crate.

All of a sudden I heard rumbling in the distance, and convinced myself it must be a train because the rain had either stopped, or calmed down a lot. Then there was a huge clap of thunder and the thunderstorms started!

I had been in the middle of doing laundry, so decided to wait a few minutes and see what happened before shutting off the washing machine, but I turned off the tv, and anything else that was on and unplugged my laptop. I wasn't in the mood for any type of freaky disaster tonight, and anyone who knows me knows what kind of magnet I am for weird, unexpected things happening to me!

There was quite a bit of thunder, and I knew there was lightening because the air felt really staticy. I was half expecting Keisha to start howling, or getting upset. She lets you know when she's unhappy about something believe me! Whenever the fire alarms go off, she will wait a few minutes and when they don't stop she sits down and howls the most mournful sounding howls you have ever heard!

Tonight, she just watched me, and slept! I was so surprised I didn't know what to do! I've come to expect this frome Sophie, but it's such a nice surprise when Keisha stays perfectly calm in a time like that. I just felt like I had to write about it.

We are suppose to have thunderstorms throughout the earlier part of the day, but seeing how they started around midnight, and were about eight hours early, I'm hoping we don't have any more. I'm planning on cleaning the kitchen today, and would like to open the patio door while I'm mopping the floor and things. It's so hot here now, and the air conditioning isn't working right. I think we may need new batteries. That will be a job for Julian when he gets back.

I guess Keisha just proved that she can be a nice calm dog when she wants to be!

"Under"

2008-05-29T18:35:00.004-04:00

What you will need:

a clicker - I use the i-click because the button is really easy to push no matter how you are holding it on.

treats - I use portion of Keisha's kibble for that day. That way she won't gain extra weight. If your dog is not interested in their regular food, you can use other treats.

a chair - You can use a chair, or any other object that your dog can fit under.

Once you have everything you need, place the chair in a place where it is easily accessible for all sides. Sit on the floor, holding the clicker in one hand and make sure the treats are within easy reach. I usually put them in a cup by my side, out of Keisha's view.

Call your dog over, and put a treat under the chair. As soon as your dog puts it's head under the chair click. This will show your dog right from the beginning what you what them to focus their attention on. Some people would rather sit around and wiat for their dog to figure this out for themselves, but it can take a long time if the dog has no idea what you are expecting of them.

Next, I pick up a piece of kibble (or treat), and hold it under the chair. When your dog puts it's head under the chair click immediately and give them the treat. Each time your dog puts it's head under the chair, wait until a bit more of their body is under it before clicking and giving them a treat. Once they are putting their whole body under the chair you can do one of two things.

You could start adding the command "under" as your dog goes under the chair. To do this I say "under" just before the click, then give the treat. Some people say the word after the click, but saying it right before the click works best for Keisha. If you use this method, once your dog understnads the command "under", you can gradually phase out the click and treat. Once you get to this stage, when your dog goes "under" you can put them in a down, stay.

If you want your dog to do a "down" automatically like I do, you can use this method. When your dog is putting it's whole body under the chair, if you wait beofre clicking, they will probably try to lay down. Wait until they start to do a "down" and click. When they are going "under" and laying down for you, start adding the command "under". Again, you can do this right before the click and treat. Pretty soon, when given the command "under" your dog will go under the chair, and lay down. At this point, you can phase out the click and treat and you have successfully taught your dog to do an "under"!

You can put your dog in a stay once they are "under", and even give them a favorite chew toy or bone to chew on while they are under a chair, or even a table. This can come in handy when you have company, and there are a lot of people in a room because it keeps your dog safe from being stepped on, and your guests won't have to step over your dog to move arounf the room. Your dog will also probably be happier than they normally would be when guests come to visit because they will be part of the group, instead of having to stay in another room, or in their crate.

Hope I didn't wake the neighbours

2008-05-28T01:52:00.002-04:00

It's funny how little things can turn into huge productions sometimes when you least expect it. I was just sitting here, as you do when you can't stand, reading a blog and Keisha had an accident in her crate. Of course I was in a hurry to clean it up before she stepped in it, and grabbed the bag that was behind me.

In my haste, I thought I would just open up the door of her crate, bend down and scoop up the offending deposit. No problem right? Wrong! I have very poor nearly non-existent balance. I took my feet off my footrest, so I could lean forward onto my legs, opened the door of the crate, leaned forward with bag on hand and reached out. That was probably the worst thing I could have done because my wheelchair started slipping out from under me and all of my weight was leaning into the floor.

With no hope of sitting upright in time, I slid forward, tipping the crate so the side closest to me lifted off of the floor. Of course me falling headfirst into the crate sent Keisha into a fit and she started jumping around thinking I was playing with her.

It's past midnight, and I had already yelled "ow" when my chin hit the crate mid fall, and then Keisha scratched my face, and I let out another "ow" loud enough to wake anyone within a hundred foot radius! I was too busy trying not to fall face first into a pile of fresh dog poo, and trying to get Keisha to calm down I didn't even realize how loud I was until after I had yelled.

For a few minutes I was fully expecting someone to knock on my door to see if everyone was still alive in here! I guess that's one way to keep life interesting!

"Under" my wheelchair

2008-05-25T17:12:00.003-04:00

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.

Guiding Commands

2008-05-24T15:38:00.004-04:00

Heel - Walk on a loose leash at my left side.

Forward - Move forward in a straight line, while avoiding obstacles and people when necessary until she comes to a curb, where she stops or until she is given another command.

Right - Turn right if it is safe and/or possible to do so.

Left - Turn left if it is safe and/or possible to do so.

Hup Up - Walk faster, or pay attention.

Steady - Slow down or be extra careful.

Halt - Stop walking immediately, but stay standing.

Follow - Follow a designated person such as a waiter to a restaurant table, sales person in a store, etc.

Find the curb - Walk up to the edge of a curb cut, centering us in the middle and staying a safe distance from the edge of the street and traffic. Then sit and wait for the "Forward" command. If it is not safe to cross stay sitting and refuse to move. If there are people blocking the curb cut, get as close to the curb cut as possible, sit and wait until the "forward" command is given. Stay sitting until it is safe to cross.

Find the door - Walk to the nearest door and wait. If there is a button to open the door wait by the button. If the door opens on it's own, wait for the "forward" command, then continue through.

Find the elevator - Walk to the nearest elevator door and wait in front of the buttons.

Teaching "under"

2008-05-23T17:03:00.003-04:00

I just started teaching Keisha "under". This is a very useful command for a service dog of any kind. It can be used to get them under tables, chairs or other pieces of furniture so they don't get stepped on. It really comes in handy when at a restaurant or on public transportation when there is not much space.

I used one of the tables like the one in this picture for this task. It's the right height, because Keisha can easily fit under it, but at the same time she has to duck. This is perfect because she can fit under it easily, but she has to be very aware of the table the whole time. This way she understands the concept of "under" better. Once she understands it better, I will start using things that are higher, and other things that are smaller. The goal is to have her comfortable with laying in small spaces that are new, like under the seat in front of me on an airplane. Sophie is a really great traveller, and I'm hoping to teach Keisha to become one as well.

I started off pulling the table to the center of the living room, and filling the front pocket of my hoodie with kibble. (I must remember to make sure the pocket is completely empty before venturing outside!) I used a clicker, and kept Keisha on her leash. I did this to keep her attention, and because I had the balcony door open. It was too hot to close it.

I sat on the floor in front of the table, and used some of the kibble to lure her under the table. She put her head under it a few times to eat the food, and I clicked. She understood in a few minutes exactly what I wanted from her!

She started going under the table and out the other side, or just standing crouched down under it. Each time I clicked and gave her a treat. Then she started offering another behaviour. She would go under the table and lay down. This was perfect! I hadn't been planning it, but if that was what she wanted to do it was great because after going under something, I would put her in a down, stay anyway!

I had been clicking as soon as her whole body was under the table, so I guess she thought that when her whole body was under it she should lay down. I tried turning the table at different angles, and getting her to go "under" from different sides. She did great!

I had been sitting on the floor for awhile, and thought I'd end it on a good note, like always so I played with her a bit before getting up. She was jumping around and having a great time. She didn't jump at my face like she used to when she was a puppy. She didn't do it to be aggressive before, but when she got too excited she didn't pay attention to where her body was going. As I was getting up off the floor I realized that while we were playing a bunch of kibble had fallen out of my pocket and she was eating it off the floor.

I'll do some more "under" with her tomorrow. She's outside now watching the cat from next door. Oh, speaking of the cat, when I was working with her, the cat was outside and she saw it through the open door. She watched it until I said her name, and then ignored it! I was really surprised, and happy at the same time!

It's bath time again

2008-05-22T17:02:00.003-04:00

I'm going to give Keisha a bath later today. She really needs one. She's in her crate relaxing right now. I kept her in there while I was cleaning the living room because I didn't want to run her over by accident when I was vacuuming. It's hard enough operating a wheelchair and vacuum at the same time, without having to worry about if your husky is under your wheels!

I still have to clean up the kitchen, and vacuum the hallway, then it's time for her bath. She's funny because she likes taking showers instead of baths. She stands on her back legs, with her front legs leaning on my bath bench and I use the hand held shower to wash her. It's great because we have really deep soaker tubs, and it's really hard to reach her when she's not leaning on my bench. She also likes the water to be at a certain temperature.

Her favorite part of bath time though is when she is getting dried off. I put a big towel around her, and hold her on my lap and cuddle her while I'm drying her. It's one of the few times she will actually stay still and cuddle! She's so different than Sophie, who doesn't like water (even though she's a Labrador Retriever), and loves to cuddle whenever she can!

Well, I guess I'll go finish watching The Simpsons. Oh, Julian just called, so I'll talk to him instead!

No automatic doors around here

2008-05-20T11:14:00.003-04:00

I thought I'd put a photo from Keisha's little puppy days on this post, because I don't have one of an automatic door button.

On my way back from the store this morning, I stopped by the front desk downstairs and asked the concierge if there were any automatic doors in these buildings. (The kind where you push a button and the door opens). I thought I would teach Keisha to push these buttons to open doors. Maybe not today, but at least I'd know where these doors were.

After thinking about it, he said there were none. He knew what I was talking about because he asked if I meant the doors where you push a botton to open them. When I thought about it more, I think the building next door might have some at their enterence. I'm not 100% sure, but I will find out later. If they do, I'll ask if I can use them to teach Keisha how to use them. I'm sure they won't mind as the buildings are connected because we all share the amenities here.

This building has the pool, spa, bbq area and basketball court, while the other one has the movie theatre, gym, billiards room, and party room. There are also another two buildings (one on either side of these two buildings) that are connected and use our facilities too. I'm sure out of all four buildings there is at least one automatic door! There is a button you have to press to open the door to get to the spa and pool area. That one is way too high for Keisha to reach though, and you still have to open the door yourself. It just unlocks the door for you. It's kind of pointless really because it's only locked from the other side so people from the other two buildings can't get into our building or the other one. It's only actually locked from the other side, and is opened using a keyfob that is programed to open the doors in the building where you are allowed to have access.

If there are no automatic doors close by, I'll have to put that training off until later. When I think about it, I can't remember where the automatic doors are in the places I've been!

Teaching "paws up"

2008-05-20T05:05:00.002-04:00

I woke up before 3am this morning, just before Julian called. After talking to him for awhile, and eating breakfast I decided to teach Keisha "paws up".

In my case, "paws up" will be the command for her to put both of her front paws up on counters so she can pass money or items to cashiers, or for her to take money or items from them if I can't reach. It will also come in handy if I'm waiting at a counter that is too tall for the people behind it to notice me. I'm sure they will notice a husky's head popping over the top of the counter within seconds!

"Paws up" will also let her know that I want her to put her front paws on my legs. This will make it easier when putting her harness on, when she is passing me things, and when she is reaching things on shelves that are too high for me.

I will also use the "paws up" command when she is putting trash into trash cans, and helping with laundry. It's one of those commands that will be used a lot, and for a number of different situations.

I started taaching her, using the tv stand. It's at a good height for her (she can lay her head on it when standing), and she likes to lay the top half of her body on it already. Using a clicker, and some of her kibble, I was able to teach her this in a very short time.

I started off by tapping the top of the tv stand with my hand, and clicking when she put her paws on it. Next, I added the words "paws up" with the click. Then I said "paws up" and clicked when she did it. I'm sure I will have to work a bit more on this, but I stopped when she was more interested in going outside. There's no point in making her concentrate on things when she want's to do something else. It's not fun anymore then, and her full attention isn't on what I'm trying to teach anymore.

The great thing is, she is at the right size to do a lot more now. She was too short for a lot of the things before, but now at 18 1/2 inches high (at the shoulders), she can do a lot of the things she couldn't before, and a lot of things are not as difficult now.

Once she has "paws up" mastered I will be teaching her "under".

Keisha and the cats next door

2008-05-18T07:48:00.003-04:00

There are two cats next door. I'm sure I mentioned them in earlier posts. Before I got Keisha they would come onto our patio and watch us through our windows, and one of them even came inside and wandered into the living room. Sophie just watched them with curiousity from afar and they would look at her wondering what she was.

Then Keisha moved in. A rambunctious little ball of fur, that barked at them and tried to run after them, even at nine weeks old. Boy, were they surprised!

Of course a guide or service dog can't walk down the street eating every cat it sees. It just wouldn't work out. I took advantage of our neighbours cats right from the start. Whenever they came around I would show them to Keisha and sit in the doorway with her on a very short leash. She knew she shouldn't hurt them, although I'm sure her instinct said different, being a husky.

I'd sit there, with her leash in my hand letting her watch the cats, and letting her get closer as they got use to each other. At this point she wasn't much bigger than the cats. She kept watching them, and they would move closer. Eventually one of the cats would come within a foot of her, and they would just stare at each other.

Now, one of the cats won't come near, but the other one comes to the end of the railing that seperates our patio from the one next door. The cat lays down and Keisha goes to the end of her leash and they just watch each other. If either of them makes a sudden move, the other one runs away. Have you ever seen a husky run away form a cat?! It's funny, because Keisha is a lot bigger now.

They also play a game sometimes where the cat will lay by the railing, and they will watch each other for awhile. Then the cat will get up and move around the other patio, looking under the railing. Keisha jumps around, looking under the railing to find it. They play their litte game of hide and go seek for awhile until the cat gets hungry, or Keisha gets bored and they go inside again.

It's great that these cats live next door. They really come in handy for training Keisha.

A very productive morning

2008-05-17T09:29:00.002-04:00

It's 9:37am on a Saturday and I already have the living room re-arranged and cleaned and a load of laundry almost washed. I also emptied the dishwasher and loaded it again.

I couldn't sleep this morning, so I decided I would get up. I started thinking about moving a couple of things in the living room. I had been thinking about it for awhile now, but couldn't decide what to mvoe where.

I decided this morning that Keisha didn't really need her crate in the living room. In the day when she's out it just gets in the way of her running around. I haven't decided evactly what to do with her crate yet, but for now it's in the hall by my office. She's laying accross it trying to get as close as she can to me right now having a nap.

Since I got her, her crate hasn't really moved. I turned it around just before Christmas for awhile until the tree was put up, but she's always been in the dame corner. I'm not sure what she will think of being in a different room. If she really doesn't like it, I could always put her crate in the corner next to the couch. I tried this earlier today, but then decided to put Sophie's bed in front of the window instead. I thought both of them would like to use it then. Not together of course! Sophie would not like that at all. She's sleeping in the chair right now, so I might move her bed back into the bedroom and put Keisha's crate in that corner anyway. I could put Keisha's small bed in front of the window where Sophie's bed is now and they can both use it. Problem solved!

I could also leave her crate where it is right now for awhile until Julian gets back. I don't use the bathroom that it's blocking off, and it will get her use to sleeping in a different place. I guess I'll figure it out when I'm done cleaning up. I still have to clean off the table, finish doing tha laundry and tidy the kitchen. I also have a DIY project going on in the bedroom that involves Loctite and an Ikea bed.

Before I end this post here is a question for dog owners that use crates.

Where do you keep your dogs crate?

The beginnings of "tug"

2008-05-14T21:19:00.005-04:00

I worked on "tug" with Keisha earlier today. It didn't take her long to figure out what to do. I've noticed that when teaching her something new for the first time she does a lot better if she is on her lead or if she can't run around the whole apartment.

She was in her crate, so I thought I would start out with her in there. I have an extra leash I had when she was a little puppy that has a broken clip. It's been on the door handle to the patio for a long time now, so I took it off and used it for her to tug with.

In a very short time she was tugging and having a lot of fun. She concentrates a lot better when there are not a lot of distractions and she knows she can't run around wherever she wants to. The next time we work on this, I will use her lead and then maybe go into the kitchen and work off lead., until we work up to doing it when she is free to explore the apartment and do whatever she wants.

I do keep the sessions short, and when she quits showing interest we stop. A lot of people wont agree with not letting her off lead from the beginning, but this is what works best for her. It's so hard to keep her attention at first if she is left to roam around and find other things that interest her.

She is "practicing" her "tug" with her leash on the door handle now. This one is going to be a very easy command to teach because she is really interested in doing it and has a lot of fun with it!

When do Husky's stop growing?

2008-05-13T19:56:00.003-04:00

A few days ago I measured Keisha. She is 18 1/2 inches tall at her shoulders. Female Siberian Husky's are suppose to grow from 20 to 22 inches tall. This would be a great height for a service dog for me becuase she would be high enough to hold her harness without having my arm resting on her back.

Sophie is 20 1/2 inches high, which is pretty short for a Lab, but the perfect height for me. I'm getting a bit concerned about Keisha's height though. Even though she is not that much shorter than Sophie, because she is smaller around her body she seems a lot shorter. Lab.'s are a lot more solid than Huskies in their body.

I'm hoping Keisha grows taller than 20 inches. Although if she stops growing at 20 inches and she is at a good height, that would be ok too.

She's had a couple of major growth spurts so far, but her growth seems to be slowing down now. I'm not sure at what age they are suppose to stop growing, and when their growth slows down. If anyone knows this, and feels like leaving a comment that would be great!

She's running in and out of the living room right now playing tug with the extra leash that is connected to the door handle. It's great that she's interested in playing tug because it will come in handy for a lot of tasks she will do later.

It's funny because her breeder said that Husky's are usually not interested in retrieving and I'd be lucky if I could get her to retrieve things for me. Then awhile before I got Keisha the breeder said she had been playing fetch with her!

She';s so much like a Lab.! I guess it's because she's been around Sophie since she was 9 weeks old and a lot of Sophie's Lab. ways have rubbed off on her. It's great because Lab.'s have so many great qualities for guide and service work.

Little thing, big fuss!

2008-05-12T22:47:00.003-04:00

Keisha had been outside most of yesterday. I had Sophie's FlexiLeash attached to the handle on the sliding door so she could go out and come in as she pleased.

She was running back and forth most of the day. Then all of a sudden she started barking. When I called her, she stopped and came inside, but would go back out and bark again. I didn't want the neighbours to get underwear in a knot about it, so I took her inside and put her in her crate.

It was getting late anyway, and I thought it was bedtime Ms. Husky anyway. Sophie was already asleep on the couch. I put Keisha into her crate and went back to watching tv.

All of a sudden she started barking again. She usually makes all kinds of "Husky noises", but only barks when she's really excited, or wants supper really bad. I told her to be quiet, but she continued barking away.

I went over to her crate to find out what she was barking about, and couldn't find anything. She was looking out the window though. I thought it might be one of the cats that live next door, but couldn't hear anything.

It was beginning to freak me out a little. Our balcony is on the same level as the barbecue area that is shared by these two buildings. Now that the weather has warmed up, people are out there quite a bit. I could hear some people in the distance, but couldn't tell if they were out there, or on a balcony. I have had a problem with balls being thrown onto our balcony and people always jumping over to get them, so it wouldn't have surprised me too much if someone was on my balcony.

I closed the door and locked it, and felt pretty uneasy until Keisha finally decided to go to sleep. When I went over to her, she sat down next to me and just kept watching whatever it was that was outside. I still thought it was one of the cats, or something that was blowing around when I went to bed.

Today as I was cleaning up outside I found out what all of the comotion was about. There was a drink can outside! People above us always throw their trash onto our patio. It really gets on my last nerve! I guess Keisha saw it and didn't know what it was.

Now I've got a real dilemma on my hands. Do I teach her not to bark at things at all, or do I let her in certain situations. I have to admit I was thinking it was nice if she let me know something was happening outside my door that wasn't suppose to be. Maybe I can teach her to alert me of things like that. It could really come in handy when you can't see!

Sleepy Husky

2008-05-06T22:06:00.013-04:00

Until recently, Keisha didn't feel comfortable sleeping out in the open. She would sleep in her crate, under the end table near her crate, or under my wheelchair. I guess she felt protected in these places. If her crate door was shut, she would sleepily stagger around until I let her in and she would finally collapse in the corner of her crate for a nice long snooze!

Lately I've had the sliding patio door open and she's been on an extendable lead that is attached to the door handle. This way she can go in and out as she pleases, and Sophie, my guide dog can have a break from random husky tackles as Keisha tries to play with her. It has worked out really well! She hasn't had an accident inside since I've started doing this!

She hasn't had bedding in her crate since I got her because she keeps eating it, and seems to think it's as good a place as any to pee on! I've had a nice crate pad for her since I got the crate, but the only time it's been used is if Sophie happened to lay on it. I put it on the floor outside of her crate last week and she's been playing with it, tossing it into the air, chewing on it, and basically doing everything with it except sleeping on it. Today after I vacuumed I put the pad on the floor next to the side of her crate and as soon as I let her out she bunched it up and started chewing on it again. I was beginning to wonder if she would ever have a nice bed to lay on! Then tonight, to my surprise she bunched up the pad and had a nap on it! She's had a couple of naps on it since supper, and is sleeping on it right now.

I guess there's hope after all!

New Backpack and Patch

2008-03-11T13:54:00.001-04:00

Keisha got her new backpack yesterday. I had ordered it last month, along with a patch. The patch came weeks ago, and I like it a lot. It says “Service Puppy In Training”. I didn’t want a “generic” patch saying “service dog” and another saying “in training”. I wanted something different. I attached the patch to her backpack last night, and now it’s ready for her to use!

The backpack is the Approach Pack II. It is made by Ruffwear. I have a collapsible bowl from them for Sophie and it is really well made. I’ve had it since Aug. of 2000 and it’s still in great shape!

When I opened the package today, I was suprised because the backpack was so small. I was expecting something much bigger. I had my doubts for a minute or two that it would fit Keisha, but after getting on the floor and holding her I realized that it might fit after all. I gave her a treat to chew on and started the task of actually getting the backpack on a hyper husky puppy! Not an easy thing to accomplish! I had to hold her with one of my legs wrapped around her to keep her still enough to get her head through the opening. She wasn’t impresed with this at all, and tried to push it away with her paws, chewing on her treat the whole time. Sophie was watching the whole thing while she layed next to me. Once I got her head through the opening, the rest was easy. I clipped the two belly straps shut and she didn’t notice she was wearing anything! She layed on the floor eating her treat, and I took a bunch of pictures before taking it off again.

I think part of the reason she didn’t seem to mind it was because of the design. There are cut outs in the back of the harness where her shoulders are to allow for movement, and the straps are covered in fleece. The packs are also only attached at the top, so she can lay down on her side without having to lay on a pack, and it is very light weight.

There’s a handle on the back of the harness, nad a pulling loop along with an extra loop. It’s a very well made and well designed backpack. The packs are also not too big and bulky, so they don’t get in the way.

Keisha explores the depths of the dryer

2008-01-12T14:01:00.000-05:00

I hope everyone had a happy new year! I haven’t written an update for awhile now because I’ve been so busy! I mentioned last year (that sounds so odd because it was only last month!), that I was going to teach Keisha to take clothes out of the dryer. Well, it turns out that she was still a bit too short, but just before I started this entry I managed to “introduce” her to the dryer.

She is still a bit too short to reach the bottom of the dryer, but I put some towels in the bottom and used a bright pink sock for her to find. We all know how much husky’s love socks! I wasn’t worried about if she was going to pick the sock up or anything this time, and just rewarded her for putting her head in the dryer, and then for touching the sock with her nose or mouth. I didn’t use a command, but just clicked and gave her a treat to get her use to things. I also hid some tiny bits of treats through the towels for her to find.

Well, Keisha, being the curious puppy that she is decided to explore the depths of the dryer! Of course if putting her nose in the dryer got one treat, putting half of her whole body in must get a whole bunch of treats right?! I couldn’t resist. I had to take a picture. She climbed all the way into the dryer to hunt through the towels and all that was sticking out was her tail as she wagged it around! I managed to take a quick picture of her as she poked her head out to see what I was doing!

Now that I know she’s not affraid of the dryer, or the loudness of sounds when she pokes her head in there, I will continue teaching her to help me do laundry!

Keisha’s first Christmas

2007-12-28T14:05:00.001-05:00

I haven’t written in awhile. Christmas went well. The tree was left standing, and I only had to re-decorate the bottom of it because Keisha runs under it sometimes, and the only ornament that was broken was by me! I don’t think that’s toobad at all! I even decorated the side of the kitchen counter and Keisha didn’t bother it at all! I’ve been very impressed!

On Christmas morning my mom called and I sat in front of the tree while I was talking to her to open our gifts. I helped Sophie open her stuffed snowman that my mom gave her, and then I let Keisha out of her crate. I put the short leash on her to keep her from diving into the gifts! She had been wanting to get at them when I was putting them under the tree the night before! I gave her the gift my mom sent her and she ripped it open herself. She tore at the paper and then shook her head really fast so the paper flew off. It was a stuffed gingerbread man that smells like gingerbread! She loves it! It actually smells really good. My mom also sent them a huge box of treats in the shape of a dog house. It has ten bags of treats in it. That should last them awhile!

On Boxing Day my uncle and cousin came to visit. It was the first time Keisha met them and she was so excited I had to keep her in her crate for most of the time they were here. Sophie was really excited to see Uncle Glen again too!

I’ve noticed that Keisha is growing out of her biting stage lately! I’m so glad! She use to try to bite everything! Now when she’s really excited she will still bite at my hand a bit, but she mostly licks now. I think some of it has to do with working on targeting with her. I use my hand as the target because I thought that I could teach her both the targeting and teach her to not bite at the same time.

She has also learned “sit”, “down”, “come”, “stay” and we are working on “heel”. She will have “heel” completed really soon and we are continuing to work on staying for longer periods of time. I know it might seem like a painfully slow process, but I am making sure she knows one command and has a really good grasp on it before moving onto the next. I need her commands to be “solid” when I start teaching her guide work. Over the weekend I’m thinking about teaching her take clothes out of the dryer. I thought this would be fun for her, and that it’s easier to start with than teaching her to pick up something and bring it back to me. It’s in a smaller area and she is just the right height to reach inside of the dryer now. I’m trying to decide if I want to use “get” or “take” with her though. I taught Sophie with “get”, but I’m thinking I will use “fetch” with Keisha. It will also be a word that sounds a lot different than “give”. She will also learn to “find” things, but I think “find” and “fetch” also sound different enough to use and not confuse her. She love playing fetch and will bring her toys back to me, so it shouldn’t be too hard to teach her to do the same with other things.

It’s almost 3am and Julian will soon be calling me, so I guess I better go for now. I’ll write more about how Keisha is doing with the clothes and dryer later. I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas!

The Christmas tree is up!

2007-12-17T14:09:00.000-05:00

I put up the Christmas tree on Dec. 15th. I would have put it up earlier, but I was sick for 4 days! I’m feeling like a human being again now, but I spent over 3 days on the couch! Keisha was really well behaved when I was sick! She usually whines and howls if I’m out of the room for any length of time and she is in her crate, but I guess I madesomany trips to the bathroom she got tired of moaning about it! I don’t let her out of her crate while I’m not in the room with her because she is tall enough to get things off the table now, and I usually have my laptop there.

So far, Keisha hasn’t been too interested in the Christmas tree. She still dives at it every so often, but I think it’s mostly for attention. She’s also a lot better around Sophie now! She still wants to play with her, but when I call her she will come now. That’s really helpful! Now when she runs after Sophie I tell her to “come” and instead of nipping at Sophie first, she turns aroudn and comes running toward me!

We also had a snow storm on saturday and sunday! Keisha loves snow! She digs in it, leaps around and buries her nose in it. She even barks and howls when it’s snowing and she’s in her crate because she is suppose to be sleeping.

She’s sleeping in her crate right now, and Sophie’s sleeping on the couch. It’s nice when it’s this quiet here! It doesn’t happen very often since Keisha’s been here!

A hyper puppy and a yellow lab.

2007-12-08T14:13:00.002-05:00

I took this photo tonight. Sophie was relaxing in her chair, and Keisha decided to leap on top of her. Sophie just turned 10 on Nov. 3rd, and she was never a dog to play a lot. Sure she has her moments where she wants to play, but 10 minutes later she’s back to her calm, relaxed self. Keisha on the other hand is a little bundle of energy with pointy ears! She constantly has to be moving!

Keisha jumps all over Sophie and tries to bite her. She always wants to play, and don’t seem to understand that Sophie doesn’t want to. Sophie growls at her when she bugs her too much, and has even barked at her! She only ever barked a few times in the 8 years we’ve been together before Keisha joined us!

I’m hoping Keisha will learn to leave Sophie alone eventually. Until then I guess I just have to do my best to keep her from bothering Sophie too much!

Keisha broke a bowl

2007-12-07T14:17:00.000-05:00

Keisha broke a bowl last night! I was in the bathroom and heard a crash. For a few seconds I thought she had somehow broke out of her crate! When I came out there was a broken bowl on the floor. It had been on top of her crate, and she managed to push it off the top. I had been keeping it there to put her water in. She tips over dog bowls too easily, and I can’t use the ones that have rubber on the bottoms that are harder to tip over because I have a latex allergy. I cleaned up the bowl, and vaccumed to make sure there were no small pieces of glass in the carpet, and I guess I’ll have to find somewhere else to keep her bowls from now on!

She’s sleeping in her crate now, and Sophie’s sleeping on the couch. It’s one of the rare moments when it’s quiet here! When Keisha’s awake she’s usually howling, talking, being hyper, or chasing her tail!

I’m not sure how I’m going to keep her from destroying the Christmas tree yet. I’m going to wait for awhile longer before putting it up, but I know she’s going to want to jump at it and eat it! I’ll let everyone know how it goes once the tree is up!

Fire alarms at 4am

2007-12-04T14:20:00.000-05:00

At 4am this morning the fire alarms in the building started going off! I knew as soon as they started that the concierge was going to announce that there was an “alarm situation” on the 31st floor. These “alarm situations” always seem to happen there. They also happen a lot at really odd times when no one should be cooking.

This condo has three seperate speakers that the fire alarm sounds through. There is one in each bedroom, and another by the kitchen. There’s no way you would sleep through the alarm when it goes off! There is also a pad on the wall near the kitchen that you can press to silence the alarm. The problem is whenever the concierge makes an announcement to tell you what is happening during the alarm, it will go off again in your condo. I guess it’s good in case you fall back to sleep, but they announce things twice and it gets annoying shutting it off over and over.

This morning I didn’t turn it off. Keisha decided to howl the whole time the alarm was going off, which was for quite a while, and she was jumping around in her crate even after it had stopped. Sophie is use to it, so she just calmly waited to find out what we were going to do.
What annoys me most is the fact that it’s always on the same floor, and that there are only 8 condos on that floor! Chances are that it’s the same person causing the fire alarms to go off over and over!

Now that I’ve vented a bit I’m going to go try to get some sleep. it’s 6:39am and I’m so tired I’m getting a headache. Sophie’s sleeping in the chair and Keisha’s sleeping in her crate. I’m about to go join them and sleep on the couch. Hopefully there won’t be any more “alarm situations” today.

Keisha's First Real Snowfall

2007-12-02T14:23:00.007-05:00

It started snowing last night. Keisha spent most of the night in her crate watching the snow fall and howling at it. After midnight I had to close the curtains because she was making too much noise. She finally settled down andwent to sleep.

Today when we woke up there was snow up around the windows and as soon as Keisha saw it she wanted to go outside! I put some new batteries in my camera and got her and Sophie ready to go out. Luckily we have a pretty big patio area that they can run around on. I put Sophie on her FlexiLeash, and put Keishas harness on her. I had to adjust the belly strap because it was too tight! The last time she wore it was on Nov. 28th! She’s growing really fast. I used a longer training leash on Keisha so I could control her a bit. She likes to leap on Sophie and bite her, so I gave her a bit less leash than Sophie. They ran around and had some fun before Sophie wanted to come back inside. Keisha came in a little while later after she chased birds for bit and they both had a nap.

I thought I’d put the video I took on this blog entry instead of some of the pictures I took. I’ll be adding pictures throughout the winter. Enjoy the video!

Some re-planning is in order

2007-11-30T14:34:00.000-05:00

When Keisha was out of her crate it was easy to keep things away from her. All I had to do was put them on the kitchen counter or table. They were out of reach, and safe. Notice how I said “when” and “were”? Well, tonight Keisha proved that she is no longer the little puppy who had came home 24 days ago. She is now more like a toddler.

When she first came home she would leap after Sophie. Sophie would then get up into the chair in the living room, knowing that she was safe form Keisha and her pointy little teath! She would look down at Keisha taunting her knowing there was nothing she could do as long as she kept her paws and tail far enough away form the edge of the chair.

I noticed these past few weeks that Keisha can leap onto the chair and couch! Sophie noticed this when Keisha leapt over the arm of the chair and started biting her, while walking over her! She got out of the chair and Keisha went tumbling out of the chair. This didn’t stop her though, and she chased Sophie onto the couch to get in some more bites!

Now she can jump onto the chair and couch, get cloths that are hanging over the edge of the kitchen counter, put her front paws on the table and get things off there, and jump at the tv! She has so much fun leaping at something she sees moving on the tv. It’s funny right now, but I have to teach her not to do it because I’m sure it won’tbe so funny when a full grown Siberian Husky puts her head through my tv!

I guess the next plan is to just keep the counter tops and table as clear as possible, and to unplug my laptop from the wall before letting her out so she can’t pull it, or anything else from the center of the table by getting tangled in the cord!

Keisha's vet visit

2007-11-28T20:34:00.000-05:00

Keisha had an apointment with the Vet today to get her next set of vacinations. I put her harness on her along with her collar so there would be an extra "Husky Handle" to grab her with if she tried to escape the Vet, and took a towel and her puppy Nylabone.

Julian took her on her leash and I had Sophie and we all went downstairs to the parking garage. She was trying to jump on Sophie at first, but wasn't too bad once we got on the elevator. There are other dogs in the building, so there were plenty of smells for both of them to sniff.

She kept turning around to see Sophie when we were walking down the hallway on our parking level, and all the way to the car. I thought it would be better for her to walk ahead so Sophie coud keep an eye on ehr without worrying if she was going to be leapt on from behind! Keisha jumps on her and bites her ears a lot, and will run towards her with her mouth already open! I'm hoping she will out grow that stage when she stops teething!

Sophie got in the back seat of the car, and I held Keisha in my lap in the front. I had the towel on my lap in case she peed. I wouldn't want to go to the vet, or anywhere else looking like I had peed myself after all! She was pretty good on the way to the vet, looking out the window and people watching. She didn't pay too much attention to vehicles, not even buses or street cars, but she loves watching people! She also seems fasanated with people riding bikes. Maybe it has to do with my wheelchair. She tried to keep cyclists in her view for as long as possible.

When we got out of the car at the vets, Sophie already knew where we were. She hasn't been there before, but she started sniffing (she does this a lot when she visits the vets), and acted really nervous. I held Sophie's leash in one hand and Keisha's in the other while Julian parked. One of the women who passed me said "You've got your hands full there", and she couldn't have been more right! Keisha wanted to see everything, and Sophie just wanted to sniff!

We went inside and waited in the dog area, and when the receptionist told the vet that Keisha was there for her apointment, Sophie let out a sigh and flopped down on the floor! It's like she knew exactly what was said!

The vet said that she was looking great, and gave her her shots. She ran around in circles after she had them, and tried to bite her hip while spinning around and dragging her butt accross the floor! She didn't know what just happened to her. The vet said that Husky's really didn't tolerate shots well, but she did fine. She had one near her hip, one near each of her shoulders and some medicine in her nose. She was also sneezing as she sun in the circle and did the butt dragging. After a few minutes she was fine though.

She is 12.54 lbs now. She hasn't put on a lot of weight since she's been here, but she also had diarrhea for awhile, so that wasn't good. She was doing a lot better the day after she visited the vet for that, and had some medication for it for a few days. Sophie also got her nails clipped and was registered there too.

When we left the vets I was waiting outside for Julian to get the car and these two guys asked if they could pet Keisha. They were making a huge fuss over her telling her how beautiful she is and petting her, and they both told Sophie she was beautiful too. Sophei was not impressed because she usually gets all of the attention, and here were the only two people in the Greater Toronto Area who knew they weren't suppose to pet working dogs!

Keisha got tired on the way home and fell asleep for a little while. She had that glazed over look, and was really floppy and sleepy. She still tried to watch everything that was happening around her though.

When we got back, Julian carried her upstairs and she's been sleeping in her crate ever since, with a break for her supper. She hasn't howled or made noise all night. She's not herself at all. I'm sure she'll be her hyper, noisy self in the morning though!

Keisha's first bath

2007-11-27T17:22:00.000-05:00

Keisha had her first bath about a week after coming home. We absolutely had to give her one! She had decided that it was ok to pee in her crate and roll around in it, and smelled horrible!
I thought she wouldn't mind getting a bath too much because she obviously didn't mind being wet! She also tipped her water bowl over every chance she got and splashed around in her crate. She puts her paw in her water bowl while she's drinking a lot too.

Sophie, my Lab. doesn't like getting a bath at all! If you as much as get a towel she is out of reach, and uneasy until you get into the bath tub or shower youself. It's odd how I ended up having a Lab., who is suppose to be a water dog who doesn't like water, and a Husky who loves it.

When I put Keisha into the tub she started drinking the water. I made her stop because God only knows what she had in her fur!

I used some really mild shampoo, and only as much as I needed and she was finally smelling like a little puppy again! We couldn't even cuddle her before her bath because she was just disgusting!

She did manage to escape from the tub once! I didn't think she could because it's a deep soaker tub. She was just tall enough to stand on her hind legs and put her front ones on the side of the tub. She's definetly a climber!

She's had to have another couple of baths using just water a a tiny bit of mild shampooo since then, but she's getting a lot better! She's also growing a lot! She still chases Sophie around a lot, and bites her, but we are trying to stop her from doing this. Sophie just runs away from her and growls at her. I've had Sophie for 8 years, and she has only barked a few times (if you would even call it barking), but since getting Keisha she growls at her almost every day! I bet if she could she'd give Keisha away to the Pizza Delivery guy, or pack her up and send her back to her breeder! I'm sure as she learns to leave Sophie alone though they will get along a lot better. Let's hope so anyway!

Potty training problem solved

2007-11-25T23:35:00.000-05:00

I thought I'd write an update about how Keisha's potty training is going. She gives really suttle clues to us when she needs to go out, but she will still just go in her crate sometimes without even trying to let us know too. I was considering paper training her, but thought if she wasn't trained to go on paper, I would rather not teach her at all, and continue teaching her to go outside.

Tonight I got an email from her breeder telling me that for the last three nights that she was with her breeder she slept in a crate next to her bed with shredded paper in it, and that she spent the days in the kitchen and she was paper trained!

I had not been leaving anything in her crate because she just chews it up and tries to dig through it, but tonight I put some paper in her crate, and almost right away she went on it! She's been going on it ever since! At first she shredded the paper, but she hasn't been too bad since. I will gradually move the paper outside, and hope she will learn more easily this way.

She has also learned to "come" today. Now she knows "sit" "down" and "come". I'm making sure she has a firm grasp on the commands and are reliably obeying them before I start teaching her a new one. She also had diarrhea for awhile, and I had to stop the training. She has had medication for this though, and I am happy to report that she is completely better!

Determined to chew that bone

2007-11-23T17:29:00.000-05:00

Keisha was in her crate today while I was vacuuming. She was watching me and "talking" as huskies do. Julian was on the phone, so I was trying to keep her as quiet as possible. I found Sophie's bone in the bedroom, so I gave it to Keisha to play with until I was finished cleaning up. It's a Nylabone, and she tries to steal it whenever she can. She played with it for awhile, but it kept sliding around her crate. I can't keep any bedding in there for her because she just digs it and chews it until it is destroyed!

I fed her a little while before this, and hr bowl was still in her crate. It's a deep bowl, and not a dog bowl because she tips dog bowls over way too easily. Then she has a crate ful of water that she wines about before she splashes it in. I can't use the other kind of dog bowls that she can't tip over because they have rubber on the bottom and I have a latex allergy.

Anyway, she was trying to chew the bone, but it kept escaping from her on the plastic floor. She picked the bone up, put it in her empty bowl and tried chewing it again. It still slipped around, so she covered the bowl with her fron leg, and then with the front of her body so she could hold the bone still and chew it! It only took her a few minutes to figure this out!

She is so smart! She is just like Sophie, my current guide dog when she is trying to figure things out. She will sit back and think about how she will do something until she figures out a way to do what she wanted. She knows that the door of her crate opens when I lift up the handle and slide it sideways, and she will try to do it with her nose and mouth when she wants to get out. She has the lifting part down, but still hasn't figured out how to slide it yet. I'm not sure she can slide it from the inside, but I know if it's at all possible, she will figure out a way sooner or later! Let's just hope that it's later, and I don't have to catch a puppy escapee all the time!

Why I Chose A Siberian Husky

2007-11-17T21:35:00.001-05:00

When I started looking into which breed I should train I was set on getting another yellow lab. Sophie is great, and labs. are mostly used for guide and service dogs because they are great at it. Then I started exploring other breeds because I didn’t want Sophie to feel like I was replacing her (just bringing in another dog of the same breed), and I would feel guilty about it.

I looked into the working dogs group, for obvious reasons, and started looking at different breeders in my area. A Siberian Husky breeder’s site came up, and as I read it I became very interested in teh breed. I spent weeks researching them, and found out that they have been used as guide dogs and service dogs.

They have all of the qualities I was looking for. Siberians are extremely intelligent and independent, which are both qualities you need in a guide or service dog. They need to be able to make up their own minds and be able to learn difficult things like “intelligent disobedience” where if the handler gives the dog a command and it would be dangerous to do it, the dog disobeys. If I tell her “forward” at a curb and a car doesn’t stop, then she should stay at the curb and not walk out into the street because she was told to do it. I kept reading about how “stubborn” huskies are, but whenever I read that I was thinking “it’s perfect”! I’m not looking for a dog that will do everything I say without thinking about it!

Living in Canada it can get cold! I was looking for a dog that could handle the cold eather. In the winter I have a coat for Sophie. When it gets down to -30c Labs get cold! She also has boots, but this is because the salt used on roads and sidewalks can burn dogs paws.

I need a dog that has a lot of energy so they can keep up with all of the work and not get tired easily. I also needed one that could pull and wasn’t too big. A Siberian Husky is a great size for fitting into tight spaces like under the seat in front of me on an airplane, or under a table when we go out to eat.

I do want kids in the future, and will be working around kids. I wanted a dog that would be good with them, and friendly with people. In other words, a dog that thinks everyone she meets is a new friend!

They are really healthy compared to most of the breeds used for guide and service work, and from what I’ve read they don’t have a “doggy odor” when they get wet like a lot of other breeds. This can come in handy when out in public!

They are very adaptable dogs, and have the intellegence for the job. Another small bonus is that they are more likely to “talk” and howl than bark. It’s easier to stop a dog from howling than barking, and as long as Keisha doesn’t “talk” too loud while working and doesn’t howl then she can “talk” all she wants when we are at home.

Potty training problems

2007-11-15T22:59:00.003-05:00

Keisha is doing great! She has learned how to sit, and is learning how to lay down. She's very smart, and we are constantly trying to stay one step ahead of her! The only problem we are having is teaching her not to pee in her crate! She doesn't seem to care at all if her crate is wet.

Her crate is right next to the door that leads to the patio. I have a litter box outside the door that Sophie uses, and if Keisha is put out there the first thing in the morning she will pee there. If she is left out there long enough she will also pee. The problem is she don't understand that her crate is not a good place to pee.

When she pees outside I praise her a lot, give her one of her favorite treats, and she gets to play. She realizes this because when she pees, she runs inside to get her treat. When she pees in her crate, I tell her "no" and put her right outside. She will usually hold it, but after awhile she will go. She also pees a little outside and acts like she's done, but as soon as she goes back into her crate she pees.

I have the divider in her crate and it's only big enough for her to turn around in, but she will still pee and lay down in it. I tried leaving the puddle in her crate, and thought that if she realized that it wouldn't be cleaned up right away and that she had to lay in it she wouldn't want to do it, but she just wined for a minute and layed down in it! I even tried letting ehr out with Sophie so she could watch her, but then she just wants to play after watching her intently for a few minutes.

I cleaned out her crate with stuff that takes odors away, but that didn't work either, so the next step I'm thinking of trying is to teach her to go on some paper that will be put in the far end of her crate, and gradually move it outside. I hope something works soon!

Someone suggested that she could have "learning difficulties", but I know I don't have to worry about that! She can learn other things easily, but is just having some problems with this. The same person also suggested that some dogs are impossible to housebreak, but I think any dog can be trained if you know what motivates them and can find something that works for them! I've just got to find out what works for Keisha.

I was reading about how puppies can't physically "hold it" until they are at least 12weeks old. She has another couple of weeks to go until then, so I'm not too worried about it yet. I'm sure things will work out fine. I was also reading about the Misty Method of potty training for puppies. If puppies of that age can be potty trained, I'm sure Keisha can!

And that is why her nickname is "Stinky"!

Keisha is home!

2007-11-13T16:19:00.000-05:00

I thought I'd take some time to write an update. I did finally pick a name for the puppy. I named her Keisha. It's one of the first names we thought of, and it's been in the back of my mind ever since. It's funny how you go back to the first thing you picked sometimes.

We picked her up on Nov. 7th, and it only took her a few minutes to make herself at home! She slowly came out of her kennel, and hasn't been the least bit timid or unsure since!

She's a handful, and loves to play. She tries her best to play with Sophie, but Sophie doesn't like dogs playing with her. She just turned 10 years old on Nov. 3rd, and likes to relax for most of the day, enjoying some play time when she feels like it. Keisha, however being the hyper puppy that she is, thinks every minute of the day, or night is play time!

Julian brought her home a rope toy, and she really likes playing with it. She also likes stealing my fuzzy slippers! Sophie liked fuzzy slippers as a puppy also! It must be a puppy thing!

I'll write some longer entries later, but right now I have to go finish doing laundry and cleaning up the kitchen before Keisha decides that nap time is over.

I'm getting the puppy on Nov. 7th!

2007-10-30T20:31:00.000-04:00

I just thought I'd write an update. I'm going to pick up my puppy on Nov. 7th, thanks to a family member on my step dad's side of the family! She offered to drive me to the puppy breeder's house to pick the puppy up!

I still haven't thought of a name! I know I need to come up with one I am happy with, and that suits her, but I'm having trouble finding a female "husky" name that hasn't been over-used. It seems like the same names are used over and over.

I've picked out a crate, crate pad, collar, leash, and Nylabone and it will be ordered this week. It will be shipped from this city, so it shouldn't take too long to get here. I've decided to buy a collar to use for now, and Julian is going to bring me a leash, harness and collar that he is getting a girl in the dog club class he teaches to make. She breeds husky's, and makes leather leashes etc.

I decided on a Nylabone because Sophie, my yellow lab has had one since guide dog school in Aug. of 2000 and she still has the same bone! She's not a "power chewer", but these bones are great! The yellow lab Viki owned who stayed in the room accross the hall would chew his bones up in the matter of days! I thought that if I got the "wolf" bone it would last longer, and the puppy would have something she could chew on and I wouldn't have to stay with her while she chewed it. I also found bones that you fill with water and freeze them. They are really good for dogs that are teething. I'll have to look into these later.

It's so hard to find non-latex dog toys! As a matter of fact, it's hard to find non-latex anything! I have a latex allergy, and can't handle anything that is made of rubber. All of the "Kong" toys are made of rubber, and most "chew" toys are. Even tennis balls have rubber bits on them! I'll have to try to find some toys besides rope toys to get. Even some rope toys have tennis balls attached!

I'll keep everyone updated, and add more photos of the puppy when I get her!

Dog litter box

2007-10-24T01:04:00.000-04:00

I live in a condo in Toronto, and there is very little grass around. There is a park about a block away, but I don't want to go there at night and it isn't very convenient having to go there every time my current guide dog, or my new puppy has to go out.

I came up with a solution that solves this problem when we moved in. I decided to build my yellow lab a litter box! A lot of people must have thought I had totally "lost it", but I thought it would work quite well. I could put it outside on the large patio area I have and train her to "go" in it.

We went to Home Depot and bought the material and I made the box. I know you can get "dog litter", but I wasn't sure where, so I filled it with kitty litter. It took a few days to get her use to using the litter box because she got so use to going on grass, but after a few days she was using it when she needed to go! Now I just open the door, and let her out and she comes back in when she's done! I also put the litter box under the balcony that is above this floor so it wouldn't get wet when it rains.

There are two cats that live on this floor, and they come around my patio and look in the windows. One of them even comes into the condo if we leave the door open! They would sniff around the box and I tried to keep them away, in case Sophie would not want to use the litter box if she knew the cats had used it.

The next time I got some kitty litter, I found some Swheat Scoop Natural Litter. It's made from naturally processed wheat, has no clay and still clumps so it can be easily removed when wet! Sophie used to get the other kitty litter stuck between the pads of her paws, but this stopped once I started using the new litter! If any gets on her paws when she coems back inside now, it can easily be vacuumed up!

I'm going to train the puppy to use the litter box too. It will be a lot easier, and come in very handy, not only when it snows, but just because I will just have to let her outside. I'm not planning on letting her out there without using a leash though, because she could easily slip out underneight the fence. I'll have to think of a way to "husky proof" things out there!

Collar or Harness?

2007-10-23T00:53:00.000-04:00

I have been thinking about if I should use a collar or a harness when I get my puppy.

I've been reading as much as I can about huskies and most people seem to be trying to teach them not to pull. I can understand why you'd want to do that, but in my case I want the puppy to pull.

When she grows up she will be helping to pull my wheelchair, and I think it will be easier to use a harness right from the beginning and let her pull when walking, than use a collar and teach her not to pull so much.

Many of the sled dog owners seem to teach their dogs to pull when wearing their harness, and to not pull when just wearing their collar. I think this will be the best way to teach my puppy. That way she will pull when working, but when she's not she will know to walk on a loose leash.

She will also get use to wearing both a collar and leash, which will make the transition from her harness to her working harness a lot easier when she is fully grown!

Temperament Screening Tests

2007-10-20T22:28:00.000-04:00

FINDING A SUITABLE CANDIDATE FOR ASSISTANCE DOG WORK

by Joan FrolingNote: As author, I have decided to avoid gender preference by referring to a dog as "him," but either gender can be a fine service dog.

TEMPERAMENT SCREENING

After locating a dog that seems promising, programs, private trainers and experienced owner-trainers traditionally make use of three important tests. These tests reveal something about the dog's fundamental nature. If a dog scores well on all three, it is not a guarantee the dog will make it through training, but certainly the results will help the trainer decide if it is worthwhile or not to put a dog through a Thirty Day Evaluation (testing) Period for a much more extensive evaluation of his or her suitability for this career.

The Noise Sensitivity Test: Nothing is worse than trying to cope with an assistance dog afflicted with a malady known as "gun-shyness" according to the few unfortunate assistance dog partners who have been burdened with one. Too many outings will be ruined by the dog's intolerance for thunder, firecrackers, balloons popping at a party, doors slamming and other loud noises a team may encounter unexpectedly. Usually a dog is born with this malady, though a few may develop the tragic defect later in life, possibly as the result of a prolonged ear infection.

A trainer should test each candidate for Noise Sensitivity. One method is to drop a pot lid or similar object that makes a loud clatter on an uncarpeted floor or pavement. The range should be no closer than four feet away from the dog, as we don't want him to think it was deliberately thrown at him. If possible, drop it when the dog isn't looking at it. If the dog cringes in fear and won't stop trembling, pees on the floor or tries to bolt from the room in terror, the dog is afflicted. Scolding won't help, for the dog cannot control his reaction. Extreme Sensitivity to loud noises is thought to be a central nervous system defect. If a dog shows no reaction to the noise whatsoever, test him again in a different environment. If he still seems totally oblivious to it, beware. He may be deaf or too dull in mind for a career as a working dog.

An appropriate response would be a dog that startles, but recovers quickly. Some label this Medium or Normal Sensitivity. If the dog shows curiosity about the object, wants to sniff it, that is first rate. Also desirable but much more rare is a "nerves of steel" reaction from a supremely confident dog. Half the time the dog may not even turn around to take a look. There will be subtle indications he heard the sound but his tail keeps wagging and it is obvious loud noises don't bother him in the slightest. His fearless attitude is a delight. Some label it Low Sensitivity.

A dog should be tested on a variety of noises in a number of locations during the 30 Day Evaluation Period. What should you think about a dog that plainly becomes nervous when exposed to loud or unfamiliar noises, but not to the point of being terrified? The dog just seems unable to relax. The dog typically resists lying down. He'd rather remain on his feet. He appears watchful, wary. The dog may ignore commands or only comply with reluctance. He can't be comforted or cajoled out of this mood. The dog may refuse a treat if offered or spit it out, too stressed to eat. This would be labeled High Sensitivity. If lack of socialization to an urban environment is the problem, sometimes it may be possible to overcome it with a month of noise de-sensitization and field trips. If it is a genetic flaw, the nervousness will be generalized to most loud noises, not to just one or two specific sounds or to one public setting in particular. Behavior modification therapy won't cure an inborn fundamental lack of tolerance for loud or high pitched noises. From the standpoint of an assistance dog partner, a dog that is stressed by exposure to loud or unfamiliar noises and cannot learn to relax and take them in stride definitely lacks a proper temperament for this career.

The Body Sensitivity Test: The way a dog responds to this test is a pretty good indicator of what will happen in public when somebody accidently steps on his paw or the owner's mobility equipment bumps into the dog. The tester may have the pup or adult in her lap or may prefer to sit next to the dog. The tester picks up the dog's paw and quickly gives the skin between the dog's toes a brief hard pinch. If a dog shows no sign of feeling the pinch, try a more forceful one. If the dog continues to serenely ignore it, the dog has low body sensitivity, something that can negatively impact the training process in several ways.

A normal and appropriate response is for the dog to withdraw his paw or perhaps let out one yelp or climb out of the tester's lap, indicating he noticed the pinch .....but almost immediately, the pup or adult candidate turns around and "forgives" the tester. This ability to quickly recover and the willingness to "forgive" the offender is essential in a dog who is being considered for a career in the assistance dog field. It is a trait that will protect toddlers who give his fur a painful yank. It will prevent the dog from becoming fearful of people who use mobility equipment like a wheelchair after one unpleasant experience.

If a dog's body sensitivity is abnormally high, the dog will overreact to the pinch. Usually the dog will flee from the tester with shrill cries of protest. Typically, the dog will refuse to return and forgive the offender, but instead will act suspicious of her. Such a dog may carry a long term grudge. A few may react by biting the person who caused the pain. As a general rule of thumb, if a dog won't forgive the tester, refuses to "kiss and makeup," the dog's body sensitivity is too high for him to be a reliable assistance dog.

The Fetch Test: Research has established there is a high correlation between pups that score well on the Fetch Test and those dogs who grow up to successfully complete training and graduate as guide dogs 16 months later. This experimental work took place at the school, Guide Dogs for the Blind, in San Rafael, California in the 1950's & 60's. It seems the Fetch Test not only can demonstrate if a dog has a natural retrieving aptitude, it can be an accurate predictor of future trainability. It apparently measures a dog's innate willingness to cooperate with a human partner.

The tester should take a sock, a slipper or some other item that may appeal to a puppy or adult dog, briefly tease the dog with the item, toss it and observe the results. If the pup or adult dog chases after it and picks it up, he shows promise and if he brings it back, he passes the test with flying colors. Coaxing and encouragement are allowable. The test should be repeated three times and is most accurate when the tester is alone with the dog in a distraction free environment.

A poor score may not mean the pup is totally devoid of potential, since any pup can have an off day due to illness or fatigue. For that reason pups at Guide Dogs for the Blind were tested for four weeks in a row, from 8 weeks to 12 weeks old, to ensure each had a reasonable chance to show his true colors.

If a pup continually runs off with the item, he may grow up to be more independent in nature than desirable, but would be preferable to a pup or an adult dog that makes no effort at all to retrieve.

If an adult dog with a strong natural aptitude for retrieving is going through the stress of changing homes, he may refuse to retrieve during the first week or two. A trainer may wish to give an otherwise promising young dog the benefit of the doubt. However, if the dog still refuses to retrieve at the end of a 30 day trial period, it is no longer "a stress reaction," it is definitely a lack of a natural born aptitude.

Almost any dog can be trained to retrieve on command using compulsion techniques. That is not the point. You are testing for a dog that is eager to please and wants to cooperate with and interact with, a human partner.

Suppose the dog exhibits an eagerness to please when it comes to obedience, but for some mysterious reason, refuses to retrieve? A number of methods, such as click and treat or competition with another dog can be explored in the attempt to interest the dog in retrieving something voluntarily. If none of them work, a guide dog trainer or hearing dog trainer might accept such a dog on probation, but most service dog schools, private trainers and experienced owner-trainers would not, especially if he or she expects the service dog to perform a number of tasks based on retrieving in the future. Plenty of dogs in every breed enjoy retrieving. Those seeking a service dog candidate would be wise to start with one of those, rather than working with a dog that must be forced to retrieve against it's will.

I’ve chosen the puppy!

2007-10-20T14:41:00.000-04:00

I emailed the breeder about which puppy I want tonight. I had been thinking about it for a few weeks now. There were four females and two males in the litter and I had already narrowed it down to the females from the very beginning. The reasoning behind this has nothing to do with one sex being better than the other when being trained, but I didn’t want a male puppy that would climb all over my current yellow lab guide dog, Sophie until I had the puppy neutered. I want the whole process to be as stress free as possible for her.

From the very beginning, I totally fell in love with the puppy in this photo! She was 6 weeks and 2 days old here. I thought about one of the other puppy’s as a possibility, but I still had a nagging feeling that if I never got the puppy in the photo I would always regret it and wonder where she was, how she was doing and what could have been if she was mine.

I received an email from the breeder yesterday asking if I was still interested in the these puppies because some people were going to see them on Sunday. This made me think even more about the puppy I wanted. The first thing I thought about was how I couldn’t let the puppy I really wanted all this time go. I knew then that I had to choose that puppy! I’ve spent nights thinking about that particular puppy, and something in the back of my mind just couldn’t shake the feeling that this was “the” puppy for me. I know that I have made the right decision and don’t have any regrets. I also know that if I sent the email to the breeder saying that I wanted the other puppy I was thinking about, I would have regreted it as soon as I’d hit the “send” button!

Now I just have to think of a name for the puppy! I can’t just keep calling her “the puppy” all her life! I’ve been looking for a “husky” name. A name that when you hear it, you think “husky”. If anyone has any ideas, I’d love to hear them!

Service Tasks

2007-10-20T00:19:00.000-04:00

RETRIEVE BASED TASKS

Bring portable phone to any room in house
Unload suitable grocery items from bags
Fetch a beverage from a refrigerator or cupboard
Fetch food bowl(s)
Pick up dropped items like coins, keys etc., in any location
Bring clothes, shoes, or slippers laid out to assist with dressing
Unload towels, other items from dryer
Assist to tidy house or yard - pickup, carry, deposit designated items
Seek & find teamwork - direct the dog with hand signals, vocal cues to: retrieve an unfamiliar object out of partner’s reach locate TV remote control select one of several VCR tapes atop TV cabinet, other surfaces
Use target stick to retrieve an indicated item off shelves in stores retrieve one pair of shoes from a dozen in closet
Use laser pointer to target an item to be retrieved
Fetch wheelchair when out of reach

CARRYING BASED TASKS (non retrieval)

Lug a basket of items around the house
Transport items to a specific location
Carry item(s) from the partner to a family member in another room
Send the dog to obtain food or other item from a family member and return with it.
Carry items following a partner
Pay for purchases at high counters
Transfer merchandise in bag from a clerk to a wheelchair user’s lap
Carry mail or newspaper into the house

DEPOSIT BASED TASKS

Put trash, junk mail into a wastebasket or garbage can
Deposit empty soda pop can or plastic bottle into recycling bin
Assist partner to load clothing into top loading washing machine
Dirty food bowl [dog's] - put into kitchen sink
Put silverware, non breakable dishes, plastic glasses in sink
Deliver items to “closet” [use a floor marker to indicate drop location]
Deposit dog toys into designated container
Put prescription bag, mail, other items on counter top

TUG BASED TASKS

Open cupboard doors with attached strap
Open drawers via strap
Open refrigerator door with a strap or suction cup device
Open interior doors via a strap with device to turn knob
Answer doorbell and open front door with strap attached to lever handle
Open or close sliding glass door with a strap or other tug devices
Shut restroom door that opens outward via a leash tied to doorknob
Close stall door that opens outward in restroom by delivering end of the leash to partner
Shut interior home, office doors that open outward
Shut exterior home, office doors that open inward
Assist to remove shoes, slippers, sandals
Tug socks off without biting down on foot
Remove slacks, sweater, coat
Drag heavy coat, other items to closet
Drag laundry basket through house with a strap
Drag bedding to the washing machine
Pull a drapery cord to open or close drapes
Assist to close hotel room drapes by tugging on edge near bottom of drape, backing up

NOSE NUDGE BASED TASKS

Cupboard door or drawers - nudge shut
Dryer door - hard nudge
Stove drawer - push it shut
Dishwasher door - put muzzle under open door, flip to shut
Refrigerator & freezer door - close with nudge
Operate button or push plate on electric commercial doors
Turn on light switches
Push floor pedal device to turn on lamp
Turn on metal based lamps with touch-lamp device installed - nudge base
Assist wheelchair user to regain sitting position if slumped over
Return paralyzed foot to the foot board of a wheelchair if it is dislodged

PAWING BASED TASKS (some dogs prefer it to nose nudge)

Cupboard door - shut it with one paw
Dryer door - shut it with one paw
Refrigerator & freezer door - one forepaw or both
Operate light switch on wall - jump up, paw the switch
Depress floor pedal device to turn on appliance(s) or lamp
Jump up to paw elevator button [steady dog if he tries it on slippery tile floor]
Operate push plate on electric commercial doors
Close heavy front door, other doors - jump up, use both forepaws

BRACING BASED TASKS (no harness)

Transfer assistance from wheelchair to bed, toilet, bathtub or van seat - hold Stand Stay position, then brace on command, enabling partner to keep their balance during transfer
Assist partner to turn over in bed; have appropriate backup plan

HARNESS BASED TASKS - Mobility Assistance (Only appropriate for large sturdy adult dogs with sound joints, proper training)

Assist moving wheelchair on flat [partner holds onto harness pull strap] avoiding obstacles
Work cooperatively with partner to get the wheelchair up a curb cut or mild incline; handler does as much of the work as possible, never asking the dog to attempt an incline unaided
Haul open heavy door, holding it ajar using six foot lead attached to back of harness, other end of lead attached to door handle or to a suction cup device on a glass door
Pull partner in/out of aisle seat on plane, and help into/out of seat
Backpacking - customary weight limit is 15% of the dog’s total body weight;10% if a dog performing another task, such as wheelchair pulling in addition to backpacking; total weight includes harness (average 3 - 4 lbs.). Load must be evenly distributed to prevent chafing.

OTHER KINDS OF ASSISTANCE IN CRISIS

Bark for help on command
Find a family member on command, lead back to location of partner
Put forepaws in lap of wheelchair user, hold that upright position so wheelchair user can access medication or cell phone or other items in the backpack
Wake up partner if smoke alarm goes off, assist to nearest exit

Guiding Tasks

2007-10-20T00:06:00.000-04:00

OBSTACLE AVOIDANCE

Navigate around stationary obstacles like a lamp post, parking meters, pillars
Navigate around hazards like an open manhole and deep potholes
Navigate around low hanging obstacles like awnings or a tree branch to avoid a collision
Avoid moving objects such as bicycles, people, strollers, shopping carts, wheelchairs
Leash guiding around obstacles indoors or outdoors for a short distance
Intelligent Disobedience as in refusing a command to go forward into the road if there is oncoming traffic or intersecting traffic in the team’s path. The dog is also trained to halt, abruptly, rather than collide with a vehicle that intersects the team’s path when it enters the intersection during the team’s crossing

SIGNAL CHANGES IN ELEVATION

Halt or Sit to indicate every curb
Halt to indicate descending stairs at the top of a flight of stairs
Halt to indicate steps up into a building or patio area
Halt to warn of edge of subway or train platform
Halt to warn of approach to edge of cliff, ditch, other outdoor drop-offs
Halt when confronted by a barrier such as at construction site
Intelligent disobedience - refuse a command to go forward if there is a drop-off

LOCATE OBJECTS ON COMMAND

Find an exit from a room; indicate door knob
Find the elevator bank
Find specific entrances and/or exits
Find an empty seat, bench, or unoccupied area
Find a customary seat in a particular classroom
Follow a designated person such as a waiter to restaurant table, clerk to elevator, etc.
Locate specified destination such as store in mall, hotel room or home from a distance, once all other decision points such as intersecting streets, hallways, etc. have been passed