Tips for SD training March 14, 2008

I continue to collect tips and suggestions for service training a puppy (or dog) from internet groups and friends. I will add to this page as Kenai and I learn. I have discovered there are some very big differences between the basic obedience training I gave my rescues, and SD training. When it comes to teaching commands, the standard petsmart companion class skills are not always practical in the situations that an SD faces.

I do not know what skills are taught to guide dogs, hearing dogs, or other SD, but what I need from Kenai as a mobility assistance dog is a little different from companion obedience skills, and I’ve “tweaked” his commands. Take ‘come front’ as an example: in classes the dog is told to stay and you walk away, then call him to come, or ‘come front’ for competition dogs.

I don’t want Kenai to sit or down in front of me, because he will almost never sit facing me in our public work. He will be at my left or right side. Had I thought about that, I wouldn’t have bothered with the “come front” command, and taught him that come means to return to me and wind up on my left or right side (come heel, come side) every time. I could have skipped the come front in favor of come heel or come side and not spent the time and energy on something he will not use.

Some things you can’t really prepare for, like Kenai deciding to do his sit/stays facing backwards. How was I to know he’d do that? Never seen a dog sit backwards! Every dog will have surprises like that, I suppose, but I just bet having trained him to hold his focus on me would have prevented him from wanting to watch what all was around and behind him. Silly boy! 

This compilation of tips and thoughts isn’t in any prioritized order, and far from complete, but you might find some very helpful ideas. If you would take the time to leave a comment, I’d be happy to add or address specific ideas, problems and such. Leave me a name and a way to email you is all.

Socialize, socialize, socialize the little ones

The most important thing in training a service dog is teaching them to be calm anywhere, anytime, around anyone in public. The younger they are when you start (8-9 wks) the better! They will have developmental periods where timidness or excitability just appears. But in my opinion, socializing them is actually more important than obedience training early on–you can’t teach a pup, or get reliable responses if the pup’s uncomfortable.

I wish I had exposed Kenai to more noisy, busy places, or had someone to do it for me when I couldn’t. Anywhere crowded, loud, and full of activity will make their later behavior better. Concerts, fairs, livestock auctions, downtown streets, family reunions, farmers markets, hardware stores, baseball games, doggie day cares, yoga or aeorobics classes, Bluegrass festivals, movie theaters, dog parks, plant nurseries, parades… you name it, get them exposed early and often.  

Speed of learning

There are phases of development in a puppy, with lots of factors involved. But generally, the best idea is to start their socialization and basic obedience the moment you get them home. Young puppies learn very fast, and can retain skills they learn at that age better when the stubborn puppy phases come, or if bad experiences affect them. And that will happen.

Slower is better. Most people, myself included tend to get in a rush and see if their pup can pass the Good Canine Citizen test faster than anyone else. What I’ve learned is a fantastic pup can come apart on you for a week or more, and you find yourself working on the most basic of skills. Puppies have phases! They do not mature, setting their personality and habits, until 2-3 years old depending on the breed and the pup. There is no reason to get in a hurry.

There are a few things I wish I had known and worked on with Kenai from the very start. The most important was something that often gets overlooked: shaping his overall focus. Had I known how much of a struggle it would become for him to keep his attention on me in distracting situations, I would have taken advantage of his pliancy at 9 weeks old to heavily reward him for watching me until it was a default behavior.

The Most Important Skill to Work On

Of all the commands and tasks that a pup has to learn, the one I’ve found most important is loose leash walking. I’ve taken some negative comments for not wavering in expecting Kenai to walk at my side without pulling or setting the pace. Sure, he had his sled dog periods, but I never stopped asking and expecting a loose leash walk from day one. It came naturally to him, then it had to be taught. But we’ve never stopped focusing on it.

Now that we’ve switched from leash to guide harness, I have a deeper appreciation for all the effort and consistant practice we put in. Now he’s not just near my side, he is AT my side, bumping bodies close. The times he would try to drop his head for a sniff on leash pulled my arm a little, but if he tries it in harness, it pulls my body to the side.

Think of a loose leash walk as a waltz danced at arm’s length. There’s more room for error, and a little imprecision doesn’t make much difference. But when you’re leaning on a harness handle, the dance is more like a body rubbing tango. He is both more able to balance me, and consequently more able throw me off balance in a harness.

Retrieving, basic puppy

Most pups haven’t learned much about toys. I know my Kenai didn’t. Pups fresh out of a litter are used to horsing around with littermates, which is essential for them to learn the basics of bite inhibition and other social skills. Toys are usually as new to them as the house you bring them into. And Danes aren’t natural retrievers like labs, so with Kenai I had to start from the very basic beginnings. 

A friend who also has more than one pup in the house (oh the funnies and exhaustion), Roni http://www.myspace.com/mililponiesnfriends/, wrote this email to me for teaching Kenai how to retrieve, and I add it here with some editing (my spelling isn’t so hot either) and her permission.

“The biggest thing is he is only 8 weeks old and at 8 weeks he is just starting to see toys as fun. Work on just building his interest in them by taking the ones he likes and giving a two inch toss or even just keep it moving in your hand. That may only interest him for around 20 seconds, and you want to make sure that he doesnt lose interest in the toy before the game stops.

So find out how long you can get him to show interest then stop right before that happens. If he will follow the toy in your hand and try to get it even the smallest amount for 2 minutes…you play for 1 minute 30 seconds and stop, leaving him still wanting to play. You would do that twice maybe three times a day at this age. After around a week or so you can up the time you play.

Also you want to make playing with the toys with you the best thing possible. even if he shows no more interest then watching you…you toss the toy up and even play catch with yourself you want to show how much fun you have playing with the toy. Even if that sounds a bit dumb it does help.

Now is the time to start working when he is next to you–put a toy in his mouth even if that means you open the mouth and you put the toy in there telling him the command you want him to use for picking something up. Say “take” (mine is pick up),  praise, and then say the command you want for him to give it to you, like “give” (mine is let go) and praise him. This may mean you have to hold the toy in his mouth so he won’t drop it before you tell him to. It is slow but it works. and you can make sure you teach it right that way.”

 Another friend added that I shouldn’t scold Kenai for picking things up, like slippers or towels in the laundry. Except of course for something dangerous. Just have him bring it to you and praise him for it. I add, that afterwards, you keep your slippers off the floor or you’ll get more practice at this than you wanted!

More than one puppy

Having more than one pup can cause some serious problems in service training. I got myself a double whammy by bringing home a pair of brothers. I was willing to take on the added difficulties because my Mom wanted BB so much. So I have already learned a very valuable lesson in the days they’ve been home with me: their relationship affects everything.

Kenai alone is already a gem at 9 weeks, walking with me undistracted by trucks, shopping carts, and will walk past people or dogs if I keep going. But if his brother is with us, he’s not going to mind or even pay attention. It’s already happened, only 4 days in. A second puppy can both complicate the progress, and help it if there is a competitiveness between them.

More than one pup is more work, and personally I don’t think I’ll try it again in my weakened state. But many people prefer having several pups to watch and choose their SD from. Much of that decision is based upon your time, energy, and budget.    

Sit and auto-sit

Sit is the easiest puppy class skill there is. When they are fairly calm, I start by having them learn their name means to look at me. Just swipe a treat in front of their nose, call their name as you move the treat up to your nose. They’ll look at you. Then move the treat towards their nose, going slightly above their head so they put their head up, and say “sit” as they plop the puppy tush down. If they back up instead, place them so their butt is against a wall, and they will sit.   

My boy has excellent sits, and I can’t really take credit for it. By nature Kenai is calm, and would rather observe the goings on before he gets into the middle of something. He sits and watches first. Then he bulldozes his way in. 27 pounds at 9 weeks is big enough to win the litter rumpus. Anyway… Sit on command took less than one day to teach. 

He just naturally sits a few moments after I stop walking, and watches me. It’s referred to as “auto-sit”. I was super proud of that, thinking how grand it was he would do it without me teaching him. Now you see the difference between my experience at rescue rehab in obedience class and SD training–an auto sit can be a very bad idea if you need a dog for balance. It’s fine for dogs that are not used for balance. But not if you’re dizzy.

I do like the auto sit in public, because it is such a very polite way to greet someone. Kenai as a service dog has to be as unobtrusive as a Great Dane can be in a grocery store. His behavior must be absolutely impeccable, maybe even more so than for smaller breeds of service dogs. An auto sit gives an immediate impression of calmness and control.  

Yet since I need Kenai also for balance, I’ve decided to teach him an additional word: “stand” or “brace”. If I see him ready to sit when I stop and I need him to keep my balance, I will have the option of intervening in the auto sit when I need to. Mostly his strength will get me up and down stairs or inclines, but there are times I do get light headed and wobbly. So that beautiful Dane brain will have to expand its vocabulary.

Down stays

Another thing I didn’t take into acount when teaching and practicing down stays with Kenai, is the fact that the dog has to be under the table, or in the case of Danes who won’t fit, right beside my seat. Kenai prefers to down with a little room around him. Oops. The class tendency to practice with a dog while facing them has struck again. I should have taught him to down at my side, and against the chair, right from the start.

Teach your SD pup to sit and down on your left side (heel), or your right if that is the side you need (come side). And to practice it in tight spaces. I need to get Kenai to down EXACTLY where I want him. His body is going to be near 3 feet long, so the butt sticking out would interfere with traffic. No rump rolling, my love!

Oh, and teach them to tuck the tail, so it doesn’t get stepped on…

Bracing, Backpacks, Carts and Harnesses

NOTE: Kenai will not be bracing (holding my weight) until the growth plates in his bones close, and he is an adult. The back pack he will wear even as a puppy will not have any substantial weight in it, either. Never, Never, Never put weight on a growing puppy, or you could seriously damage their bones and joints. Their SD career would end before they took off the in training patch.

That said, I started teaching Kenai about 4 months old to stand in front of me when I want to get up from or sit in a chair and putting my hand on his shoulders. No weight, just the pressure of my hand. And when getting up from the floor, Kenai comes to either heel or right side as I ask so I can put a hand on him. It is simply to get him accustomed to the procedure we will use when he’s old enough to really help me get up and down.

At around 8 months old, I started teaching him to go up one step and stop, waiting until I was on the step with him. Then I say step, and he goes up one more step and waits. This is something I will need him to do so I can get up the stairs on my weak days. I plan on teaching him to go down one step and wait once he has the idea.

Great Dane SD pros and cons

I’ve had a life long love affair with Great Danes. But my main reason for  wanting a Great Dane for a Service Dog was the one reason no programs and few trainers will accept them: their sheer size.  When I get a real screamer of a migraine, I can become practically blind, and have very poor coordination.

Sometimes the CFIDS (chronic fatigue immune dysfunction syndrome–now you know why I abbreviate.) will make my muscles shakey and weak, to the point that they simply quit working. I’ve been caught in public when I walked to far, then lost all control of my leg muscles and couldn’t walk at all for a time. There are inmumerable places I have not gone, and outings with friends I’ve skipped because I wasn’t sure my body would hold out.

So Kenai was chosen for both body, mind, and spirit: he is calm, highly intelligent, and BIG. His sire was the sturdiest, strongest looking Dane I’ve ever seen, and I’ve had Danes that reached 220 pounds without being fat. Benicio had giant feet, and his chest/shoulders were so wide and muscled that my entire hand could rest on the withers with room to spare. And he has a sensitivity and thoughtfulless.

 Benicio, Shakira Kennels.

In fact, when I met Bennie, I was having trouble walking that day. He skipped the doggie hello procedures and went right to sniffing my left leg. Then he looked up at me like he knew. He walked beside me the rest of the time I was in the yard, even pushing the excited brood bitches away from me so the swinging Dane butts didn’t knock me down. When one young sweet bitch swatted me he gave her a warning growl. I leaned on him a little and he never moved, just gazed at me as if he was glad to help. He had no training for this, he just did it. He’s a Dane. So I have high hopes for Kenai.

The down side of a Great Dane SD is very real: they are prone to illness, and age as quickly as they grew. The average life expectancy of a Dane these days is a pitiful and heartbreaking 7 years. So after 2 years of training, you could have as little as 4 years of service before age gives them mobility problems. And if they fall victim to illness, there is far less time.