Richard Crowe's Blog – October 2009 Archive (11)

Therapy Simulation Night

Holly's fourth night at Therapy Dog Prep School was a simulation night. There were volunteer actors playing a number of roles at seven stations around the training room. The various stations were designed to introduce the dog and handler to possible stressful situations in a variety of therapy venues. The simulations were designed as much to train the handler how to intervene in situations that might become stressful for the dog as to introduce the dog to the various situations.

I… Continue

Added by Richard Crowe on October 28, 2009 at 7:00am — No Comments

FOCUS COMMAND

The other evening at training, I noticed a poodle that had been taught the "Focus!" command. When that command was given, the poodle would stop what he was doing and look directly into his owner's eyes. This was a neat command that would distract the poodle from any unwanted activity and would also serve as a prelude to any other command because the owner had the dog's complete attention, no matter what was distracting the poodle.

I am now working with Holly on the "Focus!" command.… Continue

Added by Richard Crowe on October 22, 2009 at 8:44am — 5 Comments

HOLLYS THIRD NIGHT AT THERAPY DOG BOOTCAMP

It is awesome how well Holly is reacting to these training sessions and how well she is accepting the other dogs. Holly was once frightened of big dogs but, through training and exposure like this, we have reduced that fright to almost a non-factor.

The training is completely reward centered and there are no corrections applied. All of the dogs have have had at least basic obedience training and all of the dogs know most of the basic commands such as sit, down and stay! Additionally,… Continue

Added by Richard Crowe on October 21, 2009 at 8:12am — 6 Comments

We will test Holly's Cool Coat today

Holly doesn't do well in the heat so we got her a cool coat:

http://www.shop.com/Cool_Vest-88371539-109255158-p+.xhtml?sourceid=298

It's a fairly hot October day and we are having a family outing in a park where the projected temperature will be 77 degrees. We are bringing Holly's cool coat to see how well it does in moderately warm temperatures. We still don't plan to have her out in really hot temperatures.

I placed a photo of Holly in her coat on my… Continue

Added by Richard Crowe on October 17, 2009 at 10:30am — 1 Comment

Holly went to the beauty parlor today...

Holly's groomer called to say that she had a cancellation which opened a spot for Holly today. After her trip to the beauty parlor, we took her to the Bates Nut Farm Pumpkin Patch in Valley Center, CA to shoot some pictures which I posted tonight.

Added by Richard Crowe on October 15, 2009 at 10:10pm — 4 Comments

Holly's Trip To Canterbury Gardens

We took Holly for some photos to Canterbury Gardens which is a lovely holiday oriented store in Escondido, CA. I contacted the manager the previous day to get permission and he asked me to come right after the store opened but, before there were a lot of customers. As usual, Holly was her cooperative self but, she must have been stressed out a bit because she had her tongue out the entire time. Oh well, all dogs have tongues and sometimes they stick out.

Unfortunately, we forgot the… Continue

Added by Richard Crowe on October 15, 2009 at 12:30pm — 1 Comment

Holly's second Night At Therapy Dog Bootcamp

Tonight we concentrated on the "Leave It!" command. We started off with easy stuff and progressed to the point where if the instructor would offer a treat and we would give the command, "Leave it!" the dog would turn away from the treat. Holly did very well at that.

The command is designed for rest homes or skilled nursing facilities where there might be a pill on the floor for the dog to grab.

We ended the night with the dogs walking through a "mine field" with treats all… Continue

Added by Richard Crowe on October 13, 2009 at 10:06pm — 2 Comments

Holly's Evolution As A Watch Dog, continued...

Holly is now a bit over 21 months old and weighs about 60-pounds which, although not on the big side for a Doodle, is still a pretty big dog. We had tree trimmers on our property today and last Saturday, thinning the deadwood out of our oak trees and spraying and fertilizing the trees.

Holly was absolutely fierce looking barking at the trimmers through the sliding glass door. However when I brought her out and introduced her to the trimmers; she calmed down and accepted that they… Continue

Added by Richard Crowe on October 12, 2009 at 10:48am — 1 Comment

Holly was spooked yesterday...

I was walking Holly in the business section of downtown Escondido yesterday because it is a great place for her to meet people and to get used to traffic noises and other distractions. Suddenly she panicked. There were three of those aluminum colored helium balloons (the type sold by florists and other vendors for birthdays and other occasions) tied to a post and blowing in the wind.

She was terribly afraid of them. I walked a bit down the street to get away from the balloons and… Continue

Added by Richard Crowe on October 8, 2009 at 8:00am — 7 Comments

Holly's first night at Therapy Dog Bootcamp

Last night Holly completed her first session at her Therapy Dog indoctrination class and she did very well. This was marvelous socialization for Holly. There were ten dogs with their owners and three instructors. Usually, the class has five instructors so there is a one instructor to two dog ratio but, two of the usual instructors were at a conference out of town. The dogs ranged in size from a miniature doxie up to a goldendoodle twice Holly's size. Big Boomer was 112 pounds while Holly is… Continue

Added by Richard Crowe on October 7, 2009 at 7:54am — 1 Comment

Change of Plans for Sweetie

The man who was going to adopt Sweetie changed his mind for some unknown reason. However, Judy and I have decided to make our home a forever home for Sweetie. We love her and she is happy with us; we do not ever want her abandoned again! Both her puppies are gone to their new homes and Sweetie is staying with us.

Added by Richard Crowe on October 4, 2009 at 7:33pm — 6 Comments