Training Day 12

When I got to Bailey's house my trainer was practicing with him staying on the mat. Of course when he saw me he got up to greet me and I just stopped my chair and ignored him. My trainer got him to lay back down on the mat and I rolled in the room without him getting up. My trainer then released him to "go say hi". Then she left and we did some bell training using the new chicken liver flavored Kong stuffing instead of the cheez whiz or cream cheese. My trainer had emailed me over the weekend and said that cream cheese can cause diarrhea and suggested the kong stuffing. Bailey loved it! Then it was time for auto-sit training. I wanted to show my trainer what I had taught Bailey, so I asked her to come outside and watch. She was very impressed. We discussed his barking and she told me that she makes him watch all the dogs in her guide dog class come in one by one into the training area. She will then only praise him when he sits quietly and doesn't bark and try to greet the dogs. When he's barking she either waits for him to stop or makes a distracting noise to get his attention. When he looks up at her and stops barking then she rewards him. I think this is an excellent plan to get him to stop barking/greeting other dogs and people. After coming inside Bailey crashed out! I wanted to get him to pee before lunch so after about a half hour of him napping I took him outside. One problem with teaching him to automatically sit when I stop my chair, is that now he thinks he should always sit instead of going to the bathroom. But after three rounds of walking him around the pool he finally went. I think he kinda didn't have to go because he only peed a little bit. Then it was lunch time, and he crashed out again in his crate. My aide and I were discussing how his body language changes when he is leashed to me. When he's leashed to me he is more focused and alert and kinda struts when he walks. When he's not leashed to me he seems much more aloof. I'm very pleased because it shows he knows he's working when he is leashed to me. After lunch I wanted to take him out front for an auto-sit session. This time I wanted to be more sporadic with the treats and not give him one every time he sat, but every few times. He overall did great. But there was this one spot on the lawn he was super intrigued by and every time I took him over there he wouldn't auto-sit. So it became my new favorite spot to take him to. Eventually he started to sit when I took him to the spot. He did wonderfully otherwise. Then it was crate time.

Training Day 11

Again when I got to my trainer's house Bailey was playing in the Tennis courts, and he was super excited to see me. I got him and we immediately went to the grocery store. It had been six days since he had been in the car, but he jumped right in. The grocery store was very crowded and I was a bit nervous as to how Bailey would react, but he was superb. He stayed next to me while we went all around the store. I did some auto-sit training and considering he had a lot of distractions he did very well. He wasn't as fast as in the backyard but that will come. After I got back to Baileys house I took him to pee. Then I wanted to see if he liked the cream cheese so we did bell training. He seemed to like it. He did pass out after five minutes.(not from the cream cheese, he was just tired) After lunch I wanted to do another auto-sit session in the backyard. He nailed it! I'm so impressed by his ability to learn. After, I put him in the Tennis courts with his buddies and called it a day.

Training Day 10

When we got there today Bailey was happily running around on the pool cover (which he is not supposed to be doing). The woman who was watching Bailey brought him in just as I was going to go outside to get him. We then did bell training and he was nearly 100%. I talked to his Vet who said cheez whiz in large quantities was not good for him, so instead we kept using the peanut butter. After bell training I wanted to see if he remembered the "auto-sit" session from yesterday and lo and behold he did! He sat quickly every time I stopped my wheelchair. Then it was time for something brand new. Because I had to hang out with Bailey today my physical therapist came over to Bailey's house. I wanted to set him up for success. So rather than let him wander around off the leash, and have my aide keep calling him back when he got in the way, I asked my aide to sit with him and keep him on the leash. He did amazing and slept on his mat the entire time (1 hour). Then I took him to go potty, and then it was lunch time. He just chilled out while I ate. After lunch I wanted to do one more "auto-sit" session. He did phenomenally! I put him in the kitchen before I left. Tomorrow we're going to the grocery store to get cream cheese, which his Vet recommended as an alternative to cheez whiz. Here's a video of Bailey automatically sitting.

Training Day 9

So from today until Friday my Trainer is out of town delivering another service dog to its owner. This means I get to see Bailey Wednesday- Friday. When I got to my Trainer's house all of the dogs were playing in her Tennis courts. Usually when I get there Bailey is hanging out in his crate or if he is in the Tennis courts, my Trainer gets him out for me. However today I had to get him out of the Tennis courts. When I was rolling up to the Tennis courts Bailey got super excited and started jumping around, wagging his tail and running towards the gate. None of the other dogs were nearly as excited as he was. When I got him out, he was excitedly wiggling and licking my hand. What's more I had a new aide with me that Bailey had only met one time before, so I knew that he was excited because he saw me and not my aide. After we got in the house we did bell training and he was very good. I used peanut butter as a reward because I want to ask his vet about the cheez whiz before I continue to use it. We also practiced the mat. I cooked up some chicken treats ( recipe here) and rather than make him pop up to lick peanut butter off my hand (which kind of defeats the purpose of having him lie on the mat), I asked my aide to periodically toss him a treat if he stayed on the mat. He did super well and eventually just conked out. After his nap I decided to try something new. I eventually want him to automatically sit every time I stop my chair. To train this I just took Bailey on the leash and walked him in the back yard. I perodically stopped and just waited for him to sit and look up at me (sometimes this took a minute), and when he did my aide would use the clicker and hand him a chicken treat. He got it sooooo fast (within 15 minutes). By the end of the training session he was sitting quickly everytime I stopped my chair. Then it was lunch time. Bailey just slept the whole time. I wanted to do one more "auto-sit session" after lunch, to really cement the lesson in. He again did remarkably well. My aide thought that I had previously been working with him to automatically sit. And I was like No. After we were done he got to hang out with his brother.

Training day 8- For real

So apparently nothing fazes my dog. When I got to my trainer's house, Bailey was his normal happy self. My trainer said (again) nobody really knows why he was sick. I had a coffee date with my friend and decided to bring Bailey's mat. I was not sure if Bailey would lay on it or stay on it but I was like, let's bring it and see what happens. He remembered the car and jumped right in. This was his first ride with a seat-belt on and he did great. At Starbucks, we put his mat down and he stayed on it the whole time (about 1 hour). I was very impressed! He did kind of sit up a few times but lay back down without a problem or having to be asked. The more he learns to do things automatically, the less commands I have to use. For example, sit at the door. I could make a signal for it but it would be pretty tiring to stop driving, do the sign, and continue driving after he sits. If he learns to do it automatically, I just have to stop driving and wait.

So after Starbucks I took Bailey back to his house and he peed for one minute straight. I thought it was odd because he hadn't had too much to drink but my aide reminded me that he had been pumped full of fluids the previous day. During lunch, he went on his own into his crate with the door wide open. He crashed all during lunch.

After lunch it was play time. We went to the side yard where there are lots of toys and started chucking tennis balls. Bailey is a funny guy- he doesn't chase balls, he waits until they stop rolling and then walks over and picks it up. He doesn't have 'retrieve' down yet. He often just lies down with the ball. Funny boy.

After play time since it was so hot and he was tired, I put him in his crate and left. I didn't do bell training becuase I thought Cheese-Whiz might not be a good idea today. I discovered that Bailey is kind of vain. The vet had to shave a small patch from his front leg where the IV was put. Bailey kept looking at it like "what??" He literally did that 20 times. A dog with fashion sense.

Bailey update

So after $800.00 it turns out Bailey just has a stomach ache. He had x-rays, spent the night at a specialist, drank barium to see if he had a blockage in his intestines. But no, just a stomach ache. I'm relieved! And extra relieved that my insurance will pay for part of it.

Training day 8- cancelled

As I was getting ready to go see Bailey this morning, my cell phone rang and it was my trainer telling me Bailey had been throwing up all night and needed to go to the vet. She asked if I wanted to meet her there, but I figured me, my two aides (one is in training), my trainer, and a sick dog in a small examining room might be too much. So I said just keep me updated. As of now, nobody knows what is causing the pain and vomiting. He is with an abdominal specialist getting x-rays and medicine to help him poop. The good and bad thing is we can't see any major blockage. It's good because he doesn't have a huge obstruction but bad because we have no clue what it is. So I'm just waiting to hear what's the verdict. I had to choose what level of resuscitation to authorize- no resuscitation, CPR only, or open heart. That was weird, especially for a 6 month old puppy. So send Bailey good poop vibes.