Training Day 55- Last One (kinda)

So today was the last day that I went to my trainer's to work with Bailey. Next week if I get a chance to visit him it will only be to hang out and not for training. On January 3rd I will be bringing him home and the training will be less scheduled and more randomly throughout the day. I have been thinking about how I want to continue the blog. Blogging every day will get very boring for my readers (and for me). So I will be posting blogs every Friday to give a recap of the weeks training, unless something blog worthy occurs that just can't wait until Friday. I feel Bailey is ready to come home and I think having him here will speed up his learning of tasks/strengthen our bond even further.
So when we got there today Bailey was in his crate. He was tap-dancing to get out and once the door opened he immediately gave me kisses. We had a little visitor today. A fifteen year old poodle mix named Louie. My trainer asked if he could stay in the den with us since the dogs out back were getting rowdy. So I started Bailey off with the light switch today and it's become waaaay to easy for him. Bailey kept turning the light on over and over without being asked and with no hesitation in between.
We then moved out back to work on an old favorite- auto sit. Bailey was pretty rusty and needed reminding. But once his memory was sparked he was right on every time. At one point I was walking Bailey and an adorable chocolate doodle was let out of the tennis courts to head home with her owner. She came around the corner and saw Bailey with me. For a moment she just stared and then suddenly put her front paws forward and bent her head down, butt straight up in the air, almost looking as though she were about to attack Bailey. But it was her way of getting ready to attack play! She jumped up from her crouch and bullet sped towards Bailey, tail wagging, ready to wrestle. Bailey said hello but kept his cool since he knew he was working. The whole thing was so cute!
After auto sit I took Bailey to get busy and then we went back in the den for some chill time. He crashed out instantly and slept like a rock. Soon we had lunch and then it was play time! I wanted to be there for one last play time in the side yard because I really enjoy watching him play with all his buddies. Here is a video of Bailey playing with his friend Charlie. Sooo cute!
Merry Christmas to those of you who celebrate!

Training Day 54-Home visit #2

My trainer offered to drop off Bailey at my house today. My aide went outside and got him out of car and brought him into the house. She said he was eagerly looking around the dining room for me, and as soon as he saw me in the bedroom he jumped up on me and gave me some "hello" kisses. He seemed a lot more comfortable today in the house than he did the first time he was here. He walked around the house with his head up and seemed to know where he was going. Also, once I took him off leash he immediately settled onto his bed and began to chew his bone. Last time it took him a while before he relaxed and used the things I had bought him. Even then he merely pushed the bone around curiously but never actually took ownership of it.
  So after a bit of chill time I wanted to try the light switch task on my actual light switches throughout my bedroom. He did amazing. He turned on the lights every time. First I had him turn on the one in my bedroom a few times and then we moved into the bathroom and I asked him to turn on that one as well. Then I put him back on leash and I took him into the living room to decorate the Christmas tree we got a couple day ago. He just settled down next to me and watched all the activity. Sadly it's raining today so I couldn't take him outside for play time. My aide did take him to get busy when there were lulls in the rain storm. At lunch time I had Bailey on leash with me and he did great! He just settled down next to me while I ate and chatted with my aide. After lunch it was time for me to "get busy". I decided to chance it and let Bailey off leash. He did great!  In fact he went over to his bed and just laid down. My teeth brushing didn't seem as interesting to him this time. ( I was kind of bummed because I had my camera ready for Bailey's cute look). After that we took him back to my trainer's house. I was sad to drop him off but I know he's coming home soon.  Here are some pictures of Bailey chilling on his bed.

Training Day 53-Presents!

So when I got there today Bailey and his friend Lucy (a pit bull, not his Chihuahua girlfriend) were hanging out in the den. My trainer asked if I wanted her to take Lucy out of the room and I said no. Lucy is usually pretty mellow and I thought things would remain calm. Boy was I wrong. Bailey greeted me with tons of kisses and tail wagging. I think his excitement was infectious because Lucy seemed pretty happy to see me too. When my aide left the room to put our lunch away the two dogs saw something outside and went totally nuts. My aide came back into the room when she heard all of the fuss. She described what she saw as the equivalent of 40 kindergartners running around during recess on a sugar high. All of Bailey's manners disappeared. Lucy and Bailey were zooming around the den, barking and jumping on and off the furniture over and over. We tried to get them in line and they would momentarily sit but as soon as we blinked they'd be back at it. After a couple minutes they calmed down and began to listen. It was pretty funny,all that chaos.
I wanted to actually get some training done, so we put Lucy in the crate to rest. It was a good distraction for Bailey actually, because he could still see her while we were training. We did the light switch and Bailey did awesome. He is a lot more confident jumping and didn't hesitate at all today. We then worked on "leave it"  and Bailey was a pro. Lucy's Dad came to pick her up so Bailey had no more distractions.
  In one of the SD forums I participate in, some of the SD owners decided to do a Secret Santa gift exchange. Luckily right as I was leaving today my package arrived from my Secret Santa. So since Lucy was now out of the room, I thought it would be a good time for Bailey and I to open our package. Bailey was so excited and couldn't hold still for pictures. He kept sniffing the package all over and wagging his tail. Then once the box was open he shoved his face into it to see what was inside. It was so cute! Here are some shots from Bailey's first gift opening.After that it was chill time and Bailey crashed out.

  Once he had a good rest I wanted to do the light one more time. He did great. After that it was lunch time. Bailey crashed out again. After that my aide took Bailey out to "get busy". I think he's trying to act like a grown up because my aide said for the first time ever, he kind of lifted his leg while getting busy. But he was still leaning forward at the same time and positioned in the middle of the lawn. Funny boy. After that we put Bailey in his crate and headed home.
Over the weekend my trainer took Bailey, his brother Liam and her dog Magic to visit Santa. She said Bailey was great and wasn't shy around Santa at all. I was honestly kind of surprised, I mean a fat man in a red suit with a giant beard can be kind of scary sometimes.

Training Day 52

Today it was raining. When we got there today Bailey was waiting for me in the den. He was happy to see me and gave me a bunch of kisses. We went straight into a light switch session with the tall switch. I can tell he is still not 100%  comfortable jumping but is getting better. He sometimes looks up at me like "Mom do I really have to jump on the wall?", but he's slowly getting more comfortable.
So after light we did a very scaled down version of hide and seek inside of the den. I'm sure Bailey must have thought we lost our minds because I was at one side of the room and my aide was at the other (not in very exciting hiding places). My aide sat on the couch on one end of the room and pretended to be reading. I was on the other side of the room with Bailey. As soon as I hit my bell my aide would say"go get help".  Bailey went along with it but definitely had a "what the hell, she's right there!" look on his face. So after this exciting game we practiced the "leave it" command. Bailey is a pro at "leave it". Even when he had a fat piece of chicken right next to his feet, and my aide left the room, he still left it alone. At one point he even backed away from the chicken treat when my aide tried to tempt him by moving it closer. We didn't do this very long because it was too easy for him.
We did "look at Eva" next. At first my aide would say "look at Eva" and then treat/click Bailey when he looked up at me. Then she didn't say anything but just waited as Bailey sat next to me, and every time he made eye contact with me she would use the clicker and give him a treat. He did well but I need him to be rock solid on this so we can continue to work on eye commands. Then we tried another technique. My aide would hit my bell and say "look at Eva" and when Bailey again made eye contact with me he would be rewarded. When I hit my bell Bailey almost always looks in my direction, but I need him to make eye contact with me. This is something that I am going to focus on a lot more until it's 100%.
After that I wanted to see if he needed to get busy but since it was raining and I'm in an electric wheel chair I just asked my aide to take him out back without me. She said he did great and "went busy" quickly. Then it was chill time and Bailey crashed out in front of my chair. While in a deep sleep  he began momentarily wagging his tail happily. Soon after he seemed to be making nursing motions with his mouth. Must have been dreaming.
Before lunch I wanted to do one more light switch session, but Bailey was so not into it. Like all of the other dogs in the house he was in sleepy rainy day mode. I soon stopped the session knowing that I can't force him (and don't want to ) to do anything he's not feeling up to. So we had lunch while Bailey slept solid. And then put him in his crate and left for the day.

Training Day 51- Home Visit

Today was different. I wanted to bring Bailey home for a visit. So I drove over to his trainer's house and my aide went inside to get him. Bailey was super excited to see me and immediately ran up into the van and jumped on the back seat ready to begin our adventure. When we got to my house my aide hooked Bailey's leash to my chair and I took him inside. He was a bit nervous and sniffing all around. My Mom came in to say hi to Bailey. Although still shy his confidence seemed better and he did not growl at her, in fact he warmed up pretty quickly. Then  I took him through my room and into the back yard. I let him off leash and Oh My God was he happy! He zoomed from one side of my backyard to the other. We just had some rain out here so he was having a blast running through the soft dirt and making his feet look as though he was wearing brown boots. At one point while he was playing he kept running zoomy circles around our avocado tree. Watch...



So after that we washed off his paws and I brought him back inside to my bedroom. I wanted to make him  comfortable so I let him off leash and just ignored him (so he could sniff about as he liked) while I checked my email. I had already set up a dog bed for Bailey's visit and eventually he crashed out on his bed next to me. My aide had taken some video footage of Bailey playing in the yard. We began watching the footage and Bailey hearing his own collar tags jingling on the video jumped up and began barking at himself. Knowing that since this was his first day here he was probably a little more jumpy than usual, I just muted the video and he quickly settled back into bed. Then it was lunch time. I wanted Bailey to be next to me while we were having lunch and not roaming around the house. So I put him on leash and set up his mat next to me at the table. This was a great way to simulate a public restaurant visit. After giving curious looks to my aide as she fixed lunch he quickly settled on his mat next to me. He stayed there for the entire time.
After lunch I wanted to see if he needed to get busy so I took him back outside. I just let him cruise around for a while and get acquainted with all of the new smells. Then I brought him back inside and put him back on leash for his first bathroom visit. I was kind of nervous that when my aide moved me onto the toilet that Bailey would try to give me kisses, jump on me and knock me right off the john. So that's why for this first time, I kept him on leash. He did great and after a minute just settled right down onto the bathroom floor. When I was back in my chair safely my aide began brushing my teeth. Bailey has never seen this before. He sat up and was staring at this new activity with the funniest quizzical look on his face. It was so cute! After that I went back to my computer to get some work done and Bailey crashed out on his bed again.
My trainer was having lunch about 15 minutes away from my house. She offered to meet up with us and take Bailey back to her house for me. So we all got into the van and headed up the road to meet her. We got there a few minutes early and just chilled in the van. Here are some photos of Bailey while he was waiting. A great day but a bit hard to leave him.

Training Day 50

Wow! I can't believe I've been training Bailey for fifty days. So when we got there today Bailey was in his crate in the den. He was so excited to see me and kept jumping on me and giving me kisses. We first worked on the light switch. Bailey is more comfortable jumping now. He jumped up and flipped the light switch every time he was asked. Next time we work on this I am going to have Bailey walking on leash next to me. I will walk him over to the wall and then ask him to turn on the light. He's pretty good at this with the lower light switch but I want to make sure he is comfortable jumping up to get the light while on leash.
We then went into a session of "go get help". I was with Bailey and then my aide walked away to hide. He did great when she was inside the tennis courts. But when she hid outside of the tennis courts he would just stand at the fence staring at her instead of actually going around the fence to get her. It was pretty funny but definitely something we need to work on. We then practiced fetch and tried to get his majesty to bring back the toy. He did it a couple of times but then after that would become distracted. After that it was chill time and Bailey crashed out.
 While Bailey was sleeping I felt like a mean Mom. I would periodically turn on my wheelchair so that it made a beeping noise and when Bailey looked up at me I gave him a treat. I did this exercise to get him in the habit of looking up at me every time he hears my wheel chair even if he is fast asleep. I tried my bell but he didn't move a muscle when I rang it while he was in a deep sleep.  But even if he was sound asleep Bailey would jump up when he heard my wheel chair turn on.
 Right before lunch we did one more light session and Bailey did great. It's so awesome to see him jump up on the wall and then use his nose to turn on the light. He is a lefty and often uses only his left paw while standing on the wall. After lunch it was play time. One of my trainer's roommates is also raising a puppy for service work and he brought her into the side yard for a short play session. She is now almost seven months old but I met her when she was only eight weeks old, sooo cute! Here's some video of Bailey and Pammie playing together.

Training Day 49

So when I got there today Bailey was in the tennis courts running around with his buddies. As soon as he saw me in the backyard he bolted for the gate and began barking happily.  As soon as he was let out of the tennis courts he made a bee-line towards me and jumped up to give me a ton of kisses. After that great hello we went inside to start training.
 We first worked on the light switch. Bailey's trainer put masking tape on the lower two light switches so that we can start working with Bailey using only the tallest one. It's a little tricky because he has to jump up to hit that one and he's not comfortable with that just yet. After a couple times of him looking up at me and being like "Mom I don't understand", I had an idea. I moved my chair right up to the side of the board with the switches and told my aide to encourage Bailey to use my footplate as a stool to get to the light switch. He was slightly hesitant but got it. Not only did he stand up on the footplate but he actually hit the light switch twice when he was standing on my chair. I was  very proud of him for catching on so quickly.
So after that it was time for hide and seek. This time we played the game a bit different. I had Bailey with me on leash. Then my aide went to hide on the other side of the tennis courts. When my aide started to say "go get help" I began leading Bailey towards her. She continued to say this as I walked Bailey over to where she was. When we got there she said "good help" and gave Bailey a treat. We only did this twice. Then I took him off leash and told him to "stay" while my aide went and hid again. As soon as she began saying "go get help" he left my side and went to find her. When he found her she gave him praise and then said "go find Eva". He turned around and ran back to me. I was so pleased. But by the last time we did this he was pretty worn out and just laid next to me when she hid and said "go get help". So I had to walk him back over to her. He  understands the idea of the game but was just a little too tired to play. So after that it was definitely chill time. Bailey conked out and didn't move at all for about twenty minutes.
After his majesty woke up I wanted to work on the bell. I'm starting to do the bell a little different . When I hit the bell and Bailey looks up at me, he gets peanut butter and my aide says "good look at Eva". In between me hitting the bell she also says "look at Eva" and again "good look at Eva" if he looks up at me. I want to start incorporating "look at Eva" with our auto sit sessions. This is important because he needs to get in the habit of constantly making eye contact with me so that I can give him eye/head commands. He doesn't quite have this down a100% but he's got the idea. I needed to leave a bit early today so after the bell session we ate lunch and then headed out for the day.