Training "Leave It"

I am hardly a dog trainer. I was really proud when we taught our Great Dane to sit years ago. But as the handler of service dogs that go out in public, constant and continuous training is required to maintain sharpness in the dog, and to get the dog to fit your lifestyle. So we try and work some kind of obedience training/work into every single day.

We take these dogs everywhere with us, and most of the time, that means kids are around. The also means potential food being carried at dog height, food being dropped, toys, all kinds of fun things for a lab to grab. Perhaps your going out to a restaurant, and need to put your dog under the table. Is there stray french fries down there? Perhaps a half eaten churro at an amusement park? Or maybe something really dangerous to dogs like chocolate or grapes. Having a dog that knows "leave it" can make your life easier.

Displaying Calm

A very important trait for a service dog that is required to go out in public needs to have is "calm". Think of an action movie with explosions or gun shots, 4th of July fireworks, or an honor roll assembly at an elementary school with sudden bursts of applause. (video after the jump)

Canine Hope goes to Oceanside

On Sunday, a large group of Canine Hope for Diabetics families headed down to Oceanside. We all met at the train station and took a 2 hour train ride down. That was a great way to travel, as we are often busy at these events, and the train ride gave us time to chat and catch up with everyone, and made the time fly by! I believe the final count was 49 people and 14 dogs. The weather just happened to be amazing!

What's With All This Training Talk?

I talk a lot about the amount of work these dogs require, and will continue to for the rest of their lives. When I mention to friends that we are going to a training session, or that I take the dogs out and work obedience with them, they often times just assumed that would eventually end. After all, these dogs have been through 1-2 years of training with some of the best trainers around, so what gives?

Raven working with distractions