Bath day, a public assistance retrieve, and perhaps a holiday coming up?

8 months 2 weeks 4 days old

We took it easy today, apart from a tiny bit of retrieve training. I haven't been feeling well.

However, with even the small amount of public access training we are doing it is important that Knightley stays clean - cleaner than a normal family pet. Before I take him inside anywhere we have permission to be (local shops, the airport the other day, the music festival and its venues) I give him a quick brush to collect any stray fur. Assistance/service dogs must have a higher standard of grooming than the normal pet dog, as they are going places where food is stored, prepared and where people might be that are allergic to dogs. The more I can reduce his shedding the better, and improve his general appearance too.

Knightley happy enough getting a good
wash. He has a lot more fur than he used to!

So, in light of all that, today was bath day. From the beginning of my bath training I have plied Knightley with treats. His very first bath he got buckets of roast chicken! Today we saw this pay off. He was almost happy to be there! He was still a little stiff when it came to turn him around, but compared to his first bath he's come a long way. We are using a do it yourself dog wash place near here - unless he's filthy and just has to be washed at home - and it's very handy and saves my back.

I'm just amazed at the power of positive training like this. Knightley could have been taught to put up with baths in a more 'traditional' style of training, but not be happy with them. My previous dog, Clipsy, hated baths completely and absolutely. It is a shame that only now do I know how I could have made them a lot more pleasant for him.

Knightley, still quite wet and rather excited outside the pet
store where he can't focus on anything at all due to memories
of puppy play!

One thing we have a problem with at the place we are taking Knightley for his baths.... is it's the same place he did his puppy preschool. I think he still remembers the excitement, and getting anything like a loose leash when entering is pretty much impossible. What I need to do is spend like half an hour there going in and out and click/treating constantly for him being beside me. I have to say, our loose leash on a flat collar is not going fast anywhere at the moment - except when he's in his vest, and then he is much better at it. Explain that to me anyone?!

From a bit of a funny angle, but showing Knightley all wet.
You can see his build more clearly. He has so much more bulk
on him these days. Not fat, but just... size. We meant to weigh
him at the pet store, but forgot until he was all half wet, and that
would have been quite a wrong reading. I am guessing about
30kg (66lbs). Definitely not a baby anymore!

I dropped a receipt at the pet store today and got Knightley to pick it up for me. Our first real useful in public retrieve! I am just so happy he can do this at this age - I really wasn't expecting it for a good few months yet.

I've been talking with hubby about the possibility of going away for a weekend in a couple of weeks time, and taking the pup with us. It's one thing that Knightley hasn't done... a longer car trip and nights away someplace with us. There's a farmstay place right near the South Coast of NSW (New South Wales, one of our states, for those of you who don't know.... I live in a very small 'territory', like a state, called the Australian Capital Territory, which is completely surrounded by NSW) that I have been itching to go to for a long while. We meant to go before hubby left for England but it didn't pan out. The farm also has a bunch of working border collies who are also pets, and livestock, which Knightley needs to get some exposure to - judging by his response to cows at the agricultural show we took him to a month or two back!! So hopefully we'll be going in the next couple of weeks, and Knightley can also experience a beach for the first time. In the mean time, his bath is the only water he is getting today. ;)

Knightley is officially useful! His first working retrieve!

8 months 1 day old

Today, well ahead of schedule, Knightley did his first real 'work' for me!! After the previous two days of amazing success with our retrieve sessions, today we had two more training sessions, again concentrating on retrieve. The first one was working on bring items much further away back to me nicely - in the end we managed about three metres (10 feet), which I was thrilled at. The second session I concentrated on getting him to hold and do short retrieves on as many different items as I thought he could comfortably hold (I'll work on tricky ones later). We put a fair bit of time into getting him to learn how to pick up spoons off the floor. They are obviously quite tricky to pick up, and dogs don't tend to like cold metal, so it's important that they get practice sooner rather than later with it, or they can get a bit of a doggy phobia about picking it up.

Then about half an hour ago when we were about to go to bed, I dropped a small plastic container. I could have just sucked it up and reached down for it, but if I do that more than a couple of times a day I pay for it the next day, or I could have got my reach stick... but Knightley was there.... so I thought I'd give it a go. It was a different situation as previously I had dropped things in front of his eyes so he knew what he was to pick up... but in this case he hadn't seen it drop. I called him over, and had a big chunk of 'roo jerky (a new big favourite) ready to reward him if successful. I also flipped the container over with my foot, as it was upside down and would have been very hard for Knightley to get in that position. I nudged it a couple of times with my foot and looked right at it (not at him at all), and told him "get it!". I was grinning from ear to ear as he reached down, picked it up delicately, turned around and placed it in my hand... then waited for my "thank you!" cue to tell him to release it. It all worked perfectly!! What an AWESOME puppy!!!! He enjoyed his lovely roo jerky for a job well done.

So there is lots more work to do, but we have the beginning of an assistance retrieve. Thank you Sue Ailsby!!! I have to say, her recent books with the updated Training Levels are perfect for those training their own assistance/service dogs. (Link to her main page on the link toolbar, also Training Levels tab at the top of the page, info & links from there too). Especially the retrieve. I followed it closely, and it has come up trumps. It was easier than I thought it would be too. 'Traditional' obedience trainers train retrieves in all sorts of horrible ways (forcing dogs to open their mouths by harshly pinching their ears, or by using electrical collars and shocking the dog if they don't get what they want). Some trainers don't believe that you can train a reliable retrieve by a positive reinforcement. There are many many thousands of working dogs out there with a positive trained reliable retrieve. If it wasn't reliable then they couldn't be trusted to be the helper of some very disabled people. I have no doubt, from what I have seen, that Knightley's retrieve is going to be completely solid. He really enjoys it, as there has been pleasure in every part of the teaching - just asking him to put his mouth around something has good associations.

That is what I love about operant conditioning, how the learning process itself deepens the bond you have with your dog. The time you spend training is pleasant and stimulating for the dog. When I stop my retrieve training, Knightley will grab a toy and nudge my leg with his nose almost in protest that training stopped too soon! That just doesn't happen with traditional methods. I love having a thinking dog, and I've really been enjoying the last week of training. The beginning of Level 3 was really boring, but this was awesome fun!! I will continue to work on the retrieve, but I have also started to teach Knightley another assistance skill..... although this isn't one I strictly need, but I'd be nice to have anyway! It'll be interesting training it, definitely a good challenge. I'll tell you more about it later once I have got somewhere with it, that was really just to tease you!

My husband is still away in England, he's been away for 16 days now although it doesn't really feel like that long. He's going to be home in 8 days time, and it really will be lovely to have him back. Knightley isn't going to be happy though, he's going to lose his spot on my bed!!