Back from weekend away, what an adventure!

11 months 2 weeks 4 days old 

A photo of the Pub Hill Farm homestead area, that is all fenced
off and available for dog romps. Knightley adored it.

Well, Knightley, hubby and I got our weekend away on the coast. It was a beautiful place to stay, very close to Narooma, and I highly recommend it for anyone from Canberra, Sydney or Melbourne. It's a B&B called Pub Hill Farm, and is amazingly dog friendly. They have five border collies, one 11 week old puppy, and a mix of sweet gentle older dogs and still vigorous young dogs. All absolutely lovely dogs who are well used to getting along with guest's dogs.

The beautiful view from the homestead down to the tidal inlet
which had hundreds of oyster beds. If you know anything about
oysters you are likely to know they only like clean water. The
water here is pristine and so clear.

There were another two dogs belonging to other guests, and then Knightley. The whole homestead area is well fenced off so Knightley got to romp with all the other dogs. Unfortunately the x-rays done of his hips, aside from delivering their awful blow, seem to have irritated Knightley's hip - maybe did some soft tissue damage - and gave us a glimpse of what is to come. Within about 45 minutes of romping with the other dogs he was badly limping, so we had to restrict his romping time, much to his disgust. It was heartbreaking to see him limping like that - but it MUST be due to the x-rays as Knightley was completely without any limp even after an hour at the dog park. Still, it was just a great place to go to, and at night the sky was breathtaking as we were 10-15 minutes away from the nearest town and that was a small town anyway, and the sky and air were absolutely clear. You could actually see our galaxy, the milky way, as a pale .... well, milky.... band across the sky. It was just stunning.


Knightley had a bit of a restless first night there, possibly reacting to our stress. We were of course thinking a lot about the discovery of his severe hip dysplasia and what it means for him, me and us. We have more or less come to the conclusion that we will get another puppy and throughout the weekend we talked it over quite a bit - the pros and cons. So we were all still quite a bit in shock when we got there on the first night, and I didn't sleep much at all. Neither did Knightley, he kept on coming up to me and pushing his nose against my face during the night. It was kind of cute and maybe he heard I was restless.... but it didn't actually help my mind turn away from Knightley and his hip! The conversation I had with the vet on the phone just kept on playing through my mind again and again.... "and now for the hip results.... I'm really sorry but they were terrible...." .... again and again. My poor beautiful Knightley.

Enjoying the new experience of the beach, with new sights,
smells and sounds! He simply adored it.

Anyway, the next day, after a lovely breakfast with the other guests, and a chat to the lovely people who run the place we were off to walk along the boardwalk that runs over the lovely clear water of the bay and little fish and sometimes stingray. Knightley was keen to see everything and was very adorable! We then went off to a dog friendly beach, and it was there where the real fun began. As I don't really trust Knightley's recall (must fix this, must concentrate from now on on turning Knightley into a perfect pet), we kept him on his long line which actually went fine, along with a very non-restrictive tracking harness. 

Knightley going backwards as the edge of the water comes up
towards him... he couldn't work out what was going on for a
while. I think he thought the waves may have been alive!

Knightley had never been on a beach before and at first ran backwards when waves were coming in, then chased them back out. It was very funny. By the time we left he had got the hang of it though and hubby and I were the ones running away from the waves as it was VERY cold, being winter. We could see him tiring, and starting to limp even more, but he was loving this new environment - snapping at the waves, scratching at the sand.... but it was when he started digging like a mad thing that we just didn't have the heart to curtail what was obviously bliss to him.

Knightley having a serious digging session. He got so deep
he found it hard to get out of the hole each time, and we had
to help as it kept on caving in at the sides. He definitely
has a fixation for digging!! Maybe I should get him a sand pit!

He ended up digging a hole about as deep as he was, although we did help him a bit which seemed to set him off to even further efforts. He was an extremely good digger... half rabbit or wombat perhaps! Eventually he lay down in the enormous hole he had dug, rested for a while in the cool sand, then started using his head to dig and move sand. He looked quite the fright! We knew by that stage that with his hip the way it was (his left is much worse than his right, although his right isn't good either), he was going to pay for all this unusual activity later, but it just didn't see fair to drag him away from something he was so enjoying.

Look what I did!!! Aren't I a clever dog!!? That's me with my
hand on his back.

We rested for a while together, enjoying the beach ... trying to persuade Knightley to take a break from his exertions. He lay in his hole looking very pleased with himself. Eventually he went in for another dip and this time didn't run away from the waves. I think if we were to go back we'd have a enthusiastic sea dog! It certainly was a beautiful beach, and it's a dog beach 24/7 even in summer, which is great. A lot of beaches in summer only are allowed dogs at certain times of day to make space for tourists during the prime swimming times. I'm sure we'll be back to Pub Hill Farm, and back to that beach. Hopefully with a puppy.

Comfortable in the water shortly before we left.

Knightley sitting after the day on the beach and more. You
see his bad hip pointed towards the camera. He is sitting like
this more after the x-rays stirred things up... tucking his leg at
a weird angle under his body. Usually when a dog sits you
expect to see their back paws. But you can't see Knightley's,
it's like he has to tuck his foot under to stop his hip flapping
or something. It looks rather unnatural to me. He does this
lying down too - but has done that for about six weeks and
I had been concerned about it.

We had a relaxing afternoon, had a nice little snooze as Knightley needed the rest and so did I - we were both very sore from all we had done. I had lovely local Kingfish for dinner, and Knightley even got a bit from me, plus a few chips (fries for my American readers). After our respective naps, Knightley had really tightened up and was walking like an old dog with a very pronounced limp. It was obvious that the day had taken its toll, but I am not sure if I would have done it differently, given the chance. He had such an amazing time seeing all the new sights and smells on the boardwalk, and then the beach was amazing, and romping with the other dogs and especially the tiny cute puppy was just wonderful for him. It was heartbreaking though, to see him hobbling so badly. We have been home a little more than 24 hours now and I have kept him more or less on bed rest, just very short calm walks, and as I had guessed it would, the inflammation is going down and he only has a slight limp now. I am sure the x-ray caused the hip problems to be exacerbated and the limp should go away - for now.

The following day after another lovely breakfast we left Pub Hill Farm after a lovely chat with the owners about dog health, Knightley and the overbreeding of pedigree dogs. We were very much on the same page, and they said they hoped to see us again. I am sure they will! What a fantastic place for dogs.

Knightley having nice break on our trip home. He was much
admired as usual with people always wanting to pat him.

Our trip home was pretty uneventful. We stopped on our way back at a place called Bateman's Bay, which many Canberran's will know as a popular and rather close holiday spot. Knightley got lots of complements, and people telling us how beautiful he is. Now when I hear that, I have a desire to tell them that he may be beautiful on the surface but you should see how ugly his hip x-rays are. :( But, I just thank them and move on. He is still a very beautiful boy, despite that appalling hip which has so torn up my heart.

Me and Knightley, pardon the quality of the photo. It always
makes me extra sad in those moments when I see how very
beautiful Knightley is, but know that he is now to live a life I
tried so hard to have him avoid. It's like there is a dark, awful
secret hiding under all that beauty.

He enjoyed peering at the seagulls and boats, but seemed to think it was a good idea to climb down the rocks towards the boats lol. I don't think so Knightley!! He was quite well behaved though and I kept catching myself thinking "oh I should have brought his vest and I could have done a bit of training".... before it once again dawned on me, once again like a pile of bricks, that that part of my relationship with Knightley is over - at least the in public part.


It has definitely been a very hard pill to swallow, for both me and my husband, but we are working on accepting what the fates have served up for us. In the meantime I have contacted the very first breeder I ever contacted, who I really liked the look of, but whose litter I was interested in was born all girls, and then the next one would have been a long time away. So I sent an email to her and am waiting to hear back. Ideally it won't be all that long until we find a new pup. I don't want to be pregnant with an untrained pup!!! 

Knightley wanting rather badly to scramble down the rocks. Bateman's Bay
turns into the Clyde River which was an important tributary in this part of
Australia before there were roads in good repair. Many little ferries and pleasure
craft can be found plying its waters.

My new website, new vest complete, hormones, our postie, outside training!

11 months 5 days old

So it's been a while since my last post! There are reasons though, so I am sure that you can find it in your heart to forgive me.

The main reason it has been so long is......trumpet rally and drum roll...... I have a new website, http://www.ozworkingdogs.com.au which I've been doing a lot of work on!! You still can't actually buy equipment on there but we are getting very close! Take a look and see what you think. Of course it's only a start, but I have to start from somewhere. It has taken a fair bit of work just to get it to that stage. It's only a day or so away from when people can actually start ordering products. I need to get my 'sewing room' in order just in case!

My other excuse is that I got conjunctivitis a few days ago. I woke up at like 4am with my eyes glued shut and went and looked in the mirror at a red eyed angry beast. It was actually slightly better at 8am when we arrived at the free (got to love nationalised health care) drop in clinic, but I've been putting drops in for the last couple of days and while they are mostly better they still feel a bit sandy. Not very pleasant, but I know I've been going through a low immune period with all the aches and pains and funny skin rashes that come and go in a matter of days or even hours.

Knightley's new vest! You can purchase it from
http://www.ozworkingdogs.com.au It has a Y shaped chest with
a padded chest plate which you can't see in this photo because of
all Knightley fur (and his leash), but have a look at the website for
more photos. Oops at cutting off his nose.

Knightley seems to really like the new mobility vest I've made him,and my other designs which I have been busy testing out. We've had several training trips into public, some really great, some lacking a bit in focus. By and large he continues to do really well. I've started to do some more work on his retrieve, which I just haven't been using enough as it isn't perfect yet so sometimes it is easier to hurt myself by picking things up instead of calling Knightley over, especially if he is drowsing. So we are doing a bit of a refresher course on his assistance retrieve, which seems to be quite needed! He is great at holding things though, really just awesome. I did some work with a knife the other day - just a blunt butter type knife - as he isn't keen on metal in his mouth and despite not wanting to hold it at the beginning he was happily holding for up to 10 seconds by the end of the short session. Good boy!

He remains completely full of energy, bursting at the seams every morning... and very hormonal too. Hubby went out to a movie with a work friend last night, and the work friend dropped by our place before they went out and said hello to Knightley. Well, let's just say that Knightley was *very* hormonal..... He does very occasionally hump hubby, but never me thankfully. 34kg + (75lb) of dog clinging onto my already sore leg does not sound very pleasant to me and maybe he realises that. Or maybe he realises mummy is not to be messed with ... at least, I hope so! He was very very excited to see someone new, or more or less new, so I think that was part of it. Still, I was quite shocked!! I think I should probably try to get people around here more often that Knightley doesn't know and work on his manners. Because last night they were quite atrocious.

The uniform posties wear in Australia - although this one is not
'our' postie and appears to be a postwoman, which is certainly
rarer! You can see why I was bursting with pride when he was
14 weeks old and happy to have that thing with the yellow creature
on top roaring right up to him. What a good boy he is.

Speaking of people Knightley knows and doesn't know.... Knightley has a favourite postman. Here in Australia our 'posties' deliver our mail from lightweight Honda motorbikes. Our postie has a real thing for Knightley and we get along well too. It has meant that since Knightley was a little puppy he is not at all scared of motorbikes, because they mean one of his favourite people! He won't flinch at all as our postie rides straight up to us, and will jump straight up onto his hind legs to say hi to his favourite postie. It's pretty impressive when you consider the noise, smell, heat and the uniform and visibility clothes our postie wears. I am so proud of my pup at times like that, he really isn't scared of anything! Saying that though, a funny thing happened a couple of weeks ago. We were out on one of our walks, me walking sloowwwlllyy with my crutch, and Knightley dashing around me in circles on his flexi lead (still can't trust him if he sees another dog or a flock of parrots), and our favourite postie appeared going down a nearby street, across an expanse of grass from where we were. Knightley was curious but not instantly transfixed like he usually is if the postie is anywhere near our house. Anyway, our postie saw us, and after delivering some mail to a few houses, came blaring across the grass area towards the trees where we were walking. Knightley just didn't recognise him and was a little unsure.... tail down, moving closer to me, until the postie talked. Then suddenly it was like he slapped himself in the face and said "OH!!! It's HIM!!" and became a different dog, racing towards his friend. It was very funny, he just didn't see him as the same person because of the different environment. Dogs really are poor generalisers.

I did some recall and focus training outside on our walk today with Knightley. Boy does he need it. His 'work' such as it is is much less attentive when he is outside, and when he isn't dressed and I allow him to just run around outside he likes to virtually pretend I don't exist. If I have an interesting object in my hand I exist straight away though! All the smells, dogs and people in the distance exist a LOT. So we did recalls with the reward of ROAST chicken (naughty to get cooked meat, but it did the job), and did eye contact (focus), but he was so hyped up and usually is in the morning for his walks, that we couldn't get passed a second or two. So I switched tactics, and for the rest of the walk, gave him chicken every single time he looked at me. That worked nicely and I should be doing it much more. Do I need to bold that for myself??? Lol.

So it has been pretty busy getting this business stuff done, getting a business registered, getting the name registered, getting a business PayPal (only way to pay so far, sorry), then getting hosting for a website, buying the domain name, and finally making the website and actually getting the shop working. Phew, but it's nearly done - to a rudimentary level. Let's hope it isn't all for nothing!!

I have an event to go to tonight at our Arts Centre. Our Executive Director of 3.5 years, the one who has been so good to me and given me casual work, is leaving suddenly and has a farewell tonight. I am pretty sad about it, it won't be the same without her, and my loyalty to the place slips a bit. If my business does take off, it means I have less reason to put in as many hours, as there are really only a couple of people I push myself to go in every week for - aside from the work itself. That is, when it is only volunteer work and not paid! Either way, I am very sad. I am wearing a nice black dress that should easily fit as I bought it when I was at my biggest and I have now lost a little over 6kg (nearly 14lbs) on my mission to become well enough and fertile enough to conceive and prove that doubting obstetrician wrong!!

Hope you are all well - or as well as can be. Take care, hugs and enthusiastic doggy smooches from Knightley.

Massive news: a very very very important appointment, a Birthday, the Come Game, new gear

Well, the last few days Knightley has just been absolutely CRAZY with energy, especially in the evenings. The type of energy where he jumps on and off the couch 30 times and there is no reduction in his eagerness to GO! Hubby and I had a great session of the "Come Game" with him, and he was the most enthusiastic he has ever been about it (skidding around corners, bashing into furniture.... he was running for the reward of chopped up beef heart, his favourite, but still!).

For those who don't know it, the Come Game is a fun technique from Sue Ailsby's Training Levels (following the so called tab in the title bar to find out more about her Training Levels) to teach your dog to come. You really need to have an assistant with you, and both have clickers (or you can say 'yes!' in a happy tone, but clickers are always more accurate and more helpful to the dog). The main trainer or person most likely to elicit a successful recall starts the game by making some noises (NOT using a 'come' cue).... and as the dog turns and comes towards them, that person clicks/yesses, and as soon as the dog gets to them, they give the dog their treat. Instantly that person loses all interest in the dog, looks into the distance and becomes really boring and the other person starts making recall type noises (pup pup pup!!! or something). As soon as the pup turns and starts coming towards them, they click/yes and treat the dog upon their arrival, maybe a few happy pats, then completely boring.... then the other calls again.

Once the dog knows how the Come Game works you can use it to introduce, or work on your come cue. As your dog swings around to start running towards you, say your cue, click (assuming your dog keeps running!) and lots of praise and treats when it arrives - then ignore and continue like usual. Use really fantastic treats and pick a time your dog is full of energy. It actually tired Knightley out better than a walk would have!

Having said that though, after an hour or two he is back to his normal self. He has also rather suddenly decided that he is a lap dog. When he's particularly full of beans, he thinks bounding like a kangaroo from the floor onto my lap while I'm sitting on the couch is a good idea. Keep in the mind this is the dog who would have us think that 95% of the time he can't get into the back of our stationwagon. Uh huh dog. I actually like how he developed this thing for lying over laps, even though only a fifth or so of him fits on.... maybe a sixth, I'm not sure. I rather like the pressure (as long as it isn't a sudden 33kg (73lbs) kangaroo hop) and the warmth is lovely for my ever sore legs.

On a rather different topic, today is my lovely hubby's birthday! Last night I actually put some effort into our evening meal and cooked a roast beef as tonight we will go out for our meal... so he got a home cooked birthday meal out of me too. He was out at a movie with his work friends for a couple of hours, so when he got back I had the roast all ready to go - well rested too! My chef friend would have been proud. It was really really nice if I say so myself, very pink and very very juicy! I used quite a few spices on it, and Knightley even got a taste after we had finished and he definitely approved!!! We have plenty left over so I will be able to use it for super high value treats for Knightley as well as for sandwiches etc. Anyway, happy birthday to my ever cheerful hubby who is so good to me, especially when I am particularly sick. Any birthday comments on here will be passed on lol.

Design #5 in all its glory. This a prototype with a black 1000 Denier
Cordura lining, and a rip proof showerproof polyester top.

Knightley got to play dog model again last night. I'd been having some trouble with the quality of my thread, so went out and bought new thread. I need to find some good thread suppliers online as I can't afford shop prices for heavy duty upholstery thread. Anyway, my next assistance dog design is finished, but I think I will change it a bit. I intentionally made it a little smaller, so hopefully will get another dog to model it (maybe at the dog park?). It's what I'd call a medium, and Knightley *just* squeezes into it.

A very comfortable dog - comfort for the dog is my greatest
concern!

This one is design #5, a basic band to sew patches to, with no D rings or handles or anything. It can come with two layers or Cordura, or one layer Cordura and one of ripproof shower proof polyester. The polyester version is a nice light band which can get wet and will dry easily. The Cordura version is just your normal heavy vest material and once wet will take a while to dry. Both are strong. I made this one with contrasting white stitching, which could be requested if anyone took a fancy to it.

Oops, I cut off his nose! Thankfully Knightley is good at
standing and waiting/staying. I'm planning to shorten the vest
a little but everything else will be more or less the same!

Like with my Design #1 you can see the dog has a good range of motion and it is very comfortable - this is despite it being a little too small! Once again, like Design #1 it has quick release buckles on the girth, but whilst being adjustable on the chest, it doesn't have a quick release buckle. You just slip it over your dog's head then do up the girth and away you go!

My final bit of news is I had a very very important medical appointment today. Hubby took the day off, partly to go with me, partly because it is his birthday anyway! I hadn't mentioned it on here before because I wanted to keep it under wraps until this appointment was over, but for the last three weeks or so I've started dieting to try to lose weight. I've already lost 5kg (11lbs). I always battle with my weight, but even more so now with the complete lack of aerobic activity I do, and all the medicines I am now on that have weight gain as a major side effect. But now I have a very serious reason to try to loose a reasonable amount of weight.

This is because today I saw an obstetrician. About seven weeks ago my GP talked to me about the slowly fading possibility of me having children. I have always wanted kids, but she said my body is going to be less able as time goes on so if I wanted the I really must grab the time soon to try. Hubby and I had always planned on waiting a few more years until trying but my lovely GP said that definitely wasn't a good idea. So she got me an appointment with high risk pregnancy specialists, and today we went. I have been reading about lupus/auto-inflammatory diseases and pregnancy, plus the many other things that I have problems with.... and it had certainly been scaring me a bit. I had been hoping for an appointment today that would be at least mildly reassuring but instead the obstetrician came very close to telling us not to try, but said he couldn't tell us it was impossible because nothing is ever impossible. I am certainly going to find it very hard to get pregnant, and just as hard to stay pregnant.... not to mention the sheer pain of it all. Then handling having a young baby will be extremely difficult, but at least that can be managed. The pregnancy bit is all down to my body. About half of my medications would need to change, it even means having injections every day - ugh.

So that's my rather massive news. I go back to the hospital in September to see how I am going with my weight loss and general health, and we will be planning the pregnancy further. We have to wait for when my body feels fairly well before trying for a bub, but we hope for sometime early in the new year. I'll be seeing  my immunologist next month so will be getting his take on all of this then.

This blog might become a bit about weight loss with mobility problems and possibly even a high-risk pregnancy if I am very very lucky. I hope none of you mind, these battles to be 'normal' is what living with a disability is all about - especially as a younger person, and it very much links into my posts about training Knightley. So wish us luck, we're going to need it.

Mud everywhere! A life reward for Knightley

10 months 2 weeks old

For being such a good boy yesterday Knightley had a treat today - what trainers call a 'life reward'. We went to a dog park we had never been to before, which is rather different to our usual one. It has separate small dog/large dog areas, and a muddy little stream running through both fenced in areas. It also has a bunch of pine trees and lots more to explore - simply lots of interest.

Sitting down in a massive pool of mud. He ended up being a
black faced, black legged dog. He certainly didn't look like his
normal beautiful cream colour!! And I only washed him earlier
this week!!!

He had some fun playing with the other dogs, running around exploring at first... and then he started discovering the mud. Oh dear. Really really oh dear. At first it was just the paws, but when two labs eventually joined him they started running back and forward along the muddy little stream getting absolutely disgusting. The final 'nail in the coffin' came when he started digging in a deep pool of slick mud, dipping his face right into the mud.... and then sat right down in it. Everyone watching just groaned. Hubby was in two minds of being horrified and finding it funny.

Digging in the mud. He was so so so very happy and pleased
with himself. He really deserved today. You can't even see his
head because it is so black with mud!

For me it was just great seeing him so carefree and having so much fun. I really didn't care that he was getting so dirty - although it just wouldn't have been possible before our new car. Although in the future we will be prepared for this dog park by bringing water and towels.... we didn't realise it came equipped with mud baths!! Anyway, he raced back and forward with the labs, getting more and more mucky and I thought sooner or later he would lie down in the mud. So we decided to leash him up and leave. But he was just too dirty to go in the car, so we walked the short distance down to the big central (and unfortunately very polluted) lake here in Canberra and Knightley had a quick dip to get the worst of the mud off. Then as soon as we got  home it was time for his second bath this week. I had heard that Golden Retrievers are drawn to mud like flies to honey but this was the first time that Knightley had access to real honest to goodness sticky gluggy mud - and he absolutely adored his time. He was still galloping round when we decided to go - I think he would have kept on going for ages.

His other muddy playfellow. Unfortunately Knightley with the
long fur got a much worse dose of mud..... or fortunately if
you asked Knightley!

I believe it is very important for dogs that are getting a lot of training, especially in public access training in high stress situations like supermarkets which Knightley had yesterday, that they have ample time to relax and just enjoy themselves. Dogs are dogs after all! If dogs do dream, which judging by the funny noises Knightley makes while he is sleeping he certainly does, he'll be dreaming about his wonderful day tonight. I also found a four leaf clover while I was there, so it was a good outing all round. Hopefully I will indeed get good luck!

A couple of days ago I received some top quality grain free, single meat ingredient kibble in the post. I plan to use it only for treats and in the Manners Minder, and Knightley actually loves it. So that's really great. I will minimise its use as much as possible but it's nice to know there is something there if I don't have time or the opportunity to cut up some raw meat. We've been working on his retrieve some more as it has become a little sloppy - sometimes when he picks up things for me he won't walk all the way towards me to put it in my hand, or he won't lift it right up to my hand level. It's going nicely in the training sessions though. I'm trying to keep our sessions short and upbeat so raise his enthusiasm level, especially with his recall, which has never been his most enthusiastic behaviour unfortunately. I'm also planning to start working on different types of retrieves - with his lips on delicate objects. His retrieve is one of his most important tasks for me so I want to train it well. Another thing I really want to work on is his mat behaviour. Specifically on the mat beside me while I am on my desktop computer. I want to look for a really portable mat to buy - one that would be easy enough to roll up and take with me to various places. He certainly knows what "on your mat!" means, but I want to extend his time on the mat from a minute or two to half an hour and more.

Anyway, all is going well.

Picking a puppy from a litter for assistance/service or therapy work

8 months 2 days old

Updated 13th June 2013

This is the third post in a series where I answer some of the common search queries I receive. I speak only reflecting my own experience, in this case temperament testing three litters - two to find Knightley and only one to find Apollo.

While this temperament test is intended for assistance/service puppy prospects, it would work perfectly well for testing a pet, a therapy dog, or a different type of working dog. You certainly wouldn't need to do all the parts of the tests if you were just looking for a pet, and I would only look for a puppy who scored at about the middle of the range - having a super smart dog as a pet can get you into trouble! Feel free to ask questions about adapting the test for pets or other working dogs.

Please note: This test can be used on adult dogs with a few small changes. You may have to skip the first test if the dog is large, you shouldn't clap for the recall test as adult dogs shouldn't need to be attracted like that, the food drive test is even more important as it also tests mouth inhibition (does the adult dog know not to use its teeth on your flesh?), and you'd have to do the webbing test with larger dogs on the ground. Often older dogs are quite touchy with their feet, but it may help to get down on the ground with them. Whether or not they are touchy with their feet shows how much work the previous owner has put into physical desensitisation and grooming.

You may also wish to add to the test a couple of commands - just to place the obedience/training level of the dog. Sit and down would be appropriate, and you could also test how the dog walks on a lead. When choosing an adult dog, having one that has had at least a little training bodes well for its other history.
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It was about three and half years ago I became interested in the idea of an assistance dog (we call service dogs assistance dogs here in Australia), but it took me much longer to research the practicalities of whether it would be feasible for me to have one. I eventually decided I would self train, but then it once again took me a long time to find a breeder, and then a litter and puppy I was happy with. Unfortunately Knightley (my first dog) was found to have severe hip dysplasia, so I had to go through the process all over again to find my second dog, Apollo.

Knightley, happy to lie at my feet and play with toys and get
lots of attention on the day we tested him when he was
7 weeks old. He did extremely well on the temperament test
that day, and the test has been borne out in his behaviour
since.

My experience that was finding the right breeder was important for finding the right puppy. You don't really want a breeder who is themselves quite timid and rarely goes anywhere, who mostly keeps to themselves on their property, as it seems from my experience that they can pass it onto their puppies. Find a breeder who has the puppies inside at least some of the time so from a young age they can get used to different surfaces. Also, it is important that they have people over to socialise with the pups, preferably children and men as even fully trained assistance dogs can be challenged interacting with them. Find a breeder who is likely to produce confident puppies so that you won't waste a trip going to see a timid litter

I have put together my own temperament test, which is a bit of a mixture of the Volhard test (which I see as quite outdated), the PAWS Working dog test and of my own devising, and all given a specific slant for public access work, which I've rather immodestly labeled as the DAD temperament test (downunder assistance dog). I ran it all past some very experienced assistance dog trainers who thought it was right on the mark, and I used it to select both my boys, who have both turned out to have wonderful temperaments, perfectly conjusive to acting as a working dog. You can read about my experience with the first litter I tested here, three puppies all of which I rejected. I wanted a male, and apparently *one* of the females in the litter had a confident, outgoing temperament, but that was not a good outcome for a litter of 6. They were extremely timid pups compared with the second litter of 11 puppies I looked at, 8 of which were male. The final litter I tested (from which Apollo came) was even more outgoing. The breeders put a lot of effort into raising those puppies and it really showed in the temperament test. Apollo was kept with his litter and mother until he was nearly 10 weeks old, and this turned out to be a very good thing. He learnt excellent bite inhibition and didn't ever nip us as a puppy, and learnt to get on with the other adult dogs the breeder owned. However, if the breeder isn't particularly proactive in their socialisation of the litter, it may be worth still bringing the pup home at 8 weeks so you can start the socialisation process. In Apollo's case he was better off remaining with the breeder for an extra couple of weeks.

Knightley doing the retrieve test with the breeder (after I had
done it too), very nicely I might add!

Anyway, here is the temperament test I used. I found sometimes you didn't need to go further than the second or third test with some puppies, because it was completely obvious that the puppy was unsuitable. A very experienced trainer once told me that the purpose of temperament testing was really to discount the puppies you didn't want, rather than the puppies you wanted. I found it quickly became very obvious when a puppy wasn't suitable. Deciding if a puppy was quite good enough is then up to you really, and that's where the scoring can come in handy, especially when comparing two puppies.

If possible do this test when the puppy is 7 weeks old, and get the puppy when it is wide awake as it will give a better performance. Try not to tire it out - if you are keen on it and want to do all the tests you may need to come back on another day. Little puppies need lots of rest!Taking a helper with you is recommended. You will want to prepare a temperament testing kit (see what to take further down the page).

DAD (Downunder Assistance Dog) Temperament Test

1. Lap Test

Lift the puppy onto your lap and simply stroke it. Note its posture and other body language carefully. Does it relax confidently on your lap and enjoy the stroking? Or does it crouch nervously and just shiver? This tests sociability. It is particularly important for Psych Assistance Dogs and therapy dogs.

Great ----- Relaxes on your lap, gives eye contact, curious OR climbs up towards your face to investigate and solicit attention 3 points
Good ----- Relaxes on your lap 2 points 
OK -------- Stands on your lap, loose and unafraid 1 point
Poor ------ Crouches on your lap, may tremble OR struggles to get down 0 points

2. At foot Test

Lift the puppy down to floor level at your feet. Make sure you are in a secure room or in a puppy pen for this one. Continue to pat the puppy as it is by your feet. Once again, watch its body language carefully. This tests sociability, independence and confidence. Once again this test is particularly important for Psych Assistance Dogs and Therapy dogs.

Great ----- Stays by your feet, enjoys the interaction, body loose 3 points
Good ----- Stays by your feet for a while, explores but comes back 2 points
OK -------- Stays briefly, off to explore showing independence 1 point
Poor ------ Moves away from you and cowers in a corner OR stays cowering against you, doesn't enjoy the stroking, body tight, possibly shivering 0 points

3. Recall/Come Test

Get your assistant to move the pup two or three metres (6 to 10 feet) away from you and call it to you - if the breeder is with you, ask what they use to call them for food time. You can clap or do anything else to help get the pup to you.

Great ----- Comes to you with little hesitation 3 points
Good ----- Takes a lot of encouragement, but comes 2 points
OK ------- Watches you, starts towards you, doesn't come whole way 1 point
Poor ------ Completely ignores you 0 points

4. Towel game Test

This is partly as a sight test, partly to test willingness to play which has been linked to trainability. You'll want to put aside or acquire a couple of ratty towels for use on your dog, so use one of these for the test. I tied some wool yarn around one corner of the towel and used the wool to drag and twitch the towel. The idea is to have the puppy in the middle of the floor, and then put the towel in front of him, making it twitch and dart back and forward. This is really testing something called prey drive, how much a dog wants to go after little creatures and toys that resemble creatures in the way they move or how they look. For an assistance dog you don't want a dog with a particularly strong prey drive, but you do want one that is curious.

Great ----- Is curious, immediately grabs it, holds on and tugs 3 points
Good ----- Watches, eventually interacts with encouragement, may hold on 2 points
OK -------- Watches, is at least interested, may want to play 1 point
Poor ------ Is particularly aggressive towards it OR is scared of it, cowering, trembling OR ignores it 0 point

5. Paper ball/small ball retrieve Test

For me, this was an incredibly important test, as one of the main tasks I wanted both Knightley and Apollo to do for me was assistance retrieves. The test seems to have worked - both were pretty good at doing a trained assistance retrieve at the age of only 9 months. For this test I simply get an A4 sheet of paper and screw it up into a ball, then throw it just a short distance directly in front of the puppy. Assuming he goes after it, I then call him, and really encourage him back to me with the ball. If he makes it, I gently take hold of the ball in his mouth and give it a gentle tug, keep up the praise and if he gives it to me I hold a praise party! For the second litter I tested I also had a small nylon ball to use, as well as the paper ball. That worked well too.

The early ability to retrieve has been very strongly linked to successful assistance dogs of all types, as well as retrieve being a necessary skill for most mobility assistance dogs.

Great ----- Will pick up ball, bring it back and let you have it 3 points
Good ----- Will pick up ball but drop it on way back OR will pick up ball but not return to you 2 points
OK ------- Will chase ball but not pick it up 1 point
Poor ------ Watches ball but won't chase OR ignores ball 0 points

6. Squeaky toy interest Test

This test looks at curiosity and is a basic hearing test as well. A dog that is curious is often a good learner. I bought a little puppy toy specifically for this test that was a rope circle, but stuffed with a squeaker inside. It stood the test of time, even after the stuffing and squeaker were gone it remained a favourite toy for a long long time! I would have the pup on the ground and wait until it was looking in another direction then suddenly squeak the toy. Once the pup has reacted, squeak it again. If you are looking for a detection dog, or a police dog, these 'play' tests are very important.

Great ----- Immediately turns, on next squeak comes to investigate 3 points
Good ----- Immediately turns, but takes lots of squeaks to investigate 2 points
OK ------- Turns, upon more squeaks is curious, but doesn't come 1 point
Poor ------ Ignores the squeaking for whatever reason 0 points

7. Tug interest Test

This can be an important test for those wanting to train a mobility assistance work who will need to do lots of tugging (opening doors etc). While there is a lot of difference between a play tug and a controlled trained tug, this will at least give you an idea of the pups willingness to have things inside its mouth and pull at the same time. For this test I used the squeaky toy that was half rope and just right for a little puppy to tug. Very important for detection/police dogs.

Great -----  Immediately interested in playing, will latch on and tug 3 points
Good ----- Pup will hold on, will tug a bit but lets go quickly 2 points
OK ------- Interested in playing but doesn't know quite what to do 1 point
Poor ------ Not interested, ignores it 0 points

8. Hearing sensitivity/audio startle recovery Test

For this test I use two soda cans, and hit the two ends together pretty firmly and loudly. Have the pup on the ground in front of me, and wait until its head turns away from you, then bang the cans together. You are watching firstly to make sure the puppy easily heard the sound, and secondly whether it was afraid and how quickly it recovered from being startled. It's ok if it jumps a bit if it recovers quickly.

Great ----- Turns interestedly, may jump, comes to investigate 3 points
Good ----- Jumps a lot, recovers quickly, returns to what it was doing OR turns briefly (enough that you know the pup heard it), then ignores it 2 points
OK ------- Jumps at noise, slowly recovers, returns to what it was doing 1 point
Poor ------ Jumps at noise, may whimper or hide OR jumps at noise and may have aggressive reaction 0 points

9. Food drive Test

I am sort of assuming your dog is going to be clicker or at least positively trained by putting this test in here. Clicker training is the most common way these days to train complicated behaviour chains for assistance tasks, and it is very useful if the dog is quite food driven! For this test I would recommend using something like a small chunk of raw meat or a soft commercial liver treat - something that is going to be particularly tasty for the little puppy. Hold the treat between two fingers, so the puppy can't get it but can taste it.

Great -----  Anxious to get food, works at it with tongue for a while 3 points
Good ----- Keen to get food, licks but gives up fairly quickly 2 points
OK ------- Notices food, may sniff and lick a bit but not too bothered 1 points
Poor ------ Not interested 0 points

10. Clicker Test

This is partly assuming once again that you may be using a clicker, but it is really just checking aversion to strange noises. The clicker makes a rather high frequency clicking noise that some more sensitive dogs have problems with. Obviously a dog doing public access work has to be ok with all sorts of sounds, so this makes sure that the dog is ok with a sound that it may be hearing a lot of in the future, but also tests acceptance of new strange noises. Hold the clicker behind your back (clickers are very cheap, but if you don't have a clicker, try to find something that will make a fairly loud high pitched noise to test the pups) and click it several times in a row.

Great ----- Pup turns, tries to find where noise is from, not bothered 3 points
Good ----- Looks up, but returns to what it was doing 2 points
OK ------- Ignores the sound (only ok if pup passed the other hearing tests) 1 points
Poor ------ Flinches from the sound, is uncomfortable in some way 0 points

11. 'Weird' public behaviour Test

In the course of their working lives, assistance dogs, therapy dogs and other types of working dogs will come across many different types of people. You will want your assistant to simulate a member of public being upset and getting loud and physical. So get them to throw their arms around a bit and yell, standing in front of the puppy. Watch for its response. This tests reactions to a loud voice, and reactions to strange physical movements.

Great ----- Is interested in what assistant is doing, wags tail 3 points
Good ----- Isn't bothered, may watch a bit 2 points
OK ------- May be a little put off, but once it stops recovers quickly 1 points
Poor ------ Is scared or anxious, flinches from the loud voice or waving arms 0 points

12. Umbrella/visual startle recovery Test

This is once again something that a dog will come across in public a lot, and tests the puppies ability to recover from being visually startled. It is the visual equivalent of banging the soda cans together. It is fine for a puppy to be scared of something, what is important is how quickly the puppy recovers from its fright. Have your assistant stand at the distance of maybe 4 - 5 metres (12 - 15 feet or so) away from the pup (think of them walking towards you on a street, about to open an umbrella), and then very suddenly open the umbrella towards you and the pup. Try to not use an umbrella with a spike on the end anywhere around little puppies - it just isn't very safe. Watch the puppies response when the umbrella is opened.

Great ----- Pup little startled, recovers quickly, wants to inspect umbrella 3 points
Good ----- Pup very startled, recovers quickly OR pup isn't much bothered 2 points-
OK ------- Pup very startled, takes a while to recover 1 points
Poor ------ Pup scared OR pup has aggressive reaction, perhaps barking 0 points

13. Gentle webbing pinch Test

This can be an important test for dogs that are going to be mobility assistance dog, as they are likely to spend a fair bit of time in harness, doing all sorts of tasks that dogs definitely weren't born to do. Some of them may at first be a little uncomfortable for the dog until it gets used to the task, so it helps if the dog isn't particularly sensitive. This is also important for therapy dogs, who may have to be ok with clumsy, uncomfortable or even painful touching from older persons and children. Have the pup on your lap and gently hold one paw in your hand. You may need to be gently persistent as dogs don't like their feet being held. Gently separate two toes and hold the webbing between the toes (like we have at the base of two of our fingers) between thumb and forefinger. Start with just gentle pressure and slowly increase the pressure. You should practice on yourself first until you do it the same every time so that you an accurately compare puppies. Stop as soon as the pup squirms away. Important test for therapy dogs.

Great ----- 7 - 9+ count before puppy squirms/responds to pressure 3 points
Good ----- 5 - 7 count before puppy squirms/responds to pressure  2 points
OK ------- 3 - 5 count before puppy squirms/responds to pressure  1 points
Poor ------ 1 - 3 count before puppy squirms/responds to pressure  0 points

14. Concealed food Test

By ending with this test, you end with something positive and associate yourself with food in the puppies mind! If you do stop the testing at any stage as you think you have enough information on the individual puppy, try not to end it on a more 'negative' test. With this test you want to bring along a clear tupperware type lid, or a very low lying container that the pup will still be able to see through - but make sure it is completely clear so that the pup can see right through it. The idea is to put a hunk of food underneath the lid. Give the pup several pieces of food before very obviously putting a piece on the floor, then putting the lid on top. Then let the puppy do what it wants. This tests persistence and intelligence.

Great ----- Paws and licks at lid, tries to flip it, if gets food is excellent 3 points
Good ----- Briefly paws or mouths at the lid but gives up quickly 2 points
OK ------- Understands food is underneath but doesn't know what to do 1 points
Poor ------ Not interested at all 0 points 

Scoring

As you may not do every test with every dog, what I do is add up the points for the tests you have done for each dog, and then divide by the number of tests you did do, so that you get that puppies average score across the tests.

0 - 0.99 This is definitely not a puppy you want to try training as an assistance/service dog. Even as a pet it would take a lot of work to make it a happy functioning member of your household.

1 - 1.99 This puppy has significant potential and would likely make a good pet. It is probably quite submissive in nature, and would need some work to bring it out of its shell. If its average is in the high 1s, then it may be ok as an assistance dog if you were not planning on doing a great deal of public access work with it - and if it did well on the retrieve and tug type tests. A puppy in the high 1s would make a good therapy dog too.

 2 - 3 This is your target range for the type of puppy you want to train as an assistance/service dog. I would aim for as high as possible, but you also want to make sure that the pup scores highly on the tests that predict trainability as an assistance dog. These dogs would also make a good therapy dog.

To give you an idea, my Knightley scored a 2.7 on his test, and Apollo scored 2.8. Both dogs did/are going very well as ADs, although Apollo is so smart he gets into all sorts of very creative mischief. There were anothers in both Knightley's and Apollo's litters that got somewhere around a 2.5, and indeed in Apollo's litter every single puppy could have become assistance dogs.... they were such sociable and cheerful pups. Knightley's litter tended to score lower. In any litter you test there will likely be a few standouts. However, in the first litter I tested, none tested over 2, and one was below 1. In a case like that you just have to keep searching for the right dog. I would recommend not picking a dog that gets below a 2.0, but that is my personal opinion on the matter.

Summary of what to take

These are just all the bits and pieces I listed in the temperament test:

• Towel with yarn attached to one corner
• Two empty soda cans
• Umbrella
• Meat or puppy treats
• A clicker or something else to make a high pitched short sharp noise
• A squeaky toy
• A toy for tug
• Some pieces of paper to roll up to make paper balls and/or puppy sized ball
• Clear plastic lid/flat container

Keeping track

Knightley after we had chosen him. He was so very tiny!

You are going to want to keep some record of how the pups did, especially if it's a big litter! I didn't bother to start recording unless the pups did well on the first couple of tests, because if they were getting zeros and ones on those first tests they definitely wouldn't be doing well on the later ones. Try to get your assistant to do the keeping track as otherwise it's a lot to do!!

By the time I had tested the seven boys in Knightley's litter my head was spinning.... but Knightley was the last one, and it was clear from the outset that Knightley was going to be the puppy for us, without having to add up scores or anything. This was the same with Apollo, he was the clear standout of the boys, although there was a girl who was even more confident and trainable. I had never tested any girls before, and did for the breeder who had been asked to supply a suitable girl for a family with an autistic child. The one I recommended was a real darling.

Final points to consider

• Start with the right breeder, look at health clearances, try to view the sire and dam, make sure the puppies are well socialised from a young age as that will make a huge difference throughout their whole life. The more effort the breeder puts into those puppies, the less work you will have to do
• Try to find lines which have had dogs as assistance/hearing/guide/therapy dogs, or at least have participated in obedience
• Don't let your heart decide which puppy to go for, it may well mean rehoming when it grows up to be an unsuitable dog. There is no such thing as 'close enough' when choosing a potential AD or even a family pet
• While temperament testing is a very valuable tool for choosing a puppy, remember you are primarily trying to weed out the puppies that are not suitable. After then it is your choice
• Even though a temperament test means you start out with the best puppy possible, it is no guarantee that it will make it as an assistance dog. Dogs go through two main personality changes throughout their lives, so you can never be sure how a puppy will turn out. Testing just makes sure you start with the best source material possible.

If you have any questions, feel free to comment or contact me on my Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/DownunderAssistanceDog

A trip to the dog park, a little training, slowly getting better

5 months 3 weeks 6 days old

Well I'm still not well, but I am feeling a little better I think. I think I have been pushing myself a bit overall, and last Thursday/Friday was just the final straw, trying to balance everything. The pile has finally come falling down. Unfortunately the timing is pretty bad! I have very definite commitments at the Arts Centre I volunteer at this week, and they aren't something that can be put off. Nevermind, I will just try to minimise the hours and rest as much as I can.

The hubby and I did manage to take Mr Knightley to the dog park again for some fun and exercise, since he isn't getting his normal walks at the moment. He had a really great time, solid socialisation with both people and dogs, and is starting to develop some manners around adult dogs - one of the main reasons we are taking him there. He's learning that if he bugs and bugs adult dogs to play, they may just turn around and tell him off. Twice when we've been there now there has been a guy with two muzzled rottweilers, and the first time he bothered one of them a bit, it started to lash out at Knightley. I was certainly glad it was muzzled, although it did back off quickly. The next time he visited he stayed clear though - there was no bothering. He still needs to learn to be nice to the little dogs as well as the big dogs, although he seems to have stopped both running and jumping over the little dogs! There were two huge mastiffs, as well as an alaskan malamute this last time, and he was extreeemely polite to them, it was quite amusing to watch.

I do have to bite my tongue at the dog park though. There are people there who in my opinion are doing absolutely the WRONG thing to manage behavioural problems with their dogs..... but who am I to offer advice? Especially as from what they can see I am just the normal pet owner. I have felt like asking "and is that technique visibly improving matters?" several times though. Must control myself, although if I see those two terrified Italian Greyhounds being made to come to the park once again it will be very hard........ their owner has obviously received advice from these trainers/dog walkers who come to the park that repeated visits will cure them of their issues.... but IMO it will make them worse. Wish I could say something.... I know exactly what I would do to help the poor creatures (one of which tried to bite Knightley it was so terrified of him) but it isn't right to butt in if actual dog 'professionals' are helping her.

Knightley today on his new bed doing 'on your mat!' training.
He's such a good boy these days with his training, so quick
and willing to please. I am very proud of him!

I have officially crossed off two behaviours on my Sue Ailsby's Training Levels Level 2 'to do' list and we're working on a third. The first is a behaviour where you have a jump and a mat next to each other and using cues you ask for your dog to either jump over the jump or lay on the mat and actually get the one you asked for consistently - testing cue recognition. Knightley had no problems with that, and we have been continuing to work on getting him used to other mats, even things like cotton shopping bags.

The second behaviour to tick off is recall. For a while I have been taking Knightley out the front to do his business, which I started doing to lower his excitement levels every time he went outside the house. It has worked extremely well - going outside is now matter of fact for him and I think it has helped our loose leash training, and also helped him take treats outside. At first he wouldn't eat food outside at all because he was completely over threshold, but now he is happy to eat his dry kibble, partly thanks to taking him out so often. However, I've been feeling rotten the last couple of days obviously, so have just been letting him out the back, giving him his cue to go as he goes past me, which works well. I give him a couple of minutes, then call him back in. His response to the call in is pretty impressive, considering he can be as much as 40 metres away, out of sight around the other side of the house. Sometimes I have to call a couple of times, but he certainly does come. So considering Level 2 only asks for a 12m (40 feet) recall we are definitely able to tick that one off. We've also been doing some hide and seek at a distance of about 20m (66 feet), and he's been loving that... and the hide and seek was also on the Levels too. So recall is done too!

We did some work on the 6m (20 feet) down stay, which is further than I have been usually doing down stays, but I am taking it up slowly to the desired 1 minute. At the moment we are at 20 seconds, which isn't bad. He didn't once break his stay today, so that is great. I want him to think that stay is never to be broken. If your dog is breaking stays often then you are doing stays that are either too long, with too many distractions, or too far from you. Take it slowly, and whenever you make something harder, re-teach the whole behaviour. We haven't done much stay work outside, so when we finally do go outside I will be starting from 1 second standing right next to him - without a cue. Only once he has grasped what I want will I add the cue again and then start making it harder - slowly. If you can set your dog up for success in his training - like me taking his stay training slowly so he doesn't break a stay - then he is much more likely to succeed in the end. If I had jumped up to 10 seconds straight away, then he would have likely broken, and then I would have been fighting the idea that he can break a stay if he wants for much much longer.

It is very important with clicker training - and probably all dog training - to always set your dog up for success by keeping it easy at the beginning. You can increase the difficulty of a behaviour once your dog understands later. Make it as easy as possible for you dog to succeed in training every new behaviour. This is such an important thing to remember, as well as behaviour re-teaching - which I sometimes forget about too and just expect Knightley to do a 1 minute wait outside because he can do it inside even though he has never done it outside. Then I get annoyed when he doesn't do it..... and then DOH! it hits me that I needed to take a few minutes to explain it again. Unfortunately that little mistake will put Knightley backwards. So make sure you re-teach your behaviours whenever you change anything like difficulty, distance, duration, place, surface or distractions.

Anyway, hopefully the posts will be a little more frequent once again now. I swear my body picks the worst times to collapse in a heap! Over and out from me.

Another migraine, not much training....

So, my brother has moved out of this house into his new one, and my husband and I have started moving things around a bit in the house a bit to take advantage of all the new room. However, the moving hullabulloo coupled with work triggered a nasty migraine which just isn't going away. Poor Knightley isn't getting much training at all, just a bit of recall training and that's about it.

The coming week is going to be very busy so I need to get well soon. Why do bodies always let you down when you need them the most?

Knightley is disrupted and distracted!

Well, updates and training may be a bit sparse for a couple of days. My brother is moving out of this house into his own after quite a few years of living with me. My husband joined us in this house a little over a year ago, and as of tomorrow it will just be us two. That will be both nice, and a little weird. I've got used to having the brother around!

Knightley knows there is something serious up, there has been a lot of commotion recently... especially today getting ready for the movers tomorrow morning. I am planning to leave him in his fabric crate in my room (will soon have a much bigger room!) with Through A Dog's Ear on the stereo to help keep him calm and drown out some of the noise of the people who will be in and out of the house. For those of you who don't know Through A Dog's Ear, it's classical music for piano that has been specially arranged to keep dogs calm and relaxed and works very well. I'll just keep it on loop and that should at least help a bit.

I'll be helping with the move, and then I'll be off to my volunteer job... so it's going to be a long day. I'm already feeling rather tired out and quite migrainous. Cross fingers for me all the commotion doesn't bring on a migraine.

Knightley and I didn't get much time to train today, but we did do some loose leash practice, which is still badly needed, sigh..... I put a small pile of treats and kibble on the road outside our house (we live on a very quiet street) and practice walking Knightley back and forward past it without having him pull. I had to do a LOT of c/ting to have a chance of keeping the leash loose. He didn't do too bad. After slowly slowly coming closer to it with a loose leash, I gave Knightley his cue to go ahead and eat the food. It's a good way to teach loose leash, but he kept on getting distracted by what was going on around him - a person in the distance, a bird, a motorbike etc.

We also did some relax, trying to get closer to the 1 minute relax, 1 minute excited, 1min relax, 1 min excited and so on that Knightley and I need to get in the bag for Level 2 Relax to be finished. He was pretty hyped up with all the furniture and box moving though, so we couldn't even get to 20 seconds, which was his previous baseline. I put some good time in working on it though... pushing him to relax when he truly is excited is good practice.

There were quite a few recalls - until he was becoming disruptive and trying to 'help' a little too much, and had to be crated, much to his very evident and audible disappointment, lol.....

That was about it for today for structured training, although I always do random bits during the day, throwing in sudden downs, always requiring sits for virtually anything he wants (I subscribe to the Nothing In Life Is Free school of thought, where anything he wants comes at a price in that he has to do something for me first before he gets it).

So updates we likely be short and to the point, not only do I have some moving to help with, we have a lot of house reorganising of our own to do because of this, as my brother is taking a good chunk of the furniture with him. We are taking advantage of the fact and will be switching things around a bit - and getting a big bedroom with ... wait for it.. STORAGE SPACE! Anyway, this is me going to much needed sleep. Catch ya later.