Off to the vet

5 months 1 week 6 days old

Well, I have an appointment for Knightley to see the vet this afternoon. He's had some more diarrhea and is very lethargic. None of that normal puppy energy at all. I am pretty upset actually. I know it probably won't be anything serious, but to see my daily companion so sad and miserable, whining so often to go out because he's obviously hurting (and Golden Retrievers have one of the highest pain tolerances of all dog breeds)... well, I hurt for him.

I know (or hope!) Knightley dying will be very far in the future, but I dread to even think about what state I will be in then, and that is only after three odd months together. I was close to my previous dog who died before his time, and still mourn him, but I think positive reinforcement training brings about a different and much closer connection. Knightley, please live for a long long time!

And hurry up and get better and stop lying there looking at me with those big brown eyes!

Worried about Knightley

5 months 1 week 6 days old

So I was woken this morning by loud whining from Knightley, and as he has never done that before, I quickly came to the conclusion that it was his stomach playing up. The poor baby just about ran outside and had some bad diarrhea. I am starting to get quite worried now. The chicken and rice diet hasn't helped. SIGH. So, I started him back on kibble for his breakfast this morning - and nothing but kibble, no special treats or anything. However, we haven't had a good beginning, as after I fed him about half of the breakfast (keeping the other half to use for training throughout the day), I hear whining again, so out we go again... and yes, more diarrhea. My poor baby.

I think it may be getting close to vet time now. He is definitely not his normal 'wreak havoc on the world' self, is just lying on the couch watching me now. It's times like this that you realise in 3.5 months how much you can become attached to an animal. He's not even really an animal, more like a doggy person. For those people who think animals don't feel, they should watch me doing a shaping session with Knightley. He goes through a huge variety of emotions. I don't like it when my emotional doggy person isn't well!!

Knightley and cupboards, loose leash, back to work

5 months 1 week 5 days old

So the pup still has a bad stomach, although it seems to be a little better. He is sure enjoying his rice and chicken meals.... they smell so good I wouldn't mind eating them!! I am using them for his training, and he will do just about anything to get his greedy maw on them, so that is useful.

We're doing more work on his cupboard closing skills. 

Paw there Mr Knightley!

Bullseye!

Yes!

Yes!!

Have some yummy chicken and rice
for being such a very good boy.

Big whack incoming!! This one closed
the door.

Our next challenge, which wasn't in the original levels, but is in the new books, is to teach Knightley to target my feet. This would be an especially useful first step if you had serious mobility problems and wanted to teach your dog to take off your socks in the future. So maybe later today we'll try doing the foot targeting. I don't anticipate much trouble, he has always enjoyed nose targeting on my hand and on wands and other objects. I actually enjoy teaching brand new things, now that he *gets* shaping watching him learn is just fascinating and really addictive. 

We've been doing more LLW practice, as is in the Training Level books by Sue Ailsby. Firstly I put him in a sit/down and then pulling gently on a flat/martingale collar until he moves into the pressure, then immediately c/t. Then the second exercise is slowly walking around with him on a leash inside, and change directions suddenly so that there is some pressure on the leash. When he moves into the pressure and the tightness stops, I quickly c/t and give him lots of praise. If I am giving him lots of leash space, then when I give the treat I drop it at my feet to encourage him to hang around me despite the relative freedom. He is a long way away from staying loose on his flat/martingale collar. 

Doing Loose Leash Walking (LLW) practice, so that if Knightley
feels any pressure on the leash he is to slow down  and turn
 into me.  Dogs, and indeed all animals, have the instinct to push 
   *into* the pressure in order to escape, which is why they tend
 to pull so much. To reverse that  instinct every time the dog actually
    moves *towards*  the pressure you must make it a pleasurable
experience, so that the dog will start doing it every time it feels the
 leash pressure. It does take a long time, but it is very much worth it.

We need to do a lot more practice with this, although he is pretty good at it inside. Take the treats away, go outside where there are lots of big parrots and exciting people and dogs, and what he has learnt flies out the window. So lots more practice inside until it's completely perfect, including keeping it lose around treats on the floor, then practice in the backyard, then back and forward in the street.... THEN we will start venturing afield. They say keeping a loose leash is perhaps the hardest thing to teach. I would have to agree. Teaching Knightley to close the kitchen cupboard door was so simple compared to keeping his leash loose on a flat collar. He's pretty good on his front buckle harness, but sigh. We'll get there!

We also do heel training inside the house, without the leash. This is a more formal heel, with his spine aligned at right angles to the direction I am facing. I keep up the clicking when he is in good alignment, and do things like put him in a wait, turn at right angles, and then ask him to heel and watch him turn the corner so he will sit at my left again. We also practice finishes, although it is 'just' the traditional behind finish, where the dog goes from in front of you, walks to your right side, still facing you, then goes behind you, heading for your left side.... and ends up in a sit at your left side. 

We haven't done much work on the swing finish (only a little pivot work), which is much more difficult. The dogs front paws move just a little to where they will be in their final position by your side, then the dog swings on the spot - the front paws almost glued to the spot and the back legs doing all the walking around for 180 degrees until the dog has turned all the way around, and then the dog sits. As I said, much harder!

My husband and I both go back to work this week. Hubby already went back this morning, I am not back until Thursday. He wasn't looking forward to it after our couple of weeks off over Christmas, could have done with a couple more weeks off I think. However, I am looking forward to it a lot. I am finally starting my paid position there in a couple of weeks. I have been a volunteer up until now, just working on getting my stamina for paid work up, and finally I am at that point where a small amount of paid work is possible for me. It has been more than three years since I have been well enough to commit to paid work, so this is a big step for me. They seem to like me so much there that they have chosen me for a paid contract position for a project that has come up with some government funding. I will stay as a volunteer for events and some extra hours that they may need me for, but it will be great to be actually working again. I look forward to a future where having a canine companion may help me do longer hours at places further out of the way. Not to mention the independence to actually shop on my own! Which I haven't done for over three years. 

I think those small things are what I miss the most. I truly hope Knightley brings me some of that independence I long for so very much. He is turning out to be such a lovely dog, and a smart one as well! Just thinking of him always brings a smile to my face. I think he has a good chance of making it as an assistance dog. But you never know how dogs will change over their lifetimes. Keep it slow and try not to expect too much, Lyssa!

A slight design change, stomach problems, a much admired puppy

5 months 1 week 4 days old

So as you might see, I have changed the colour scheme somewhat on this blog. I have been involved in web design and other computer design on and off for ten years or more, and I find it hard to resist fiddling every now and again. When I was much younger, I had a job working on the national Tax Office's website, and that was fun to see your own work up on such an important website. Mortifying when you got bits wrong. Now I just have a lowly blog to mess around with, but such is life. So expect changes in colour and images semi regularly. I think it's a rather restful combination of colours.

My poor Knightley starting to look a bit thin after repeated
bouts of diarrhea in the last couple of weeks. I keep him lean
but not so lean that he can't afford to lose a little bit without
getting dangerously underweight. Still, my poor pup. In
between the bouts he is fine, so I am inclined to think that it
isn't his food, but other things he is getting into. 

Anyway, my poor Knightley has had nasty diarrhea for the last day or so, after having had a  settled tummy for a while. It was so bad that the poor pup couldn't help himself and he had an accident inside. Poor darling. I don't blame him at all for that. Hubby and I were out shops briefly today, and got a bunch of chicken, so I am going to put him on a plain chicken and rice diet for several days before slowly re-introducing his kibble.

Our trip to the shops today was rather pleasant, except poor Knightley had diarrhea at the semi-outdoor freshfood markets. It made me think about the fact that when a fully qualified assistance dog has an upset stomach like that, it couldn't work at all, because you obviously couldn't risk that happening inside somewhere... and also it wouldn't be fair to ask them to concentrate on working if they weren't feeling great and were desperately trying to hold on.  I wonder how often in a year on average assistance dogs need the 'day off', and not just from upset stomaches. Of course, luckily today it was outside, but still it was somewhere where a lot of people walk and was extremely watery, so it took a lot of cleaning up. After that he seemed ok, it was his last diarrhea for the day, and that will be all - cross fingers. I wonder if he ate something nasty or if those treats I gave him last night messed with his stomach.

Whilst we were at the markets, I had a nice chat with one of the waitresses in the cafe we always have coffee at. She is a doggy person, and I ran Knightley through his tricks and sit/down/bang/touch etc to impress her. I was happy to see him obeying, despite a huge number of distractions there.... although he seemed a little lethargic - maybe the tummy upset. But she was very impressed with how educated Knightley is at 5 months, and I told her about Knightley closing the cupboard door last night. It's a very dog friendly cafe, a bunch of the waitresses always come out to say hello to Knightley, and they often have treats there for him and any other regular canine visitor. Knightley is having a bit of a jumping up issue though, and I really do have to try to do something about that. He jumps up on us at home, as well as trying to jump up on people out in public. I do reward him a lot for sitting, but he seems to simply enjoy jumping up, so in that sense it is self rewarding. I could try noise aversion if pure positive reinforcement isn't working? Any suggestions out there in internet land??  Other than the jumping problem, a lot of people at the markets pointed at, and patted our lovely pup. I swear it's like having a rockstar with you.

Knightley has left my left side, is in the process of going
around the tripod, and then will return to me. I then have him
do a formal finish to end up by my left hand side again in a
sitting position.

Training is going excellently. It's like suddenly he has gone from medium intelligence to everything I could have wished for. I was reading ahead in the Training Level books and some of the necessary shaping at Level 4 (the final level) Sue comments something along the lines of "you should really be capable of this shaping at this level, if you not need more practice". I thought to myself, wow, Knightley would find that Level 4 shaping easy these days. There is a lot to learn in simply in quantity in the Levels, or with his maturing brain we would race through at the speed of light! I was reading some of Level 3, and found that we have inadvertently been doing some of it by just taking exercises a little further in distance and time just because Knightley can. Such as the 'distance' exercise as I have in the photo here above. The dog starts out at your left side, then upon cue and hand signal, leaves your side, goes around the object and returns to you. I've been getting Knightley to go around my tripod (my preferred 'pole' for this behaviour, although I have used several, such as boxes, a stick vacuum etc) from quite a distance! Although I didn't know I was doing a Level 3 distance until now.

I am continuing to be a naughty girl and am still training the retrieve hold.... Knightley is doing it extremely well now. I really don't know whether to stop it, because it is entirely a Level 3 behaviour, and all the people on the traininglevels yahoo group told me to STOP training it until I have completely passed Level 2 and am half way through Level 3, where the retrieve training actually resides. Yet....... he enjoys it, and the sooner he can pick up a few things like that, the better. I don't expect a full retrieve when he is like 7 months old, but 11, 13 months or something like that for a formal assistance retrieve would be nice. However, if  it wasn't working easily, then of course I would wait. For his other 'work', that I don't expect until 18-24 months. I tell you what, the last two days I wished he could do some of that work, my hips have been horribly sore. Anyway, still yet to make up my mind about the hold. This demonstrates the conflict between being client and trainer at the same time. It can certainly be a very good thing, but not always, when you may make decisions based on what you want, not what is best for you and your dog as a team.

WOW!! Closing a cupboard door, and confidence building

5 months 1 week 4 days old

My Knightley, starting to look more grown up. These
adventures really help me realise he is definitely growing up
mentally. I am lucky I have such a quick smart dog.

Wow, like seriously..... wow. I am in shock. Knightley is one seriously smart puppy. I wish I had recorded the training session that we just had because it was very serious testament to how far Knightley has come. We were working on paw targeting, and as I mentioned in my last post, a checklist for the new Training Levels have recently become available which has shown any gaps I may have as for a long time I was training from the free levels online, not the books. The behaviour I had to catch up on was to get Knightley to close a cupboard door with his paw. Pretty advanced really, and I hadn't even transitioned him from paw targeting my hand, or a lid on the floor, to a vertical surface. So last night I did a short session, recapping what I did with him about a month ago - and he got that very quickly.

Update 5 April 2012: Just wanted to say that While I trained Knightley to close cupboards and doors with his paw first, I then trained him to close them with his nose. The nose close is actually more useful because it doesn't have the potential to mark furniture, but both are good to have the dog know. If a public door is not moving because it is particularly heavy, a paw swipe may get it moving, and then it can be closed by nose the rest of the way. I am not sure which way around it was better to have trained it, but I was happy with training it this way. I just had to do LOTS of nose targeting and no rewarding for closing with paw for the nose to stick as a cue after I had taught paw first. Now if nose isn't working after several goes he will automatically swap to giving it a single whack with his paw to get it moving, and I am happy with that. Nose targeting technique is quite similar. Send me a msg on my Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/DownunderAssistanceDog if you want more details on training a nose cupboard/door/drawer close.

I'm just going to quickly go through the training prerequisites if you want to go ahead and train the cupboard close as it assumes that your dog can paw target an object. Something like a yogurt or tupperware lid is perfect, if it's clear that is better still, but make sure the lid is tall enough from the ground so that you can fit a treat under it. To start give your dog several treats, either clicking a clicker first or saying 'yes!', so that he knows when you click (you can even use the click of a ball point pen), or say 'yes' that he will get a treat. 


You then show him a treat, and very obviously put it under the lid on the floor. Make sure your dog can't flip over the lid, you may have to hold it down. He'll try to lick it, bite it, but most of all, he will try to paw it. The *instant*! he paws it, or his paw even moves towards it, click/say yes, lift up the lid so he can get the treat from under the lid and then give him a second treat from your hand. Some dogs will get the idea very quickly, even if new to this type of training. Sometime it will take some persistence. After a while, stop lifting up the lid for the treat, and simply hand him the treat from your hand only. Then remove the treat from under the lid entirely. 


Once he is pawing well, hitting the lid every time and knows exactly what you want you can add the cue! I use the word 'paw!'. As his paw connects with the lid say 'paw' and click/say yes. You have to say it quite a few times for it to stick. Eventually he will wait to hear paw before he does it. Then you can start putting your hand underneath the lid, still very close to the floor, but slowly higher and higher. You can use this method to teach 'shake' and 'hi-five' very effectively. Then replace the yogurt lid with a large sticker. Then start reducing the size of the sticker slowly until he will simply target your hand - and it is all done! That should all take maybe 5-6 sessions for a fairly smart dog, although it will vary widely with attention span, prior training etc. Always end your sessions on a high and keep them short.

So, this is how I trained Knightley to close my kitchen cupboard door. First I got a big white sticker, stuck it to my palm, and had him paw target that. Then I put the palm with the sticker next to my leg and asked him to paw that. He seemed to think I was asking for a touch or something, or maybe he just wanted to eat it (he tries to eat most things in the world afterall!).... because I got some paws, but some 'eat the sticker'. So that didn't work quite right. So I did some sticker zen. I know I've talked about zen a lot, but I may not have been absolutely explicit as to what it means. Zen basically means 'calm down, centre yourself, leave it'. My cue for zen is 'leave it', for instance I will put a large treat in front of him - say, a nice warm sausage - and tell him 'leave it', and he will back up slightly, sit, and look right at me. No fuss, no upset...  just a calm dog accepting what I wish, with heaps of self control, which is why it is called zen. Anyway, so he had tried to eat the sticker, so I told him to leave it, and every time I flapped the sticker in front of his face, whilst telling him leave it, and he successfully did it, I gave him lots of treats. Once I had established it was not for his mouth/nose etc, we went back to paw targeting. This time we were good. He was pawing my hand rather painfully, well done! good pup! (lol)

So, then I took it another step forward and put the sticker on my leg, but left my hand next to it. Not very different, and after a few hiccups, he was targeting my leg. Very slowly I started pulling my hand away, and didn't pause with cues and treats, until he was confidently tearing my leg to pieces with his nasty little nails, lol! We stopped there that night. All that took maybe 5 minutes, and was a very successful recap.

Then this evening we did our very awesomely cool session. I had new treats, we had got some fresh 'all natural' pre-prepared dog food in chicken, rice and veggies to use as training treats because they came in little nuggets, and this was the first time I had tried it, and they were a HIT. I started with him targeting the sticker on my hand, then my leg, and then I stuck it on the bottom of the couch... low enough so his paw could get to it. This was the really big moment, the massive huge mental leap. What leap, says Knightley, whapping the couch with his paw!!! And again, and again, and again! Wowsers! I was sitting there grinning like an idiot!

Learning to close the cupboard door. That's my amazing
puppy!

So, keeping in mind the behaviour is to actually close a cupboard door, we then moved into the kitchen, where I briefly retaught what we had just done (dogs need to relearn new behaviours when they move rooms/places). He confidently pawed my leg on cue, so I stood closer and closer to the cupboard and then put a fresh sticker right on the cupboard at about the same height. He didn't see it at first, so as I cued paw, I tried pointing at it, and he tried to paw my pointing hand... sigh.... but I persisted... patting the sticker, showing it to him, and then cuing 'paw!' again. Finally there is a half hearted wave of his foreleg, and I treated him like he did the most wonderful thing in the world. I gave him tiny treats for any wave, big treats for contact with the door of the cupboard, then eventually only treats for contact. I was actually handing him the treats at first, but found that tossing the treats aside gave him a few steps to centre himself on the sticker/door and put some force behind the whack.

After that change he started doing some really good whacks, and I was thrilled. I then wondered whether he could actually close it, although the doors do need a reasonable push to close. So I open it a touch, and we start trying. Tiny treats for soft touches, big treats for solid hits. Eventually only c/t for solid hits, which frustrated him for a while and he started his annoyed barking. Then he realised when I had stopped giving him treats if he didn't hit it and started putting his effort into actually pawing it solidly. Suddenly, *bang!*, the cupboard door closed, and Knightley jumped a little - I think I did too.... and I absolutely stuffed that dog full of treats, told him he was the very best puppy in the world, and he started wagging madly!!! We worked at it more until he managed to close it another three times, then stopped on a high. I was completely thrilled and completely blown away. Moving from a horizontal paw target to a vertical is meant to be a big leap... let alone manipulating that object!!! It showed me once and for all what Knightley is capable of. I am still almost in shock. He isn't meant to learn that fast!!                                                                                                                                                          

Getting a wash with some nice new 2in1
very natural shampoo after his swim. He
still doesn't like it very much but he is
tolerating it. I should really put my skills
to actually making him actively like it.
Now THAT would be a challenge!

Anyway, onto other topics. Earlier that day I went over to my parents place with the specific mission to get him over his reluctance for getting into the pool. His first trip over there he had been so eager to get in he had conquered any misgivings and jumped in, but the second trip over there he only jumped in once as he was just not happy with launching himself. Once he was in he always really enjoyed himself, but he didn't like having to jump. So I fed him a very small breakfast and saved the rest up in order to lure him into the pool.

At first I just fed him for leaning over, using the marker word "yes!" instead of clicking, trying to help him feel that leaning towards the water wasn't something to be afraid of. There are some steps that he hadn't realised were there previously, so I started to lure him with food and his Wubba (which he adores) at the steps, giving him treats whenever he leaned over again. I also took off his life jacket so he would feel freer to move and less encumbered. He was obviously pretty hungry because he was leaning further and further out until eventually, suddenly, a foot went over the edge and there was one on the first step. I shovelled buckets of food into his mouth then used his Wubba to lure him off the step. He grabbed hold of the Wubba, had a bit of a tour of the pool, then eventually climbed out at the steps.

That was pretty much how the session went, with me trying to make him feel more confident about getting in the pool, giving him treats for getting his feet on the steps, sometimes treats for getting in too if his head was far enough out of the water. After a few dips in I put his life jacket back on to save him some energy and because I noticed his strokes weren't as smooth and calm without it. Eventually he started to tire, but I was very very pleased with his progress... he even jumped in once after a big palm leaf. I'll keep working on it the same way, and will put a cue to it when it's a solid behaviour. There is a deeper step on the other side of the pool, so my aim will be to have him getting in there eventually - and then back to just jumping in.

I gave him a wash with my new lovely 2in1 pet shampoo, which is very natural, biodegradable, a natural fleaicide and very very good for sensitive dogs. Not to mention perfect for easy washing after a swim. Then that night we had the amazing success with the cupboard door.

As the days go by I am more and more sure about my choice. His focus is well ahead of other puppies his age... I just need to work on it outside the house, because his brains fly out his ears when we go outside.... What a day though. One to remember.