Jimmy has been introduced to more distractions while performing the dissociative state interruptions. When we first started training, I would mark when he either "booped" with his nose, put a paw on you, or barked. He has since started to choose a bark when he sees me zoning out. Sometimes he will prematurely bark when I say "look", so we are working through this to separate the two for duration. The facility has received a few new dogs, to which Jimmy would alert to with a g

This week we introduced Coco to the wheelchair. She was a little hesitant at first, but it didn't take long for her to get comfortable. Slow steps got us to where she is now crawling up on me and resting (DPT) when I lift my arms above my head. I am still using a lure to get her there and I have not given it a command yet. She also went to dinner for the first time this week and she did great. I'm working on her stubbornness with keeping her nose to the ground. I am confident

This week, Coal began shaping the “Interrupt” behavior to address early signs of recipient frustration, such as yelling or throwing items. Through consistent cue pairing and reinforcement, Coal is starting to recognize and respond to distress cues by nudging or approaching the handler. The “Free” marker helped establish a clear end point to the interrupt behavior, which supported smoother transitions back to calm obedience. Coal demonstrated steady improvement in recognizing

Jimmy was introduced to the "Look" command, dissociative state, and rewarded when he reacted to it. We started by saying "Jimmy, look!" and worked on eye contact, rewarding with pieces of kibble, lengthening duration. We then added the complete still stare and said without moving out mouth, "Touch", and rewarded Jimmy with kibble. After a few days, we stopped saying "Touch" while staring and Jimmy started to offer touch with his nose, paw, and a bark during the stare. We mark

This week, Coal began integrating public access behaviors into his training with a focus on Heel, Block, and Six. He showed great progress in understanding and responding to “Block” with minimal luring, positioning himself appropriately between the handler and others in both indoor and low-distraction public settings. The new cue “Six” was introduced and reinforced successfully, with Coal calmly sitting close to the handler’s side during pauses. Heel work is improving steadi

This week we have really been working on impulse control and redirection. Coco gets overstimulated outside when she sees dogs she wants to play with. We have been redirecting here and keeping her calm. We have really been working on "place". She loves to work and she is very food motivated so this has been fun watching her figure things out. Coco is a very intelligent dog and I have very high expectations for her and the training we will be working on. Next week we will be in

This week we continued to focus on prior commands and added "Look" command for Jimmy to look at his handler while talking to another person. I would increase duration to about 5-7 seconds before marking with "yes" and rewarding with a treat. Next week we plan to watch the video provided by Jimmy's recipient to better see the dissociative state, and will adjust training accordingly.

This week, Coal made significant strides building reliability on Sit, Down, Stand, and Come with clear verbal and hand cues. Leash walking sessions were successfully extended to 5–10 minutes, with strong emphasis on loose leash walking in increasingly distracting environments. Impulse control exercises like “Wait” at the door and “Leave It” were introduced and progressing well, helping Coal manage excitement and impulses. Jumping behavior continues to be managed effectively u

This week we worked a lot on 'Place' and 'Stay'. We have taken a lot of trips through the facility and she is doing great. We have been through the kitchen with a lot of different distractions and she has done well. We worked on 'Under' and 'Out' in the chow hall and it is going great. We need to work more on her 'Stay', but I am confident this will be a quick learn. I am very pleased with Coco and how fast she is picking this up.

This week we did not start deep pressure commands with Riggs, instead we continued to reinforce his current commands. He is struggling a...

Emery is doing much better accepting pets from strangers. She does very well in a down position and doesn't shy away. Her engagement is...

This week, Charlie began practicing the full range of behaviors required for his Public Access Test (PAT). Through consistent exposure to...

This week we reinforced all of Riggs training. He knows all the commands so we are work on reinforcing them daily. His heel has gotten to...

On Monday we generalized the "place" command with different rugs, mats, and in different areas. Emery seemed to understand the concept...

Charlie continues to show advanced growth in generalizing verbal commands to new handlers, different tones, and varied environments. His...

This week we continued working on “block” and “six”. Riggs does not like being in the six position and his duration is short as a result....

Emery does well with "up" and "off" and we have been using a bed, retaining wall, and box platform. All we have to do is point to the...

This week, Charlie made significant strides in mastering Stay commands across all three core positions—Sit, Down, and Stand. We're...

This was a good week overall for Riggs learning place, six, and block. He picked up “place” within a few minutes which was great. He...

This week we mostly focused on a couple of new goals, including adding distractions to down stays and sit stays. Emery is pretty used to...