Training Tails: Dallas - Week 4

This week has been focused on helping Dallas increase her response time. She is sluggish on the DOWN, but we are working on building her response time. Additionally, we are working on her DPT, retrieval, and blocking commands. Pets are extremely rewarding for Dallas, so we have to be conscientious about not letting people play and pet her for extended times. She is a beautiful dog, so we do get asked a lot if people can pet her. It will be important for Dallas to stay in a SIT or DOWN command when meeting people. We are trying to work on directing her attention to the trainers when she is being petted. Normally, we would not encourage a Service Dog to get petted, but realistically it is something that will happen. It is best to train the dogs how to properly respond to this stimulus.

The secondary trainer has proven to be very helpful in generalizing her known commands. She has gotten to go outside with more than one trainer. She is doing better with supervised separation as well. This is a reflection of her generalization. As she works for more people she will start being less dependent on just one trainer. In time, we want her to form the close bond with her forever trainer/owner. She is very easily bonded to people, so it should be no surprise that we foresee a successful training plan for her service work.