Keeping your Assistance Dog's attention can be tricky in novel environments in the early stages of training.
In this snippet, I'm tapping my leg to keep this little guy's focus on me rather than all the exciting smells and sights I'd rather he didn't interact with.
Now, this fella has a habit of sticking his nose into & onto passers by which is bad etiquette for an AD & many people would rather not have a dog nose practicing a 'drive-by' up their skirt or into their handbag.
I've included a little collar 'correction' that happens so very quickly to reduce his desire to practice this unwanted behaviour. You'll see in the slow motion replay how tiny this correction only needed to be to indicate : 'We don't do that buddy' ;-)
99.99% of the time, the dog is on a Loose Lead & doing very well with my input.
It's OK to say or do "Nope" to your dog if you are fair and clear about it however, if you find yourself having to give corrections all the time, please talk to your trainer & get some advice.
Happy training folks.
Here come the #hashtags
#assistancedogsofinstagram #assistancedogs #assistancedog #assistancedogtraining #assistancedogintraining #servicedog #servicedogtraining #servicedogintraining #servicedogsofinstagram #cobberdog #cobberdogsofinstagram #melbournedogtrainer #melbournedogtrainers #yesandno #positivereinforcement #positivereinforcementdogtrainer #rewardbasedtraining #rewardbasedlearning #rewardbaseddogtraining
Paws for Assistance Dog Training finally got to play & be silly with the canine clients today at our social in the park. No dog jackets here! 🤗 It was a lovely opportunity for the handler teams to offload some of their training trials & tribulations with each other 🤓🤪 We look forward to the next one 👏👏 #melbourneassistancedogs #ownertrainer #melbournedogtrainer #gooddog #labradorlove #miniaturelabradoodle #cobberdog #AllDogsToMe #assistancedogsofinstagram #itsadogslife
Acclimatising an assistance dog to a highly stimulating environment should be done slowly over time, even multiple sessions.
Always watch the dogs body language. Is it calm, loose body, checking in with you, is it able to accept food from you?
This team has done a great job of stopping regularly to allow the dog to adjust & take in all this meat market has to offer (& sorry doggo, nothing for you…yet)!
Take it slow folks.
*shared with consent from this team.
#tasktrained #pawsforassistancedogtraining #publicaccesstraining #melbourneassistancedogs #assistancedog #servicedog #assistancedogintraining #melbournedogtrainer #servicedogsofinstagram #pawsforassistance #gooddoggie #dogtraining #ownertrainer #dogs #dog #gooddog #cutedog #dogjacket #ownertraining #patternsofbehaviour #youcandoit #itsnotalwayseasy #patience #consistency #neurodivergent #facilitydog #tasktrained #labrador #autismawareness #wheelchairlife
Settling a young #cobberdog at a market. 🐕 I don’t use a constant stream of food when relaxing a dog in #publicaccesstraining. Yes, I do use a #martingalecollar in certain situations. This dog tends to pull off into other people’s space & sniff every passer by. The martingale has allowed me to use far less leash pressure than his flat collar in this instance. This dog is in need of lots of public access training. Once he starts understanding the ‘rules’, I’d aim to re implement his flat collar in time. He’s not overly food motivated & it’s not appropriate to use toys in this kind of training so I’m left with lots of praise and pats & a little gentle leash pressure which he’s responding to really well. Giving a young dog lots of breaks away from stimulation to allow them to decompress is really important. Take it slow folks. Slow training IS fast & solid training. Build the foundations. #publicaccesstraining #assistancedogintraining #assistancedog #servicedog #servicedogintraining #autismassistancedog #autismservicedog #adolescentdogs #settledown #onyourmat #dogtraining #melbournedogs
Money Money 💰 💫 🌟 #kelpiesofinstagram #kelpies #clevergirl #moneymanagement #money #wheresmymoney #20bucks #100bucks #melbournedogs #dogtrainer #isthistaxdeductable
Impulse control on your dogs is very handy ! 🐕🐕🐕🐕. #workingdogs #kelpiesofaustralia #kelpie #goodgirl #kelpiesofinstagram #kelpielife #impulsecontrol #waitforit #wait #releasecue #release #free #melbournedogsofinsta #pawsforassistancedogtraining #melbournedogtraining #dogtrainer #FirmButFair
Congratulations to this team 👏
Most folks have no idea how long it takes to train an assistance dog let alone doing it from a wheelchair!
Of course it can be done with the right mindset, a HUGE amount of patience, time, consistency, dedication and the RIGHT DOG for the job.
This handler has put in an incredible amount of time to achieve this task where this 11month old labrador will take the object from the handler-hold the object-perform a paws up behaviour-release object to an unknown person then do it all again in reverse order. 😮💨 👏👏👏👏
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Here are the #hashtags
#tasktrained #pawsforassistancedogtraining #publicaccesstraining #melbourneassistancedogs #assistancedog #servicedog #assistancedogintraining #melbournedogtrainer #servicedogsofinstagram #pawsforassistance #gooddoggie #dogtraining #ownertrainer #dogs #dog #gooddog #cutedog #dogjacket #ownertraining #patternsofbehaviour #youcandoit #itsnotalwayseasy #patience #consistency #labrador #blackdog #wheelchairlife #MS #MultipleSclerosis #you #can #youcandoit #persistence #patience #commitment #train #your #trainyourdog
Stimulation Central!! Jeeeebuz. This confectionary store was an interesting place to train some public access. When working with young people, the #assistancedog can find itself in all sorts of #oddplaces 😵💫😁 Go forth and #proofyourdog in a variety of settings. 🦮🦮🦮🦮🦮🦮🦮🦮🦮🦮🦮🦮🦮🦮🦮🦮🦮🦮🦮🦮 #tasktrained #pawsforassistancedogtraining #publicaccesstraining #melbourneassistancedogs #assistancedog #servicedog #assistancedogintraining #melbournedogtrainer #servicedogsofinstagram #pawsforassistance #gooddoggie #dogtraining #ownertrainer #dogs #dog #gooddog #cutedog #dogjacket #ownertraining #patternsofbehaviour #youcandoit #itsnotalwayseasy #patience #consistency #ptsd #neurodivergent #stimulatingenvironment #overstimulated #overwhelm
Hot day timetable. Puppcicles for all. 🥵😎🐾🐾. Recipe: approx. 1/4 tsp massell stock powder mixed into little tub of water. Sprinkle of dehydrated #balancedlifedogfood freeze overnight. Nom nom 😋
Training with another dog. 🐕 🐕. Murphy assisted today with this team’s 6 monthly review session post-PAT to help Utha practice her focus on her handler with another dog present. They all did a fantastic job. 🐕 🐕. #tasktrained #pawsforassistancedogtraining #publicaccesstraining #melbourneassistancedogs #assistancedog #servicedog #assistancedogintraining #melbournedogtrainer #servicedogsofinstagram #pawsforassistance #gooddoggie #dogtraining #ownertrainer #dogs #dog #gooddog #cutedog #ownertraining #patternsofbehaviour #youcandoit #itsnotalwayseasy #patience #consistency #labrador #kelpie #trainyourdog #maintenancetraining
Having your AD ‘back up’ is a very handy behaviour to have. Practice in heel position AND from the dog in front of you moving back away from you.
This is handy for tucking into public transport seating positions for example.
