https://kaelapardo8.wixsite.com/enlightenedhound

Enlighted Hound, Portland, OR (2024)

09/26/2020

Little Jyo has proved himself to be a super fast learner! I’m so excited to see how quickly he picks up using his own AAC board! It’s been really interesting and fun to not only work on teaching AAC buttons to a puppy as opposed to Marshall who is 7 and less easily molded, but also to work within totally different lifestyle constraints than my own.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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I think finding solutions and work around a to the barriers that come up in teaching AAC has been one of my favorite parts of the whole experience so far. The journey is never boring! I’m gathering lots of good material for the little side project I’ve been working on!!!⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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09/25/2020

REPETITION⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Last but not least, repetition, repetition, repetition! We all know “practice makes perfect”, but the other side of repetition is showing your learner that this is the new way of things. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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If you only model sometimes, then your learner is probably only going to produce the behavior sometimes, if at all. This goes for AAC or any training model! Consistency is KEY to understanding and integration. Repetition is what gets you deeper understanding, reliable offering of desired behavior, or even muscle memory.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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This goes for repetition in modeling AND repetition in word choice. If you’re modeling the behavior consistently but using different words each time you might achieve a desired behavior from your learner but they probably won’t achieve the desired level of understanding. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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And here marks the end of my Strategies for Teaching Sp*ech & Language series! I hope that they’ve been helpful, if not in bringing you new strategies, at least in affirming the strategies you’re already using and bringing your awareness to actively employing them for your learners benefit!⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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09/24/2020

Marshall’s Morning Enrichment, brought to you by egg cartons everywhere! ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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This enrichment activity kept Marshall busy for a good 30 minutes, while I ate my own breakfast in peace, and boy does he look satisfied with his accomplishment! Scavenging opportunities are always Marshall’s favorite, so this activity is among the top on our list. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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09/23/2020

ADD ONE WORD⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Adding one more word than what your learner is currently using onto the length of your phrases encourages their understanding of a more complex sentence. Additionally, adding one, or sometimes two unfamiliar words to your board at a time maintains a continuous but manageable challenge.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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I have definitely been over excited and given Marshall too many new words at one time before, and regretted it. It ended up being confusing and overwhelming. I certainly learned my lesson that a slow but steady challenge is the winning pace.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Marshall has not formed a multi button phrase yet, but I feel like we are SO CLOSE. Of course switching over to our new board has manifested its own special challenges that are keeping our focus for now, and he’ll surely put words together when he’s ready. In the meantime I’ll settle for not using the “hungry” button as if he’d never been fed in his entire little life!⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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09/22/2020

Happy first day of Autumn!!! In honor of the change in the seasons I’m throwin’ it back today to one of my favorite fall photos and dearest rescue pups that I had the opportunity to foster and work with!⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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This is Chickap*e, a little Chihuahua x Pug with one the biggest personalities I ever did see! This girl may have been tiny, but man you did not want to be on her bad side. But what stands out in my memory was the way that she softened with love, and the right dog to stand beside her. I very nearly foster failed with this sweet girl simply due to the bond that she and Marshall quickly formed, if not my admiration for her punchy “don’t mess with me” energy.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Thinking about you today baby girl, and wondering how far you’ve come on your journey with the beautiful family you were blessed with!⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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09/20/2020

We are making some progress getting used to using our new hextiles and buttons! The smaller buttons is an interesting change, and his reaction hasn’t been what I expected. I think he will quickly get the hang of the small buttons and they will be better for him in the long run though. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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It’s clear that the smaller buttons are easier to activate as I had hoped, but the adjustment from making imprecise and approximate button presses with the larger Learning Resources buttons, to now needing to make more specific body aware movements in order to activate the correct word with the smaller FluentPet buttons is proving to be quite the inconvenient task for Marshall.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Although this adds an unforeseen bump in the road in the switchover, it’s actually a nice little blessing in disguise since one of the training things I’ve been working on with Marshall has been body awareness! No more flailing without any regard for the envious around him! So the smaller buttons not only take up less room in my house, and are more easily activated, but they are also serving as a great exercise in intentional and precise body movements!⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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09/19/2020

SABOTAGE⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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I’ve talked about this strategy a couple of times in previous posts, and use it a lot with Marshall. It happens to be my favorite strategy to use as it involves more creativity than the others and often a sense of play! ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Marshall is a dog that is known to need a great deal of motivation in order to learn and do new things, not because he isn’t totally capable but because he marches to the beat of his own drum. So sabotage has been one of the best ways to create motivation to learn and use his AAC!⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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My favorite way to do this has been abruptly stopping a play session and waiting for Marshall to request more play using his buttons. Have you used sabotage with your learner? How did it work for you?⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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09/18/2020

Blessed by a beautifully nostalgic thunderstorm last night, we finally got to go on a lovely little fall walk this morning in the just “unhealthy” air.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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09/18/2020

SAY IT BACK⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Repeating a word back is a great way to reenforce a correct button press, but also gives your learner an opportunity to consider their choice one last time through a different lens! Was that what you meant to push?⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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This has been really important while getting used to our new set up because Marshall is doing explorative button pressing with some of his words. He wants something, but doesn’t actually know where the button is... so when he’s clearly “hungry” for his breakfast but he presses the “home” button instead, which sound somewhat similar coming out of the button, by repeating back to him “yes we’re home” he is given a second chance to consider his selection and realize that it may not have been what he intended.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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09/18/2020

PARALLEL TALK⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Much like self talk, parallel talk involves narrating what your dog is doing. The more often you utilize your chosen vocabulary in real situations, whether you have buttons for those words yet or not, the more ease your learner will feel with using that vocabulary themselves. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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This is not only a great way to reinforce buttons that you are currently teaching, but also to prepare your learner for words yet to come. Making a point to stress your target words whenever applicable is a key part of giving your dog a well rounded understanding of the meanings behind what for them are just sounds.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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09/18/2020

We CANNOT wait for our set up to get here any day now... We made a little switch-a-roo with the “hungry” button, and after some trial and error I think we’ve settled on a good solution until they arrive.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Originally I hesitated to have a “hungry” button at all due to Marshall’s extreme food motivation, but due to his fear of strange sounds I decided it was likely the only way to get him even remotely interested in, let alone near, the buttons. He actually surprised me with his initial willpower and manners with the “hungry” button, and I thought I had dodged that bullet... but I was wrong...⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Over the last couple of weeks we’ve tried a few different things to discourage the inappropriate usage of the button, and encourage the use of other buttons. The trouble was that ethically I didn’t feel right about silencing him by taking away his word, and in the end it didn’t matter because Marshall is a dog who cannot be silenced and found that simply throwing a fit with the remaining buttons got his point across just fine. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Now we have his “hungry” button next to his bowl again having found that I would rather him press the button inappropriately sometimes while also understanding that his other buttons have nothing to do with food, than have him just fully regress with all button use and meanings. So here the “hungry” button will live from here on out.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Have you dealt with regression, or inappropriate use of food related buttons? How did you handle it? What are you feelings on the ethics of taking a button away, and it worked for you? I would love to read your thoughts in the comments!⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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09/18/2020

SELF TALK⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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I happen to talk to myself all the time so applying this strategy to our routine hasn’t been too difficult! By narrating what I’m doing using our target vocabulary, and making use of our AAC board, I increase likelihood of complex understanding of the meanings of our target vocabulary.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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I also show Marshall that using the soundboard is fun, and I want to do it too! This increases opportunities for modeling and enhances the positive energy surrounding our relationship with the buttons!⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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09/17/2020

An unboxing and first impression review of my “re-boxed” Canine AAC FluentPet hextiles and buttons! I just couldn’t wait to open them, so I reassembled the general presentation for your viewing pleasure after the fact...

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09/15/2020

When you get caught checkin’ yourself out in the mirror... and the lessons dogs teach us...

Watching this new little guy learn and explore over this last week has given me exactly the medicine I’ve needed this year. A dose of innocence, curiosity, and wonder at the world around him. The joy in new smells and flavors, and the grace in learning to work together with his humans to build a new system, a better system... or that there’s nothing wrong with admiring your fly self in the mirror every so often.

How have your pups been your medicine this year?

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09/14/2020

INCREASE OPPORTUNITIES

Something that Marshall and I loved to do is have “play” days or “park” days where, as time allows, I target one of his words multiple times a day, and if possible using several different contexts. For example I might have several play sessions in a day each with a different type of toy or in a different location.

This helps to not only a provide focused learning structure to a button, but also gives broader meaning to a button while encouraging the use of multiple buttons simultaneously to form a meaningful phrase.

The more we model and the more real world context we can provide, like with any training, the better they will understand!

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09/14/2020

Forever thankful for my trusty sidekick! Although I’m not entirely sure who’s comforting who here...

My anxiety has been at a high this week watching the fires around Oregon force many people that I know out of their homes, some being left with no home to return to. The evacuation borders creeping closer to my own home, I decided to go and stay with my parents for the weekend.

We spent some time honing in on next steps for Enlightened Hound, I got to hug my mom for the first time in months, and I was bombarded by constant puppy snuggles.

We returned home last night after the evacuation border receded. All I can think is how grateful I am to be safe, sheltered, and supported when so many were not before the fires started and so many more are now finding themselves in limbo and at the mercy of Mother Nature.

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09/09/2020

VERBAL ROUTINES

We all have verbal routines, commonly used vocabulary and phrases. Taking not of what our verbal routines are is important in any dog training, but especially in teaching AAC.

Are we using the vocabulary that we want to teach? Is it simple? Am I consistent? Is there a better way for me to phrase this so that my dog can understand more clearly? Am I trying to teach a word that I don’t actually use regularly?

Studying our verbal routines is a great way to start out teaching AAC, but is also imperative as a tool for self evaluation as you go. A great way to do this is by recording parts of your day and watching it back! How well are you communicating with your learner? I’d love to here your thoughts on how we can be better communicators in the comments...

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09/09/2020

It’s been a slow and snuggly morning while we wait for our power to come back on again! It’s another beautiful windy day, and we don’t mind the extra cuddle time while we wait for it to heat up a bit more outside!

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09/08/2020

SIMPLIFY⠀
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By using short and specific phrases and sentences you increase the chances that your learner understands what you’re saying. ⠀
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If you went somewhere that you didn’t know the language and there was no one to translate for you, communication would be understandably very difficult. However, if the people that you found yourself communicating with made a point to keep their vocabulary simple and specific, it then becomes more likely that you maybe able to not only piece together what’s being said but that you might also retain the vocabulary for later use.⠀
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When training your dog, be it to use an AAC soundboard or basic obedience, committing to simple and specific vocabulary will earn you quicker and more proficient results from your learner!⠀
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09/07/2020

A puppy dream in a pile of petals

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09/07/2020

WAIT!

This is one of the most difficult thing for me to remember when training Marshall, and it doesn’t just apply to using his words! It’s easy to get over excited when asking your dog to do something new, and that excitement helps them be excited too, but sometimes it can be distracting and actually inhibit your learner from displaying the behavior you’re asking for.

Learning something new can be overwhelming, and without the time to process what you know it becomes less likely that you will be able to display your knowledge with clear intention. By stepping back and creating a moment of expectant space for your learner, you give them the opportunity to display the behavior you’re asking for.

Marshall did not press his first button until I started getting quiet. I would sit down on the floor next to his button and just wait while he considered it. It was amazing how quickly he progressed once I started giving him this time and space.

Information gathered from other folks helping their dogs learn to use AAC has shown that dogs may take approximately 10-30 seconds to respond. That’s a long time when you count it out! Don’t rush your learner, you can always fall back on prompting if they need it, but you’ll never know if you don’t let them try.

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09/07/2020

After spending some time today with my moms new puppy Jyo, I’ve found myself with a bad case of puppy fever reminiscing about the days when Marshall was chubby little nugget that fit in the palms of my hands...

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08/12/2020

Here we are almost six weeks into our AAC journey, and learning more everyday!

This is what our mornings look like right now as I try to reenforce the things Marshall knows, teach some conversational manners, and encourage learning buttons that Marshall is less excited about using than others...

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08/11/2020

This is the self-assured face of a dog who got to go to the park and soak up the afternoon sunshine even though his mom feels absolutely rotten today, all because he learned to press the right button on his AAC board. This is also the face that was totally worth pushing through pain in order to see this afternoon. I am blessed with this boy!

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*ech

08/10/2020

We are loving reading about canine behavior in regards to language learning in John Pilley’s book “Chaser Unlocking the Genius of the Dog Who Knows a Thousand Words”!

This has been one of my most enjoyable resources while teaching Marshall to use his AAC buttons, and I would highly recommend it! It’s a fun read while also providing great information about canine behavior and learning.

Thanks for inspiring us to spread the joy of books today!

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08/09/2020

“Park” and “walk” are still pretty new buttons for Marshall, so whether or not he really understands these presses yet I don’t know...

With that being said however, we took six walks yesterday, two of them being to the park all based on his utilization of those two buttons. I want to say he’s figured them out...

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08/08/2020

This mornings enrichment brought to you by JW Hol-ee Roller and some scraps of fabric from my craft box!

To make the toy a little bit more challenging for Marshall I’ve simply wrapped his morning kibble portion in the little fabric squares and stuck them through the holes. Needless to say, he was a fan!

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Figuring out good enrichment games can be tricky for Marshall because he is nervous around loud noises. So while I like that exposing him to louder enrichment options, like the orange juice bottle from yesterday, is simultaneously working on counter conditioning to sound, he gets a lot more enjoyment out of the enrichment set ups that are silent.

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08/07/2020

Marshall’s morning enrichment, brought to you by an empty orange juice bottle! 🍊💕

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08/06/2020

While we get our footing on new button positions, the “hungry” button is not in question!

Hungry smol boi struck again last night after I forgot that I had withheld his kibble portion at dinner in hopes of an evening training session. Good thing he has his words to let me know now instead of waking up my neighbors!

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08/06/2020

Today I’ve been working on reinforcing Marshall’s “play” button with his new ball!

Normally Marshall isn’t very excited about tennis balls once they stop bouncing or unless another dog is chasing after it, but this one squeaks, and we are STOKED. So I used the opportunity to utilize a technique dubbed “sabotage” that is sometimes used by sp*ech language pathologists to encourage the use of AAC devices.

By creating a situation that Marshall was enthusiastic about participating in, then withholding the continuation of the activity and asking “What do you want? Hmm?” (our verbal prompt), I was able to more actively engage him in the value of his AAC buttons and create space for him to utilize them to express himself.

This is the satisfied face of a dog who has the tools to appropriately ask for what he wants!

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08/06/2020

We’ve been doing lots of exploring with the new set up today! Before we moved the buttons all to one central location yesterday, Marshall’s “learn” button sat approximately where the “home” button is now.

After modeling being home for him since that’s the button he pressed, I went back the the board and asked if he wanted to learn modeling the “learn” button in it’s new position, and sure enough that’s what he really wanted all along. It’s clear that Marshall is a bit frustrated by the combining of his words, but he is also showing curiosity and confidence in his exploration of their new set up.

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08/06/2020

It’s Tasty Treat Tuesday for Marshall with a freeze dried duck head! While it was clearly a HUGE hit for him, I don’t love the disturbing leftovers that I now get to hang onto for later...

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08/06/2020

The excitement at figuring out this new power says it all!!! Three weeks into modeling Marshall’s buttons it finally clicked!

While I wouldn’t recommend starting out with a button for food, if you should choose to use one at all, it quickly became clear to me that Marshall’s fear of strange noises mixed with his strong willed personality would be a huge barrier to getting him interested in using his buttons. The look that says “I’m aware of what you’re trying to accomplish here, but I’m also aware that you don’t want me to p*e on your rug... so what’s it gonna be?”, is a look that I know all too well. So keeping in mind that I could always remove the “hungry” button down the road if it became a barrier in and of itself, I brought it into play alongside our “outside” button.

I am happy to report however, that one month into our journey Marshall is appropriately utilizing all four of his buttons! We are now working on activating the sound on his presses, and replacing barking with using his words.

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08/06/2020

Check out Marshall’s new setup! Since Marshall has been consistently and appropriately utilizing multiple buttons, it seemed like a good time to move them all to one central location. Eventually we will be switching over to using the smaller Fluent Pet buttons, and adding their hex-tiles, so I wanted to keep this in mind in order to set him up for future success.

Because Marshall can be unsure about changes I want to prepare him by getting him used to the positioning and grouping of his buttons into separate sentence parts like I plan to have them when we transition, as well as the idea of something laying beneath them rather than sitting loosely on the floor.

I’m excited to watch him take on this new challenge of learning his words in specific positioning and groups, rather than learning their meanings with the association of the separate locations that they relate to! While Marshall is a little bit nervous about the change, he seems excited about the challenge too!

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08/06/2020

Meet Marshall, my 7yr old Chihuahua/Dachshund mix! Wicked smart, highly food motivated, and very independent minded Marshall has presented me with many a challenge over our years together!

I’ve always been in awe at Marshall’s capacity for communication through his expressive body language, and he has always made his opinions known. As my sole living companion we have A LOT of mostly one-sided conversations, especially since being in quarantine. So when I came upon on TikTok, and subsequently dug into the work of Christina Hunger and her dog Stella using a homemade Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) device, I was absolutely enthralled.

-What if Marshall could actually talk back?
-In what ways could this potentially help me work with some of his behavior challenges, and bring us closer?
-If Marshall could speak, how might that change the ways in which we spend our time together?

Inspired by his quick progress, and the discoveries I’ve made about him in the process I decided to bring what we’ve learned together online in hopes of inspiring other pet parents and their learners to stretch the boundaries of what we imagine to be possible for our furry friends! We would like to invite you to join us on our journey, and maybe we can be a part of yours!

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