05/11/2023
A celebration 🥳 of a milestone for a Service Dog client, and a brief talk on why tandem training is generally not recommended with two dogs In Training.
First, and most important:
Rosie, the smaller dog in this clip, is just over a year old, and has been a Service Dog client of mine for a few months now. During her Teenage Phase, we've been struggling through some startle responses, and occasional barking at people in public. This isn't an aggressive response in Rosie at all, but definitely a behavior we've been working on. Now at the tail end of her teenage period, this was a VERY successful outing for Rosie! Not a peep from her for the entire hour we worked, working through hard distractions like unexpected strollers, people stopping to admire and talk to us (two vested dogs attracts a lot of attention!) and passing people in tight spaces! Rosie was an absolute champ, and her focus was amazing! 😍😍😍
Second, some words on working dogs tandem - that is, working two dogs with one handler:
Apache, the larger dog in this clip, is a fully trained, three year old Service Dog. He makes this tandem training look easy, but with two dogs in training this would be MUCH more difficult. Two different dogs mean different needs, different struggles, different learning styles, and most importantly, different behavior! It certainly CAN be done, but it's training that isn't advisable, even for professionals. In this situation, I can put most of my focus and work on Rosie, and I don't look at Apache often. I don't need to; I trust him to be where I need him to be and do what he needs to do. He does still get rewarded occasionally, but only because Rosie is also being rewarded! 🤣 With two dogs that would need the level of focus I needed to give Rosie, both dogs would end up with sub-par training (and a stressed trainer!). So why did I choose to tandem train these two today? Simply put, Rosie needed the practice of working around another dog, and Apache was up for the job! But this is certainly not something to get in the habit of. And if you have two dogs that BOTH need training - train them separately first!
Simba's Pride Dog Training is always here for your questions and comments, and congratulations 🥳🥳 to Rosie for the results of all her (and her mom's!!) hard work!
