Maren and Paxton have been working hard together since he came home and it is really paying off. Today Maren shared this wonderful video of Pax alerting. Without Pax with them, they put a drop of target sample into their sweatshirt. This step is further generalizing this alert through taking away any tins and making sure he is truly alerting to the sample itself. Next we will do double blinds to ensure there is no other outside cue prompting him to alert. Way to go Pax and Maren!
🚨 Live Alert - Quil 🚨
While videoing my workout to look back for progress later, I caught a live alert. This isn’t the cleanest alert possible, but it was clear enough and she was clearly excited.
She held her down very well, for about 15mins prior to this alert. Happily just watching and waiting. I cut a lot of the video out and sped up before the alert so it wasn’t way too long.
It is as important, if not more important that she didn’t alert during those 15 mins. She needs to be able to tell the difference between healthy HR increase, like when working out, and POTS related HR increases. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be able to work out without constant alerts.
Despite her excited sprint away from me, she quickly recalled for DPT and continued to sniff and make me aware that I needed to lay completely flat. I am so thankful for the confidence she gives me thanks to this alert.
After taking time to think about it, I figured out why she likely responded this way. Just before my workout we were doing Birch searches and once she finds the scent we mark, reward and reset in the laundry room. I believe she was trying to “reset” for another round 😂
#servicedog #potssyndrome #chronicillness #medicalalertdog #cardiacalertdog #providingpawsable #poodle #workingpoodle #servicepoodle #pawsableprospects #trainingtranquility #taskingtranquility
🚨 Live Alert - Quil 🚨
While videoing my workout to look back for progress later, I caught a live alert. This isn’t the cleanest alert possible, but it was clear enough and she was clearly excited.
She held her down very well, for about 15mins prior to this alert. Happily just watching and waiting. I cut a lot of the video out and sped up before the alert so it wasn’t way too long.
It is as important, if not more important that she didn’t alert during those 15 mins. She needs to be able to tell the difference between healthy HR increase, like when working out, and POTS related HR increases. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be able to work out without constant alerts.
Despite her excited sprint away from me, she quickly recalled for DPT and continued to sniff and make me aware that I needed to lay completely flat. I am so thankful for the confidence she gives me thanks to this alert.
After taking time to think about it, I figured out why she likely responded this way. Just before my workout we were doing Birch searches and once she finds the scent we mark, reward and reset in the laundry room. I believe she was trying to “reset” for another round 😂
#servicedog #potssyndrome #chronicillness #medicalalertdog #cardiacalertdog #providingpawsable #poodle #workingpoodle #servicepoodle #pawsableprospects #trainingtranquility #taskingtranquility
We have been blessed to enjoy The Gated Dock and couldn’t have been more honored to join the TGD Family today in remembering Ace. It was emotional and he will be missed, but we wanted Marie to know how much he touched us all and how much we love her and appreciate everything she does for all of us day in and day out.
Jessica and Levi Update
Jessica loves to line dance with friends, even though it can be challenging with POTS. Here she was practicing a dance at home and she caught a live alert from Levi. Not only did he clearly alert, but remained persistent! Often us humans want to ignore alerts, or fight through our disabilities. Luckily, Levi made it very clear it was time to sit down and let her heart rate calm down before continuing.
Here is a little note from Jessica on how this alert will change her life!
"Before Levi, if I went out dancing and had an episode, it could knock me down for a significant amount of time. Often, I would have to sit/lay down for up to an hour to even feel stable enough to drive home. It would always make me nervous especially if I went alone and didn't have an option of someone else driving me home. It would basically ruin the night. Now, Levi will be able to alert and reduce my recovery time which means I will be able to stay and do more dancing! The feeling of freedom this gives me is huge!"
I am so beyond proud of this team!
They have put in the work from day 1 and it really shows! In the last couple months Levi has gone to doctors appointments, dentists, airport, church and a bar. He is handling these new environments well and still continuing to task.
Jessica has been recording his alert accuracy and over the last week or so he has been 98% accurate and ZERO misses with his alerts!!!!!! How incredible is that?
Jessica said that his alerts have been so accurate and life changing that she doesn’t want to go anywhere without him. And the security of his alerts have been incredibly freeing.
#medicalalert #medicalalertdog #cardiacalertdog #servicedog #medicalalerttraining #potssyndrome #potssyndromeawareness #dysautonomia #providingpawsable #dysautonomiaawareness #syncopealertdog #syncopeawareness
Everyone please congratulate Elizabeth and Gemini! This team has worked so hard since day one. There were struggles and doubts but I think it made them an even stronger team.
We started encouraging them to do these titles as a way to practice achieving smaller goals, and they just took it an ran with it. This is title number 5 for them at 5.5mo!
Gem’s First Live Diabetic Alert 🚨
I am so excited to share that Gemini had her first live alert today! I love watching dogs progress with task work but ESPECIALLY with medical alert.
Over time she will get more and more confident and likely will be catching alerts before her handler is even aware!
Elizabeth and Gem use our Scent Training Guide and Skype sessions to prepare Gem for this task.
#providingpawsable #diabeticalertdog #diabeticlife #t1d #typeonediabetes #diabeticalertdogs #medicalalert #medicalalertdog #servicedog
Service Dogs in Multi-Pet Homes
I often get asked by clients if they can have a service dog if they already have another dog or other pet at home.
The answer is absolutely!
It’s an essential part of service dog’s training to be able to work around other dogs, animals and a variety of distractions. This is true for in the home as well!
Here you can see Quil (1.5yo) working service dogs and Ellie (20weeks) future sport dog calming co-existing with one another. They can play on their own, and when released play with one another.
We often start this young by working dogs near one another and then work up to something like this. Our dogs are expected to still take commands and re-engage with us around one another.
When you tell clients to generalize training and they take it to the extreme 😆😂💀
Thank you Elizabeth and Gemini for allowing me to share this great example of generalizing your training.
Nothing is stopping this team right now! They have earned their second title at just 14 weeks old. I have loved watching them grow together as a team.
I have really seen the confidence of both Gem and her handler increase dramatically since we began pursuing titles!
So proud of this team! I have been working with Elizabeth before Gemini even came home. It’s been so fun to watch them grow together and challenge each other to be better.
Message us to get your trick or virtual home manner titles evaluated!!!
It feels good to be back walking and training again. The recovery from surgery is not over but I feel confident enough to work certain digs that I trust.
YoYo was thrilled to be working again, he honestly couldn’t be happier than to please his person. His placement has been a long process but I think it will be better than I could have imagined for him.
#servicedog #servicepoodle #providingpawsable #servicedogtrainer #ohio
YoYo Rocking an automatic revolving door for the first time ever. Honestly he acted like this was nothing new or strange at all! I’m so proud of how confident he has become.
#workingdog #providingpawsable #servicedog #workingpoodle #standardpoodle #apricotpoodle #servicepoodle
The Importance of a Double Blind
We want medical alert dogs to use their nose to notice changes in hormone levels associated with medical episodes. The nose needs to be the foundation for an alert. Handlers can sometimes (consciously or unconsciously) cue their dog to alert. Cuing can be as subtle as a knee bend or as dramatic as a verbal cue. Ultimately, if a handler is cuing the dog isn’t doing its job to the fullest capacity.
To insure handlers are not cuing our program recommends using double blinds! A double blind is set up so that the handler and dog do not know where the target sample is hidden out of multiple samples.Additionally, whoever does hide the sample must not be present for the search. They are called back into the room to confirm where the target sample was hidden only once the dog has alerted.
Levi has been alerting consistently to live POTS episodes for several months now. Today his handler set up a double blind to test for him. You can see he repeatedly goes back to the target sample and quickly ignores the other sample. Eventually, getting the confidence to paw at the target sample, that was confirmed by Jessica’s mom (sample hider).
We will continue to test Levi as his alert develops. We not only will do more double blinds but we also track his alert record. When he catches an alert, when he false alerts and when he misses alerts as well!
#medicalalert #medicalalertdog #medicalalertservicedog #potsalertdog #potssyndrome #dysautonomia #dysautonomiaawareness #cardiacalertdog #providingpawsable
Bailey Barn Hunt Practice
As Bailey continues to be mainly an at home DAD, we are hoping to find a sport she loves. Of course we immediately thought of anything using her nose and will be trying her in Barn Hunt.
We got these bales to help practice the tunnel for not only her and Quil but @little_pups_forever too! Today we did practice searches with a chukar wing (in the koozie) with all three dogs. This was a really clean and fast run for Bailey.
Her first trial will be this Saturday!
#barnhunt #gsd #germanshepherd #nosework #diabeticdog #diabeticalertdog #typeonediabetes #dogsports #dogtraining #providingpawsable
Typical “Play” Session
Rarely ever do I ever just go out and throw the ball on repeat for my dogs. All this does is build endurance and cause it to take more longer to tire them out.
Instead I make them work mentally for each throw. This can be through commands or through searching. By combining the mental and physical work dogs are EXHAUSTED after just a 10-15 minute session.
#mentalenrichment #fetch #dogs #providingpawsable #trainingtranquility #dogtrainer #workingdog #dogtraining #workyourdog
Jessica and Levi
A majority of our clients are owner trainers and I love supporting these amazing teams.
Jessica and Levi have been so fun to watch grow as a team. I helped pick Levi from his litter and I can still remember this little fuzzy potato. Now he is maturing into an amazing and obedient dog. He is not only doing really well with public access training but also killing his medical alerts for POTS. Jessica has been the definition of dedicated to his training and it really shows.
I am always so happy to get update from our owner trainer teams and just as excited to celebrate their wins.
Frustration While Training
Reality Check
So often we share our successes, what we want others to see. I try to be open with you all about the struggles we have as well. I try to keep training positive and fun, but sometimes I honestly just get frustrated!
Here Quil just got a little unfocused, not something awful but in that moment I was irritated. Part of me wanted to leave the store, end the session. Instead…I took a breath and attempted again. She quickly re-engaged with me and we had an amazing session.
Tomorrow I will post more clips from our session!
#dogtraining #servicepoodle #trainingtranquility #reality #dogtrainer #servicedog #providingpawsable #pawsableprospects #servicedogintraining
Snow Day Enrichment
Surviving Bad Weather with High Energy Dogs
We have quite a bit of snow on the ground and getting the dogs properly exercised can be difficult. Specifically, the one with 8” of show coat (Quil). So I made this litter DIY puzzle box for their dinners tonight.
Quil absolutely loved it and she was so tired after she slept as I prepared one for Bailey! That is what you see here, I am just using kibble and her joint supplements inside. Crumpled paper, toilet paper rolls, and wash rags!
#enrichment #mentalenrichment #enrichyourdog #snowday #ohio #dogsofinstagram #providingpawsable #diy #doityourself #puzzletoys
