From our trainer Andrew, who is working with Wounded Warrior Amber, who suffers from PTSD, Major Depression, General Anxiety Disorder, cervical strain, lumbar Degenerative Disc Disease, Right Knee meniscus tear, and hearing loss, and her SDIT, “Brinn”.
“On September 22nd, 2014, I had my first session with Amber and Brinn. We mainly talked about the expected capabilities of her Service Dog in Training, what she has already worked on with Brinn, and what help she needs from Brinn the most. Brinn already knows a plethora of commands, as Amber has been working with her daily for the month that she has had her. She knows basic obedience such as sit, down, come, wait, leave it, load, unload, and already how to “cover”. What Brinn needs is reinforcement, so we focused on that. Brinn does have a problem pulling on the leash when she has on a normal nylon collar, so I showed Amber a technique for loose leash walking. Amber has begun working with Brinn on it already.
Amber’s family is also fostering a dog named Wendy and, together they both are not good at focusing on the commands as they want to play instead of listen. Wendy is more versed than Brinn is and responds better than Brinn to the commands when she is alone with a handler. We discussed working with them and scheduling times to teach the more difficult commands.
All in all, we had a good session. I was only needed to instruct them on reinforcement of the commands that Amber has already been working hard to teach Brinn and we will continue to do so in future sessions.”
“At our initial meeting, Panther wa
At our first training session, we worked on “Sit” and “Down”, then started on “Short Stay” for them to work on through the week. Panther caught on quickly, but he also gets bored quickly. We discussed the need for short training sessions (15-20 mins) a couple times per day. In addition, Warrant should be consistent with the rules for Panther; for him to work with Panther before meals so that Panther is treat-motivated. Warrant should also ensure they have appropriate “pack structure” within the house and that Panther is not allowed to “be the boss.” They both (Warrant and Panther) seemed to enjoy the session and look forward to learning more. I look forward to seeing what this little spunky dog is capable of. He’s very smart, and so is Warrant!”
A long, overdue congratulations to Wounded Warriors Anthony Pottebaum and Andrew Doyle for graduating from their Wounded Warrior Project’s TRACK program!! It was a wonderful ceremony, and a dozen or so other graduates were honored – Anthon
I am so proud of each of them and Bonnie and I came to show our support. What a wonderful achievement!!! Anthony’s wife, Rowena, and her SD, Blessed were there, as well as Andrew’s wife, Danielle. Now they are off to new lives in the civilian sector!!!
Oh – what a WONDERFUL session I had with beautiful, brilliant compassionate client Elizabeth, an Active Duty Wounded Warrior, and her AMAZING SDIT, Beatrice!! Elizabeth gladly let me bring along one of our trainers in training, Sue, who st
Beatrice and Elizabeth are doing AMAZINGLY!!!! Elizabeth still gets nervous when we start and as we do certain things, because, like most clients in training, they are hopeful that their dog will perform well and Elizabeth DEFINITELY needs to work on her confidence in Beatrice! This beautiful young Mastiff just blows me away with her abilities!! I have to giggle (not in a mean way) at Elizabeth because I know just how well Beatrice is going to do – but she still gets nervous. Of course, I remind her that the dog can sense when the handler is anxious or not confident, so that gets the dog a bit worried about itself – but after our session at Walmart, I know Elizabeth saw just how amazing Beatrice and she do at so many things.
We had SO much fun at the Super Walmart!!! Of course, Beatrice knows sit, down, long sit/stay, long down/stay (even when Elizabeth is out of sight now using only her voice), leave it, come, wait, controlled entry and exit into and out of cars and buildings, walking with the leash dropped and staying in a heel, and shake! The team did TONS of meet and greets because, of course, the sheer magnitude of Beatrice and her gently demeanor draw everyone’s attention! Poor Elizabeth was so gracious to everyone who asked to pet, and educated them on proper SD etiquette, speaking as well about visible and invisible injuries requiring a SD. All meet and greets with children and adult males and females were beautifully executed – Beatrice would sometimes give her paw to shake “hello”, or she would take a treat (she slobbers quite a bit due to her breed so Elizabeth always has a slobber cloth along), or she would just enjoy a loving pet.
Beatrice is entranced by the fish display!!!!! It’s adorable. She also is impervious to created distractions of any type. And I tried everything – bouncing balls, bicycles, hula hoops, balloons, loud items dropped behind her, motorized wheelchairs…I could go on and on. Needless to say, it was a delightful experience and we spent a lot of time together because it was so much fun – and then after we left, Elizabeth felt confident enough to go back in with Beatrice and actually do some shopping alone on her own!!!
I have several wonderful pictures, but also some meaningful ones, as Elizabeth’s husband was recently hospitalized (he is OK), but Beatrice was stellar at the hospital.
“We worked with Teddy to get him used to going up and down on the elevat
“Nathan was having an issue with
“We met at the Bluebonnet Bunk n Biscuit and trained inside their store as well as in their small dog park. There was one other dog
We also worked on Tabitha’s sit-stay and down-stay. Their homework for the week is to practice her stay more and gain more consistency with it and with her recall. To practice this, DJ got a 30’ leash, used to stay and have him walk away with Tabitha in a stay – then call her to COME and use the leash to “reel her in”. Tabitha is doing much better with the new collar as well! Tabitha can still sit, down, stay, leave it, watch me, wait, and heel very well.”