Assistance Dog Training

Kodi has shown a desire to be with me at all times. I can't leave one room and go into another without him following me. I can't go outside, even for a moment without him, as he stands just inside the door mournfully calling me. When he is near me, he has to be touching me.

Having such a close bond with him, it seemed only natural that we should try teaching him a few 'assistance' commands.

Kodi has been learning obedience commands, the two we have been working on the most recently are 'bring it' and 'drop it'. I decided this might be a good time to see if Kodi could learn 'pick it up' and 'paws up'.

I started with 'paws up', asking him to put his paws on my lap. He didn't understand, so it took taking his paws in my hands and saying 'paws', then putting them on my lap and saying 'up'. We did this a few times with rewards each time until he was able to do it himself.

I read up a bit on owner trained assistance dogs and discovered the method for teaching your dog to 'pick it up'. I used an old clicker with a coiled ring attached, tossed it to the floor and asked Kodi to 'pick it up'. When he didn't understand, I touched it to his mouth, dropped it again and said 'pick it up'. We did this about a dozen times, until he picked it up. Even though he immediately dropped it, he was experimenting with what I wanted him to do. We did it again and again, as he held it in his mouth longer each time. He was rewarded with treats each time he completed the task.

After several successful attempts, I added 'paws up'. He was able to pick it up, stand up against my leg and hand the clicker to me gently.

Since that day, he's picked up a tea towel, paper plate, jar lid, my keys, the cordless phone, remote control, a fork, a wrist watch, a tablet, a pen, a crystal figurine that fell on the floor, a whisk, his collar, his leash, a piece of mail, a dvd cover, a jar of spice, a meatloaf mix packet, a doilie that fell off my nightstand, a sock that fell when folding clothes, his brush, and my hair tie-back.

The next thing we will begin to work on is closing the front door behind me when we leave the house, as the area I have to turn my power chair around is quite tight and the stairs are in that area so it could be quite dangerous as well.

I'll tie a piece of playground rope around the door handle with a knot in the end and teach him to grab the knot and pull.

Kodi wears his "Halti" when we go out to walk, as well as a backpack with some essentials in it that we need. He carries my house keys, cell phone, occasionally things I might pick up at the store when we're out and he carries his own travel water bowl (sometimes bottled water).

I bought some Service Dog patches and affixed them to the backpack. One with a hand with a red slash through it saying "Do Not Pet Me - I'm Working" and the other two are rocker patches that say "Service Dog" and "In Training".

"Paws up" has been a great command when taking off the backpack and halti after our walks... as well as getting my keys out of the side pouch.

I've read where an owner trained their assistance dog to unload grocery bags. That might be something I teach Kodi later on, as they usually end up on the floor when brought into the house because I don't have enough strength when sitting in the chair to lift them onto the counter and I can't lean out of my chair far enough to reach them safely.

He's learning exceptionally fast. He tries hard, though he has to be motivated with a treat to perform to any command. That is the puppy in him, as he matures, I feel confident we will become more consistent and need less rewards.