Going for an Autumn Walk

This evening my husband and I were talking about taking Kodi for a walk before it got dark.

I stepped into the bathroom before getting my coat and power chair ready to go, as my husband got his shoes.

Kodi came into the bedroom and looked into the bathroom at me. I told him I was almost ready, then we could go for a walk. He looked at me, whimpered, looked at my sneakers on the floor by my night stand, then picked them up, one by one and brought them to me in the bathroom, putting them at my feet.

After he dropped my sneakers he went back into the bedroom and picked up one of my socks, which he took out to my husband. This makes sense, because he often helps me get my socks on when we are going out.

This evening he found a video cassette tape case on our bed where my husband left it when he brought some holiday cartoons out to watch. Kodi picked up the case and took it out to my husband, handing it to him.

While I was sitting in my recliner tonight, I finished looking through some catalogs that came in the mail today. I asked my husband if he wanted to look at them, to which he replied, "later, not right now."

Kodi took the catalogs, one at a time, off the arm of my recliner and walked them across the room to my husband, where he handed them to him.

Sometimes I think he's more human than some people I know.

Training Snag ~ Temporary Set Back

Kodi and I have run into a bit of a Service Dog training snag.

Kodi has experienced a number of stressful occurrences since we've started walking in the community. He's been charged at or attacked by other dogs four times, he's had children grab his tail when we're out walking and had groups of people surround him trying to pet and reach at him, people barking at him, etc.

Kodi has also been very sensitive to loud noises. He's not too bad with thunder, but fireworks going off right over the house terrify him. He's sensitive to backfires as well.

His training has been great inside the house. He's able to do most tasks without being given a command and we're always working on new commands, such as "hold", "release", "drop it" and "tug door".

He's getting much better about not vocalizing at the bank, sitting or laying down next to my chair when I stop to chat with someone and not jumping up on people who come into the house. He's very affectionate and wants to give kisses, so we are always working on deterring him from 'molesting' visitors and he's improving.

I recently consulted a service dog training organization for some helpful hints and tips as to how I can overcome some of Kodi's fears. They were very helpful in giving me some training ideas.

Because Kodi is stressed in certain public situations, I have a lot of trouble getting him to even 'pick up' dropped items when we are away from the house. They suggested working on it outside when I knew I would have the time to 'out wait' Kodi. I was to give him the command and if he refused, simply give the command again, remain calm and assertive, and just keep giving the command until he did as he was asked.

Yesterday, when our walk started it was cool, overcast and breezy. So, when we came home I decided to try this suggestion. I went to the door and got my keys out of my bag. I dropped the keys and asked him to pick them up. I used the verbal command and hand signal we've been incorporating, over and over, giving him time in between commands to respond.

Kodi sat there, looking at the birds flying over, the people walking by, me, the porch, the keys, the door, etc. He whimpered and shifted around, trying to lay down, sitting up, going closer to the door, but he would not pick up the keys.

We sat there for between an hour and a half and two hours. I offered him a cold drink twice, which he accepted. Finally he was crying, fidgeting and I was hot and sweaty, so we came inside.

Once inside, I dropped the keys to see if he would pick them up. He refused. I took off his vest and leash, put his things away and when I came back into the living room, he picked up the keys and put them on my lap, he picked up the throw pillow that had fallen and handed it to me.

I realized that I trained him inside, with nothing but his collar on. I don't think he's ever completed a task with his vest on and certainly only once maybe, with his leash on.

I felt horrible for putting him and myself through that on the porch.

I decided we will start with his vest on, and relearn these skills, then add his leash when we see how well he does with the vest on. Once we have done so, THEN we will move our training outside.

Kodi is extremely intelligent and intuitive, but in this case, he seems to have learned the skills in one environment, with certain circumstances in place and associates the skills with those circumstances.

He's 21 months old this month. We, as a team, are a work in progress... so we keep working. There is always improvement in some area with Kodi, so there is no reason for feeling badly or as if we've failed. I'm incredibly proud of what we've accomplished as a team.

New Lead ~ Said Goodbye to the "Halti"

Being a husky and true to his 'husky' nature, Kodi found it difficult to walk using a 'harness' or to even walk with his leash attached to his collar. As soon as he felt the least resistance against his chest or neck he would lean into it, digging in and pulling against the restraint, making it terribly difficult for us to walk him, especially me, sitting in a chair with a low center of gravity and not much leverage.

More than once, I was tugged so hard my shoulder popped. So we had to research, talk to our Veterinarian and we settled on a training device known as a "Halti" head harness, shown on Kodi in the picture.

It was not a muzzle, it slid around his nose and attached behind his head with a small lead under his chin that attached for security to his regular collar. The leash attached to the same ring under his chin that the tiny lead attached to, so when walking him, we were 'leading' him by his nose, rather than restraining him at his neck.

He could still drink, eat, play ball, pant, bark and yes, bite, if necessary, but if he pulled against the Halti it would tighten around his mouth, making it difficult for him to defend himself should he be attacked by another dog (which has happened 4 times when we were out).

To control the Halti I wrapped the leash around my wrist, which meant both hands were occupied when we were out, one hand holding his leash, the other controlling the chair's joystick. This was problematic if I had to get Kodi a drink, use the pooper scooper, or go into the bank and try to handle a check or cash, if Kodi was moving around beside me, pulling my hand away.

I went on a service dog supply site and found a leather leash with brass hardware, used in police, Schutzhund and Service Dog work.

It's 6 ft. long and has a series of rings over its length with a hook on each end. It can be adjusted to 4 different lengths, attached to a wheel chair, used as a temporary tie out. It's very sturdy, being two layers of leather with both stitching and rivets.

I bought one and attached it to the frame of my power chair. Hooking it to Kodi's Halti was problematic, as it was heavy and pulled his head down, putting unnecessary pressure on his nasal passages along the top of his nose. So, I took a chance that he had learned the lesson meant to be taught with the Halti and I hooked the leash to his collar.

I was pleasantly surprised to find that Kodi stayed right next to my chair, he didn't pull hard and actually allowed slack in the leash between us. He had an easier time drinking out of his travel water dish and was more eager to put his gear on to go for walks. He certainly experienced a sense of 'freedom' he hadn't been feeling.

My husband can put the leash around his waist and hook it to itself, keeping his hands free and using his body weight to prevent Kodi from pulling him as aggressively as he did when he held the leash in his hand. (He has always seeminly had an understanding that we are a team and he must cooperate with me, therefore responding differently than he does with someone walking upright.)

We have used the new lead when going into the bank. Kodi follows behind me and I'm able to use my hand to control the doors, rather than being tethered to Kodi by my wrist. It actually keeps him closer to me. It provides me with a sense of security as well as freedom.

I'm also secure in the knowledge that with this lead, I could affix it to the seat's support frame, if the chair should ever quit running, and Kodi could pull me home. I would not have to be concerned with being stranded.

We are always learning and progressing as a team.

Adding More Skills

Kodi and I are always working on learning new things and re-enforcing skills we’ve already learned.

Recently, we created a ‘tug’ tool that we affixed to our bedroom door, for training purposes, so Kodi can start working on “Tug Door”.

Thus far, he’s doing great, as we reward his efforts, even if all he does is take the tug tool into his mouth. When he holds it in his mouth and pulls, even the least little bit, we reward with lots of praise and a treat.

He’s tugged hard enough to pull the door nearly closed. We work on this skill a couple of times a week, while practicing skills that have been acheived.

One evening, while readying for bed I asked Kodi to take off my pants, after he was on the floor. I asked him to “tug pants” and he took a pants leg in his mouth and pulled on it until he pulled it off. He did this twice and then offered me the pants.

When he got back up on the bed, I asked him to “tug blanket”. I lifted the edge of the quilt and he took it in his mouth, stepping back, as he pulled the quilt and sheet back at an angle.

We practiced “tug blanket” several nights in a row and each time Kodi was able to turn back the bed, pulling the covers at an angle, revealing the sheet enough for me to get into bed without sitting on the quilt.

I’ve been walking Kodi, from time to time, without his Halti, affixing the leash to the heavy ring on the back of his vest. He’s done wonderfully with this change, but I continue to go back to the Halti as a means of re-enforcing ‘not pulling’.

The next skill I plan to introduce, once we have some consistency with “tug door”, will be “Hold”. There are times when Kodi picks up an object for me, but before I can reach for it, he drops it. We need him to hold the item until I can take it from him.

I’m always looking forward to working on new skills with Kodi, he’s so intelligent and quick to respond.