SD Photo Shoot

There was a request on the level training mailing list from a Canadian SD trainer. She needed pics of SDs in action for a presentation. So of course we volunteered what we have on our blog. But we didn't have much that showed the girls in action that much, especially not Molly in uniform in action.

So DH helped me out and we did a little photo shoot Saturday. The situation may be posed, but the work is real. This is some of what they do for me on a daily basis and even these better shots don't do their jobs full justice. I don't know what I would do without the Bookends. On a day like today, I probably wouldn't even get out of bed if it weren't for them. But enough of that. Here's the shots.

This is how I put on and remove Molly's vest. Bending over to do it just isn't an option.





We couldn't forget to include Shawnee. I think it is pretty clear that she has earned an SDiT status!

The Routine of Boot and Sock Duty

Now that I am feeding horses every day, Molly has the regular job of removing my boots and socks when I come back in. She actually seems to thrive with the job, loving that she has something that she has to do. It is probably the border collie need to work in her.

The advantage of this is that her skills have improved significantly and she's gotten quieter in the process. Removing a tightly-fitting pair of jodhpur boots is not exactly easy task. Having no hands with which to do the job does make it more difficult.

Molly firmly grasps the heel of my boot with her teeth. The heels are soft enough rubber to allow her teeth to sink in and get a good grip. She then backs away pulling it off, often struggling to hold her footing on the slippery floor. I give her a treat or two after she hands me the boot.

Before going onto the next boot, she removes the sock from the first foot. She's very careful when getting a grip with her teeth to avoid nipping my toes. She then backs away pulling it off. Again, Molly is treated when she hands over the sock.

The entire process is repeated on the other foot.

Shawnee has learned that if she sits quietly and stays out of Molly's way, she also gets a treat. I'm very relieved I no longer need to tell her what to do. When she was younger, there were often problems with her getting in Molly's way or trying to help when she didn't know what to do.

We have actually decided it is time to start teaching Shawnee retrieve. We started the other night at my in-laws without clicker. The dogs were little bit bored so we set Molly to work retrieving my keys and handing them around. To activate Shawnee as well, we took turns holding the flashlight on my key ring and encouraging her to take in her mouth. She did so several times despite it being metal.

Yesterday, I dropped the strip of leather that I use when punching holes with a thonging chisel or awl. Molly was occupied somewhere else, but Shawnee was immediately at my side. I pointed at the piece of leather and told her take. It took her a few tries and little encouragement, but she finally picked it up gently in her mouth and raise it high enough for me to be able to take it from her. Of course, she was showered with praise from both me and DH. This is a big step for her, because she is not good at returning a toy to our hands. Part of the reason I actually want to begin retrieve training her is the hope that it will pay off in a play fetch.

A Video Starring Molly

Molly and I are competing in a virtual levels training competition. This is our entry. Since we went to all that work filming and making the video, I thought I'd share it here as well. Enjoy!

Water Girl Molly

I was out of water and thirsty. I heard DH in the kitchen. I took my empty 1.5 liter bottle I use for water and gave it to Molly. I asked her to deliver it to DH. She did so, of course.

Carrying empty bottles is normal for her.

Today DH filled the bottle with water and gave it back to Molly. She carried the heavy and full bottle in her mouth from the kitchen to me in the living room. She carried it at the top around the lid area.

This is the first time Molly has delivered anything that heavy or awkward. GOOD GIRL!

I had treats in my pockets that I gave her several of along with lots of praise. Shawnee also got a treat for not having interfered with Molly's work.

Molly Helps DH's Mother and Other Adventures

Everyone is very very proud of Molly today. We were up visiting my in-laws this morning and through lunch time. My MIL (mother-in-law) has been missing her one hearing aid since right after Christmas and thought she had lost it at a party. But today DH moved their kitchen table a few inches and I saw Molly pick something up. She came over to me and handed it to me. There was my MIL's hearing aid! It isn't bigger than a die from a board game so she easily could have swallowed it and who knows what it smells like. She'd been cleaning up crumbs from the carpet (they rely on home help from the government for vacuuming) but was able to differentiate between "i can eat this" and "i have to give this to someone" when she found the hearing aid. So my MIL is very happy to be in possession of her expensive aid again and everyone is VERY proud of Molly for her responsible action. That's what a lot of training can do. As well as praise, she got a nice rawhide bone to chew on.

While we were there, DH needed to take the very short walk to the local grocery store for some stuff for them. So the girls and I went along. Shawnee's new harness is great but hard to put on her--her feet have to go in 2 holes and it buckles on her back. She struggles some and usually manages to get a foot out before the other is in so it takes a few tries to get it on. But it was very inexpensive, can grow with her, and she is sure to learn to take it more calmly with time and a little training. It is great experience for Shawnee to get out on the streets of a town for more socialization. Molly is used to that sort of thing by now. Nothing near here is anything like what she experienced in Nashville. But she enjoys the new smells and sights and having something to do. They saw an electric scooter, several bicycles, a dog in a fence, a man pushing a noisy tall cart around just outside the storage part of the store, and cars around. Molly had a lot of fun just being a dog (as opposed to a working SD) and took in all the smells. Shawnee seemed more focused on walking fast and trying to keep up with Molly (DH had Molly and I don't want as fast as he does, so Shawnee and I fell behind a little).

Now both girls are out for a walk to the beach with their daddy. I am enjoying a chance to get a rest and brag about Molly's retrieve skills.

Shawnee Reports on True Color Thursday: Black

Mommy sez dat I get ta help wif da blog now dat Im gettin ta be a big gurl n past Level 1 af da trainin program. So dese are my BLAK piks!

Mommy sez dat Im sposed ta say tanks ta Blue fur da idea.

Dis iz me n Molly. Weer tricullur border colliez, so dat meanz we r BLAK n wite n tan. But mostlee we r blak.

Molly iznt vewy happee wif me in dis piktshur cuz Im steelin da bone frum her.










Dis is Molly wif owr blak kong. Sumtimz Mommy puts yummy stuff in da kong fer os, lik peenut budder or pattay.


Molly liks da kong lots, but sumtimz she lets me play wif it too.


She iznt happy wif me if I take it frum her, but uzuly she lets me haf it if i wunt it.

Heer I am sayin, "Pleeze Molly, kan I haf da kong?"





Da krate iz blak. Dis iz me sittin in it. Wen I gets bord, I try ta let me out. Uzuly I'm stuk til Mommy or Daddy cumz, but wonce I got out on my own.

If I haz ta pottee, I wine n cry til dey kom n take me out. Sumtimz I try dat too if Im bord.

Da krat is big nuff fur wen Im big lik Molly, but it haz a wall in it now.


Da next pik iz af me n Molly playin wif da BLAK klude we had urlier. Mommy sez ta tell uz dat "klude" meenz rag ur sumtin lik dat.

Weev playd sa hard wif kluden dat it wuz fallin part. So Daddy gaf us a nu won taday. Itz blak too.


Mommy dropt her fone taday. Molly wuz busy playin soz I pikt it up n gave it ta Daddy. Dey didnt beleef I'd dun it, so dey dropt it igin n took a piktshure da secund time. Mommyz fone iz BLAK too, so heer I am pikken it up.

No Gold and A Serious Distraction

It's Thursday so we should be posting pictures of gold things, but Molly doesn't wear jewelry and neither of the dogs have anything that would classify as gold.

Instead I am going to talk about training and distractions. Learning to work with distractions is on of the big challenges in a service dog's work life and even the training of any regular dog. You don't always know how well your dog will handle a command in different situations.

Up to recently, Molly has done very well with distractions. She has worked succesfully in a number of unusual environments, including stores, airports, family situations, and even a rodeo. She also came well when called when around other dogs.

But she never had a little sister before. Apparently a little sister is a much bigger distraction than anythign she's ever had before. So we're going back to basics and trying to train and refresh a lot of basic behaviors.

Yesterday Molly had two training sessions while Shawnee ate. Molly needed to eat too, but wasn't very good at just eating with the little one around. So I started giving her basic commands and rewarding her with small handfuls of her kibble. It went very well and she was able to sit, down, stand, and touch reliably (an extended version of puppy push-ups) despite the little one trying to steal the food and come over and talk to her. I even managed to have her retrieve my shoe a few times. She also did some short "watch" commands--moments of sustained eye contact.

We need to do more recall training and I have an idea for where we can safely do it, but I am sick today with what is probably a sinus infection and asthma, so I am not going out in the cold to do it.

Shawnee has learned sit very well and is starting to learn down. Potty training is really progressing well since we started giving her treats and clicks for outside potties. The small problem is that sometimes she is so focused on the treat that she forgets to finish her business. But she is starting to head for the door--try to anyway--when she needs to go and also doing some whining to let us know.

Public Access and Refusing to Eat

Molly got more public access practice yesterday and it went really well. DH had a dentist appointment, so Molly and I went and sat on a bench in a very busy pedestrian area. There were tons of people and several dogs walking past us. She did whine a little, which is really bad, but overall it went well. She responded to commands well despite the distractions. We did some stay practice but with me still right there. She gave me a number of good paws ups both onto the bench and onto my lap. She retrieved my hat a few times. She also touched my hand with her nose on command several times. All this was with praise as the only reward.

I know she wouldn't have been whining at all if we'd been moving, but my goal was to work on her behavior while we are sitting still. She's going to need to be able to handle being still with people around when we are in the airport. I didn't think to take her mat with me. I think it would have helped.

Then we also went into the pet store for more dog food. She was a little overeager to talk to people there but also didn't have her vest on, so talking was allowed. I was able to get her to sit instead of jumping on people she wanted to talk to. She also did great with "leave it" for the baskets and tubs of dog treats at floor level!

The nice woman in the shop let us have two sample packages of dog food of a kind that Molly is used to (Acana), so that gives us some treats for the flight that shouldn't have problems with customs.

Another good thing on the trip front is that my parents' have received the crate, Orijen, and dog chews that I ordered for her for the trip. Also Frontline to keep her flea-free on the road. Now I just need her heartworm meds and we'll be set.

As for eating, she refused last night. She'd refused for DH in the morning, but ate when I came out and told her to. But last night she totally refused for me.

So this morning she didn't get anything and tonight she starts over at one piece of kibble. We're really frustrated but we so want it to work out. I also miss training her, but I'm working on practice with toys.

Doing Better and Public Access

We've been taking it pretty easy and Molly is seeming a lot more like herself. I gave her treats for coming into the laundry room, which she ate gladly and without signs of stress. We did some mat training today to build up time. We're also doing lots of named retrieves with things she knows, like mat, pants, and phone. She is gettign really good at the retrieves, even from quite a distance.

Today we took her to Farm Fun, which is a petting zoo-like place next door to us. The place is crawling with kids and dogs on leashes. We got ice cream for us and sat down. Molly mostly did okay, but she was whining a lot. She still responded to sit, down, and target commands, but didn't take treats (so she also passed on the road L3 zen).

The whining was mainly aimed at dogs and kids. We need more practice!!

Our thanks to everyone who has worried about Molly and sent her good vibes. I hope to be able to report that she's completely back to normal within a few days. We're going to stay taking it easy a little longer and not add any new behaviors yet. We will probably continue trying to improve and practice things she is already doing easily like we've been doing.

Improved Item Recognition

Molly hasn't been showing any sign of distress with retrieves, so I've felt comfortable working with those.

Yesterday I did several short sessions of "take phone" using only the phone. Then in the early evening I needed to take her for a walk. I was in the kitchen so I told her to find and take my pants. She ran through the dining room and into the living room and grabbed my pants off the floor. I followed to make sure she got the right thing, but she already had my pants and was on her way to me by the time I got through the dining room. She gave them to me and a sock fell out of the leg when I took them. She grabbed the sock and ran out into the kitchen.

So she definitely knows "pants" without a problem. :-)

In the evening, we did more practice with item recognition and she was able to fetch pants, her mat, and the phone without problems. She was also able to distinguish the correct one--I put the phone and a cloth down at the same time and she brought me the phone. I put phone and pants down at the same time and she brought me the one I asked for. She was also able to deliver to me or to DH on command regardless of which of us issues the take command.

Clicking with a Toe

I've mentioned a few times in earlier posts that I work my clicker with my toe so I have free hands when training Molly. Someone on one of the mailing lists I frequent asked how I manage this, so that's the purpose of this entry.







I have two clickers. I can't use the type of clicker where you have to push on a metal plate even when I click with my thumb. My thumb is too weak in the joints for that. The clicker on the right I bought here in DK. The one on the left I ordered online from the US. It's a i-Click and is very easy to click with finger or toe. Both work for me for toe clicking, but the shape of the i-Click makes it a more comfortable choice.



I don't know if my toes are weird and that is why it works so easily for me. My guess is that most people could click with their foot with a button clicker. It probably even works with shoes on. I am a bare foot person.



I find toe clicking to be especially helpful when I want both hands free for something. I use it a lot when an item is involved. For example, when working on teaching Molly to target a stick, I can put the clicker under my toe and have the stick in one hand and treats in another. I don't have to try to juggle things and I can keep clicking precisely on time and deliver treats promptly as well.



I wish I'd figured this out when I was working on her early retrieve training, because I had a horrible time working on hold when trying to hold objects, the clicker, and treats. The only way I got it to work then was by training hold on a metal pipe that I could hold between my knees.




When I set up to take these pictures, I got an extra bonus from Molly. I used her mat under the clickers for that picture. As soon as I put down the folded mat, she showed perfect mat behavior, even though it was too small for her to fit on. So a shot of that is the extra bonus at the bottom. Of course she got praise and treats.

Regular Retrieve Practice

Molly has a good solid retrieve, but we want to keep it that way. So I keep a collection of items for retrieve practice and make sure she gets lots of treats and praise for the good work.

To make it more like her actual job, I don't use the clicker. I just ask her to pick up items one at a time (usually I only have one item on the floor at a time). When she delivers them to me, she gets praise and a treat. She regularly gets breaks with petting and attention. I try to make it as real as possible, because when I'm somewhere and I've dropped something important, I usually don't have the clicker on me and often don't have a treat. So it is important that she is excited about her job (but not so much that she gets noisy) and is happy working for praise and attention.

As you can see from the picture, our practice bin includes some pretty small items, like a match box and a small piece of paper. We've had them in the bin for ages and she is able to retrieve them without getting them wet or making holes in them.


Another good item is the yellow duck squeak toy. Someone on one of the mailing lists recommended I train with a squeak toy when I was having trouble teaching Molly not to chew items and it works GREAT! From that training and regular practice, she remembers to handle items gently and take them up carefully. If the toy squeaks, I treat it like a hurt animal and comfort it and put it aside for awhile. That little trick worked wonders int he progress of her retrieve training.

The bit of fabric is an old sleeve from a t-shirt. As well as being great as an item in itself, it is also useful when working on training Molly for quiet clothing removal. I can throw it and focus on quiet retrieves then hang it off my feet or hands. Then it can slide around my arms and legs. To make it difficult to remove, I wrap it a few times around a foot or hand. Molly loves the challenge and has learned that way to be more quiet with clothing. She still isn't 100%, but that's what practice is for. I can also alternate the sleeve with a real sock or pants or whatever to remind her that she is capable of being quiet.

For give, we regularly practice varying the person to whom she should deliver the item. This way she is used to giving things to DH and taking things from DH and giving them to me. She can take items both from the floor and from our hands.

We did a fun practice session the other day when DH sat in the kitchen and I sat in the living room. I gave Molly an item and told her to give it to DH. She took it out and gave it to him, got a reward (her second item was a pill bottle filled with treats), and came back with something else. We swapped all sorts of things, including a fly swatter, wire cutters, sun glasses, and a hard plastic egg the size of a dove egg. Unfortunately she loved that game so much that she chewed a little on the old credit card for the first time ever. We'd also been training with it for months. But the sunglasses went back and forth without damage.

Molly is also our little messenger. Because she is so careful with paper, we can safely write notes and hand them to her. She carries them in her mouth to the other and will find us in different rooms over the entire house.

When out, we also try to teach Molly other people, so she is learning to deliver to someone I point to and to my in-laws by name. I'm also slowly adding item recognition for a number of items. She is already about 75% accurate on pants, socks, and shoes. Not a particular item, such as matching shoes, but in selecting items that belong in the requested category. I often have pants and socks in one place and she is definitely able to distinguish those most of the time.

I really want her to learn to ID my crutches, but it is a matter of training time that I have not yet invested. I'd like her to be able to fetch a crutch at a distance or in another room and give it to me. It would be great if she could search them out on her own. If I'm having a mobile spell, I tend to forget where they are or DH moves them somewhere out of the way. Then I suddenly need them and have trouble getting around well enough to find them.

Practicing with Distractions

We spent Sunday afternoon at DH's parents. They live in town and have a fenced yard. Molly loves to go there and is always eager to play in the yard. But this time she had to behave for a while until DH erected a fence around the newly planted vegetable garden. With him banging posts into the ground and messing with fencing and his parents puttering around, it seemed like the perfect opportunity for training with distractions. The neighboring properties also tend to be noisy, especially in good weather.

To start we focused on down stays and sit stays. The picture shows Molly in a sit stay. She's been making great progress at home with both and we'd even practiced sit stays this morning. Sit stays tend to be harder because it is more natural to go down for something that takes time. But she did great and was able to hold both types of stays while I walked to the other side of the yard and back no matter what other people were doing. She's a good girl and really is progressing fast in both service and obedience training.

Once the fence was up and everyone had worked so hard in the hot sun, it was time to relax and get a cool drink. Molly took part in the relaxation, too. She'd earned it.

Of course we then needed to practice retrieve because we couldn't leave cans in the lawn.

Now Molly is normally quite good at picking things up, but by this time the heat had gotten to her. She wasn't showing signs of real problems but her brain was not quite its usual self. She was a little unfocused. To make things more difficult, we had to repeat retrieve and give several times to get decent pictures. Fortunately Molly is a patient and hard working dog, even in hot weather. She got lots of treats and water was readily available.

To finish things off, DH had to water the seeds he sowed for his parents. Molly has always been weird about water, especially moving water like the hose. We speculate whether she had a bad experience before we got her. But with lots of encouragement and help, it finally clicked that it could be a game and she played with the water from the hose with DH and me and looked so happy doing it. That really cooled her down too. But we didn't get pictures because we didn't want to risk getting the camera wet. She barked a bit more than would be acceptable in town in the long run, but she'll learn with more playing here at home in the future. We're just glad she can finally see water as fun.

Training Update

We've number a number of small short training sessions in the past few days and made a great deal of progress. Her handling behavior is great. Molly had her nails trimmed with absolutely no stress for anyone. She's also been getting combed a lot. A net friend recommended I try a flea comb to remove the loose hair from Molly's short coat and it works great. It is also really nice right after she's been out in high grass for getting rid of ticks. Her Frontline treatment kills them, but it is even better to get rid of them before they crawl off somewhere in the house or get attached at all.

Her training on distance (aka around) is up to passing level 2 standards. She can also down stay while I walk quite a distance away and back. Her sit stay is a little shakier but it's getting better. She tends to want to down when staying.

I had to recue Molly's target work from the command "nose" to "touch." She was confusing nose with a silly game she played as a puppy hunting mice in the house. I need to extinguish that behavior.

Molly's zen is at least at Level 4 in the Level Book. But she hasn't tried Level 3. It involves a stranger and we don't have many of those in our life right now. We'll have to find out at some point to catch Level 3 Zen. I can put yummy food on the floor and say "leave it" and she'll stay away from it for well over 30 seconds.

Down is also at least at Level 2. I need to read the descriptions better and test her some to see where she really is. Level 2 is down from a sit with 1 cue only and no food or aids. That's easy. My rough guess is actually that she's at Level 5 or 6.

Tonight my husband and I took her out in the fence in the yard and worked on level 2 come. Its goal is to make her excited about coming when called from a distance. It was fun for all three of us and we finished up with fetch. Fetch for us also has downs, down stays, downs from a distance with a distraction (the ball), and walking slowly one step at a time instead of running mixed in with the usual high speed border collie ball chases, jumps, spins, and herding crouches. We had a ball, literally and figuratively.

Molly also really impressed a new friend yesterday (I hadn't read L3 zen yet to know to ask her for help testing that). Molly was running around with a rawhide chew while she was here. The new friend was surprised that she was allowed to take Molly's chew from her and even pretend to chew on it while Molly looked on happily. Molly has basically no food or toy aggression. The only sort of resource guarding she ever showed signs of was not wanting to share my husband with another dog but we quickly got her used to that (a really nice aussie male when she was around 9 months old). Now she does not whine or complain when he talks to other dogs--she knows she'll still get all the love and attention she needs.

Today she made me proud when the farrier came. We let her run out to say hi off leash. She kept four on the floor almost the entire time. She lifted up a little bit at one point in excitement, but didn't try to jump on him. That's a good Molly. He gave her lots of attention (he likes dogs and has met Molly several times before) and we also praised her several times for her excellent behavior.

Another thing about Molly off leash. Since we made that fenced area outside, Molly shows no interest in going away anywhere outside when she's off leash. We leave the gate open (or at least not pushed shut) when there aren't horses or Molly in it. She has learned to open the loose gate with her nose. So if we open the door and tell her to go in the fence, she opens the gate and goes in for a play or to lie down and relax. When we get home from somewhere, we can open the car door and tell her to go to the kitchen or her fence and she does. If she gets to the kitchen before us, she'll lie down and wait or come back or go in the fence. As long as we're around, she even ignores the annoying dog next door that barks most of the time!

Molly's item recognition and retrieve at a distance are also improving. This morning I told her to take pants from a long way away and with a little help, she managed to do it. She also pulled pants out of a pile that included a blanket, a knee brace, and a pair of socks. She had a little trouble locating them at first because they weren't where they usually were, but I was still at a good distance when she located the right item and retrieved it. Don't worry, she got high value treats for that one and praise and a snuggle. She's a good Molly.

It's been a long day so I'm overdue for sleep now. Molly is already dozing on the couch beside me. She'll be happy to move onto her bed in the kitchen so she won't be disturbed further tonight.