Therapy Dog Training

As I stated in my previous post: "I decided to get back into blogging because I couldn't find any blogs about the journey to become a therapy dog. Buster and I are about to begin that journey." So here is the plan for the journey to make Buster a therapy dog. 

(*Note: I often say "we" and "us". It's a habit of speaking for both myself and Buster that's just stuck.)
 
Buster and I tried Agility training. It was fun and we might have kept up with it if PTA school hadn't got in the way. It just wasn't possible to have anything scheduled outside of school. Upon reflection, I don't know if Buster truly enjoyed it.

 This is Buster's best run during agility.

As I get close to graduation and have seen therapy dog visits during my last clinic in a nursing home, I've decided to pursue therapy dog training. I kept saying I'd do it "when he gets older and slows down" but why not now?

Thankfully I was crazy about getting certificates when we took obedience classes the first time around in 2013/2014 and he got Canine Good Citizen certified.

AKC CGC certified

 I think we've decided to get certified with Love on a Leash which has a local chapter (Winston Salem, NC). I went to a therapy dog event with my godson where he read to a dog at a library and they recommended LoaL. It helps that their requirements are more lenient than Therapy Dog's International. ;-)

On  12/2/15 Buster joined me at my clinical at a nursing home for a visit. He was well behaved in the therapy room so I took him on a tour to visit some patients. He did very well and showed no fear. He tolerated people coming at him from all directions, including behind, and tolerated patients grabbing at his face. Two patients patted their laps, asking my 60 lb dog to sit in their lap. Luckily he knows not to get in laps. I was so pleased with his visit and his good behavior. I contacted his old trainer as soon as I got home and said "Let's fast track this!"

Here are our steps to becoming a therapy dog:

1. Beginner Obedience
2. Intermediate Obedience
3. Advanced Obedience
4. Canine Good Citizen test
5. Therapy Dog Class
6. Therapy Dog test

We have completed steps #1-4 already, but I decided to have Buster re-take his Advanced Obedience class to refresh his obedience with distractions in busy places and around other dogs. Because we took all our obedience classes through Petsmart, we can retake any of the classes again for free. We had to miss the first class last night due to a prior commitment, but we will be there for the other 5 weeks and finish 1/17/16. Had I gotten Buster as a puppy (he was 2 when I adopted him) we would have taken a puppy obedience class before beginner obedience. Buster came to me already knowing 'sit' and 'shake'.

For #5 & #6, if Petsmart offers the therapy dog class we'll take it there because I love our trainer (Dulcey Trimble at Petsmart on Lawndale in Greensboro, NC) otherwise we'll go to the Winston Salem Dog Training Club. They are the home of a Therapy Dog International Chapter so they might require you become TDI certified. We'll find out!

So Buster and I are looking forward to him following in his mom's footsteps and being a therapist. Hopefully we'll be both certified/licensed therapists with jobs by Spring 2016!

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Agility 1: Week One

We've started the next agility course before we've even finished our pre-agility course, but that's what the weather gods had in store for us. I think we suffered a bit because of it.

None of the dogs in our previous class were in this one. Buster was very excited and agitated to be around a bunch of new dogs. He wanted to meet them and play so badly.

The first thing we did was learn a front cross. You cross in front of your dog as he is walking in a straight path. Not hard.

But then we tried a front cross while our dog went through a tunnel. That would have been fine if Buster remembered tunnels. He would go in and as I'd run to meet him at the other end, he'd pop back out the entrance and follow me. This proved to be a problem over and over throughout the class.

After we all did the tunnel exercise, we then did a full sequence involving two front crosses, 2 jumps and 3 runs through tunnels. Buster did pretty well on the first run and completely fell apart on the second. He did so awful we had to go back to basics where the instructor held him at one end of the tunnel and I called him from the other end, and even then, he still just wanted to run directly towards me and not go through the tunnel.

So the lesson for me is to buy a tunnel! I'm trying to find a cheap one ($20 or less), but even on ebay that's hard to do. 

Update: I purchased a Pawhut 16.4 ft Tunnel on ebay for $28. It was sturdy enough for a 65 lb dog to run through and came with a carrying case. Buster's trainer could tell the next week that he had been practicing. Never had trouble with tunnels again. Highly recommend.

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Pre-Agility: Week 4

Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Week 5
Week 6

It's been a while since I've posted about agility class because it's been a while since we've had agility class. Thursday evenings seem prime time for rain (which means cancellations).

Week 4 was a lot of fun. We started with sequencing, which Buster and I had been working on at home with our equipment. We did a pinwheel sequence. 3 jumps were set up in a semi-circle, like below.

Pinwheel sequence: person follows red lines and dog follows yellow

 Buster had no problems with this since we practice at home.

We moved on to some new equipment: the seesaw. But we didn't actually get on the seesaw. We got on what the instructor called the "teeter board". It's an unstable board that is very small and low to the ground and moves as the dog walks on it.

Teeter Trainer

Buster did SO well. I thought he wouldn't like the movement, but he walked right across it. We lured our dogs across with yummy treats and the instructor pointed out that when Buster walked across the first time and felt it move, he looked down at the board to see what was going on, then refocused on the treat and continued on.

Then we finished up with practice weave pole entry. We stood next to the weave poles and pointed at them to get the dogs to go through. Nothing too hard, but weave poles are extremely difficult to teach.

Week 5 will be a private review since I couldn't go to the class make-up date. The 6th and final week will actually be AFTER our next class level begins.

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DIY Agility Equipment: Tire Jump

Previously, I built an Agility Bar Jump.

Next on the list of Do-It-Yourself Dog Agility Equipment is the Tire Jump.

There are a couple different plans for the tire jump. I sorted through all of them and tried to weigh the pros and cons of each.

The Tire

An AKC competition tire jump should have an opening diameter of 24" and the wall should be 3-8 inches thick. The most popular material for a do-it-yourself tire is drainage pipe. This is lightweight so if a dog knocks his feet against it, it will not injure him. It's also easily shaped and commonly duct taped together. (More about duct-tape at the end).

The Frame

As I mentioned above, there are many different styles of Tire Jumps. I will show you what I found and then discuss what I chose.

This is what a competition tire jump looks like and retails for upwards of $130:

Courtesy AffordableAgility.com

It looks more complicated than it is. The wires allow you to adjust the tire height. The tire should be almost to the ground, regardless of dog height, when introducing this equipment to your dog. Gradually go up to full height (which is measured from the ground to the bottom of the tire opening).
I found several instruction pages similar to this style:

These directions are fairly simple:

Finished product from dogplay.com

 This instruction page is pretty popular. Not being mechanically inclined I found it to be confusing.

Finished product from Campbandy.com

The final instruction page is from a message board, but had the instructions I liked the best.

Finished product from dogden.proboards.com

The next style of Tire Jump is much simpler. It does not involve hanging wires, just a frame and attaching the tire in whatever way is convenient, often bungee cords or duct tape if your tire will be in a fixed position.

These instructions are just for the frame. You would attach the tire inside the rectangle.

Finished product from caninecrib.com

These instructions attach the tire with bungee cords. It's not hanging from wires.
 I wouldn't go through the trouble of building the tire like they did, but if you use drainage pipe, your dimensions for the PVC frame may be different than theirs.

Finished product from make-and-build-dog-stuff.com

Weighing the options

Since we are building our own equipment, it's all much cheaper than store bought. We could build a very affordable competition style jump. It's best if your dog uses equipment that looks like what he will be competing on.

However, Buster and I do not have a fenced in backyard of our own. A friend here in Greensboro has offered to let us use her yard and we will also be using my parent's yard 45 minutes away in Clemmons. Therefore our equipment has to be lightweight and easy to transport.

After much thought, we settled on this style, which is not competition style but will allow us to travel with it.

$75 from AffordableAgility.com

With a little experience under my belt building an Agility Jump I was able to eyeball this and see how simple it is. It retails for $75 at Affordable Agility.

Here is how simple it is:

I have awesome MS Paint skills

How to build
1 inch PVC pipe in the follow lengths:
four 15" pipes
two 50" pipes
one 30" pipe

6 1-inch cap ends
two-four bungees (or another way to secure 'tire' to pipe)
2 4-way tees*
8-feet of 4-inch diameter drainage pipe

*Note: The 4-way tees can be difficult to find. I bought them online from home depot and had them shipped to the store for free. Two 4-way tees with tax and free shipping cost me $4.93. (They come in different sizes. Be sure you order the same size as your PVC pipes)


The 15" pipes are the feet, the 30" pipe is the bottom cross bar, and the two 50" bars are the vertical bars you attach the tire to.

Attach your tire between the two 50" PVC pipes with bungee cord. The tire height can be adjusted by just sliding it up and down the poles.

Price
2 10' 1"diameter PVC pipes    $6.80
6 1" PVC caps                        $3.96
8' Flex Drainage Pipe             $5.78
2 4-way tees                         $4.93
8-pack of Bungees                 $2.47
Total price                            $19.40

(The blue and yellow duct tape was $3.57 each, but I didn't apply it to this project's cost because the duct tape is being used on several pieces of equipment.) *see below about colors*

As you can see in my finished pics, the tire is not perfectly round, but it's pretty darn close. It was very difficult to get it rounded and stay within the 24" diameter guideline all around. If you have better luck with a perfect drainage pipe circle, comment with your secret.

Undecorated

Decorated (with Buster in the center)

Tire Jump In Action
Here's a video of Buster using both his (as yet undecorated) tire jump and bar jump in a sequence.
 

 Decorating your Tire Jump (the duct tape info I mentioned earlier)

Dogs can see colors. But whereas we have 3 cones (red, blue and yellow) and can see the whole rainbow, dogs only have two (blue and yellow) and can only see those shades and some brownish and gray. 

Human color spectrum

Dog color spectrum

When decorating any of your equipment, you want it to stand out and be visible. This is why so much dog agility equipment is blue and yellow. And these are the colors I use for all my equipment.

More about dog's color vision in the sport of agility here.

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DIY Agility Equipment: Bar Jump

Buster is doing well in his agility classes, but I feel that he would get more out of them if we were able to practice at home. So I've been googling how to make your own equipment (because store-bought equipment is expensive).

So far I've found a do-it-yourself for jumps, A-frame, tires and weave poles that I think are doable.

The easiest seemed to be the jump, just required fitting together PVC pipes, so I started there.

I used this as my guide:
Instructables Dog Agility Jump 
Video Here

The guy from those instructions did all his own cutting. I just went into Home Depot with my list and asked them to cut the 1" PVC:

two 4-foot pipes 
two 3-foot pipes
four 18-inch pipes

I even got the guy to cut the tee-joint. I had him cut the back off and then cut it in half. These clip on to the pipes and make cups that hold the jump bar, allowing it to be knocked off if the dog's foot hits it (thereby preventing injury to your dog).

My tee-joint doesn't snap on like the guy's in the video. I'm using a metal clamp. I can tighten and untighten when I want to adjust the jump height. (Buster's jump height is 24" AKC and 26" USDAA.)

I added some blue and yellow stripes with duct tape for visibility (see this link for info about dog's color vision and agility).

The materials I used (all 1" PVC) and prices:

two 4-foot pipes 
two 3-foot pipes                             $3.44 for 10' of pipe
four 18-inch pipes
6 cap ends                                     .66 per cap
1 tee (cut up for the jump cups)     I didn't get rung up for this...so free!
2 4-way tees (special ordered from Home Depot's website for $2.31 each + free shipping)
2 clamps                                        .97 each

The cost for building this regulation sized* jump was about $15. Even I can afford that!

*This jump is within AKC standards. Regulations state the jump must be made from 1" PVC, 4-5 ft long (mine is 4 feet), and at least 32" tall (mine is 36"). (Pg 36) *

Dimensions. Notice the 6 cap ends as well as the metal clamps.

Here's a picture of the jump in a much prettier setting than my back patio. Please excuse my ghetto duct taping.

And a video of my dog, Buster's, very first agility sequence, also showing the tire jump.
 
Next up is the Tire Jump!

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Agility Workshop: Foundations & Fun Tricks

Buster and I are serious about Agility so when we saw his instructor at Dog-Gone Fun was offering a 2-hour workshop for beginners, we signed up real quick.

There were two other people in the workshop, both of whom had more experience than us, but we held our own.

We worked on handling (directing our dogs with our hands) as well as accelerating and decelerating. We get into a runner's stance, leaning forward with legs apart and bent, and this is the body signal to let your dog know to accelerate. Then we stand upright with legs together to signal deceleration.

When it came time to having our dogs back up onto an incline Buster fell apart. He refuses to back up straight, or to get on that incline. We ended up having to put barriers on both sides of him so he couldn't curve his body. Eventually his back feet made contact with the incline.
We've been practicing this on the stairs at my house. It's a little difficult because of how little space there is. But he's put his back feet up on the stairs, although not consistently. He seems very stressed when we try to practice it, too. His ears go down and he wants to get away. We'll see how he progresses.

Not Buster but an incredible likeness

We also did some exercises where our dogs had to step onto a paint can and into a box. Eventually our dogs should put both front paws on the paint cans and then step in a circle around it, as well as putting all 4 feet into a small cardboard box.

This workshop has given us a lot to work on. We're progressing very slowly in Pre-Agility and doing things Buster and I can't practice at home, so we're glad to have more things to work on. The goal of the workshop was to teach our dogs body awareness and conditioning.

I also told the instructor that we are serious about competing and she said that it takes at least a year. I told her we were interested in participating in the Triad Dog Games next year. We have a lot to work on in that year, though. But Buster and I worked hard and excelled at obedience and we will work hard and excel at this.

With some equipment at home to practice on we will definitely progress faster. Check my other blog posts for instructions on DIY agility equipment.

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Pre-Agility: Week 3

For week 1 click here.
For week 2 click here.
We missed last week because of weather, but this week the weather was great, although hot.

We worked on the chute again. Buster had trouble remembering what to do at first. But after we showed him, he RAN through the chute as fast as he could.

Then we did the tire again. First I put him on one side, stood on the other side and called him through. But then I stood next to Buster and ran with him and tried to signal for him to go through the tire. He went around the obstacle, not through it. After some work we got him through.

Then we did some more 2-on-2-off work on the obstacle, which Buster excelled at because we were able to practice that.

example of 2-on-2-off

I think it's time I attempt to make some backyard equipment so Buster can practice at home. More posts on that later!

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Pre-Agility: Week 2

Week 1
Week 3
Week 4
Week 5
Week 6

The weather held out so we had agility class tonight at Dog-Gone Fun in Kernersville.

We did some review with the tunnel. Buster didn't do as well as he should have because I didn't give the right signals. But he did go through it enthusiastically once he knew that's what I wanted and that's what counts, that he has fun.

Today we were introduced to the tire and the chute.

Agility Tire

Agility chute

The tire was lowered until it was barely off the ground. So I just put Buster in a sit-wait, walked to the other side of the tire and called him through. Again, he came to me enthusiastically.

I thought the chute might be scary, afterall, it's closed at one end. You can't see where you're going. But we put our dogs on one end, then went over, lifted the chute up so they could see us and called them through. Buster came right through and even when the chute was down on the ground (as pictured above) he ran through it blindly. I was so proud of him. My baby is fearless!

We ended by doing some contact work on the A-Frame. It's important that their paws touch certain parts of the equipment for safety and so they don't get disqualified.

As we started this, a light rain started, so we hurried through and went on our way.

Before we left, Buster and I signed up for an Agility Foundations Workshop. It's 2 hours and we'll learn "backing up/backing onto an object, step onto/circle an object, beginning shadow handling, flat work, acceleration & deceleration." I hope this will help us advance faster and give us an edge. My goal is to participate in the June 2015 Triad Dog Games.

(Buster already knows the command "back up"; we learned it the last day of Advanced Obedience. We practice that one a lot. It's very useful.)

There's a lot about agility that confuses me. Some of the terminology is confusing, especially regarding cross-overs and handling and whatnot. When I was at the Triad Dog Games I saw teams go on some equipment more than once during their run. There was a confusing mixed-up pathway. Why is it all mixed up? Does someone give the participants specific instructions about what path to take in the course?
The description for the Agility 2 class at Buster's school says: " Handlers and dogs will learn how to maneuver serpentines, threadles, wraps, 270′s, lead out pivot’s/reverse flow pivots and layering of obstacles. " I don't understand ANYTHING in that sentence. (I'm sure I'm gonna read this post in the future and think I was dumb for being confused.)

Stayed tuned for Week 3 (halfway done) next week, if the weather holds. Hope there's no midterms!

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Triad Dog Games

I went to the Triad Dog Games today. It was supposed to start at 10am, but the time got moved to 3pm because of Maya Angelou's funeral down the street that morning.

Buster's agility instructor was there running all things agility. (I knew we picked a good instructor!) I had never seen an agility competition in person and wanted to see what it was like.

First we watched the small dogs compete (pictured above) then the large dogs. I was more interested in the large dogs because that's what my dog would be competing as. There was a Golden Retriever, Goldendoodle and Border Collie. Of course the Border Collie was amazing. They excel at all things agility.

We're going to talk to Buster's agility instructor (pictured right, above) about the possibility of Buster being ready to enter a competition next year. This one is pretty informal and open to everyone, but we want to be in it to win it.

Buster's swim instructor was there with her dog as a competitor in dock diving, but we didn't stay late enough to see her dog compete. We did see some dock diving though and it was awesome. I would love to have Buster involved in this, but it's just not meant to be. He doesn't like water or toys enough to dive after one.

I was surprised at the amount of dogs that refused to jump. This competition was pretty informal and open to anyone, so I'm guessing it was many of these dogs' first time competing.

But other dogs...they flew out there. Almost 2 foot jumps with huge splashes. So much fun to watch.

The only thing I didn't get to see that I would have liked to was the Disc Dog. Never seen anyone do it in person and they had a demo, but it was at the same time as agility, so we missed it.

There was lots of swag. We got a very cool card that hangs in your car and changes colors if it's too hot to leave your dog in there.
Buster got a bandana, too.

Styling in our RuffHousing bandana.

Looking forward to next years games and possibly being competitors in it.

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Pre-Agility at Dog-Gone Fun: Week 1

Week 2
Week 3
Week 4
Week 5
Week 6

My dog, Buster, completed Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced obedience courses and got his diploma! He also passed his Canine Good Citizen test. (Have to wait for the certificate to be mailed).

Summa Cum Laude!

So the next stop on our journey is Agility! (It was a New Year's Resolution.) I chose to take him to Dog-Gone Fun in Kernersville. They offer several Agility courses starting with Pre-Agility.

It's very important that your dog be proficient in sit-stay and down-stay in a distracting environment. These are things Buster and I had been working on since his Beginner class back in November.

For our first class, we introduced the dogs to jumps, tunnels and the A-Frame.

Dog has to run up and down A-Frame , making contact with the yellow parts.

The A-Frame can be a little scary because it's very tall. It was close to 5 feet off the ground at its peak. But Buster conquered every obstacle we gave to him and was very eager to please (and to get the chicken treats)!

So far I'm very pleased with how Buster has responded to agility. I always said as long as it was fun for him, we'd work our way up to competitions. 

We've practiced in the backyard and he seems to enjoy it, so we'll see.

Backyard Agility...with brooms

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New Year

So 2013 is almost over and I always get excited about a near year. It feels like when you open an exciting new book and turn to that crisp, white first page.

 My new years resolution for this year (I think) was to floss...or was that 2012's resolution? Whatever my resolution was I didn't complete it. But I'm at least writing down 2014's resolutions so next December I'll know if I've failed (am I being pessimistic?): 

1. Do a split

I'm naturally very flexible and with yoga I can gain flexibility fairly quickly but I've never been able to do a split. My hamstrings are very tight, so those are first on the list to stretch. 

2. 30-Day Yoga Challenge

This complements #1 in that I would like to do some form of yoga for 30 days straight. I have several DVDs to vary the routine. (I highly recommend Shiva Rea, especially her revolutionary Yoga Shakti DVD)

3. Read 30 books

I love GoodReads. Before it I bought small journals made for keeping track of books read. So I actually have a record of all the books I've read since 2005. I got bored one day and uploaded all those dates to the site. The most I've read in a year was 39 books in 2007. This year I reached my goal of 25.

I was busy in 2011, ok?!

4. Agility Training

Not for me, though, for my amazing dog, Buster. So far he has completed his Beginners obedience class. His Intermediate class starts Jan. 22, then he'll take the Advanced class and *fingers crossed* will pass his Canine Good Citizen test. After that he'll be able to do pre-agility courses. Then after mastering all that he can start taking Agility classes. We have a long road ahead of us but eventually I'd like to do some competitions with Buster, if he enjoys it.

5. Get into PTA School

This really should be #1. I have been working towards Physical Therapy Assisting school since Fall 2011. (I've been in college since 2005. I already have a B.A.) This past fall I finally got an A in Anatomy & Physiology 1 at Randolph Community College. I take A&P2 this spring, as well as the TEAS test. Then I will apply having done everything I possibly can to get in. I'm still in shock over my A in A&P1....I can't even imagine what I'll feel when (not if!) I get my acceptance letter. 

Update: I got into PTA school (and graduated), read over 30 books, and did agility training with Buster. I did not do a split or 30 days of yoga.

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