Ongoing series of posts about what to expect in a Petsmart Advanced Obedience Class: Week 1 & 2 Week 3 & 4
For weeks 5 & 6 we continued to work on long distance stays. I was able to put Buster in a down-stay at the back of Petsmart, walk to the front door, around the edge of the store and all the way back to him. People passed him while he was waiting on me, there were plenty of distractions, but he stayed put.
We worked on heeling with distractions, including next to another dog, with people squeaking toys, bending down to talk to him, and doing wild motions like jumping up and down. And he continued to heel every time.
We worked on "heel up". He is sitting in front of me I say "heel up" and he walks around my right side, comes from behind me to sit politely to my left so we can heel.
We didn't have a graduation ceremony since Buster and the other dog had already taken this class before, but I did ask for a diploma.
I taught him to make his eyes green in pictures. Smart dog.
We will be taking the Therapy Dog class at Petsmart in the next few weeks. Very excited.
This is a continued post chronicling Buster's Advanced Obedience class at Petsmart. Weeks 1 and 2 are here. There was a 2 week interval between week 3 and 4 due to the holidays. Week 5 & 6
Week 3: We worked on
long-distance, out of site stays again.
heeling side by side with another dog
leave it using high value treats
come when called with distractions (yummy food on the floor)
bow
Buster did excellent with all of this. The Shiba Inu in class with us was very jealous when it was Buster's turn to be called to come through the "valley of yummy treats" (which he had to ignore. The Shiba let out a scream to express her displeasure at not coming with Buster, which scared him but he came to me anyway after giving the Shiba a 'what the heck' look. Very cute.
Week 4: We worked on
heeling side by side with another dog, with distractions (next to the aquariums)
come when called with distractions (yummy food on the floor)
back up
"heel up" dog starts on opposite side he heels, then goes behind you and sits down on the side he heels
Ongoing post about what to expect from Advanced Obedience classes at Petsmart: Week 3 & 4 Week 5 & 6
Buster missed the first week of Advanced Obedience at Petsmart due to me having a prior engagement. But we made it to week 2 and had a makeup for our missed class the next day as well.
For week 2 we worked on:
Stay with distance: Buster prefers a down-stay over a sit-stay, so I put him in a stay at the back of the store and walked around the aisles our of sight and came back. Buster remained in his stay the entire time.
Heeling side by side: Buster had to heel, pause, and continue heeling with another dog nearby.
Bow & Crawl: Buster already knows these, so I'm working on being able to give the hand signal from a standing position (me, not him) and not having to get so close to him and the floor for him to perform the trick.
For our week 1 makeup we worked on:
Impulse control games:
I offer a treat with an open palm and Buster has to leave it until I give him permission to eat with a "take it" command.
Buster has to leave food on the floor/tables/bowl/etc. unless given the "take it" command.
Buster has to heel/loose leash walk towards a line of food on the floor. If he lunges, we go back to the starting line. When we get to the food, he must wait for me to give the command "take it" to be able to eat the food.
Buster is extremely food driven (even more so since he's on prednisone), a fast learner, and eager to please me. All this makes him very easy to train. THERAPY ORGANIZATION I had mentioned in a previous post that I was considering different therapy organizations to test with. Buster's trainer says she can not administer the test, but she teaches her class to the Therapy Dog International test because it's the most difficult. It also seems to be the most respected and requested. For example, if you want to volunteer at Baptist Hospital, they request dogs that are TDI or Delta (now known as Pet Partners) certified. I'd like for Buster to be accepted at any place he wants to volunteer and I'm not sure our previous choice of Love on a Leash (LoaL) would allow that because it's the easiest test to pass.
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:
Beginner Obedience
Intermediate Obedience
Advanced Obedience
Canine Good Citizen test
Therapy Dog Class
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!
