Long Update on Service Dog Training:
Today is our last day in NC after a full week working with my mentor and his amazing team of trainers who I also get to call my friends. I am sad to be leaving Jack but we will be reunited again in a co
Today is our last day in NC after a full week working with my mentor and his amazing team of trainers who I also get to call my friends. I am sad to be leaving Jack but we will be reunited again in a co
uple of months once he is fully finished with his training.
I had such an great time working with the TK9 team and am so grateful for them putting so much time and effort into this project.
Jacks tracking is really amazing. I was a little rusty but he was on point each time. I know with full confidence that if Grayson were to get away from us (god forbid) he would be the dog I would want finding him. He is incredibly fast. Once he picks up that scent he is off!
We ran him on hard surfaces (such as a road) and also ran him through fields of tall grass, the woods, and even a tract that started at the front of a building then ran along it, through an opening of trees, through a field and ending behind a shed .. And no matter what was thrown at him he did great!
We worked him in building searches, where we hid Grayson in a room and have Jack take a whiff of the odor from a scent article of Grayson and then go find him and he did it easy as cake. Grayson even enjoyed it. Found it funny!
((I had Grayson in is stroller and just placed him in different rooms of different buildings we used while someone else hung out with him so I could handle Jack)).
We had a little hiccup with the bark alert, as he is not the barking kind. The TK9 trainers have tried and tried and pulled all their tricks out of their hats and I tried the week while I was here and barking as an alert just isn't going to happen. Some dogs just don't do it. Jacks temperament is SO easy going and relaxed which is 200% what we wanted for the companionship of Grayson, that even though he is super playful, he is quiet. But that's OK! We have decided to go with a "re-find" which is just as good, if not better in a sense.
For a bark alert to "work" properly, you have to hope you are in ear shot when the dog alerts or else you may not hear it. With a re-find, it doesn't matter where you are, the dog will come find you once the action has been done that you have taught him to alert you on... For us, it is Grayson trying to open doors on his own and "escape" out of the house. So with the re-find, instead of Jack barking when Grayson tries to open a door, he will run and find me. So if I happen to be in the laundry room, or taking a shower, or somewhere where it may be louder and I not hear the bark from a bark alert.. He will just come find me and I will know something is happening that shouldn't be. This is a skill that a great percentage of SAR (Search and Rescue) dogs are trained to do because the handlers are not always in ear shot for a bark alert.. And well, Jack is essentially trained to be a SAR dog.
So even though we initially were hoping for a bark alert, this new direction we are going in is going to work out just as good and I'm very happy it with! It's going to work out very well for what we are wanting to accomplish.
They will be working hard over the next couple of months to get the re-find in place using another former trainer of TK9 and her children as practice. It's okay that he will "alert" when other children try to get out of a door and then alert another adult other than myself. Here's why: we don't want ANY child in our home, family, friend..etc to escape, so him alerting on any child is a GOOD thing. And his re-find returning to any adult is okay too because it won't always be me at home with him. Zak will be there, our family may be watching him or a babysitter..etc.. So the goal his for him to do a re-find based on any child ---> adult that way he will go find whoever the adult is watching Grayson no matter what, even if I'm not around.. And he will come find me as well even if it's another child that may be over trying to "break away".
We will all then fine tune it with the trainers once he is brought up to us.
Over the next couple of months they will also finish fine tuning the "anchor" as well as his off-leash OB which are both coming along super nicely!
His natural companionship shined through this week while I kept him at my best friends house. Companionship toward Grayson was not "trained" into him, it come naturally for Jack. His temperament sets the stage for it and he shined when paired with Grayson.
Grayson quickly learned that Jack was there for him and that he could lay with him, play with him..etc.. And Jack quickly started to bond with Grayson, following him about, wanting to lay next to him on the floor when Grayson would just be sitting there playing. Jack even napped in the room with Grayson which is great to see already as the goal is to have Jack sleep with Grayson every night.
I had such an great time working with the TK9 team and am so grateful for them putting so much time and effort into this project.
Jacks tracking is really amazing. I was a little rusty but he was on point each time. I know with full confidence that if Grayson were to get away from us (god forbid) he would be the dog I would want finding him. He is incredibly fast. Once he picks up that scent he is off!
We ran him on hard surfaces (such as a road) and also ran him through fields of tall grass, the woods, and even a tract that started at the front of a building then ran along it, through an opening of trees, through a field and ending behind a shed .. And no matter what was thrown at him he did great!
We worked him in building searches, where we hid Grayson in a room and have Jack take a whiff of the odor from a scent article of Grayson and then go find him and he did it easy as cake. Grayson even enjoyed it. Found it funny!
((I had Grayson in is stroller and just placed him in different rooms of different buildings we used while someone else hung out with him so I could handle Jack)).
We had a little hiccup with the bark alert, as he is not the barking kind. The TK9 trainers have tried and tried and pulled all their tricks out of their hats and I tried the week while I was here and barking as an alert just isn't going to happen. Some dogs just don't do it. Jacks temperament is SO easy going and relaxed which is 200% what we wanted for the companionship of Grayson, that even though he is super playful, he is quiet. But that's OK! We have decided to go with a "re-find" which is just as good, if not better in a sense.
For a bark alert to "work" properly, you have to hope you are in ear shot when the dog alerts or else you may not hear it. With a re-find, it doesn't matter where you are, the dog will come find you once the action has been done that you have taught him to alert you on... For us, it is Grayson trying to open doors on his own and "escape" out of the house. So with the re-find, instead of Jack barking when Grayson tries to open a door, he will run and find me. So if I happen to be in the laundry room, or taking a shower, or somewhere where it may be louder and I not hear the bark from a bark alert.. He will just come find me and I will know something is happening that shouldn't be. This is a skill that a great percentage of SAR (Search and Rescue) dogs are trained to do because the handlers are not always in ear shot for a bark alert.. And well, Jack is essentially trained to be a SAR dog.
So even though we initially were hoping for a bark alert, this new direction we are going in is going to work out just as good and I'm very happy it with! It's going to work out very well for what we are wanting to accomplish.
They will be working hard over the next couple of months to get the re-find in place using another former trainer of TK9 and her children as practice. It's okay that he will "alert" when other children try to get out of a door and then alert another adult other than myself. Here's why: we don't want ANY child in our home, family, friend..etc to escape, so him alerting on any child is a GOOD thing. And his re-find returning to any adult is okay too because it won't always be me at home with him. Zak will be there, our family may be watching him or a babysitter..etc.. So the goal his for him to do a re-find based on any child ---> adult that way he will go find whoever the adult is watching Grayson no matter what, even if I'm not around.. And he will come find me as well even if it's another child that may be over trying to "break away".
We will all then fine tune it with the trainers once he is brought up to us.
Over the next couple of months they will also finish fine tuning the "anchor" as well as his off-leash OB which are both coming along super nicely!
His natural companionship shined through this week while I kept him at my best friends house. Companionship toward Grayson was not "trained" into him, it come naturally for Jack. His temperament sets the stage for it and he shined when paired with Grayson.
Grayson quickly learned that Jack was there for him and that he could lay with him, play with him..etc.. And Jack quickly started to bond with Grayson, following him about, wanting to lay next to him on the floor when Grayson would just be sitting there playing. Jack even napped in the room with Grayson which is great to see already as the goal is to have Jack sleep with Grayson every night.
I could go on and on about Jack and all the great qualities I have already seen in him.. Not just in training but him with Grayson.. But since I have already written a novel, I'll wrap it up.
A giant thank you to Girard (Jerry) Bradshaw and his team of trainers at Tarheel Canine for taking on this project. They have done an amazing job thus far and I know the fully finished Jack will be one heck of a dog!
If you are considering a dog for Service or Working purposes, looking for training for your own dog, or even looking into becoming a trainer..please check out www.tarheelcanine.com I assure you, you will not be disappointed!
