pet connection

The fourth week of Archer’s therapy dog training consisted of simulated visits. All of Kindred Spirits’ trainers and assistant trainers pretended to be people the dogs in class might visit one day. In last week’s class, the trainers pretended to be people who might be visited, too, but at the same time, they coached the dogs and owners through each situation. This week, the trainers created situations and then let us sink or swim.

Kate Abbott (pictured with her dogs Gina and Walter),  the President of Love on a Leash Therapy Dogs said, “We want to create situations here, in a controlled environment, so you can learn to think and react. Then when you’re on a visit and something happens, you will already be aware of your dog’s responses as well as your own.” Kate went on to emphasize that they were not making fun or people or being derogatory. Instead, they were duplicating situations that have actually happened to therapy dogs and their owners previously and using these as training tools for future therapy dogs.

Archer and I went to visit Mary first. Mary was in a wheelchair. I introduced myself as I would on a visit, “Good morning. My name is Liz and this is my dog Archer. Do you like dogs?” When Mary nodded yes, I asked, “Would you like to pet Archer? His coat is very soft.” Again she nodded yes so I told Archer to go say hi and positioned him by the side of Mary’s wheelchair. In a flash, she had hold of his leash and was pulling it tight. Luckily we had practiced this so I unhooked Archer, moved him away, asked him to lie down and stay, and then went back to Mary. When I asked for his leash, she didn’t want to hand it over so I talked to her for a few minutes, then said I was going to have to leave and reached out as if to shake her hand. She dropped the leash to shake my hand so I shook hers and retrieved the leash. Whew!

After praising Archer for holding his down stay off-leash, we moved over to Debra. She was also in a wheelchair. When asked if she wanted a visit, she said no, then yes, then no, then yes again. However, when I moved Archer close to her she said yes with a big smile. The rest of our visit with her was great; Archer held still, Debra petted him, and all was well.

Cayla was using a walker when we approached her and asked if she would like to meet Archer. However, her balance was poor and she appeared to be too unsteady to reach down to pet him so I asked Archer to put his paws up on the bar of her walker. He did and she pet him there.

As we approached Maggie she was nibbling on a muffin. I told Archer to ignore the food, “Archer, leave it!” and he did. However, Maggie was insistent that she share her muffin with Archer. She even held out a piece to him. Such a good boy, he ignored it again when I told him to but because she was so insistent, I had to move Archer away. I told Maggie we’d be back when she finished her muffin.

Terry and Amber, the daughters of one of Kindred Spirits’ clients, played with toys on the ground and as a dog approached, Terry would scream. Archer was very concerned at the screaming but as I moved him away, Terry became quiet. Amber, on the other hand, ran at the dogs as they approached. Archer just gave her a kiss as she pet him.

Kate likes noise-makers, and when we approached her she was playing a harmonica. Then she rang some bells, shook a tamborine, and rattled a metal spoon in a pot. Connie hugged the dogs, tightly, while in bed. Petra moved her walker erractically.  All in all, it was a very interesting training experience.

After our simulated visits, the trainers gave us some critiques. Apparently some of the owners were not quick enough to move their dogs out of danger when Mary grabbed the leash and began pulling. Kate said, “This exercise demonstrates how important it is that you pay attention to your dog and react quickly. On a visit with my dog, Walter, I was talking to one person while someone else was petting Walter. The man petting Walter began rolling Walter’s leash up around his hand, gradually pulling Walter up on to his back feet. When I finally looked over, Walter was beginning to panic.” She said she unhooked Walter, moved him away, and then was able to get her leash back.

Cayla mentioned that some of the owners didn’t pay attention to the fact that her balance was poor and they expected her to bend over to pet their dogs. When she did, she fell. She said, “However when the owners had their dogs do a paws up on my walker, I didn’t fall.”

Maggie critiqued several of the dog owners for not moving their dogs away from her muffin. Apparently a few of the dogs were even happy to share her muffin with her, “Don’t let your dog learn that this is snack time. You have no idea what might be shared with your dog.” She added, “Nor do you want your dog to go through a facility like a vacuum cleaner; expecting treats.”

Debra emphasized that some of the people we visit may not be able to communicate well. We need to read body language as well as listen. Connie said most of the dogs were comfortable being hugged but we also need to be able to rescue our dogs when the hugging may get too hard.

This was a very interesting training experience. All in all, I was pleased with Archer. Although he wanted to go for the muffin, he didn’t and listened when I asked him to ignore it. And I know that’s hard for him. He was fine with being hugged although he slurped Connie a good one when she hugged him. He did a nice paws up on Cayla’s walker and he was fine with all of Kate’s noise-makers. He’s trustworthy with kids, although he was concerned when one of the girls screamed. But hey, I was concerned, too, even though I knew it was for training purposes. All in all, I think he’s just about ready to begin visiting. Woo hoo!

As we left the class, Kate told us next week was our evaluation!