The drop it command is used when your dog something in his mouth that you want him to let go.
The best way to teach this is by trading with your puppy. If he's holding one of his toys in his mouth, give im one fo his favorite treats and ask him to drop the toy as you offer him the treat. When he drops the toy, give him the treat. Keep doing this often until your puppy will instantly drop on command
Have your dog sit or stand. Let your dog sniff a treat you are holding, but don't let him have it.
• Lower the treat to the floor, and as you are doing that, your dog should follow it down.
• Be sure to say "lie down" as your dog begins to lower himself.
• Your dog should lower himself all the way to the floor. You should be now holding the treat between his front paws.
• Only give him the treat once he is on the floor. Repeat the words "Lie Down" many times: Say, "Good boy, lie down. Lie down you good boy."
• Practice this several times during the day and over several days.
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Training Dogs
What are the goals of PSD training?
First, a PSD should be trained in basic obedience (e.g., sit, stay, come, down, go, leave it, etc.). Basic obedience instruction should employ verbal commands and hand signals. Training should be conducted, both, on and off-leash, first in low distraction environments moving gradually to higher distraction environments. Cap basic obedience with passage of the Canine Good Citizen test (see www.akc.org for details on this test).
Second, train for public access skills (i.e., behavior in public places such as restaurants, theaters, library, buses, subway, etc.). You should engage in at least six months of public access training with your dog. When you feel your dog is ready, put yourself and your dog through our public access test (see: http://www.psychdog.org/attach/Public_Access_Standard_Test_Sheet.pdf) You will need a professional dog trainer to administer the test. This person does not need to know anything about service dogs because of the way the test is written.
Third, teach the dog a few disability-related tasks (see task list for examples) and/or learn how to articulate your dog's "work". Start by describing the symptom you are dealing with. It needs to be a valid symptom that is characteristic of your specific disorder (see the DSM-IVTR). Then, describe in ‘slow-motion’ how you interact with your dog in a way that mitigates the symptom. While describing these interactions, focus on and identify the trained behaviors that make this form of assistance possible, no matter how simple or complex those trained behaviors may be.
Remember that learning is training. We believe that when a dog learns your physiologic baseline and can recognize deviations from baseline that are indicative of the onset of mental illness, then the dog is ‘doing work’ by facilitating handler insight related to the changes that are occurring in the handler’s own body. This, of course, assumes that the handler has learned to ‘read’ her dog as the dog is ‘reading’ her, a specialized skill that takes practice and sometimes mentorship from another PSD handler who can help new handlers recognize these valuable canine alerting behaviors.
No third party trainer or organization can train or teach your dog to recognize your baseline and its sequelae. This is a phenomenon that only occurs when dog and handler are together 24/7 for a period of at least six months. This is one reason we discourage folks from getting a PSD that was trained by someone else. Such dogs can only perform tasks, and most PSD handlers find that task performance is extremely limited in its utility. ‘Work’ is more useful to PSD handlers, because it is a form of assistance that does not require high levels of executive functioning in the handler. Such frontal lobe activity is often compromised when mental illness is active.
Persistent sadness
‘Hug’ command
Hopelessness
‘Cuddle’ and ‘Kiss’ commands
Hypersomnia (i.e., excessive sleeping)
Wake-up at specific time each day
Lack of motivation or apathy
‘Settle’ for Tactile Stimulation sessions
Short-term memory loss
Remind to take medication at specific times
First, a PSD should be trained in basic obedience (e.g., sit, stay, come, down, go, leave it, etc.). Basic obedience instruction should employ verbal commands and hand signals. Training should be conducted, both, on and off-leash, first in low distraction environments moving gradually to higher distraction environments. Cap basic obedience with passage of the Canine Good Citizen test (see www.akc.org for details on this test).
Second, train for public access skills (i.e., behavior in public places such as restaurants, theaters, library, buses, subway, etc.). You should engage in at least six months of public access training with your dog. When you feel your dog is ready, put yourself and your dog through our public access test (see: http://www.psychdog.org/attach/Public_Access_Standard_Test_Sheet.pdf) You will need a professional dog trainer to administer the test. This person does not need to know anything about service dogs because of the way the test is written.
Third, teach the dog a few disability-related tasks (see task list for examples) and/or learn how to articulate your dog's "work". Start by describing the symptom you are dealing with. It needs to be a valid symptom that is characteristic of your specific disorder (see the DSM-IVTR). Then, describe in ‘slow-motion’ how you interact with your dog in a way that mitigates the symptom. While describing these interactions, focus on and identify the trained behaviors that make this form of assistance possible, no matter how simple or complex those trained behaviors may be.
Remember that learning is training. We believe that when a dog learns your physiologic baseline and can recognize deviations from baseline that are indicative of the onset of mental illness, then the dog is ‘doing work’ by facilitating handler insight related to the changes that are occurring in the handler’s own body. This, of course, assumes that the handler has learned to ‘read’ her dog as the dog is ‘reading’ her, a specialized skill that takes practice and sometimes mentorship from another PSD handler who can help new handlers recognize these valuable canine alerting behaviors.
No third party trainer or organization can train or teach your dog to recognize your baseline and its sequelae. This is a phenomenon that only occurs when dog and handler are together 24/7 for a period of at least six months. This is one reason we discourage folks from getting a PSD that was trained by someone else. Such dogs can only perform tasks, and most PSD handlers find that task performance is extremely limited in its utility. ‘Work’ is more useful to PSD handlers, because it is a form of assistance that does not require high levels of executive functioning in the handler. Such frontal lobe activity is often compromised when mental illness is active.
Persistent sadness
‘Hug’ command
Hopelessness
‘Cuddle’ and ‘Kiss’ commands
Hypersomnia (i.e., excessive sleeping)
Wake-up at specific time each day
Lack of motivation or apathy
‘Settle’ for Tactile Stimulation sessions
Short-term memory loss
Remind to take medication at specific times
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Growling behaviors
The Play Growl
Dogs growl when playing with each other. Listen to a litter of pups and it sounds like world war III most of the time. Growling is normal communication for dogs and in a play situation, it is like a human egging on the other during a pillow fight. It is strictly to illicit the desired behavior from the opponent and not meant aggressively.
The body language of a play growl is alert but relaxed. Lips are loose, covering the teeth, ears are in their natural play position, hackles will be down and the tail is in its typical play position. This is not a serious situation unless you are the toy!
Depending on your personal situation, you may want to discourage this growl behavior. For example, if you have children and their friends often visit, a play growl can scare a child that is not used to being around a dog. In addition, if you have a large or giant breed, this play growl could seem a lot more serious to then in a small dog.
The Talkie Growl
Some dogs tell you what they want by barking while others give you ‘the look’ and then there are some that use a growl to get your attention. Usually the dog’s body language is neutral or suggestive of ‘follow me’ – alert again but comfortable in their surroundings. As doggy/human communication goes, this is usually worth listening to as it often means they need to go outside, their water dish is empty, the house is on fire – you know, anything that they want you to deal with now, not in a few minutes.
The many growls have many meanings. Learn to read your dog’s moods and body language and you will learn to understand what they are telling you. Remember that not all dogs communicate exactly the same so if you an unknown dog is growling at you, always take it seriously – back away and do not approach again until the owner is around.
Dogs growl when playing with each other. Listen to a litter of pups and it sounds like world war III most of the time. Growling is normal communication for dogs and in a play situation, it is like a human egging on the other during a pillow fight. It is strictly to illicit the desired behavior from the opponent and not meant aggressively.
The body language of a play growl is alert but relaxed. Lips are loose, covering the teeth, ears are in their natural play position, hackles will be down and the tail is in its typical play position. This is not a serious situation unless you are the toy!
Depending on your personal situation, you may want to discourage this growl behavior. For example, if you have children and their friends often visit, a play growl can scare a child that is not used to being around a dog. In addition, if you have a large or giant breed, this play growl could seem a lot more serious to then in a small dog.
The Talkie Growl
Some dogs tell you what they want by barking while others give you ‘the look’ and then there are some that use a growl to get your attention. Usually the dog’s body language is neutral or suggestive of ‘follow me’ – alert again but comfortable in their surroundings. As doggy/human communication goes, this is usually worth listening to as it often means they need to go outside, their water dish is empty, the house is on fire – you know, anything that they want you to deal with now, not in a few minutes.
The many growls have many meanings. Learn to read your dog’s moods and body language and you will learn to understand what they are telling you. Remember that not all dogs communicate exactly the same so if you an unknown dog is growling at you, always take it seriously – back away and do not approach again until the owner is around.
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