From trainer Andrew, who is working tirelessly with 19 year-old client Daveed, and his SDIT, Redmond.
“Today’s session consisted of reinforcing already learned behaviors. We worked a little on sit/stay behaviors. We worked on the “find your spot” game. We did learn a game called “structured fetch”. And we began building toy drive in SDIT Redmond. Redmond is doing well! He discovered the taste of hot dogs and may even like it a bit more than the salami he discovered on Sunday… I did not take any pictures this session and we spent a little time gathering info on medical records for and completing the contract completely.
Our next session went very well. We repeated what we had done on Sunday using salami as a reward for Redmond. He is not as enthusiastic about being a Service Dog as is really needed, but he loves Daveed, and keeps him company everywhere. They have been working on controlled entry into vehicles, especially in his mom’s van, where there is lots of extra space for him to find his spot. We are still working on teaching Redmond to wait at the bottom of stairs for Daveed to climb them so he doesn’t knock him down, and Redmond is doing very well. He can be put in a good down/stay, and has been putting good distance between where the command is given and where his pillow is in the “find your spot” game. Daveed is moving to Colorado in a week so we we will be following up on Skype after one more session next week…
“Our final session today consisted of going out into public and having a meal, and walking through various places to test Redmond’s manners. We had lunch at Freebirds and walked through USAA and Plato’s Closet, which happened to be right next door. Redmond did very well – he minds Daveed superbly in public with his vest on, sticking close to Daveed and following commands as they are given. He did so well at Freebirds that we bought him some chicken, and used that as treats for the rest of the session… our session this time went a little over into the next hour but I only charged him for one session as he is moving to Colorado and I wanted to send him off with adequate information and training…
We worked hard on controlled entry, and waiting for Daveed and Redmond to load and unload. We worked on heeling maneuvers, and we worked on Redmond finding his spot under the table at Freebirds, which proved to be a little more than a challenge as he had never been asked to perform that behavior before… Chicken saved the day!!
Daveed is moving on the 9th and will be taking time off to get settled into his grandparents’ house and his new school. We will be resuming our sessions on Skype in 2 weeks…”
ANDREW, YOU HAVE DONE AMAZING WORK WITH THE SHORT TIME YOU HAVE HAD WITH DAVEED AND REDMOND. YOU ARE TO BE COMMENDED FOR SUCH INTENSE WORK. DAVEED AND REDMOND, WE WISH YOU THE VERY BEST OF LUCK AT YOUR NEW HOME. WE KNOW YOU HAVE AN EXTREMELY SOLID BACKGROUND DUE TO ANDREW’S CONTINUOUS TRAINING AND YOUR HARD WORK, DAVEED. PLEASE, EVERYONE WISH THIS AMAZING YOUNG MAN THE BEST OF LUCK IN HIS NEW LIFE!!!