From our incredible trainer, Kendra, in Houston, who is training with Lynsie. Lynsie suffers with anxiety, depression, and PTSD.
Kendra writes:
Lynsie renamed Casper, a dog that Kendra had been fostering, to “Bruce”. We met outside of Target to get Bruce introduced to all sorts of distractions.
Both Lynsie and Bruce did very well! We worked on our “downs” and “sits” in the public arena, and also worked on “leave it” as people walked past us.
One couple stopped to talk to us about Bruce because he is a pitbull and gets a lot of attention. We had Bruce remain in a “sit” or “down” while the people were talking to us, which is an important part of the Public Access Test.
Lynsie will continue working on bringing Bruce to public locations (not inside the stores yet), and getting Bruce comfortable with people, noises and going different places until we can train again together.
When I first opened the door, I was simply aghast at how strikingly beautiful this dog was. If I could handcraft a German Shepherd, it would look like Zulu! From the very beginning, Zulu was polite, responded to Jamie’s commands, made absolutely incredible eye contact, took treats gently, and already knew “sit”, “down”, “sit/stay”, “down/stay” (even when I disappeared out of sight), “heel”, “wait”, “leave it” with food, “load”, “unload” – just incredible. And Jamie herself – what an amazingly compassionate, gentle, kind, and brilliant person – who I felt like I had known for years!!!
I was astounded at how much training she had already done with Zulu. I asked her how she did it! She was so humble – and just smiled and shrugged her shoulders and said that she and her partner read the manual (an added star for her!), but had already done training with Zulu by themselves based upon their knowledge of dogs and what they had seen with the military dogs (using POSITIVE reinforcement only). Zulu, who is 18 months old, is playful yet extremely gentle with her little tiny Maltipoo brother, “Sarge”, and they get along famously. Zulu has that adorable quirk in German Shepherds with big tall ears where if you say something in high-pitched voice and tilt your head, she tilts her head along with you – then again, then again! It was adorable!! But truly, the eye contact was impeccable. I encouraged Jamie to use the “watch me” command as often as possible to reinforce this.
After I had done all these commands with Zulu on our first meeting, then Jamie demonstrated the ability to do exactly the same – except, of course, the stays were a bit more difficult because Zulu has an amazing bond with Jamie, and doesn’t like it when she disappears around the corner!! After the session, we went into the backyard, and Zulu amazed me AGAIN! Jamie can throw the ball, tell Zulu to “get it”, Zulu runs like wildfire, Jamie says “bring it”, then with “give it”, Zulu will either drop it right at her feet, or we worked on having Zulu gently put it in Jamie’s hands. Jamie will continue to work on this because with her severe back pain, it will be beneficial for Zulu to be able to retrieve items. We will continue to work on that with different household items.
At our second session, we met at Petsmart. Zulu performed perfect heels with the prong collar held upright in just the perfect direction and fit. I tried many different types of distractions walking behind Zulu and dropping items, and Zulu did not break her heel. We navigated through aisles using the words “left” and “right”. There weren’t many dogs there at the time, but the ones that were there, we asked if Zulu could meet, and whatever breed or size they were, Zulu did a loving, appropriate “sniffing” how-do-you-do, and all dogs reacted positively to her. We did several meet and greets, and Zulu had a bit of difficulty staying in the “sit” position because she wanted to approach the child or adult, so we will work on that. We did meet and talk with a Vietnam Veteran who was in a motorized wheelchair, and he just loved Zulu. We gave him treats to put in his hands, and it was a bit awkward for him because of his arthritis, but he was absolutely willing and excited and Zulu was gentle taking the treats, and then let the man pet her as we stood and talked with him for about 10 minutes. Zulu was patient, eventually just lying down while we finished our conversation. That is important for a Service Dog.
Next, we will meet at Walmart at 6 pm when it is busy! And I forgot to mention – Zulu already naturally responds to Jamie when her anxiety levels are high or she is in pain by going to her and applying pressure or just snuggling to comfort her. These two will be ready to pass the PAT in no time!!
“Elizabeth, Zoe and I completed this training session, which was Zoe’s first public visit in a regular store. Elizabeth did a wonderful job redirecting Zoe from all of the distractions and people at Walmart. I worked with Elizabeth to help her recognize Zoe’s nonverbal signals to her, and to anticipate possible obstacles to Zoe’s success in public (ie: needing bathroom breaks, shorter sessions in public). After a short break, Elizabeth and Zoe practiced heeling in the Lawn and Garden section with an automatic “stop-sit” at the end of every aisle. Zoe caught on very quickly, and responded beautifully to Elizabeth’s verbal and nonverbal commands! They have a wonderful bond already!”
I had my first session with Esteban to find him the right dog to begin his Service Dog journey. He requested meeting SDIT Tango from our Assessed Dogs section, and they bonded extremely well right off the bat! Tango seemed to take to his new home and new “dad” almost right away! My mother, Service Dog Express trainer Beverly, trained Esteban’s roommate’s Ser
“This session was the first we have had since before Christmas, so Amanda, Diezel and I worked on focus (“watch me”) and passive attention (which teaches a dog to defer to its owner. It works because it incorporates signals that dogs use to communicate about their relative roles in their natural social systems. It works well on when training owners of 
During this session, Kathy expressed to me that Olla has been having focusing issues. So, for the first part of the session, we did warm up exercises to get Olla’s energy a little spent. Next, we worked on heeling, and our basic obedience. Then we worked on some passive attention; allowing Olla to look at other things and rewarding her for returning her focus to 
At our next session, we worked on more complicated forms of the warm ups, and then I introduced them to the reorienting exercises. Then we had Olla rest in the park for a few minutes. After a short reprieve, we continued with heeling and focus sessions and then went back inside to practice “find your place” and then some basic obedience. I brought my dog Penelope as both of them get along famously. They got to play a little in the end as a reward for performing beautifully… Olla is progressing slowly but surely!
Well, when Elizabeth met Zoe, the bond was instant!! Elizabeth came prepared for the first meet and greet with all the supplies needed as mentioned in the training manual. Kelly and Lana, the two women who saved Zoe, visited Elizabeth for the first four days with Zoe for hours at a time to make the transition to a new home easier on Zoe. Zoe just loves Elizabeth!!
Yvette had worked harder than I could have imagined, and Shadow performed all his sits and stays in Home Depot like a professional team!!! Even with passers by and buzzing fork lifts he stayed focused on Yvette!