Unbelievable kindness. Ken, a Wounded Warrior who has Service Dog “Mozart”, does this amazing artwork. He is donating proceeds from the sale of it to help wounded warriors get funding for Service Dog training with Service Dog Express!!! THANK YOU KEN!!!!!
From our trainer, Pat, who is working with Erica and her daughter, Lisa, who has multiple disabilities, and their SDIT, Nina.
“Nina is the cutest little SDIT you’ll ever see! She and Lisa’s mom, Erica made real progress today! Nina learned “Watch Me”, to “hell” on a leash, “sit”, with “down” not very far behind. This is a little dog that was very wary of new things and especially of leashes. So – to have her walk down the sidewalk with Erica was really a great accomplishment for her first lesson. Erica was thrilled. Little Nina already showed improvement in the confident way she held herself.
Erica has very good instincts and has been working with having Nina stay in her daughter, Lisa’s lap when Erica leaves the room. With good success :0). I just can’t wait to see Nina walk with Lisa holding the leash. And I can’t wait to see Erica’s face when that happens!
GREAT JOB, PAT, NINA, ERICA – AND EVENTUALLY LISA!
“I arrived to meet Shauna for her test with SDiT Kilo. From the very beginning, Shauna had control over Kilo, and prevented him from jumping and allowed me into her residence. We then went to Petsmart since I had SDiT Abby and puppy Aspen with me to assist with distractions.
Once in the vehicle, Kilo seemed a little excited, but then he settled down and rode well in the car. Kilo waited for his commands for entering and exiting the vehicle.
Shauna was then able to walk with Kilo both with and without his leash, and he did awesome! Shauna had a moment where she started to lose her stability, and Kilo went to her right side pushing on her leg to help her stay balanced. VERY NICE WORK!!!! She never had to hold onto his leash. Kilo was then placed in a down and stay, and Shauna even walked away and around the corner and recalled him, and he came without hesitation and went right into a sit position. Nice work.
Upon going to eat, Kilo laid at the counter until Shauna was ready to go sit down. Upon getting a table, he laid right at her feet. Upon completion of his PAT, Shauna encouraged a young boy that it was ok to pet Kilo. The little boy was scared since he had never been around dogs before. They both did great. Kilo was very gentle.
Look at this beautiful artwork done by former client, Wounded Warrior Ken, with SD Mozart!! For each sculpture he sells, a portion of the proceeds he will donate to our non-profit, In Dog We Trust!! THANK YOU AND BLESS YOU KEN!!!!
From our trainer Candace, in Fort Worth, who is working with the Freeman family and their son, Parker, who is a special needs child.
“The Freeman family is doing spectacular training Bear, their gorgeous Golden SDIT. He is working on fine tuning his “heel” while working with the family as well as his primary handler, Parker. Bear is also working on mastering his advanced commands such as “back,” “place,” and long distance recalls. The stronger he is on these commands with high levels of distractions, the more efficient he will be in performing his duties and paying attention to his handler. Bear is also increasing his reliability in tackling basic commands, such as “leave it.” He responds well to Parker’s primary specialty needs, and is doing well with socialization in public. Next time, we will focus on “heel,” once again and we will see how he is doing with “stay” when distance and distractions are added to the picture. Great job, Freeman Family!”
From trainer Andrew, who is working with 19 year-old Daveed and his SDIT, Redmond. Daveed has a rare disorder called Polyarteritis nodosa (PAN) – but he is motivated, positive, and ready to keep on working with Redmond so he can live on his own! Daveed’s family ordered a special Medical Alert ID for Daveed with all his medical information and emergency contacts on the back.
“This session occurred on Friday the 26th at 3:00 pm. We worked on everything previously discussed – more repetition to reinforce the behaviors. I did introduce Daveed to the beginning steps of teaching Redmond to drag things like a clothes basket. How we began with this behavior was by putting a ball in a sock and enticing Redmond to grab it. When we found that the dog doesn’t have toy drive, we put cheese in the sock (Redmond’s favorite) and got a much better response! As soon as Redmond showed interest in it, we marked the behavior with the chosen word and reward. This will go on until the Redmond is able to take the sock in his mouth and then give it back.
We also reinforced the heeling maneuvers that we worked on previously – we introduced Redmond to a higher distraction level; the front yard. We worked the dog on sit/stays and down/stays. We worked him on loose leash walking and heeling maneuvers. This is very important because Daveed has an unsteady gait and Redmond needs to learn how to stay in a heel despite the gair. We worked Redmond on controlled entry into the house, and then worked on the act of the dog sitting at the bottom of the stairs until Daveed gets up to the top (or down on the bottom) and releases him.”
BRILLIANT TRAINING IDEAS, ANDREW!!! GREAT WORK DAVEED AND REDMOND!!!!
From Jennifer, who has been training with Candace in Ft. Worth.
“I am so thankful for our trainer, Candace, from Ft. Worth. Today was my son’s first day at school with his SD. Candace made sure the day went well, and I am so happy. Thank you SDE for all you have done for my son, our SD, and our family..”
THANK YOU, JENNIFER, FOR THAT BEAUTIFUL ACKNOWLEDGMENT. WE ARE SO FORTUNATE TO HAVE CANDACE AS PART OF OUR TEAM.
Some adorable pictures of Wounded Warrior, Anthony, and his SD Tucker, and his wife, Rowena, and her SD Blessed!
From our trainer in Austin! HAGGER THE HUMUNGOUS HAS PASSED!!!!
“I am happy to announce that Lee and Hagger have passed the Public Access Test! We met at Walmart this morning and took a nice stroll with Hagger heeling beside Lee the whole time. Lee took Hagger through some tight quarters and narrow turns and Hagger fit right in!
Hagger does sits and downs on commands just once. He has great stays as well with a shopping cart going by him!
We headed to Subway to eat and settle while Lee and I talked for a bit, Hagger made himself at home on the floor!
Lee has worked and trained Hagger TIRELESSLY to get him ready and he has been more than successful!
I am so happy for those two!”
LEE AND HAGGER, EVERYONE AT SERVICE DOG EXPRESS IS SO, SO VERY PROUD AND INSPIRED BY YOU BOTH – YOUR DETERMINATION, YOUR COURAGE, AND YOUR DEDICATION. THE WORLD IS TRULY BLESSED TO HAVE YOU BOTH IN IT! AND TO OUR TRAINER – WONDERFUL JOB!!!
From our trainer Andrew, who is working with a dad and son team, Jesse and Daveed with their two separate SDITs. It’s difficult to train two dogs, but he’s doing a great job! Here is his write up with training with 19 year-old Daveed and his SDIT, Redmon.
“This session was comprised of mainly teaching Daveed’s SDIT, “Redmon” duration with a down/stay. We also went to the back yard and taught the dog to sit when Daveed stops walking, and we taught Redmon that he needs to sit patiently at the bottom of the stairs as Daveed ascends so as to not rush past him and knock him back down them, as Daveed has balance issues. Redmon is a very good dog, loyal and smart… His motives are treat based and praise to some extent.”
