From our trainer, Cherry, who is working with Lauren. Lauren suffers with Dysautonomia/Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS).

“Today was our first training day. We spent the first few minutes discussing Lauren’s needs and what she wants from her gorgeous dog Goldendoodle, Decker.

We did some leash and position training, and I showed Lauren how to encourage Decker to walk close to Lauren in a heel position.  Lauren suffers with back pain and told me how much she would love it if we could train Decker to lay on her back, as pressure eases the discomfort.

We began by using her mom as help, and between us we slowly eased Decker into the position Lauren wanted. Decker was uneasy at doing it at first as it is not a normal thing for a dog to do – on the chest yes, but the back is a little different, especially asking him to stay there. But he did catch on soon and stay in position, and we were able to walk away.

Then we transferred the command to Lauren, who called Decker to her to lay on her back, pairing it with the words “walk on me” – which he did brilliantly. Lauren’s mom was so pleased she even took a video of it.

Tomorrow we are going to work on properly going through doorways and continue our leash work.

Lauren who is going to work hard on her homework!