The Leave Command In Practice

Spilled cereal.

A family member spilled a box of cereal on the kitchen floor this evening and instead of rushing toward the jackpot, Bo's first reaction was to back away from it and look at me. Bo's response was a demonstration of the 'leave' command although no words were spoken by the family member or me. Bo's response was automatic and a result of consistent training on what to do when food falls or spills on the floor. 

It's a skill we practice regularly. In training, we use kibble, dog treats and dog safe foods. We drop the food item on the floor and immediately give Bo the 'leave' command. We then pick-up the food on the floor while Bo watches patiently nearby. When the food is all picked-up, most times we reward Bo with food but sometimes we only give him verbal praise. 

Bo looking at the spill.

When the spill happened tonight, Bo backed away from it and looked to me. I had him wait while the family member got a dust pan to clean the mess. Bo got rewarded with his favorite dog treats for his demonstration of self control. In this picture, Bo is looking at the spill on the floor from a distance. A reliable leave is helpful in protecting a dog from injesting food or medications that are harmful to him. For example, raisins, grapes, chocolate or pills. 

Training is Part of Our Daily Routine

Level III Class

Training is part of our daily routine. Much of the training we do with Bo is scheduled. Our scheduled training consists of group classes, one-on-one trainer directed instruction, and at home or in public skill building sessions. What I call just-in-time training represents the other component of Bo's training.

In-the-moment training occurs as the opportunity to practice an existing skill or learn a new one presents itself. It might be working on recall while on an off-leash walk and encountering a flock of birds (see embedded video) or practicing 'leave' while navigating a popcorn littered sports stadium. Sometimes just-in-time training occurs at the most inopportune times -- like late at night or early in the morning. A missed alert in the middle of the night is an opportunity for live scent training -- a process that includes not only scent exposure and food rewards but also physical and verbal praise and sometimes reward play.

Place Training

In-the-moment training is sometimes as simple as redirecting Bo to return 'under' the table at dinner or redirecting him to his place when a friend is visiting. Neither of these tasks are difficult but they do require our time and attention. It would be easy to forego scent training in the middle of the night or obedience training during a meal or visit with a friend but training a DAD isn't easy, nor does it allow for laziness. So, we stay committed to giving 100% to Bo's training and in doing so we strive for patience in the process, potential in the progress and praise in the product.

Remote Alert

This weekend while Austin was outside playing basketball with a friend in our driveway, Bo alerted to me inside the house. The windows and doors were all closed when Bo gave this remote alert. He was on his cot in the dining room and I was in the kitchen. I heard him whining and when I went to check on him he had broken his place. He was tethered so he couldn't come to me but his whining got my attention. When I approached him he immediately began alerting with paw swipes followed by bows -- his alert chain for a low.

Bo had alerted about an hour earlier on a low. Austin was 83 at the time and I gave him a 25 g carb ice cream snack and didn't cover it with insulin. So, when Bo alerted low for a second time, I thought he may be confusing his alert chains. (He isn't 100% accurate in his use of the high and low alert chains yet.) 

I removed the tether and took Bo outside to check Austin. Austin insisted he felt fine and he didn't need to check. For a fleeting moment I second guessed Bo but then I told Austin we had to check because Bo had alerted. It's a good thing we did because Austin was 68. 

Bo got a big low party for this alert and after the party he went back to his cot and went to sleep.

Putting On Bo's Freedom Harness

Younger Bo Trying to Eat His Harness

When I started using a Freedom Harness on Bo I had a difficult time putting it on him. He wanted to eat it or play with it -- anything but let me put it on his body. So, I began using treats to lure his head into the top part and then dropping treats to get his paws into the side parts before clipping it closed. I continued using treats to get him in his harness because it made the process quicker and easier than not using treats. Recently, I realized the harness itself is a cue to Bo that we are going outside for a walk. Realizing this I wanted to see if he'd let me put his harness on without giving him treats because he knew he would get to go for a walk. I gave it a try and it didn't work. He wouldn't have it. He backed away as if to say, "Not until you have a treat in your hand." So, I stopped trying and turned away from him.  After a minute, I tried again by offering the harness near his head. (This what I do when I have a treat in my hand.) Again, he declined and again I turned away and waited a minute all the while giving my attention to something else. I then tried again and it worked! Yup, he put his head through on his own and he let me lift his legs through each side of the harness and clip it. I then gave him a treat but the real reward was getting to go outside for our walk.

It's Really Easy to Think You've Broken Your Dog

It's really easy to think you've broken your dog. Okay, maybe I should say it's really easy for me to think I've broken my dog. When something doesn't go as planned or expected, my first thought is I've done something wrong in the training process. 

A perfect example of what I'm talking about happened tonight. Within a half hour of returning home from eating dinner out, Bo alerted to me. The time was 8:18 pm Austin's blood sugar was 151. Now, 151 is not in Bo's reward range. For this reason, I checked Austin with a different meter and different test strips. I wanted to see if it registered a number in Bo's reward range but it didn't. Instead it read 154. Ugh! The information suggested this was a false alert, so I gave Bo the all set command. Then at 8:29 pm Bo alerted again. I checked and Austin was 132. Again, not in Bo's reward range, so I told Bo all set and planned to recheck Austin in 15 minutes. At 8:40 pm, Bo alerted yet again. Austin was 119. I repeated what I had done for the past two alerts and Bo alerted again at 8:50 pm. Austin, as you might imagine, was not happy about getting checked again. He allowed me to check and he was 114. I knew Austin's blood sugar was trending down but I was concerned by the fact Bo started alerting when Austin's blood sugar was 151. I couldn't keep myself from thinking I had done something to confuse him and his confusion was resulting in these incorrect alerts. Finally, at 9:05 pm Bo alerted again. This time Austin was 98 which is in Bo's low reward range. I finally treated Bo and gave Austin a 8g carb snack. 

Why had Bo started alerting when Austin was 151 and why did he continue to alert every 10 or so minutes until he reached 98? Why didn't Bo just alert when Austin reached 98? How should I interpret the four alerts that preceded the one alert that was rewardable? Was I doing something in Bo's training that was confusing him. These were some of the questions I was asking myself. I decided to reach our to a few experienced DAD owners to ask for their opinions and insight. No sooner did I send my message to them when I heard Bo jump off of Austin's bed and whine at the Austin's bedroom door gate. Austin removed the gate and Bo came directly to me in bed. He didn't paw or bow; he just stood at the side of the bed staring at me and whining. He then jumped on my bed and pawed me. I asked him if we should check and he jumped off the bed and headed toward my bedroom door and looked back to see if I was following. It was now 9:39 pm. I checked Austin, who said he felt fine, and he was 47! 

Clearly, Bo was smelling Austin's blood sugar drop. One of the experienced DAD owners I sought advice from, who is also a DAD trainer, explained what happened like this:

"When there is a steady drop over time and the dog is tracking the trend, I believe the dog's work is validated. That was a steady drop, which resulted in a plummet at the end. Bo was accurate and persistent, in my mind-giving you information to stay on top of the drop. His information was not only accurate but most beneficial."

Okay, so I guess I haven't broken him. Now, if I could just stop worrying that I will.

Low Alerts

Bo alerted to me immediately when I walked in the house with Austin this afternoon. We checked and Austin was 52. We treated Austin with juice followed by a 15 g snack and then took him to his piano lesson. When we got home Austin was in my room with Bo. He put the gate up to keep Bo with him. About an hour after we had been home, Bo moved from the bed to the floor and began whining at the gate. I went to let him out and he came right to me and alerted. He paw swiped and then bowed. I checked Austin and he was 87. Bo got carved chicken and Austin got 15 g worth of mini powered donuts --- something I bought for the first time today as a special treat.

Pup Hanging with His Boy

Today was voting day in our town and there was no school. It was a beautiful day with temperatures in the 50s. Austin had two of his friends over to hang out for the day. The boys were in our driveway shooting hoops and Bo and I were watching. When it was Austin's turn out of the game, he hopped in the back of my car with Bo. I captured these pictures and video of the boy and his pup hanging out on a warm winter day.

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