Today, Austin and his friend celebrated their 13th birthday's together at a paintball field with twelve of their friends. It was Bo's first time at the field. He handled the sounds of the guns, the yelling and screaming of players and the running and activity very well. He gave a woof at an adult, fully geared up player who was wearing a mask but stopped with redirection. Over the course of the five hours we were there, Bo alerted to a high of 220 and a low of 75. In this video, you can hear the noise of guns being shot and players yelling. You can see Bo remain in a relaxed down. A fly on his rump got his attention more than the noise. I would highly recommend training at a paintball field for the many distractions it presents.
Helen taught us how to train Bo on the command 'wait' early in our journey. The idea is for the dog to 'hold on for a second.' We use 'wait' many times during the day. For example, we have Bo wait at all doors before we open them. We have Bo wait in the car while before unloading him. Sometimes, we have him wait before we give him food. When we are take off leash walks we may use wait if he gets ahead of us or if we hear other dogs or people. He has a highly reliable wait. If we give the command, he stops and looks up. I took this video on an off leash walk. You see Bo walking with his head down sniffing and then when he hears the command 'wait,' he stops and looks up. I then give him the 'come' command and he immediately comes to me. His willingness to respond to these commands is especially valuable when he is off leash and we encounter other dogs or people. He will stop and come to me rather than run towards the dogs and people.
In preparation for our first commercial flight with Bo, we have been training at the airport and simulating placing in small tight spaces. Bo will fly in coach with us and will place on the floor in front of our legs. We will likely be assigned the bulkhead row of seats, which will offer a little more room for Bo to settle. The videos here are from our training session with Helen at our local airport. Austin handled Bo the entire session and Bo alerted to a high while we were walking through the lobby. In this video, Austin is working Bo through the busy baggage claim area. One thing you will notice is Bo's check-in with me. I'm walking behind them taking the video. As we transition from me handling Bo to Austin handling Bo, we hope to see fewer check-ins with me and more with Austin. You will also notice Bo looks back at luggage on wheels that passes him. While it gets his attention, he is able to re-focus and continue working.
In this video our trainer, Helen, is telling Austin to put Bo in a down. Bo is listening to Austin's commands and staying focused despite the distractions.
In this video, Austin is practicing taking Bo through the security gate. They pass several TSA employees and Bo remains focused and at Austin's side.
In this video, Austin is walking Bo around the upper level of the airport near the security gate and food kiosks. Austin is very much at ease handling Bo and Bo's tail is high and wagging indicating he is also comfortable. You see a loose leash and Bo staying at Austin's side. Bo does put his nose down to the floor at one point, which is not ideal and something to continue to work on with him.
Riding in the car wheel well is one way we are preparing Bo for the tight space he will need to place in during our three hour flight. He has always rode in the hatch of our vehicles, so the wheel well was a new experience for him. He wasn't comfortable at first but after two weeks of daily training, he is going down on his own and even resting as seen in this video.
One of Bo's favorite food rewards is chicken and gravy baby food. When he alerts, he gets a few licks from the jar. It's a convenient reward food that is quick to give and doesn't make a mess or require hand washing afterwards.
Austin, Bo and I were taking a nap in my bed when I felt Bo change his position. I opened my eyes in time to see him raise his head and air scent toward Austin who was sleeping on the other side of him. After air scenting, he sat up and pawed my body. 'Do we need to check?' I asked. He jumped off the bed and I followed him to the kitchen to get Austin's pack. I checked Austin who was still sleeping and he was 73. Before I got to the 15 min re-check Bo re-alerted. This time Austin was 70. Austin didn't feel the low and his next scheduled check would have been 1 hour from now. The pup is good at his job!
We are fortunate in that Bo alerts in the middle of the night. We've found our success in allowing Bo to get a couple of hours of sleep in our bed early in the evening, when Austin is still awake, and then placing boy and pup together when Austin goes to bed. At 3:13 am this morning, Bo hopped out of Austin's bed and came to mine to alert. Austin was 84 -- an ideal number to be alerted at for a low. Bo is not perfect by any means but he is one heck of a night alerter and for this I'm incredibly grateful!
Today, I headed to Home Goods seeking inspiration for Austin's new bedroom design. I didn't find what I was looking for but I did find two new Busy Buddy treat dispensing toys for Bo -- the Rip 'N Tug Barbell and Octopus. It's a running joke in our family that when I go shopping, I always come home with something for Bo. The fact is, I'm always looking for new toys to keep Bo engaged and new food puzzles to keep him interested in working for his food. (Bo works for all his food.)
When I got home, I didn't waste any time letting Bo give his new toys a try. Bo immediately showed interest in the toys when I removed them from the bag. It might have been their bright green and purple color, smell, or fabric texture that captured his interest. Regardless, when I presented the barbell to him, he took it in his mouth and proudly carried it through the house for all of us to see.
I captured this video of him figuring out how to release the kibble that I hid inside the food pockets located in each of the barbells. You see him work to open the fabric fasteners and release the kibble. He also picks up and drops the toy to try and release the kibble. Seconds after I stopped the video, Bo alerted to me. I was still sitting on the floor with my camera. Austin checked and he was 78. After a short session of live scent training, where Bo was reinforced for offering his low alert chain, we played 'getcha' his favorite game.
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