If you’re training a service dog (or thinking about it), this is a great example of what we’re aiming for when dogs see other dogs in public. Notice where the dogs’ attention is. Instead of staring at each other, they’re checking in with their handlers. That comes from a lot of eye-contact work at home and in low-distraction spaces first, so when real-world distractions show up, the dog already knows, “my human has the answers.” 👀✨ You’ll also see us practicing a come on leash. If a leash is ever dropped or there’s an unexpected moment, the dog needs to respond immediately, even around other dogs. And at the end, you’ll see Free Dog 🎉 Clear working time, clear release. The dogs get to decompress and get that extra reinforcement for doing such a good job staying neutral and focused. This is what we’re looking for in public access work: calm dogs, soft bodies, focused minds, and handlers giving clear, consistent guidance 🐾💛

Sandy, one of ASA’s service dogs in training did great today! I am so proud of Sandy! She did absolutely incredible! She stayed under the table the entire time at the restaurant even when the delicious smelling food came. She didn’t even look at it. She went to a coffee shop and was incredible with strollers and people walking tight to her. She worked hard in the book store and stayed super well! She even focused on heel while we weaved through those tricky block chairs in the store! Thank you @Amanda Taulborg for walking us through each step of preparing her to go out and be coool!

Hope you and your pups all have a wonderful Christmas! Sandy went Christmas caroling last night with my grandparents and I. She also did some really good comes this morning! What are your services dog doing this Christmas?

In this video, I’m working with our new poodle pup and introducing one of the most important foundations in our program: Marker Training (also commonly called clicker training). I use the verbal marker “yes” to clearly communicate the exact behavior I want. The dog performs the behavior → I mark → then immediately reward with food. This method works for every dog, at any age, and it’s how I start all of our new trainees. In this first lesson, we’re focusing on: - Building confidence - Making training fun and easy to understand - Desensitization and exposure - Stepping on/off objects - Getting comfortable with the training environment As we progress, we’ll move into: - Eye contact - Sit - Down - Stand - Confidence-building games - And a variety of other foundational service dog skills This is the very first step in creating a clear communication system and helping the dog feel confident, successful, and excited to work.

Now that Bruno is settled in, I worked on some obedience with him this morning! Just ran through some heel, sit, and stay, and started introducing “down” too. Rewatching the video, I know I forgot to mark with “yes” a few times… 🤦🏼‍♀️ I’ve been a handler for 4 1/2 years and I still make mistakes! I already know how to fix that for next time which is the important part! I also tried luring him around me into a heel and also luring from a down to a sit, but I think we’re too early in the game for those skills so I won’t worry about that for now. Overall; he did great! He got distracted once because he could see my mom inside but he redirected well. Heel is hard for me to train since my left side is my blind side, so my mom is going to work on tbat with him. With Atlas, since his head is in a different spot than a non-mobility dog’s heel would be, I can see him and know he’s in the correct spot. The others get a little out of my peripheral vision. Did I do kind of the right thing for “down”? I remember watching @Sherry Smith and Mingo (omg I LOVE Mingo, Sherry please hug him for me) when Mingo was just a little baby working on down at a training class when Atlas na dI were in college, so my memory was 4 years old… I wasn’t sure when to stand up straight or if I should really be luring with food or just stepping on the leash and pointing… feedback welcome! Moral of the story: even experienced handlers mess up sometimes and it’s totally ok to make a mistake or not know what to do. Amanda is the bestttt and will give advice and tips!