Building Bello's Service Dog Training Program through Positive Based Relationship

Our long term goal is for Bello to be a powerful partner in my life. In order to achieve this goal however I also have to be a powerful partner in his life! This means that I have to cultivate a deep relationship with Bello instead of forcefully and physically making him do what I want him to do. It's the same kind of relationship I developed with my previous 2 SD NaNook and NaKoda that people admired and envied. 

NaNook far right NaKoda on left

4 important things a handler needs to understand is how dogs learn, training techniques, verbal signals the dog already  knows, and to manage expectations. During Bello's basic obedience and socialization we were able to gain a grasp of these 4 areas for him personally. We were able to leave our basic obedience and socialization with as a team which gave us a beautiful start for the rest of his SD training and SAR training work! By Bello being obedient to me and not just responsive to his obedience commands Bello and I are now invested in the relationship!

It is very important that through out Bello's SD training we continue the obedience commands and socialization. Bello is with me 24/7. He goes everywhere I go and does everything I do. We also schedule daily socialization experiences with a group of women who also have dogs. Some of these dogs are also in Bello's SAR training group and some of the dogs are strictly companion animals. No matter what type of lifestyle they lead though they all need the socialization and by having these daily walks together and allowing them off leash together they learn proper dog manners as well as people manners since we walk in a city park that is heavily used!  When we are not enjoying Bello's daily doggie play dates as we go about our daily routines we are constantly using the obedience commands and socialization in my world allowing him opportunities to learn my body language, voice commands and hand signals to know what is acceptable an what is not acceptable behaviors at home and out in the world.  

As Bello moves through cementing the obedience, learning manners and socializing there are many techniques I must use to help him understand and learn the behaviors and skills that I need him to have.  I use positive behavior because I do not believe the old training ways of force and aggression help to build a positive relationship between myself and my SD. 

1. Create the behavior/skill - for example catch the dog in the act, coax the dog into the behavior I want and gradually over time shape into the perfect behavior/skill

2. Give the behavior/skill a name  - for example when I want Bello to load up in the cab of my truck we approach the truck where he sits while I unlock the door (also another  behavior we learned) then when the door is open and I am ready for him to get in I say "load up" and he promptly jumps into the cab of the truck, moves over to the passenger seat and sits where I promptly put his seat belt on him. 

3. Mark the behavior - in the beginning of learning to "load up" once his seat belt was on I would give him a training treat and verbally reward him for the behavior. Now, since he has learned this we have removed the treat and now just give verbal praise!

4. Release - once the behavior/skill is performed release the dog. 

As we move forward with Bello's SD training and move into harder skills/behaviors specific to SD's and the specific skills he needs to be of service to me we will continue to use the above methods to learn, accomplish and reward his new behaviors and skills! It is important that we continue to practice and utilize his obedience skills while learning new skills/behaviors. We will not avoid Bello's problem areas, we will reward the behaviors he is strong at but will not dwell on the problem areas. We will just continue to work on the until he succeeds! We will continue to engage in his distraction work so that he will not be distracted in any setting we may find ourselves in. Most importantly though as we move forward into learning his actual SD skills/behaviors we will continue to make time to bond and strengthen our relationship with fun adventures! 

Beyond Sit & Stay

One of the communication barriers to people who train for basic obedience, protection, and SAR training is that a SD has many more behaviors, skills and commands they have to learn in order to perform their jobs.  Beyond the basic sit, stay, heel, find skills involved many SD need other commands for public access that let them know what they are supposed to be doing and what we need them to do for us.  Many non SD trainers don't believe in a large vocabulary command base however SD generally will have many more commands than other working dogs or family companion animals.

Some of the basic SD commands or verbal cues (which can be paired with hand signals) will help to make your SDIT a wonderful and well behaved SD.

Don't/Nein

Seems pretty simple but this word can be used to correct a SDIT from even considering a particular behavior. Watching your dog for their body language and being able to prevent or anticipate the behavior when they are just considering it helps to build a better understanding of your SDIT.

When Bello and I enter the pet store (often previously marked/urinated on locations that have not been properly cleaned) for our public access training or just to pick up his supplies I watch his behavior. I can see his body language as he smells and attempts to put his body in position to mark over another dogs scent and by saying "don't" I can prevent him from behaving (urinating/marking) in public which he is absolutely never allowed to do.

Settle/Relax

Settle or relax is a command I use with Bello when I want him to relax and quit whatever behavior he is engaging in.  Bello is a very energetic boy who would often prefer to play than run errands or just relax and let me read my book. However, sometimes the errands must be taken care of before we can go play and sometimes I just want some down time.  When I use the command to settle or relax Bello will drop his ball and go lay down or sometimes get his bone allowing me the much needed time to relax. When in public and I tell him to settle this helps him to fall in beside me and be still instead of trying to greet everyone that walks by.



Potty now

A SD must never relieve themselves in inappropriate locations. I have a SAR trainer friend who believes that a dog should never relieve themselves on a search trail or even in the middle of a training session.  I am not this strict.  I believe if we are outside and you need to go.......go. However, Bello is never allowed to relieve himself indoors.  Before we leave to go any where the last thing we do before we load up in the truck is to relieve ourselves. I use the command Potty Now for Bello.  When we are just hanging around the house and we are going outside I use the command Go Outside so that he knows the difference between hurry up and go potty so we can leave vs let's go hand out side and play and maybe go to the bathroom if we need to.

Be Easy or Be Sweet

Sometimes no matter how much we try to prevent particular situations from occurring they often do.  For example  Bello has patches he wears on his vest that say working dog do not pet, and in training and no matter what some person always (usually kids) pays no attention to the patches and approaches "can we pet him".  Bello doesn't always like being approached by strangers, he also doesn't always like being pet on his head by strangers (which i absolutely understand because I wouldn't want just any random person coming up and touching me either - and this behavior can trigger my anxiety disorder) so being aware of our surroundings and giving him the command to Be Easy or Be Sweet lets him know this person is going to approach and pet him even though we may not want them to really and he needs to be easy with them or be sweet.

Closer or Stay with Momma

There are many situations in which I need Bello to be as close to me as we can manage and still walk or sit.  Most trainers use the command closer, I have personalized it to Stay with Momma.  When we are in a store  with narrow isles or lots of displays sitting on the isles often leaving people less room to walk through or people coming in the opposite direction of us on an isle I will give Bello the command to Stay with Momma. This trigger causes him to step closer to me but continue in the direction we were  going.

Back Up/Back

There are many situations in the world where we need our SD to be behind us, leaving a movie theater, standing in line in a grocery store, or just getting ready to open the front door of our house.  In these situations Bello and I use the work back up which triggers him to take a step behind me and follow my lead.

Move/Scoot

Working from home allows me the flexibility to work from bed on days I am not feeling well, work from my couch on bad weather days, or work in my office most of the time.  On days that I work from the couches or the bed Bello can be found right next to me. However, when I leave my spot to get a drink, or what not I can return often to find Bello in the spot I vacated. The command Scoot tells him to move out of my spot.  Move can be used as well when you are carrying something and he's in my way, laying in a spot on the floor in the kitchen while I am trying to move around the kitchen, etc etc.

Step

Often when in public we have to climb up or down stairs.  Using the command Step helps Bello to understand that we are taking one step at a time. This comes in handy when I am wearing heels or just don't want to charge up or down the stairs. Many persons with physical limitations however need their dog to slow down on steps and take them one at a time.

Look/Pas Auf

Sometimes as we go about our days we just need to check in with our dog or we need them to check in with us.  This commands let Bello know that I want him to make eye contact with me.  Making eye contact is not a natural behavior for dog however. Dogs usually only hold eye contact to assert dominance with another dog. So making eye contact regularly is a behavior that has to be taught to our dogs.

Paws Up

This command can be used for many things in our daily life. Paws up tells Bello I want his paws up on something, my lap, the bed, the couch, a counter at a business, the tail gate of my truck etc.  For therapy dogs paws up may get the dog closer to a patient so they can touch the therapy dog, paws up on my lap helps Bello put on or take off his harness/vest, paws up on a counter allows him to get something to carry or give something to a cashier etc. etc.

Sniff

Bello is learning a lot and has been learning a lot since he came to live with me 16 weeks ago. Bello has been a champion all through  obedience class, socialization, SAR training, and SD training. His hard work (and mine to if I do say) deserve lots of down time.  One of a dogs natural and often appears favorite things to do is smell the world.  So because of the fact that when we are in working mode (with exception of SAR work) he is not allowed to smell all the time we use the command Sniff to let him know this is a leisure walk that he can be dog on!

Wait

Many trainers believe that Stay and Wait are the same command however there are many times I want Bello to do more than just stay. For example when he is on an off leash leisure hike with me I want him to be a dog and enjoy exploring on his own but I want him to keep within an acceptable physical range of me in case I need him to return to me.  Wait lets him know that he can stay ahead or of me on a walk but he must keep me in his eye sight so he has learned to stop and look back to make sure I am still there and wait for me.

That's it

This is a verbal cue many other types of trainers may not use at all.  Bello and I are using That's It! when a skill he is learning takes multiple steps. The main reason I have made use of SD over the last 15 years is I suffer from an anxiety disorder.  Prior to having my SD's I used medications that often had side effects that prevented me from continuing their use. Dog can help lower blood pressure and provide me with a greater sense of well-being. I love my dogs (NaNook, NaKoda and now Bello) ad they wait on my every word and adore me. A SD can bring real hope to someone like me who medication only has limited effectiveness for. A SD has helped me with the difficulty going out in the world without having a full blown anxiety attack,  Bello is in the process of learning how to prevent me from having these anxiety attacks and keeping me active and a part of the world!

The process Bello has to learn to prevent/stop an anxiety attack is a 5 step process. When Bello learns each step in the total process we say that step for example: Paws Up! That's It! and reward! That's it helps him to understand that the last thing we said and he did is the target behavior/skill we want him to duplicate and perform when needed!

These are just some of the commands/skills/behaviors that Bello is working on learning. As we build our bond and learn to work and live together Bello will have a very large vocabulary as well as many learned skills and behaviors.  Of course as Bello learns many skills and behaviors we will always be adding the distraction work because let's face it.........the world is one big distracting place to be.

Public Access - Canine Generalization SOAPS

During SD training Bello will be exposed to various settings, objects, animals, and people also known as SOAPs.  Trainer Brian Jennings has created a SOAPs program that is based on easy, difficult and unique experiences,  Bello needs to perform obedience skills and manners as well as his service skills in every environment we encounter.  Where our home is quiet and the objects in our home pretty much stay the same day after day, and Monkey our cat is friendly and we are friendly with our neighbors the rest of the world does not have the same peaceful experience we do at home.

--Bello at Christmas parade

Socialization begins at home by exposing Bello to Monkey, our home, our neighbors and occasional visitors to our home he has been able to understand our normal daily experiences at home. For the first few weeks Bello has lived with me (we've been together 14 weeks last Saturday) we didn't go anywhere except around our neighborhood for walks. This helped Bello understand the normal noises and activity in and around our home.  This time at home allowed me to have a glimpse into Bello's mind about what sounds and objects might make him nervous and areas we needed to improve.

However anyone who knows me knows that staying home is not normal for me. We had to advance Bello's socialization to the world. Bello and I began hitting the road and visiting all the area parks, local festivals, friends and family members homes and traveling to other destinations to expose him to various sites and sounds. This is also the time we enrolled in obedience class to help with socialization.  It wasn't necessary the obedience training I needed help with but Bello and I needed to work around other people we didn't know and other dog we didn't know so that we could see how Bello did in this situation and any areas we needed to work on.

Bello's obedience training and socialization has continued 3-5 times a week in brief sessions with the addition of our SAR training on Sunday afternoons but it also continues any time  Bello and I are interacting because I am learning his body language and facial expressions and he is learning mine and what I expect from him with given voice commands, hand signals, body postures, etc.  Whenever we are walking around town or in a park or at someone's home or our own home I am always watching Bello for opportunities to teach him how to be around particular settings, objects, animals and people.

At the end of each week I evaluate how we did and what areas need more work. I begin by asking myself

• where did we go
• what did Bello and I do
• how long did Bello and I spend at particular activities (training and social)
• did Bello see anything new or unusual and what was his reaction
• did Bello hear any new noises and what was his reaction
• did any of the walking surfaces have any effect on him
• what were any problems we encountered
• what were the positive experiences
• How did Bello respond to me
• Did Bello show any fear, nervousness, aggression, or resistance
• what were the specific areas we worked on and any hand signals
• should we repeat this outing again

Building Trust and Cementing Obedience Skills

It is very important to remain calm and patient when working with Bello. I have to remember that he is not NaNook (with me for 9 yrs) or NaKoda (with me for 13 yrs).  I also have to be patient because we are un doing Bello's poor training that took place during the first 3 yrs of his life before me.

Reminding myself that Bello was owner surrendered when he was a little over 2 years old and then lived at a shelter until Oct 2016 when I adopted him helps me to remember that he has a very good reason to be anxious and untrusting. He has no idea if he is going to live with me for awhile and then go somewhere else or if he is finally has a home.  I have no idea how the humans before me treated him.

Bello's initial life experience has left him guarded and anxious so building our bond and trust is essential.Sometimes when Bello and I are working I watch him watching me to see how I'm going to react and I think "he's waiting to see if I'm going to be another human that disappoints him".  I can relate as my first interactions (and many throughout life) weren't ones that built trust in mankind.  I know it's just going to take time of being patient, calm and consistent with him to build trust but we will get there.  By reassuring Bello through actions that he will be loved, played with always fed and watered and always have a home with me.

On top of all the training we are engaging in most importantly Bello ad I are building a bond.  In order for Bello to take care of me as my SD we must have a strong bond.  One of the  best ways for us to continue to build our bond is through daily exercise.  Exercise is a win- win for both Bello and I.  Bello and I take walks twice daily (weather permitting) and once a month we travel to a new location for hikes and weekend get aways.  Bello and I explore the world together and have to rely on one another to keep each other safe.  These adventures also help in socializing Bello to new experiences, place, sounds and people.

Of course our daily exercise and monthly adventures always lead to the next best way to bond...play! I have learned that Bello's favorite game is catch. He will catch a ball all day long if I will throw it. Now, for our SAR training work he just has to learn to brinng it to me, instead of just near me.  We also do agility hurdles and hoops and tunnels, tug of war and hide and go seek! Of course while fun the hide and go seek and hiding toys will come in handy during the next stages of our SAR training I am told.

All these games and play sessions will help Bello associate me with fun, good experiences and lots of reward and affection helping us learn to trust on another while cementing obedience work and bonding  As our trust has been growing I have also been socializing Bello and introducing him to my world.  Through socializing at the parks and around town I have been able to run and play with.  Socializing also takes us out and about around town exposing Bello to all kinds of noises and motions and people.  This helps him to work on his manners and desensitize him to distractions.  By exposing Bello to my world and showing him we are safe and that I will keep him safe it helps build our bond and trust.

Also, important in building our bond is our down time.  Not every moment has to be balls to the wall energy.  Sometimes Bello and I just sit on the couch and snuggle and pet while reading or watching tv. Sometimes we sit and listen to music and take a nap together.  By having this quiet down time I get to give Bello love and affection showing him I am worthy of his trust and love