Let’s Go!

Class is moving full speed ahead this semester—we’ve already had a visit from Monty’s Home and the Gilligan’s Island crew, and our first test! Today we had a lecture about dog stress and how your dog’s safety should always be your number one priority. Coming up is a lecture about dog body language.

Just when you think you’ve learned a lot, you realize there is so much more to learn. After the Monty’s Home visit and today’s lecture, I was reminded just how much patience it takes to train a dog; after all, we all knew it wouldn’t be as easy as Kyria makes it look!

Samson, our new puppy, prolonging making the bed.

Three weeks ago my boyfriend and I adopted a puppy and he tests our patience every single day. Just working on the basic commands (sit, quiet, down, etc) has been a challenge, but then I stop to think about training an assistance dog and realize it’s not so bad. I tell myself just wait until next semester when you’re working on things like “light,” “heel,” and “alert.” Then comes refining the dog’s training so they are ready for their specific client—the work may seem never ending, but I know it will all be worth it to see how happy and how well the dog works with their new handler.

I am so glad we are starting the hands on training and command set learning early so we can use this entire semester to practice in hopes of being half as good as Kyria and the rest of the paws4people crew in the fall.