Odinn's True Purpose revealed..

So I guess I shouldn't beat around the bush in case anyone ask..  

Odinn is not only a pet for us, he is going to be trained for service work.  So this blog should also help me in documenting his training and progress throughout this progress.  I'm not going to go into detail about what Odinn will exactly be trained to do until the time comes, but also I don't feel the need to disclose that information because it's no one's business but my own.  But for giving a slight hint as to his near future he will be doing medical alert work and brace work.


Anyhoo, today we started some more training with Odinn.  So far we're doing really, really well on SIT.

See that determination in his eyes?  He wants food, bad.

 

 

A very good sit with a hand signal.  And no, I don't hand signal with food in my hand like that but how else was I supposed to take a picture and hand signal at the same time? Lol.

We've begun working on DOWN, although he has a tough time focusing.  Odinn is VERY food driven.  He likes food.  A lot.  Did  I mention he likes food?!  You get the idea.  He gets so focused on the food and not the job he's asked to do that he begins to focus on where the food went.  

He's doing a good down, but wanders off looking for the food.

 I think his brain goes something like this: 
"Sit.  Ok I'm supposed to sit...sit..sit..gimme the food come on...come on...oh yea.. Sit, I'm supposed to be sitting....ok did she just move the food into the other hand?!  Wait..what was I doing again?  Oh yea sit...sit...sit..FOOOOD!"


I like to teach verbal cues first, then once he knows the word and the sound/tone of the task, I add a hand signal to it.  This becomes easier when I don't have to give him a treat every time he does it right.  I never treat for "good try", this just confuses your dog.  I like to use a clicker until he gets what I'm asking of him.  Once he realizes his butt on the floor means "sit" then I can stop clicking.  Because he gets it.


I think Odinn is very smart, too smart for his own good sometimes, but he gets so easily frustrated that I can see I have my hands full training him.  

Why are you training your own service dog?  

I have decided to train my own service dog for several reasons.

• It's cheaper than having one raised and trained outside your home.  Not to mention I don't have to deal with the paperwork and whatnot with service dog training groups.
• An OT (or owner trained) service dog will be more bonded and in tune with its owner right away.  Service dogs brought from outside the home can take months to settle and bond with their partners.
• I get to train him to do exactly what I want him to do, and I know how to tell him to get me things since I've trained him to do it.  I don't have to learn what I have to ask him to do because I already know.

 I'm sure there are more reasons, but the number one reason?  Because I prefer to train my own dog, that's why.  I know exactly what I'm getting, know my dog's past, his peeves, his likes/dislikes, his strengths and weaknesses, and I'll know what kind of treats can get him to do anything.  :)


I also love the fact that while Odinn is learning to bond with me and help me function, he is also becoming a beloved member of our family, especially with my kids.


Socialization and Good Manners

Soon I'll need to start bringing him out in public to socialize him, but honestly until he knows all his obedience training effortlessly and can pass a CGC, or Canine Good Citizen test, he shouldn't be allowed into public places until he is ready.  By bringing him into a business or place where he could possibly act inappropriately or heaven forbid have an accident in a store, I am putting a bad light and example on the service dog community.  As soon as I decide to put a vest on my dog and start training him publicly I become an ambassador to all the other service dog teams out there, and I won't let them down.


Odinn has a long way to go before he is ready to go out.  He is still very easily excitable and still very, very mouthy.  Anytime I try to pet him, I get this:

Ack the biting never ceases with this alligator dog!

So until I can get him to stop that, he's not going out.  I won't have him nipping at strangers or children.  He doesn't with my kids because I keep him leashed at my side most of the day and won't let him rough house with our kids.  But once the husband comes home he gets all the energy outlet he needs because Odinn is a huge outlet for that after work stress for the husband.  Part of why we have Odinn.  Good stress relief for sure.  


So my goals for the week are:

• Have the mouthing stop or at least be significantly decreased.
• Sit and Down are known strictly with hand signals.

For the end, I wanted to make a video of training with Odinn, let's see how he does.  (And for the record, I really need like a little camera or something with a tripod, the camera is not cutting it lol.)  With my kids, and tv, and noise he normally has a lot of distractions.  So I think it's actually pretty good for training him since he can learn to do what he needs to do with distractions.