They Have Stars in Their Eyes (How To: Watch Me)

Watch Me can be helpful for photo shoots!

Focus is one of the most important aspects of a Service Dog's career.  We have to focus on our handlers constantly to ensure their safety--a lack of focus could place our people in danger.  Sometimes we can do our job without looking at our handlers constantly (eg a guide dog), but sometimes we need to be able to watch our handlers, particularly when they request it of us.  Enter Watch Me: it's a focus command that plays out exactly how it sounds--as a dog, I need to watch Mom and keep my eyes on her until she releases me or gives me another command.  Here's how to train it (it's pretty easy):

• Mom put a treat in between her fingers and made sure I noticed--I kept my eye on the treat. (for dogs who aren't as food motivated, try a small toy)
• She then raised the treat up right next to her eyes, and because I was focused on the treat, my eyes followed where her hand went.
• When I looked where Mom wanted me to look, she gave me the treat to reinforce what I had just done.
•  Mom repeated this and slowly incorporated the words "Watch Me" ("Focus" is also a good word to use).  She also started just raising her hands up to her eyes and treating me with her other hand until I could do a perfect Watch Me without the need of treats!

Watch Me should be a pretty easy command to learn for most dogs, but as I've always said, each individual dog has his or her own learning speed--an easy command for one pooch might be hard for another, depending on that dog's breed, history, age, and motivation, amongst other factors.

Now I can focus on Mom whenever she asks me to "Watch Me"--I even know how to do it without the hand signal!  Even without the command, though, I tend to watch Mom a lot to make sure she's okay (and I'm proud to say that when I'm around, she is okay).

TTFN,
Kelsie Iris


SD team etiquette -- http://kelsieiris.blogspot.com/2015/04/dos-and-donts-of-encountering-service.html
Confused?  Here are some terms and abbreviations -- http://kelsieiris.blogspot.com/2015/04/as-abbreviations.html  

Musings from a Mutt at the Montshire Museum

I thought I'd give a little PUPdate for my readers, since I've been posting so many training tips and recommendations recently! I'm really starting to hit my stride as a Service Dog--Mom doesn't even worry about me in public anymore because I'm so good (which is huge for her anxiety).  Three disability-mitigating commands now have joined my repertoire: Ground Me (when Mom is sitting, standing, and lying), Press, and Block.  I now now about 27 commands but am familiar with about 40--Mom keeps telling me how smart I am because apparently I'm light years ahead of schedule!

Today we took a small trip to the Montshire Museum in Vermont with a new friend.  We had gotten coffee earlier, where Mom had me try a Gentle Leader for the first time.  It felt very strange at first, which made me want to try to get it off, but Mom insisted that I try it and showed me that it's actually not that bad.  It really helps me understand how to stay in a better "Heel" position, and it reminds me to focus on Mom when I'm working.  You can see me wearing it in my pictures of me at the Museum!

The exhibits were really fun--I liked exploring the Museum!

The Museum was a fantastic experience for a novice Service Dog like me.  Kids swarmed everywhere, and there were many exhibits that were interactive and strange for a pup--they even had fish and turtle tanks!  Mom let some of the kids pet me, and it absolutely made my day.  I made sure to be extra sweet to them--even with some gentle tail wagging--and I even rolled over to accept some belly rubs (my favourite!).  I think they liked me a lot--one little girl even gave me a kiss on the head!

I loved the kisses and pets from the kids!

Mom took me around to look at some of the different exhibits.  Some of them I didn't understand, and some of them were very strange to me.  Sometimes Mom even had me Paws Up on some strange surfaces or Down-Stay in some odd places, like under that arch in the first photo.  I knew she had a reason for asking me to do all this, so I followed her every command without hesitation--it's fun being on the job and listening to Mom!  I even aced exposure to a new object: a wheelchair.  Apparently, it can have a person in it, but this one didn't--even then, it wasn't super scary at all, because it was kind of like a shopping cart (and I don't mind shopping carts).  Mom kept telling me what a Good Girl I was the entire Museum trip!  I definitely want to go back if I get this much love and attention.

Life as a Service Dog is so rewarding.  People constantly tell me how talented and smart I am, and if I could speak, I would tell them thank you and that I'm just doing my job.  I'm always blown away by how nice people can be about me and how positive people have been about receiving me in public places.  I'm even more impressed by the parents who tell their kids that I'm a helper dog and can't be petted--I'd like to believe that they're raising a generation who will understand Service Dogs better than this one (because people still pet me despite my five "Do Not Pet" patches).  I love being able to help Mom and stay by her side.  I can't wait until I'm a Dartmouth Service Dog so I can come with Mom all over campus and keep her safe and comfortable!

xoxoxo
Kelsie Iris

Check out these posts of mine:
SD team etiquette -- http://kelsieiris.blogspot.com/2015/04/dos-and-donts-of-encountering-service.html
Confused?  Here are some terms and abbreviations -- http://kelsieiris.blogspot.com/2015/04/as-abbreviations.html