Doppler and the Wonderful, Amazing, So Good, Excellent Outing

Relaxing after his wonderful, amazing, so good, excellent outing

Remember Friday’s outing to Giant? That horrible, terrible,no good, very bad outing?

Doppler just wiped it completely off the slate. We went back to Giant this morning, and it was awesome. A wonderful, amazing, so good, excellent outing. And what makes it even more amazing is it wasn’t a grab-pay-and-go outing. I actually bought my groceries for the week with Doppler by my side.

With Friday’s disaster still fresh in my mind, I did everything in my power to set Doppler up for success. I had a plan.

First, I packed power treats. Doppler loves Easy Cheese, that disgusting, fake, yellow cheese you squirt out of a can. I think it’s gross, but it holds Doppler’s attention like you wouldn’t believe. I knew that if I had the Easy Cheese, I would have a pretty good chance of getting through Giant with a nice, focused puppy.

Second, we went to Giant at 7:30 a.m. on a Sunday. (Yeah, I'm a morning person. I wake up before the dogs on weekends.) There was hardly anyone in the store, and since Doppler gets very distracted by people, that helped him stay focused on me instead of pulling toward everyone. Even more importantly, mornings are Doppler’s calm time. He’s extremely calm in the morning and much more focused. Late afternoon and early evening is his crazy time. By taking him in the morning, when he’s still half asleep, he was much less inclined to be a wild thing.

Lastly, Doppler only got a psychological breakfast before we left my apartment. What’s a psychological breakfast? It’s just a small handful of kibble in his food dish. Because it’s in his food dish, he thinks he’s getting breakfast, but he’s still going to be hungry. If he’s hungry, he’s going to be more inclined to try to figure out how he can get treats from me while we’re out in public, which means he’s going to behave.

My plan worked like a charm. I had a puppy who walked on a loose leash next to the cart. He sat next to me while I put broccoli, onions, and sweet potatoes into produce bags. He even sat nicely in the meat department and again while I checked eggs. While we were checking out, he sat and paid attention to me.

Best of all, he was quiet. Not a single peep! It was awesome.

Sure, he still pulled toward a few people, and he was extremely interested in the person using the power cart. But I was able to get his attention back on me fairly easily. It was nothing like the paws-scrabbling-on-the-floor pulling that he did on Friday.

I was so proud of him. And yeah, I’m a little proud of myself, too, for setting him up for success.

Other Doppler-is-awesome moments:

We went to my parents’ house, and Doppler didn’t have any accidents inside! He even went to their front door when he needed to go out. Even more awesome, he went up and down their wooden stairs several times on his own, just because he wanted to. Woo hoo!

I’m also starting to proof his self control with his food dish. All Susquehanna Service Dog puppies must sit (uncued) and wait for the “okay” before they’re allowed to eat their meals. Doppler has gotten really good at sitting and waiting for me to say “okay.” But then I decided to see if he was just waiting for me to say anything, or if he was actually listening to the word I was saying. I waited for him to sit and put his food down like normal. After he had been making eye contact with me for a few seconds, I said “rhino” instead of “okay.” (Don’t ask me why I chose “rhino.” I was a little surprised myself.). Doppler started moving toward his food as if I had said “okay.” I quickly bent and picked up the food dish. He sat again. This time, when I said “rhino” again, he didn’t budge. Then I said “okay” and he pounced to chow down.

Now I can say almost anything and he won’t budge until he hears the “okay.” Sometimes when I tell him “okay” right away, he just sits and looks at me, as if to say “You’re trying to trick me. It sounded like you said ‘okay,’ but I’m not falling for it.” 

Fire and Doppler snuggling. I knew Doppler would eventually wiggle his way into Fire's affections.

Doppler on the Go

Passed out at TJ Rockwell's

Doppler and Fire are over kennel cough! You have no idea how happy this makes me. Not only are they healthy, but now Doppler can come to work with me again. Since my coworker is raising a puppy, too, I had to leave Doppler at home while he was coughing, which means Doppler spent eight hours a day in a crate. Sure, he had a brief respite when I let him out at lunch, but then it was back in the crate. Let me tell you, when a puppy has been crated all day, sheer craziness ensues when you finally let him out.

The only good thing about kennel cough was that Fire got better a week before Doppler, so I could take Fire to work with me all day.

Since he had been quarantined, Doppler lost some of the ground he had gained in going up and down stairs. I took him to TJ Rockwell’s, a restaurant in Elizabethtown, and to get to our table, we had to go down 4-5 stairs. As soon as Doppler saw them, he backed away. Rather than spend half an hour trying to get him to go down the stairs, I just carried him down. Other than the stairs, however, our Rockwell’s outing was a smashing success.

My college friends and I always try to get together several times a year, at least every 2-3 months. When we were all at Etown College, we used to go to Rockwell’s every now and then for drinks. To be honest, it was really the only place in Etown we could go, but luckily it’s a pretty nice place, and they have an awesome deck, when it’s open. Now that we’ve graduated, it just so happens to be somewhat centrally located for all of us. Anyway, I decided to take Doppler with me for our dinner get-together.

We weren’t meeting for dinner until 6:30 (and my friend Allie and I didn’t end up getting their till after 7), which is right around the time Doppler starts getting really active. But I had a plan. Operation Take Doppler to Rockwell’s. Since he was done with kennel cough, I swapped dogs at lunch and took Doppler to work in the afternoon. Once we got home, I took him for a 30 minute walk. Then we did some training, and finally, I let him romp around with Fire. The last part of Operation Rockwell’s involved arming myself with one small bone, one bacon-flavored bone, and one bone filled with peanut butter.

As it turns out, our table at Rockwell’s was in the perfect spot for Doppler’s first restaurant outing. My seat was on the end, with my back to the wall, and there weren’t any tables next to us. Rather than force Doppler under the table, where it was very cramped and I couldn’t see him since I couldn’t push my chair back far enough to see under the table, I just asked him to lay down next to my chair. The sleepy little puppy just plopped himself right down on cue—something I wasn’t expecting since the verbal cue “down” is still pretty new for him. I gave him the bacon-flavored bone and he chomped away for a few minutes before falling asleep.

Let me tell you, I was so proud of the little guy. He slept or chewed on one of the bones the entire time. He didn’t even move when the waitress came to the end of the table to take our order. I was so impressed with him. Granted, I kept one foot on the leash so he wouldn’t have been able to get very far if he had tried, but he didn’t even try. He was awesome. 

Taking a moment to pose for the camera in between sleeping and chewing on the bacon-flavored and PB-filled bones.

And just to add to his awesomeness, he went up the stairs when we left. He just jutted his head forward and plodded ahead. Success! I’m going to have to start working on getting him to stop on individual steps. Although he’s still walking on a loose leash when he goes up stairs now, I can tell that he’s just plowing ahead in his mind until he gets to the top. There’s no stopping him. But for now, I’m going to celebrate that he went up a flight of strange steps.

This is going to be a busy weekend for the little guy. This morning, I went to David’s Bridal with my friends Allie and Sarah. Sarah needed to get a bridesmaid dress for her cousin’s wedding, and she invited us along. Naturally, I took Doppler, lots of treats, and spray cheese.

I didn’t really know what to expect from Doppler, but I certainly didn’t expect the perfectly behaved puppy that I got. I was ready for him to sniff at every single dress, maybe even try to bite a few of them. But he was perfect. He walked on a loose leash through the aisles of dresses while we selected a few dresses for Sarah to try on. While she changed, he sat in front of me. Since he was being so good, we worked on “down” and “leave it.” Wouldn’t you know, I was able to put a piece of kibble on the floor and he completely ignored it for the first time ever! He also did two textbook greetings with people. He stayed focused on my while each person petted him behind his service dog harness. 

This is his, "I'm a guy. Stop taking me to girly places." look. I'm so proud that he didn't stick his head up any of the dresses.

We're working on "leave it." You can't see it, but there's a treat on the floor near Dop Dop's head.

Oh, he did bark once, so I guess he wasn’t completely well-behaved. He tends to bark when he’s frustrated, bored, excited, playing… We’re working on it.

Tonight, my boyfriend and I are taking both dogs over to Sarah and her husband’s house. They have a cat, Tigger, and tonight’s the night that Doppler gets to meet him. Service dogs need to have zero prey drive, which means they can’t chase small animals, including cats. Dogs have been discharged from the program for being aggressive toward cats. So I figure it can only be a good thing to introduce Doppler to a cat at an early age.

Then tomorrow, we’re going wine tasting as a new winery that opened up, Spring Gate Vineyard. After our last two outings, I have high expectations for little Dop Dop.

Breakthrough!

Today, Doppler and I had a breakthrough in learning/training the cue “down.” I had thought it was going to take a long time for him to finally get it. SSD trains “down” by first having the dog sit. Then, holding a piece of kibble by the dog’s nose, you slowly lower your hand. The dog follows your hand down and you click as soon as the dog’s forelegs hit the floor. After luring the dog (using treats is called “luring”) three times, you do it without a treat, and the dog continues to follow your hand down.

Or at least that’s how it’s supposed to work. Doppler would either pop up out of his sit and stretch his neck down to get the treat, or he would look at me blankly once I stopped luring him. I could practically hear the thoughts in his head: “No treat in nice lady’s hand. Gonna keep sitting here. Sitting gets me treats. Want treats. Gonna sit till I get treats.”

It was frustrating, because “down” seems like such a basic cue, but I kept working with him. We did very short training sessions. I would lure him three times, and then sometimes only manage one un-lured down before ending the session.

Today, however, he finally got it. On a whim, I decided to try giving him the hand cue without using a lure at all. Wouldn’t you know, he plopped himself right down on the floor! And did he ever get a party! He got several treats and lots of praise. When I gave him the cue again, plop! right down on the floor again. We repeated this about eight times. I think he would have made it to 10, if Fire hadn’t come over and distracted him. Success!

Fire was funny to watch during Doppler’s training session. He stayed in a down right by my side, but I ignored him, because I wasn’t working with him. Well, poor Fire was just drooling away, and I guess he finally decided he needed to try something else. The big guy got up and retrieved the sugar spoon I had given Doppler a few days ago, and brought it right to me. Guess he thought if he upped the ante and retrieved something, he’d get a treat. (He did, although I didn’t click him for it.)

Doppler has been playing with the sugar spoon for several days now. He loves to chew on it on the dog bed. As a service dog, he’s going to need to be comfortable putting cloth, plastic, metal, wood—almost anything—in his mouth. Since I seem to have a surplus of sugar spoons, I figured he might as well get used to metal. He loved it! The video is him going nuts the first time I gave it to him. 

Our next challenge is the play retrieve. You’d think, since he’s a Labrador RETRIEVER that he’d happily chase toys and bring them back. Well, he’s happy to do it once, but when I give him a treat to reward him for bringing it back, he then just sits in front of me, trying to get more treats. I’m going to just try verbal praise, although I’m not sure how well that will work to get him to let go of the treat. We’ll keep working on it.

Doppler is a crazy barking machine, but he has significantly reduced the amount of barking he does when he goes up and down the stairs. I’ve been giving him treats when we get to the top of the stairwell, but I suspect that it has less to do with the treats and more to do with the fact that he’s getting bigger and the stairs don’t look as scary. Doppler is definitely the big guy of his litter. People don’t really believe me when I tell them he’s 11 weeks old. When we were out and about yesterday, we saw a lot of surprised faces once people learned how old he is.

Since PawsAbilities was this weekend, I took off work yesterday and today. (PawsAbilities was awesome. If you didn’t go this year, you better plan on going next year. I can’t wait to take Doppler.) Doppler spent the weekend at the sitter, and he was wonderful for them. I’m so proud of the little guy for being so good. Anyway, since I didn’t have to work, I took Doppler to Crossfit717, Target, and Christmas Tree Shops—at least two new places for him.

At Crossfit717, we watched people work out. There was running in the workout, so we worked on not trying to chase people. Doppler quickly realized that he wasn’t going with them, and he just sat and watched them. Then we went inside and he walked on Astroturf for the first time. The little guy didn’t even hesitate, and even better, he didn’t assume it was grass and try to pee on it! Music was blasting inside, but it didn’t even startle him. He just looked around as if trying to figure out where it was coming from, and then kept trotting along at my side. I showed him the kettle bells (which Fire thinks are pillows). Doppler got to meet Coach Dan and my 5:30 a.m. workout buddy, Wayne. Doppler’s funny when he does greetings. He gets this blissful expression, like he so happy to be petted by people. One thing we’ll be working on is keeping his attention on me. He sits nicely for the greeting, but he keeps facing the other person. 

After 15-20 minutes at Crossfit717, we headed out to Target. I got a cart, since I needed to get a big container for Doppler’s food. Plus, then he could get more experience walking next to a cart. He did pretty well, although he did try to hop up on the rack beneath the cart. Next, we headed to Christmas Tree Shops to stock up on spices. He walked on a loose leash like a champ and did a pretty good job ignoring all the people who kept saying “Awwww!”

Once we got home, the little guy crashed and spent the next hour or so snoozing away in his crate. 

(In this video, Doppler is snoring at work, not at home. Different location, same thing. If I didn't hear it myself, I'd never have believed such noise could come out of a sleeping puppy.)

A Study in Self Control

My kitchen supervisors

If Doppler’s day today had a theme, it would be self control. It started first thing at breakfast. Doppler has to sit, un-cued, and wait for me to put his food dish down and tell him “okay.” Only then can he eat. As usual, I had to pick his food dish up several times when he dove for it before the “okay.” But when he did finally hold his sit and I told him “okay,” he stayed put and just looked at me as if to say, “You’re just kidding, right? Nope, I’m not falling for it.” I had to say “okay” several times and point to his food dish before he decided it was okay to eat.

At work, per usual, he alternated between sleeping in the crate and hanging out under my desk. However, today he started putting himself under my desk. I think he’s starting to realize that’s where he’s supposed to be. Now, if only he would stop chewing on my desk chair… (The bacon-flavored bone has been a huge help in deterring his chewing on inappropriate things.)

Hanging out under my desk

And then, a few hours ago, came his biggest test of self control. We joined the big dogs for their puppy class outing to Giant. So many distractions for the little puppy! We spent about 10 minutes right inside the door, just taking it all in. Doppler got lots of clicks and treats for looking at me. At first, loose leash walking was nonexistent. When SSD dogs walk on leash, they’re supposed to stay right next to their handlers, with the leash in a loose J shape. Doppler was pulling all over the place. He was like “Ooo, another dog! Ooo, person! Oooo, smudge on the floor! This place is so awesome!” Finally, after lots of stops and starts, I got him to a quiet aisle to really get him focused. Pretty soon, he was walking on a loose leash like a champ. Sure, I was clicking and treating every three steps, but still, it was great.

I love taking Doppler in public. We’ve only gone one other place, a different Giant, but both times, he was surrounded by smiles. How can you not smile when you see a little wrinkly-faced puppy trotting along on his chubby little legs? Even the people who had that stressed out, long-day-at-work, don’t-wanna-be-grocery-shopping look cracked a smile when they saw him.

We spent an hour walking around Giant, practicing loose leash walking, greetings, and a few sits on a verbal cue. He was very interested in the other, older dogs who were there, but whenever we had to pass one, I made sure to click before he started to pull and then held the treat in his mouth as we walked past the other dog. That way, he didn’t pull and kept his focus.

Of course, since I was so focused on training Doppler, I didn’t even think to take any photos while we were there. I will do my best to get better at that.

All in all, I call today a successful day of self control.

Last night, we had our first puppy class with his siblings and two other puppies who recently joined SSD from Pacific Assistance Dogs Society. These classes, known as early socialization classes (ESC), are where the little puppies learn many of the basic cues, like sit, down, stay, come, and my personal favorite of the early cues: go to bed. Doppler will be in ESC until May, and then he’ll join the regular puppy classes with the rest of SSD’s dogs in training.

At this first puppy class, we worked on attention and started capturing the “sit” behavior. I have to admit, I had already put “sit” on a verbal cue, so Doppler was a champ at that one. Shaping, on the other hand, turned out to be his Achilles heel, at least for right now. Shaping is a training method where you break a behavior down into tiny steps. The dog must master each step before you move on to the next one (increasing your criteria for a click).  For this first shaping exercise, we had to get the dogs to touch their nose to an orange cone.

Okay, sure, we can handle that. I started by clicking and treating Doppler for just looking at the cone. Once he had that down, I clicked and treated him for walking toward it. Okay, great, he walked right over to it. Click, treat. Next thing I know, Doppler is trying to bite and play with the cone. He was absolutely convinced that the cone was a toy. Clearly, we were going to have to work on shaping a lot, because he certainly wasn’t getting it with the orange cone.

So, today at work, I snagged an old coffee mug and put it on the ground upside down. I figured with the extra weight, the mug wouldn’t move if he bumped it and maybe he wouldn’t think it was a toy.

It worked! Doppler was much calmer this time (probably because there were no other dogs around and it was a familiar place). I clicked and treated him for looking at the mug, then for taking one step toward it, then for several steps, and finally for touching his nose to it. Every time I clicked, he looked right at me. I treated him away from the mug so he would have to move back toward it each time. We did this shaping exercise twice while we were at work, and both times he was successful. I think I’ll bring the mug with me to ESC and use it instead of the orange cone. Set Doppler up for success with something familiar.

I’m all about setting him up for success. He’s happier, I’m happier, everyone’s happier. 

"Another photo? Can't you see I'm busy?"