Week 3

Another week.  More adventures.

            This week at Power Paws was pretty similar to last week. Minus the school visit. In the morning, I once again attended the training class, working with a gorgeous dog by the name of Quartet, or Quart for short. We worked on several tasks this week, several of which would be able to be applied to mobility assistance. First, the dogs were training for “switch,” which essentially teaches the dog to turn a light switch off, and “light” which teaches to turn the lights on in order to potentially perform the task for someone who would have difficulty doing that for themselves. Next, the dogs practiced “visit” which cues the dog to lay their head on their handler’s lap from the side. Then, the dogs got more active and were trained for “go through” (for doorways and otherwise narrow spaces) and “back up.” Lastly, we worked on stair walking with the dogs. Since mobility support dogs are intended to help their handlers maneuver the world, they have to be by their side at all times, not tugging the leash or trotting behind them. Therefore, these dogs are taught to walk one step at a time, whether going up or down the stairs. This way if the handler needs to stop for any reason or cannot go walk quickly, the dog knows it must go slow and at an adjustable speed; it can’t just speed away because it gets excited by the idea of a flight of stairs. Once again, the lesson went to show how far these dogs come within one week, and how their behaviors and actions are shaped for their future career.   

          My FSDS internship will be described on next week's post. :)

In addition to the internships, I did finish Diana Lawrence’s book on guide dogs. The book went into detail about the steps that are taken into preparing dogs to become guide dogs. Even once placed, if a handler experiences difficulties with their dog, they can come back to the facility to help improve on rusty tasks. I also read over an article which spoke about a dog that was placed to accompany an autistic girl. The article described how the dog truly helped the girl re-immerse herself into the public and helped her communicate with the people around her. In addition, the parents recount how the pressure was relieved from their everyday lives because they knew their daughter had an easier time communicating with the outside world thanks to her furry best friend. Since neither of my internships is training for either of these purposes, these additional sources went to show how training facilities universally concern themselves with individual support for their clients and how these dogs truly to change their handler’s lives after placement. Though a lengthy process, dog training makes a bigger impact on society than any unaffected individual can come to realize.