Shortly after our arrival we were presented with an opportunity to take advantage of a great heeling lesson. If you missed this outing I will try to paraphrase the main point for you.

Remember: If your dog NEVER EVER makes any forward progress as long as they are pulling, they will stop pulling! So if your dog doesn’t pull for 30 days straight, then all the sudden tries again, and you allow them to make forward progress, you will have to start the process all over again. If your dog is pulling on their leash, just stop your feet. You may continue moving forward as soon as your dog returns to the “heel” position.

We headed inside, and took the elevator up to the furniture show room. The place was pretty busy, although I have heard it gets a lot busier. Personally I wonder how you would ever find anything if more people were there, because as it was you just had to keep moving in a forward direction, or find a convenient place to pull off to the side. All 6 dogs did very well, but especially Apollo, who was extremely brave on his first public outing.

After about 45 minutes we met up at the cafeteria style restaurant. Each of our dogs were well behaved while standing in line. I only saw a few “no sniff” reminders. After eating lunch, or breakfast depending on who was placing the order, we loaded up the van again, and wrapped things up with a short ride back to our vehicles.

GAP Service Dogs decided, this year our students deserved a long break over the holidays. So we gave everyone a 2 week break from class. I am told that this is a first in the entire history of GAP Service Dogs. Amazing don’t you think? Over 10 years and this is the first time we have canceled class for a holiday other than Easter.

In order to keep everyone working well with their service and therapy dogs over this extended break, one of our incredibly dedicated volunteers sent the rest of us some extra homework. One of our weekly assignments was as follows:

This homework is aimed at keeping one eye on your dog when you are doing something like chatting, shopping, or otherwise being distracted, so that we can capitalize on a chance to correct/teach. Often when we are occupied in some way we do not notice our dogs sniffing something, going up to another dog or person, or doing some other unacceptable behavior. We then lose on an opportunity to teach/anticipate a problem and remind our dog to stay on task before a small issue escalates.

This week please practice “keeping one eye on your dog” in most situations. Especially anytime your dog is in vest.

Please also remember that our goal is to “praise” our dogs 10 times for every 1 “correction”.

I adopted Riley, an Australian Shepherd mix, from Dumb Friends League when he was approximately 1 year old.  We had no history about him because he was transferred to Denver from another state.  All I know is that he won my heart the moment I saw him!  Riley has a gentle disposition and he loves people.  Everyone who meets him likes him immediately.

It wasn’t long before I realized Riley needed an outlet for his energy, and most people say Australian Shepherds need a “job” to do.  So I enrolled him in the GAP Service Dog program as a Therapy Dog in training in mid-2009.  We worked on general obedience and commands until he was ready to begin his “therapy” visits at a nursing home.  After visiting and becoming familiar with the nursing home and his role there, I found him eagerly zig-zagging from room to room down each corridor, expecting to meet the patients inside.  He likes to quickly go in, greet the patient, and move on to the next room.  (We’re working on spending some quality time before we move on.)

Yesterday at group we were working on “left” and “right” turns, and then we began to work on “heel” by walking down a long corridor with numerous doors on each side.  I became confused when Riley began to cross back and forth in front of me, ignoring my attempts to make him “heel”.  Then I suddenly realized what he was doing.  He was going toward each door in turn as if he were at the nursing home visiting patients.  That was such a tender, heartwarming moment for me to see that the work we’re putting in is worth the time and effort, and that Riley is truly taking on his role as a Therapy Dog.

I look forward to continuing with Riley in Therapy Dog training, and perhaps to branch out to other locations such as schools, libraries, or even the legal arena to give him an opportunity to visit people who can benefit from the kindness of a Therapy Dog.