Week 7 and 8

This week Blitz and I went to Durango for the boy's lacrosse games and we stayed in a hotel.  Blitz was great in the hotel.  No barking when people walked by the room or even when someone slipped something under the door.  At home, we mastered turning the light switch on and off when I say light.  It's really wonderful to be able to not have to get up to turn the light on or off.


We are learning a new technique for both family and dog.  Eat dessert first.  Well, not really.  We are learning that doing the easy tasks first gives us confidence and momentum to tackle harder things.  Just like recharging Blitz by asking for a sit at the start of a training session gives him an automatic success and gets him in the mind set of minding, looking at 14 pages of math and finding and doing all of the easy ones quickly and effortlessly recharged their math brain and sets them up for successfully completing the harder problems.  


Our entire family has had to modify the way we interact with each other and backing up to success is working for us.  We are really good at enjoying sports and the out of doors and we are making time to do this together more often.  These times are building our confidence and comfort with each other so we can continue to work on the bigger challenges.


Our really big change is letting go of our big reactions when things are not going well is the same as ignoring the bad behavior.  We are practicing saying "ouch" when something hurts our feelings or is mean and then dropping it completely.  Sometimes, we bring it up again at a more neutral time when we are not poised for a fight.  It is amazing how dropping feelings of resentment, anger, frustration and disappointment is easier when you know that you have a more effective tool for addressing the behavior that bugs you and you don't need to carry all this negativity around.  The person who offended is then also free to feel sorry for what they did instead of defensive and sometimes even offers and apology before you do anything.  Somehow this works for us.  I wish I had done this work when I was a kid.  I think stopping the prednisone which was making me feel cranky and out of control has really helped too.  


So, I guess you should eat dessert first or at least what feels best to your body at the time.  


Practice makes perfect over time.


Claire

Week 6 - Distracted by Life

Week 6 is behind me and was another lesson.  This week I was faced with lots of challenges from physical (more bruises from more falls, water retention,  increased pain, sores from the sun and vision problems) and emotional (I'm done with the current medication and want to try something new and my son is having troubles at school).  

As a result, I needed to back up to basics and work on reinforcing skills that were easy for us to work on and didn't require me to move around too much.  So, we worked on staying near me off leash in public places.  We practiced at the Santa Fe Ski Area and at school.  At the ski area, I parked my walker at the Adaptive Ski shed unhooked the leash.  I practiced sending him up the stairs and calling him back and having him stay next to the walker even though there were many distractions including snow mobiles, skiers and walkers.   We also continued to practice loose leash walking both with the walker and with the electric carts at the grocery stores.

For months practicing loose leash walking was great and easy because we were the only one's out and about.  Last week it became more challenging when the warm weather returned, the snow melted and people started bringing their dogs with them to the Plaza shops.  We are no longer the only ones that know about the stores that give away dog biscuits.  Our favorite dog friendly stores are Origins (where you can find a water bowl inside), the First National Bank of Santa Fe (where they great us by first name and always have treats), Doodlets (the most wacky collection of beautiful and funny things like what you would find in a joke shop) and our favorite book store Collected Works (where they have a dog bowl outside and biscuits at the register).  We will continue to investigate downtown and report back on the dog friendly businesses.

I am so grateful to the stores for offering electric carts.  When you can focus on what you are looking for and take the time to read the labels and make good purchasing decision it feels better and takes less energy.

Focusing on only one thing at time is the only way I can get anything done now.  I understand how my compulsion for multi tasking wasn't as efficient as focusing on one thing.  However, I also enjoyed being very active and it was emotionally much easier for me to have 4 or 5 things going on at once and to be combining physical exercise with intellectual pursuits.  Now it is easier to only have one thing on my plate at a time.

Starting this week I am moving into more dynamic training.  We have attached a pull to the telephone and we are working on retrieving the phone.  This means that we are first working on marking the phone with the word 'PHONE" spoken in a firm way without up speak making it sound like a question.  This work also involves my moving around a bit, returning the phone to the charger and moving into different chairs.  It is harder for me and it is the main thing I am working on.

The other skill we are working on is back.  This too involves standing and walking and is harder for me but we are determined to practice multiple times a day.

I have an appointment with a doctor at Johns Hopkins for June 8th and I am on the list for an earlier opening if possible.  I hope that she can help me start on a new medication.

Have a great week.


 

Week 5

It's hard to believe it's already week 5. This past week we had some new challenges and gained some new skills.

We were able to join another trainer one morning. It was amazing to see another dog in training and realize that we are doing great and that it is a learning process for everyone. We met at the library where we practiced not meeting (having each dog only focus on it's person) when another dog comes into a building. We then went outside and let them briefly greet. We walked over to a little cafe to have tea and practiced having both dogs stay quietly under the table. They were great. Finally, we walked to the street corner and practiced pushing the button for the light to change. I hope we can do this again.

It is spring and many people are bringing their dogs with them to the park and in the car. A new challenge for me, since some of these dog owners think it's ok to open the car hatch and let their dog run over to us. You would think that they would be cued in to the situation by seeing a person using a walker and with a dog with a cape on. I even had one of these dogs knock me and my walker over. This resulted in lots of ugly bruises all over my legs. As a result, we are practicing my holding up a hand and yelling stop to the person and dog and then asking the person to get their dog. I am learning to be more vigilant about our surroundings and anticipate other dogs.

I am also going to carry a water bottle so I can protect myself if a dog is going to charge at me. In class I can speak up for myself and out in public I am learning to speak louder, more firmly and clearly to strangers. We are also practicing having Blitz look at me when he sees another dog coming. He is getting really, really good at this.

Again, Trader Joes is amazing and they are even helping me with role playing. Yesterday, we had too many people want to visit with Blitz and with their help I practiced saying no politely and explaining that he was working for me and needed to not be distracted. We practiced having Blitz look me in the eye and visit (put his head in my lap while looking at me) when he sees someone heading for him. This helps me when I am explaining that I need his attention.

We have mastered picking up the leash or my keys when I drop them. He is giving it to me when I say "Leash or Keys" at home, at the park, in the store and in the parking lot. The next step for me will be to have him do this automatically without a word cue because I don't always know that I have dropped something and these are things I want always picked up.

He is working on picking up the phone and giving it to me and I think I am going to store it in a little mesh bag to make it easier for him not to push the buttons. We will ask about this in our next class.

The next class will be at our house where we will identify more things he can help me with. My list includes, bringing the laundry to the washer, sorting the laundry, opening and closing drawers and doors, turning lights on and off, opening and closing the bathroom door, bringing my wash chair to the shower and generally keeping me from falling.

We are doing our best and learning new skills every week. It is true that practicing the easy pieces first makes it faster to learn something new.

Week 4

Sue was busy with graduation activities this week. So, we met with ADW founder Jill. She is an amazing and inspiring person. I am in awe of her training skills.

Blitz and I are working on getting Blitz comfortable picking up hard objects like wooden and metal spoons. I have added a ball to my keys to make it easier for me to hold them and for Blitz to pick them up for me when I drop them.

We are also working on a wonderful skill called visit where Blitz puts his head in my lap and visits and comforts me. I think visit and look (where he looks into my eyes) are my favorite skills to train and use.

I can't believe how far we have come. We are enrolling many friends in helping me practice skills in public. Our local Trader Joe's has been remarkable. Whenever we go, they help me gather the purchases I can't lift and they help me with my training activities to teach Blitz to get things off the shelf. I have gold stickers that I use as a training target for Blitz. We are focused on two things at the moment a rice medley and the organic baby lettuce. The lettuce is on the bottom shelf and easier for me to train and it challenges Blitz with a cold and distracting environment. The rice medley is up on a higher shelf and so Blitz has to stand on his hind legs to reach it.

Another amazing business is the Santa Fe Ski Area. I enrolled in the Adaptive Ski Program this winter and learned to slide again. It is an amazing program and enabled me to get back on top of the mountain. Sunday, we were walking Blitz back to the car to have him wait for me to finish up and Candy in Skier Services said "leave him with us. We'll take care of him and take him for a walk." I can't tell you how much it means to me to know that Blitz and I are so supported by our community.

I am still practicing not doing to too much and asking for help at the right time and in the right way and I have mentors all around me.

There are many blessings in every situation.

At 3am this morning, I couldn't sleep and I ran across a great quote. "Relax, the wave will let you up." I am trying to remember this as I practice training Blitz in easy, frequent and short training sessions many times a day and I see amazing progress and I practice mentally letting go and asking for help for 90 seconds whenever I start to feel overwhelmed, frustrated and scared.

I will write more and better next week.

Thank you all.

Week 3

Week 3

This week was a challenge working with less energy and fewer and shorter practice sessions. Somehow it was amazing to be in class with Sue and realize that both Blitz and I had accomplished a great deal with fewer practices. We continue to work on tugging drawers and doors open and closed and bringing things to me and placing them in my lap.

I am so grateful to my friends for their support in all of this and helping to keep me focused on the important things and let go of the rest. I am changing.

I understand now that I really need to lighten up and not force things. I am practicing daily a new habit of observation before action. It is a really, really different way for me to approach things and really, really important for me to learn how to do this.

It is enough to know what you want to accomplish and somehow that focus is helping me train myself and Blitz.

This next week we will be working on adding the word commands tug to pull something and push to push with his paws so he can help me open and close heavy doors when we are out and about.

Week 2

This week we are working on Doggie Zen and shaping. For me this means, breaking things down into little steps, trusting the process and looking for success. It is a practice. We are practicing five times a day for about 5-10 minutes.

In some ways it's like a meditation. We are now focusing on a leave it exercise where I put a treat in my hand and if he sniffs at it I close my hand and wait for him to "leave it". While he is sniffing or messing with my hand I just calmly wait for him to stop. When he stops, I click and treat. It really does work for us and makes me think about how this can apply to parenting.

For example, with homework when I set the boundaries I say for example, "I am not signing off on the homework unless it is complete and legible". I am not getting all worked up and excited and upset and instead I let whatever response they have come up and without my response making it worse, they magically give up the resistance and come back to work, finish it up nicely and hand it to me and I reward them with my signature. It feels like magic. The power of clear communication and calm intention is amazing.

The less extra activity you do and more the focused you are on what is important in that moment the easier it is for dog or child to understand what you want.

This is also applying to my life as well. I only have a small amount of energy during the day and I need to manage it and decide what I want to get done and not allow distractions to pull me away.

The journey has begun.

Getting Started Week 1

We are official. We passed our interviews, had our first class with our instructor Sue Barns and are now in training with ADW.

We are working on basics of clicker training a new concept for me. I am catching Blitz doing something I like and clicking and then treating. Instead of leading this process, I am trying to be a good student and just do what they say and trust it will all work out well.

We have already had to modify our program. Since I am often in my room or on the couch and can't get up to go to the door. instead of asking Blitz to be quiet when he barks at someone (like the visiting nurse) I am calling him to me and clicking and treating.

Week 1 down 39 or more to go.