Brandy the Wonder Dog - On the Bus!

So Brandy is our Olde Victorian Bulldogge and last year I started training her (at age 7) to be a service dog. She shocked us all by picking up the training incredibly fast.
 
You can see some of those posts Here.



Anyway, Brandy wanted to come to the bus stop with us this morning. Normally when its this cold, she prefers to sleep it, but not today. She had her purty pink dog coat, her teal, sparkly collar, and she was ready for a walk in the snow!

She learned last year not to be afraid of the big, noisy bus, and this morning she actually looked eager when the bus pulled up. We've never worked with her ON the bus because we had not planned on her going to school with either of the girls. I can only imagine the reaction of the parents of the other students when they learned that this was one of the class room regulars.

The bus driver hadn't met Brandy before and when the door opened he called to her and she followed Iraq right on to the bus. The thing that amazed me was that she didn't just get on to go mooch attention off the bus driver, but went directly to my daughter's seat and sat just as pretty as you please, ignoring all the doting children.

This dog takes her job seriously. She amazed me once again! Most other dogs, climbing on to a bus fully-loaded with noisy grade-school kids would likely have run from kid to kid, feeding off that childhood-level of excitement.

But I never even trained her under these circumstances! Never trained her where to sit on a bus, never trained her around a hoard of excited children... yet somehow, she just knew.

And when I tried to get her back off the bus? She refused to leave Iraq. I had to pretty much drag her away from Iraq's side, and you should have seen the look of concern on Brandy's face! Her expression clearly said, "We can't just leave her here! I need to stay with her!"

She begrudgingly obeyed my command to "unload," and stared longingly after the bus as it pulled away from the curb.

Sitting like a dog - FAIL!

Are dogs awesome or what?

 "OK... Merry Christmas already. Now will you please take this dumb hat off me?"

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Edit: Just had to add the link to this article in the WSJ today:

The Doctor's Dog Will See You Now

 Have a great day, all! 

CapaBull - Training My Service Dog Blog

**Update (01/08/2012) Was I successful in training a bulldog to be a service dog? You bet! Brandy has been everywhere with us and has proved to be a priceless asset to our family - especially my middle child who is in the autism spectrum. Here is a link with a few pictures of Brandy in action.**

Original Post:

Who would have thought my big, silly-looking bulldog would do this well in Service Dog training? I suppose if I had thought it, I might have tried training her a long time ago. Bulldogs simply aren't known for their trainability or their intelligence, but then again, Brandy is an Olde Victorian Bulldogge (OVB)... not sure if that is really supposed to make a big difference.

OVBs were created combining English Bulldog, American Bulldog, German Boxer, Staffordshire Terrier and Olde Bulldogges - perhaps Brandy's surprising trainability comes from the influence of fine, German engineering? This far down the autobahn, we can only speculate. 

So to date, the biggest hurdle we've had is the "down" command. She sits, she stays, she takes one step at a time, she ignores lawnmowers and strangers, but she does not like to lay down. It's understandable, really. Who wants to be told to lay down on a filthy sidewalk? That, and having a sore shoulder doesn't help. 


I've added glucosamine to her diet, and I may have to add some aspirin or something just to help out a bit. I mean... the poor dog is 7! Not exactly a spring chicken. It's like telling Grandma to just make herself comfortable on the concrete between the green glob of gum and the bird crap.


At any rate, I took Brandy out today, worked her for a bit, and then gave her the "down" command. She made a face (she can make the funniest faces when she isn't really happy about something) and then lay down! I praised her, I gave her treats... and then I learned what her true currency is! Belly Rubs!!


After I gave her some hearty belly rubs, she lay down for me consistently for the rest of the training. Of course when giving belly rubs, it is imperative to rub briskly and firmly while saying "Who's da bestest puppy in da whoooooooooooollle world? Who? Who is it? YOU da bestest doggie! You is! Oh yes you IS!" Brandy got so excited each time, she wiggled back and forth on her back with her upper lips thrown back, exposing the pink underside of her face and her giant, bully teeth. SO CUTE! 


Of course after reviewing what I just wrote, I'm starting to think I should keep an eye out for Brandy's blog... "How To Train Your Human." If I find it, I'll be sure to pass along the link!


At this point I have the Service Dog patches, harness and other fun stuff, but I haven't quite gotten around to sewing the patches ON to the harness... which would allow Brandy to go pretty much anywhere with us. Where did I put those stupid sewing needles??  


Oh, LOOK! Super Glue!

Update - 01/08/2012:

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