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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Brandy The WonderDog!

Here are some shots from today's Service Dog training session.

She's getting where she can practically do it in her sleep!

Looking quite stately.

Stone Brandy sculpture!

I also took a Video of brandy doing a "Down - Stay!" Click on the link to see it on YouTube.

This will help The Skink, who is still quite unstable on her feet, get up and down the stairs.

As opposed to the "barge through the door, knocking me down with all my groceries" command.

This morning on the way to the bus. You can see that The Skink still walks with a very wide base.

                                                                                : D

I had been wondering what our cats had been cackling at out the office window... We have two adolescent Mourning Doves and their parents in a tree out there :)

The pictures of them aren't very good - I had to use a lot of zoom through a window screen.

That's it for now :o)
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Dog Blog - Bumps In The Road

Last Saturday I took Brandy to a rabies vaccination clinic at the Civic Center. I knew this would test her obedience, but I didn't realize just how much!

Brandy had a bit of a rough start from what I understand. I'm not exactly sure what happened, but I do know she was a kennel dog for the first 2 years of her life. Having little socialization and being confined to a kennel, she became aggressive toward other dogs. In fact, when we bought her, she came to us in TX from NC with her nose mostly torn off from fighting with another dog through a chain-link fence.

We worked with her and broke her of her dog aggression for the most part. The only time we have an issue is if another dog looks like it wants to attack her (running up barking aggressively). It's hard to blame her for wanting to defend herself! If dogs are friendly, she doesn't have a problem with them. We also have a Chihuahua named Devon who is now her best friend.

So, I simply couldn't pass up $5 rabies shots and decided to take my chances. I am NOT kidding when I say there were more than a thousand dogs there! But the bigger problem was their owners! I'm sorry, but it is rude to let your aggressive dog (even if it is a 3lb Yorkie) bark right in the face of a strange dog.

I couldn't get over the apparent ignorance of some of the people there! I had Brandy standing calmly, minding her own business, and people would come right up within 6 inches of her nose and stand there, letting their dogs scramble at the end of their leash, trying to bite my dog! There was only so much poor Brandy could take. After asking a father and his daughter to PLEASE NOT let their puppy get so close to my dog when it was trying to attack her, Brandy finally took a nip at the annoying pup. The look I got from those people! Sheesh! I thought they were going to faint! Brandy never made contact with the puppy, but she did snap at it.

After trying to keep her under control for hours, my determination to turn her into a service dog began to waver. She was panting, stressed and clearly unhappy.

When I got home, I felt pretty blue. I felt like I had been a real dummy to think I could transform my bulldog into a service dog.

On Monday I received my book Teamwork II from Amazon. It was rejuvenating for me. When I got to thinking about it, I came to realize that the 1,000+ dogs all crowded together last Saturday would be an unnerving experience for most dogs. If I'm out in public with a service dog, the chance of running into 1,000 dogs all at once is actually pretty slim... especially at WalMart. In fact, I can't remember the last time I ran into ANY dogs at WalMart.

So today we were back to work. Not only did Brandy remember everything we worked on last week, but her "wait" was awesome! I started working her on down, and when I told her "wait," she figured it out and stayed down! I put her to the test when I put her in a "down" and told her to "wait." I then dropped the leash and ran around my car. Then... I opened one of the car doors.

I could see her overwhelming desire to go jump in the car... but she stayed!

I'm going to have an awesome service dog yet! I'm so proud of Brandy today. So far she has mastered "one step" where she takes one stair at a time. This will allow The Skink to hold on to her so she can slowly navigate stairs without falling.

Brandy heels perfectly, stopping on a dime the moment I stop. She will respond to "sit" about 95 percent of the time now. She will match my pace, fast or slow with NO pulling whatever. She will also "wait" or stay 95 percent of the time. She will do both "sit" and "wait" with a hand signal. Now we are working on "down" though she has the "down + wait" mastered.

And I was thinking about giving up?? ROFLOL!! I think NOT! Especially after my back and left hip went completely out at Iraq's ballet rehearsal tonight.

Yes - Iraq has a real ballet performance this Saturday! It is looking very good so far. Although she is in a group of 9 bluebirds, she is the one who will be the single bird while all the others are paired. Her social detachment seems to be preventing her from getting stage fright - this is a good thing!

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Dog Daze - Training, Day #2

Anyone who knows me knows that when I get a crazy idea in my head, I run with it... but like a kid with a paper bag over my head, I've been known to careen head-long into a wall on occasion.  Luckily, I'm hard-headed. So this time, instead of running about with a bag over my head, I actually ordered a book on training a service dog (called Teamwork II) on Amazon.

Of course it won't arrive until next week, so I went ahead and started on my own. *insert paper bag here*

I have to tell ya - I always had it in my head that service dog training was some intricate mystery left only for individuals who majored in dog training in grad school.  The elements of the unknown made it seem all the more intimidating. It takes time and patience and hard work...

Somewhat like training a horse...

Wait a minute...

I used to train horses.

It's true. Among the horses I've trained I count one young stallion and one big, ornery 4-year-old that had never had a saddle on his back. If I can train a horse, perhaps I CAN train a dog.

SO... Today I took Brandy to Petco. She heeled, she was polite around other animals, she didn't try to follow anyone else home, she didn't pee on the floor, she sat, she stayed... by the time we left, I was able to put her in a sit-stay and walk down the next aisle where she couldn't see me.

Sure - she made some mistakes, but for the most part I was quite amazed with how well she did.

Interestingly, I still need to work on getting her to sit immediately on command. She usually does, but sometimes she has ADD moments when birdies are more interesting than mommy. The other possibility is that she is getting a bit older and doesn't hear quite as well. Generally if I bump her hip or foot with my foot, she sits right down.

She's getting really good at stay, though I use the command "wait!" paired with a visual cue - - I hold up one finger. Yes... I can now put my dog on finger hold! She's better at "wait" than she is at "sit" currently.

She is already very good at heeling. I can thank Cesar Milan and the National Geographic Channel for that. (For any dog owners out there, if you've never watched The Dog Whisperer, you simply MUST make it a habit!)

Because Brandy is already good at heeling, I've already introduced "one step" which is my command to go up or down a single stair in a flight of steps. This way, when The Skink is going up or down steps, she can hold on to Brandy to balance herself. Eventually I want to get to the point where I can tether The Skink to The Dog, and it would sure be nice to know Brandy isn't going to leap down an entire set of steps with Skink bouncing along behind! Yes... "one step" will be a good thing.


I haven't worked on "down" yet, but I think we've got a good start. Our other hurdle is that Brandy seems to be a little out of shape. She was panting like crazy after our trip to Petco  - c'mon - the place is air conditioned! I also did a 2nd training session this afternoon when Iraq was available to provide a whole lot of distraction (this is good practice for the dog, and comes quite naturally to the kid). Again Brandy was huffing and puffing by the time we got back.

I'm thinking that just like a person who lives a sedentary lifestyle, it may just take Brandy a little bit to get into shape. I'll give her a few weeks before I decide she is physically unable to do be a service dog. She's limping a little on her right front - she has a shoulder that bugs her every now and then, but again, she needs to get in shape before I decide.

If bulldogs have a draw back, it's that they do tend to over heat faster than many other breeds. Olde Victorian Bulldogges are nowhere near as likely to over heat as their English Bulldog counterparts, yet still more likely than a Lab. I'd hate to go on a family outing to a summer festival only to have to carry the 80lb bulldog back to the car! That, and I don't want to threaten the well-being of my doggie!

So - here are some shots from this morning of The Skink wiping Brandy's nose, pulling her wrinkles and loving her :o)

Good Doggie!

Uh... good horsie??

Good night!

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