Team Training Day 5- June 1st

Greetings,

We started off the day with what is, arguably, the MOST important lesson this far. One that is vital to the success and sanity to all service dog teams: how to successfully potty a dog! Turns out it takes some practice! And with "business" aside, it was time to head inside for a lecture on "going home" with their future pooches. It's important that students understand all the ins-and-outs of how to best introduce a dog to their new home! 

A special thanks to Taprock restaurant for graciously donating a space to hold today's lecture!

After a break (during which many of us procured caffeine) it was back to the building to learn how to play the Back and forth game (a game that is used to teach the dogs to "go get help" in an emergency) and learn how to safely load and unload the dogs in the car.

That's it for today! Stay tuned!

Puppy in training Lola &
her puppy raiser Claire

Claire demonstrating the back & forth game

Team Training Day 4 - May 31st

Hello folks,

Day four started with another important lecture. Today's was about canine health. Everything from vaccinations to common health hazards was covered. And with that vital information in hand, the rest of the day was spent handling dogs - a task that, as you can tell from the photos, brings lots of joy to all. We used this time to review all of the commands we have learned so far and added a few new elements to the classroom such as some low agility jumps and an agility dog walk. At this point, our future graduates have gained a lot of skills and confidence all of which they needed when they were surprised with their very first mini outing to Starbucks!

Past graduates Hope and
 Pizookie

Team Training Day 3 - May 30th

Hi all,

Today started with lecture time on how to deal with distractions and another video on dog psychology and leadership. And with the boring stuff over with, the student finally got to their favorite part of class: working dogs. Some of the exercises remained the same but had an added food-distraction element. We also added a few new commands to the repertoire. These included "heel" and "swing," "under," and everyone's favorite command, "Lap." I could go on and on, but as they say, a picture is worth a thousand words!

Jamie with puppy in training, Jasper

 

Team Training Day 2- May 29th 2019

As promised, day two of Team Training proved to be chocked full of fun, new adventures.

We kicked the morning off with a lecture as well as a video on clicker training as well as one on dog psychology and leadership.

We then brushed up on "up" and "jump" before moving class to a very special place: Evergreen Bank's Bear Hotel. Our team here at CAST has had the opportunity to make many special memories here over the years, and today was certainly no exception. Our change of scenery was not only immensely fun but also provided an extra level of difficulty because of its interesting distractions. At this point, a few new commands were added to the mix including "shake" and "bed."

Despite the extra challenges, everyone did great and had a blast.

A huge thank you to Evergreen Federal Bank for everything they do to support Canine Angels throughout the year and for the gracious donation of their facility today! We couldn't do what we do without you!

Team Training Day 1 - May 2019

Hello All!

 It's that time again! Time for Team Training and Graduation! For those of you who are new here, Team Training is the two-week period where the kids and young adults with disabilities we serve are placed with their long-awaited assistance dogs.  During this time, there is a LOT to learn. handling a service dog requires a unique set of skills and knowledge, all of which our students must learn before they can graduate and become official service dog teams!

To kick things off, we gathered together in the classroom (graciously donated by Parkway Christain Center) and introduced ourselves. We temporarily had to move the party outside due to some technical difficulties, but everyone handled it like champs!

The students then had their first of several lectures. Today's was about the basic needs of dogs including their physical, emotional, and psychological needs, as well as how to effectively give commands to a dog.  This new knowledge was then put to the test when the students were challenged to get a dog to jump on to a low table. This may seem like a simple task, but as our students soon found out, there's a lot that goes into it! Unsurprisingly, everyone did great!

These next couple of weeks will be packed full of joy, tears, a little frustration, and a whole lot of adventures, so hold on tight and enjoy the ride. This, my friends, is only the beginning.