Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Fiona encounters falling down and crying boy

Fiona went to youth group tonight and did very well. She slept during the first part and didn't try to get all the kids to pet her. It was game night tonight so we went down to the gym and she did a down stay as all the kids were running around and playing games. She got up once because she really wanted to run around too. One of the kids, Joel, has ADHD and is also a dog lover. After youth group, I asked him if he would like to help me train Fiona. He was more than happy to help. I explained to him about what Fiona is being trained to do. I told him that she has to learn to lie down immediately when her boy falls down and cries or screams. I told him that she has to do this so that it will help the boy's mom out because then she doesn't have to worry about Fiona and she can focus on her son. Joel held on the Fiona's small leash, which is attached to her coat, and walked around with her and we worked on her "brace" command. Then I instructed Joel to fall down and start crying. I showed Fiona that she was supposed to lie down and hold still until I told her "ok." We did this about 5 times and I think Fiona was starting to get it a little. She was a little worried with what he was going to do next and kept looking at him, but I used a treat to distract her and we worked on her "brace" and walking in a straight direction. It was a good training session and I told Joel that he helped out a lot, which he was glad about. :)

1 comment:

  1. What a good little helper!! I am glad to see that you have a blog now as well!!

    Tabatha and Eclipse

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