In this video, I’m working with our new poodle pup and introducing one of the most important foundations in our program: Marker Training (also commonly called clicker training). I use the verbal marker “yes” to clearly communicate the exact behavior I want. The dog performs the behavior → I mark → then immediately reward with food. This method works for every dog, at any age, and it’s how I start all of our new trainees. In this first lesson, we’re focusing on: - Building confidence - Making training fun and easy to understand - Desensitization and exposure - Stepping on/off objects - Getting comfortable with the training environment As we progress, we’ll move into: - Eye contact - Sit - Down - Stand - Confidence-building games - And a variety of other foundational service dog skills This is the very first step in creating a clear communication system and helping the dog feel confident, successful, and excited to work.

Now that Bruno is settled in, I worked on some obedience with him this morning! Just ran through some heel, sit, and stay, and started introducing “down” too. Rewatching the video, I know I forgot to mark with “yes” a few times… 🤦🏼‍♀️ I’ve been a handler for 4 1/2 years and I still make mistakes! I already know how to fix that for next time which is the important part! I also tried luring him around me into a heel and also luring from a down to a sit, but I think we’re too early in the game for those skills so I won’t worry about that for now. Overall; he did great! He got distracted once because he could see my mom inside but he redirected well. Heel is hard for me to train since my left side is my blind side, so my mom is going to work on tbat with him. With Atlas, since his head is in a different spot than a non-mobility dog’s heel would be, I can see him and know he’s in the correct spot. The others get a little out of my peripheral vision. Did I do kind of the right thing for “down”? I remember watching @Sherry Smith and Mingo (omg I LOVE Mingo, Sherry please hug him for me) when Mingo was just a little baby working on down at a training class when Atlas na dI were in college, so my memory was 4 years old… I wasn’t sure when to stand up straight or if I should really be luring with food or just stepping on the leash and pointing… feedback welcome! Moral of the story: even experienced handlers mess up sometimes and it’s totally ok to make a mistake or not know what to do. Amanda is the bestttt and will give advice and tips!

Hey guys! I made a little video edit of @Stepho Wilson and I’s day at Epcot last weekend with Atlas! I know it’s super quick, I tried to include info about most things we did while keeping it short! If you gave any questions after watching, I’m happy to answer! A few things I wanted to include but couldn’t because I didn’t have enough clips: 1) When loading onto rides, I go in first then have him come after me, I loaded him wrong on Living with the Land and he decided he didn’t want to move so his mom had 0 footspace 😂🙃 2) We use the Wheelchair Accessible Vehicle (WAV) for the boat ride in Mexico because it doesn’t have a huge step between the floor and the seat, so Atlas gets confused and wants to sit on the seat (which they don’t allow). So I just ask for the WAV to avoid this, and he sits in the flat part where a wheelchair would go. I also do this for Small World at Magic Kingdom. P.s. I’m finally putting my video editing skills from my journalism degree into practice 🤣

This is from yesterday monring but I kept being too impatient for the app to load it to post so trying again 😂🤦🏼‍♀️ Got some direction from @Amanda Taulborg on how to ilproce Joy’s nudge accuracy since she was having a hard time nudging my hands in the spot she’s supposed to (when they get close to my face). We took her suggestions and this is the result! A great little nudge practice session!

She’s doing great. Still working on her mouthy little self but she definitely understands the basics😊