The Transition Has Begun!

Since Frankie has been with us (he was 9 weeks old when we first got him), The Hubby has been his primary trainer. He's been the one doing most of the exposure and socialization training, and most of the formal obedience training.

That training entailed The Hubby taking Frankie everywhere he went. He would take Frankie to work once a week for the afternoon, and he would take him shopping whenever he went out. Frankie's been to Home Depot, HEB, Wal-Mart, the mall, a tire store, Subway... you name it. The dog got out way more than I did.

Last weekend, The Hubby and I took Frankie out to do some training. Here's the story. It didn't go well.

But it turns out that the experience was an indicator to us that it was time to begin The Transition. Time to start the process of transitioning Frankie from being The Hubby's dog to being my Service Dog. It doesn't mean that Willie is retiring anytime soon, it just means that we need to start forming a bond between me and Frankie. Right now, Frankie's bond with The Hubby is very strong. It's time to shift that bond over to me.


Here's what we're doing:
  • Frankie and I are sleeping together in the guest bedroom. Just the two of us.
Up until now, Frankie has been crated at night in our master bedroom. He hasn't been allowed to sleep with us on the bed. I will be allowing him to sleep with me and he will not be crated. This is my alpha-human way of inviting him to Sleep With The Alpha. This is a big thing in the dog world.

What's funny is last night when I said "time for bed", he started walking slowly with his head down towards our master bedroom. When I said follow me and walked to the guest room, he was confused at first. Then when we got to the room, I said "ok, hup", he jumped up onto the bed wagging his tail furiously! He knew right then that this was an exciting moment, the moment that one of the alpha humans invited him into their bed.

But what's even more interesting is when I finally turned off the light to settle in to sleep, he jumped off the bed and slept the rest of the night on the floor. I wanted to cuddle!

  • I'm now feeding all dogs. We'll have to see how this works out. They get fed twice a day and I'm a bit worried what I'll do on "bad" days. I think The Hubby will have to fill the bowls and I'll hand them out.
  • The Hubby will be taking Willie to work twice a week. This will give me this alone-time with Frankie (yeah, Barney is here but he's usually sleeping on the bathroom floor. It's his spot. He's old and set in his ways. At least the floor is clean.)
  • When The Hubby goes out shopping, he'll take Willie. Gives me more time with Frankie.
  • I will take over Frankie's training. Since he's pretty much finished with his socialization and exposure work, my job will be the retrieval training and wheelchair work.
  • When I do wheelchair work, I'll need The Hubby to push my chair. The Hubby will not interact or even look at Frankie during this time.


This should be fun! I'll post more status reports as we go. It will be a gradual transition, not cold-turkey. That way The Hubby won't have a painful withdrawal. I mean Frankie. Oy!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Workers free dog trapped in sewer pipe

MANKATO, Minn. (AP) -- The sound of barking underneath a street Tuesday led a team of city workers to a dog trapped in a narrow culvert - and you might say they used a backward approach to rescue the mutt. The sickly, scared dog was about 50 feet from the nearest entry point, but since the culvert was just 15 inches in diameter, the workers couldn't fit into it themselves. Not even offers of food could draw out the dog. "He was exhausted," said Tony Talamantez, a public works foreman. Then Talamantez and his colleagues had an idea. They rigged up a long video camera used to inspect drain pipes, and approached the dog from the back. They used the camera to nugdge the dog forward until he reached an entry point big enough for a person to pull him out. The camera recorded the rescue, showing the dog scampering ahead in fits and starts as the camera pokes him in the rear end. The dog wore no tags, only a worn collar. But Julia Gosen, animal control officer for the city, said
Read more

Axe Me A Question

Go ahead and ask. Ask the questions you always wanted to ask someone in a wheelchair. Nothing is too embarrassing. You might as well ask me on this blog since you are somewhat anonymous and don't have to look me in the eye. What have you always wanted to ask someone in a wheelchair? Here, I'll start: Q: "Hi, my name is LaLaundria! I wanted to know how do you take a shower?" A: Well, LaLaundria, I sit down. On a shower chair. I have grab-bars installed in my shower/tub and my commode rooms to give me extra balance. A shower chair is a hard plastic chair made to fit in showers and tubs. I have a shower massage type shower head that helps get the water closer to my hair. Howze that? Ask away, no question is off limits! (Oh Jeez, what am I getting myself into!)
Read more

Here Doggie!

While shopping at Sprouts today, I had a guy in the next checkout lane actually whistle at Frankie. WHAT?! He whistled to him like he was calling the hounds back from the barn. Then he went to reach for him. I actually placed my hand on this guys chest and said: "He's not a ranch dog, you shouldn't be distracting him, he's working." Mr. Cowboy didn't even apologize... but he got schooled! Oy.
Read more