Since it's a good idea to keep a record of training for all service dogs, I've decided to make a blog about our progress. Truck is my Corgi, and my best friend. He is currently on his way to becoming my Psychiatric Service Dog (PSD). I suffer from severe social anxiety and some depression, and dogs keep me sane. With him I feel much more relaxed and secure around people, and I am able to do things with him that I normally wouldn't be able to do, like talk to people I don't know. He is going to be trained to "alert" me when I start shaking, scratching my arms, or picking my lip. I never realize that I am doing these things until someone asks me what's wrong, so having him alert me will help me to calm down and stop what I'm doing.
Today and yesterday (2-05-2012 and 2-06-2012) I began training Truck to nudge me with his nose when I shake my leg. Since he already knew a target command (to touch my hand when I say so) getting him to nudge me for a treat wasn't a problem. I'm just going to replace the "touch" command with a signal- shaking my leg. So far he's doing great. He'll walk up and nudge me when I start shaking. However, he'll continue to nudge me after I've stopped shaking, hoping for another treat (sneaky boy). He just has to learn that he only gets a treat when he nudges me AND I'm shaking.
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