Settling in at home – Training with Ike my new guide dog

Jan 30, 2011 | New guide dog Nama 2012-2020, Personal | 3 comments

Who let the dogs out!

Wow there’s a lot to write about today. First of all, sorry for not writing on Friday. I got distracted by simply being home. It has been really nice getting back.

Ike lying in his bed with his ragger in his mouth and his kong between his paws
Starting from the beginning, we left the guide dog centre in Cork reasonably early on Friday morning. Ike travelled quite well it has to be said. The car we have has plenty of space in the boot and Ike enjoyed using as much of it as he could. He regularly got up to look out the windows and only lay down when he decided there was nothing particularly interesting to watch. As you can imagine, I was a little nervous on the way home. I knew that Ike would probably find this new environment strange and he could encounter a few problems settling in. I also had a spending area built while I was away and I wasn’t entirely sure if the builder had done a good job. Although I had a lot to be nervous about I had more to be relieved and happy about so although it took us a very short time to travel from Cork to Drogheda it felt like I was in the car for a week!

Fortunately, when I got home everything worked out well. Ike went straight to the spending area and to my relief the size of the area I had picked was just about perfect. The builder had also done a great job by creating a custom metal fence and gate that locks so that when people come over with children I can ensure that they can’t venture near that area. The metal fence is exactly what I needed as it ensures the dog does not feel trapped or enclosed while spending and it gives him a great view of the rest of the yard.
Dog run at an angle. The door is partially open

The rest of the day was spent doing very little. By very little I mean nothing at all. From 2PM until 11PM we played a lot, let Ike sniff the house freely, got him comfortable with walking around unhindered and reintroduced him to his bed and his new sleeping area. It is important to recognise that guide dogs are not like a normal dog. They are much more sensitive due to the work that they are trained for. Making sure they are happy is therefore vital. The smallest hint of anxiety or stress will almost always filter through to their performance while working. For that reason, the first few days while the dog is settling into a routine is usually spent getting it use to its new surroundings. This is especially true when the dogs spending and feeding routine changes. As Ike is finding it particularly difficult to spend on a schedule, this is even more crucial. I can’t understate how important a smooth transition is to our success in the next few weeks.

The first challenge came on Friday night. I left Ike down stairs in his bed and I went to bed at around 11PM. Very shortly afterward he started crying and barking. To ensure he hadn’t become over stressed or at worst hurt in some way I went down to check and reassure him. This happened another few times during the night and at around 1AM I went down again to give him more reassurance. At about 4AM I went down one more time and took him up stairs with me. This was a mistake. It’s a constant balancing act with Ike. Be aware of his sensitivities and ensure they do not lead to decreased confidence but at the same time don’t let him take advantage by pandering to his crying I was pandering to him and he kept doing it to get attention. By bringing him up stairs I made another mistake because he then got everything he wanted. He was beside me again so he was delighted with himself.

I asked for advice from a discussion group that I manage called IrlGuideDogs. This group is made up of over a hundred very experienced and new guide dog users in Ireland. Within no time at all I had received over ten responses confirming that I had actually made a mistake in my dealing of the situation the night before but also giving me really great ways of ensuring the problem was resolved. Armed with this new knowledge I left Ike on his own a few times during the evening. After an extended period of time I came back and gave him a lot of attention and assurance. This hopefully built up an idea that although he was being left alone I would come back. I also removed his plastic bed and just put the fleece on the ground. This is something he seems to be a little more comfortable with. When I finally went to bed last night he started crying and barking after an hour but by getting up and firmly saying “No. Be quiet and go back to bed” without going down to him he seemed to get the message. That didn’t solve it completely. He still did it four other times throughout the night but this was a huge improvement compared to the first night. I have also being doing the same exercises today. I’ve left him periodically to build up his confidence and he gets loads of praise when I return. Hopefully this will make a big difference again tonight.

Darragh and Ike walking into a shop.
Going back to Saturday for a moment, we didn’t do a huge amount again. The advice from Irish guide dogs is usually to keep the first weekend very relaxed and quiet for both the handler and the guide dog. This gives them time to adjust to being out of the centre as I explained earlier. With me things are a little different. I have had issues with Ike’s spending routine therefore I have had to walk him short distances to help him relieve himself. Yesterday I walked around the block a few times using a sighted guide. This helped him relax and gave him the stimulus to do what he needed to do when he got back home. Later that day though I worked him independently for a route that took no longer than five minutes each way. On this route there were five very small crossings and one busy crossing with traffic lights. On this walk his work was flawless. On the way there we didn’t come across anything particularly difficult. There were two narrow gaps on the foot path that he avoided but that was as complicated as it got. On the way back though we encountered a woman with a few kids and a buggy and a car reversing out of a driveway. When we encountered the woman with the kids he moved in to the wall and stopped for a moment. He must not have been able to work around or through the kids and they were quite noisy so it was possibly a bit daunting for him. When the car pulled out of the driveway he was equally as good. He stopped and waited for the car to pass. Come to think of it, there were also a few dogs across the road going for a walk when we were almost back at the house but although he looked over he wasn’t particularly bothered by them. The walk went really well. It was a very short route but it was just enough to let him stretch his legs, concentrate on a few indented crossings, find a traffic light and also find the shop door. I am glad to see that from that limited view his confidence doesn’t seem to have dropped much if at all. Tomorrow and Wednesday will really tell more.

The plan for tomorrow is the first long walk. The trainer will come to Drogheda in the afternoon and I will work Ike to the train station. This will have a total of five crossings. Two will be quite busy, one will have a traffic light and the three others will be very quiet. He will have one main road, lots of very narrow roads and plenty of poles and other obstacles in his way that he will need to navigate around. This will be a nice challenge for him.

Today I introduced Ike to my mother and father. Not the best thing to do so soon because again the priority should be getting him settled in to the routine here but I think one of the reasons why he hasn’t been able to relieve himself as he should be is he hasn’t been moving around enough. I had no choice though. I had a few things that I had to do and it wouldn’t have been a good idea to leave him alone.

I’m absolutely delighted with Ike’s progress at the moment. Since bringing him home he seems to have come out of his shell a little. He’s wagging his tail a lot more and he’s trotting around the house like he owns the place. He of course shows the usual things that you’d expect from a new guide dog. He follows me around like my little shadow and he needs a lot of attention from me. He also needs a huge amount of reassurance and praise for even the smallest little things but this is as much to keep him from being stressed and to keep his confidence up as to help him settle in. I would say that he was a very happy little puppy as the home environment seems to suit him a lot more than the environment in the centre did. I’m also guessing that he was never allowed up stairs when he was in his puppy walker’s house because he doesn’t really want to come up with me here. I don’t mind him coming up stairs because my computer room is up here and I’m sure he’ll spend a lot of his free time in the house around this area when he’s not sleeping, eating or playing.

Tomorrow will really be the test of his level of adjustment to his new home. I’ll report back with another post tomorrow night.

3 Comments

  1. Jenny

    Glad to hear he’s settling in so well.
    Good idea to leave him alone for small periods during the day so he knows your coming back, and definitely don’t give in and let him upstairs when he starts crying!
    Good luck tomorrow.

    Reply
  2. torie

    I’m glad it’s going well Darragh. When I first got Ushi home I barely moved from my room in case she got upset or anything. She was fab. I went out for a while on the sunday and when i came back, I came back to a happy dog.

    I mostly do everything in my room as that’s where my computer is and stuff. Her bed is up here, she gets fed up here, we play up here, groom up here, and everything else except working and spending of course. I know I probably should just let her roam around, and when I go downstairs I do, but most of the time she is happy just wondering around in my room. If i do have to go out without her, the radio is usually left on and she is grand.

    I hope tomorrow goes well for you. Keep up the good work. I’m sure in a few months you’ll wonder where he has got so much confidence from. Xxx.

    Reply
  3. Christine Stanley

    Interesting post Darragh. We puppy walkers don’t get to see that side of things…. you settling the dog into your own home.
    Good luck. Things looking very positive.

    Reply

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