Had some success today with Birger despite the heat. I had physical therapy this morning so Birger and my husband were out in the car with the windows down in the parking lot. Birger passed the time by watching people and sniffing out the window, not a single bark and was calm and not stressed or scared at all. Big win considering it's a brand new place he's never been before, different environment entirely than what he's used to. Now were just relaxing with the fans on, plenty of water and some frozen treats to help keep my boy cool. Thinking #vegan burritos tonight, though I do still need beans. #ServiceDogInTraining#ServiceDogHandler#DogsOfMastodon#MentalHealth#MiniDachshund#Dachshund
I'm so proud of my boy and how smart he is! I've been having a lot of #SelectiveMutism days because of my #AutisticBurnout I'm experiencing since my father passed. Because I've been mute for a few days I realized I was having issues communicating with my boy Birger. He knows hand signals for things like sit, down, stay, up, etc, but redirecting him and getting his attention I realized I was depending only on vocal commands such as focus or using his name. This was proving to be a problem so I reached out to my trainer and asked for some advice on the matter. He suggested with the focus command that I add a clap or whistle, something I could do that wasn't verbal related. So because I had some words today we worked on him coming and focusing on me when I whistle. And it's working! He went under the couch today and I didn't know where he was. I whistled and he came right out to me and looked at me! Praise and treats were given of course, im just so proud! It's only been a short training session of this and he gets it! #ServiceDogInTraining#ServiceDogHandler#MothersDay#DogsOfMastodon#MiniDachshund#Dachshund#Autistic#ActuallyAutistic
I started training Birger a new trick today! I got a small bell to teach him how to press it, so we can work on that until he has it down. The full plan is to get him talking by pressing buttons. We did our first training with the bell today, and he successfully rang it a few times throughout today! I'm so proud of him, and I already know what his first two buttons will be. One will be "puzzle" the other will be "outside" as those are the two most wanted activities for him. Gonna be training with the bell for a while first though, gotta make sure he really understands the concept, but I think him being able to talk and communicate what he wants to be doing will be a great thing! #ServiceDogInTraining#DogsOfMastodon#DogsWithAJob#Dachshund#MiniDachshund#TalkingDog#DogTraining