Mike's Doghouse

Mike and I have been slowly training. He has some issues but none would prevent him from being a Service Dog.

For example, let’s look at how Mike perceives the concept of SIT. Most dogs, in learning SIT, are like bouncing balls. SIT means butt hits floor then bounces back up real fast. Not Mike. He figured out that SIT means TREAT so he was not going to move. I tried tossing the treat so he’d have to get up to get it. He’d go get it then promptly sit again, faster than I could give the cue.

Another example: Mike learned DOWN by the word and the hand signal of me pointing to the spot. Now, however, when I point to something to ask him to get it, he lays down. Why? Because I pointed.

I am having to slowly fade out the hand signals and not use them at all. I will also need to closely watch all my cue words so that he can distinguish between them all. I don’t feel he will flunk as a SD at all. I think he will excel at it. Trick will be me finding the proper way to teach him.

Mike and I had an interesting summer. He went with me up Nawth in late June. We were going to stay just two weeks but wound up being there for 4. We came home for 3 then were back up for 5. My mother was ill and had surgery, Lorna’s dad died…it was a very emotional (and hot!) summer. But it did some good bonding between us. I also learned he travels very well and loves other dogs. He doesn’t do the growling thing that embarrassed me so much about Joella. Most of the time if he sees another dog while in the truck, he is quiet about it. Jo would have been half out the window. Not to attack, but that’s what it certainly looked like. Mike does have that Rottie “this is strange and therefore dangerous” thing going. He was a little freaked by my brother and we could never figure out what it was. He was great with the kids, even loud running kids. He came to me if he was freaked about anything which was good!

He’s doing an odd thing now. Lorna got into the habit of taking Sam and Joella out for short walks while Mike and I were gone. She’s continued the walks and of course Mike goes along. Mike can be off leash (Sam cannot) and rarely goes out of sight from Lorna. But now he has this odd habit of saying “Okay, walk over” and he returns to the house. He sits on the porch and waits for her to come back. He does it no matter which dog she takes with them and the only constant is me not going with them. Since he doesn’t run right in and ask for attention, I doubt it is me he is missing or worried about.