GADA Team Training Day Two

We were back at it again this morning at the Chattanooga Goodwill.   Tim informed us on our way in that Rich might not be joining us today. He had an issue with his wheelchair the night before and wasn't sure he would be able to come. It is beyond frustrating when you have an issue with your wheelchair after hours or on the weekend (well anytime, really). For someone with a disability that requires the use of a wheelchair, if something breaks then we are without our 'legs'. I have said it countless times, there should be an after hours wheelchair repair service in Chattanooga. I promise we would pay just about anything to have our wheelchairs fixed. (Okay, rant over....sorry about that.)

Team Training

Tim is camera ready

Candi, another fabulous GADA (Goodwill Assistance Dog Academy) volunteer, brought breakfast consisting of Krispy Kreme doughnuts and Panera bagels. As we were finishing up out breakfast, Ramona quizzed us on the commands we learned yesterday. Each command was printed on a super cute dog flash card that was made by volunteer Deb. (These volunteers are just too good!)  It was a pleasant surprise when Rich came rolling in. His wheelchair was still broke but he was there anyway!  The actuator on one of his tilt/recline features went out. Someone will be stopping by tomorrow to fix it.

Candi, Danny, Murphy, and Topper

Candi, Deb, and DeeDee

Ramona then moved right along to our first lecture of the day, corrections. She covered the difference between punishment verses correction. The GADA moto is to correct with your commands, not your hands. We discussed several methods of correction including voice corrections, leash corrections, wheelchair corrections and planned accidents. Ramona also told us several common signs of stress in a dog which include but are not limited to licking their lips, yawning, cowering, and tucking their tail. We were taught the importance of correct and redirect. And to never end a training session on a negative note. Training sessions should always end on a posture up beat note.

Me and Murphy

Love the puppy

Lunch was catered in by Elaine, who is on the GADA board. She provided us with a tasty lunch from Chick-Fil-A. We all had a nice break chatting and getting to know each other better.  During lunch we had some surprise visitors.  Service dog team Jordyn and Eddie along with Jordyn's mother came by for team training.  GADA placed Eddie with Jordan in 2012.  They are a great team and Eddie is very in tune to Jordyn and her needs.  

Jordyn and Eddie

Elaine, Jeremy, and Me

Who wants a treat?!?

During our practice sessions today we used what we learned yesterday and added the following commands.

Go in.

Go to bed.

Kennel.

Wait.

Out.

No.

Leave it.

Left.

Right.

Lap.

Off.

Jordyn and Eddie

Murphy preforming a good settle

Rich leading Topper in a good side

Mason has Danny in a down

Tomorrow should be an interesting day for everyone.....my daughter Annabelle is coming to team training.  I hope she doesn't try to steal Topper away from Rich. ;-)