JJ’s Training: 6 month progress

      Well my little boy is now 6 months old!.. not so little.. he’s only a few inches off Inca height wise now already!

I try to give him an healthy balance of time to just ‘be a puppy’ with time I need him to learn.. or to start learning, the foundations ofthe skills he is going to need when he takes over from Inca.

As mentioned in the last post I teach them through play.  Sometimes he just does things that turn into a training session,  others I plan what I am going to teach him,  how I am going to incorporate it into a game he will enjoy.. that will carry on to become a useful skill as he gets older.

Recently when we’d had some nice weather I had hung some stuff out.  JJ watching Inca carry the peg basket out into the garden then also wanted to join in!  I got him his own little basket to put his toys in.  he’s not quite got the hang of it yet and drops them but at this early stage that doesn’t matter.  He’s learning the skills he’ll need later to understand how to carry the peg basket out for me.  pick up any pegs I drop and put them back in or pass them to me.

He learns quickly.  After a few incoming phone calls on my minicom he’s relaised Inca gets a treat for going to the phone,  I don’t think he’s realised that she’s getting it just for disappearing from room (to come and tell me if I’m not in the room)  but he’s certainly made some kind of connection between the phone ringing and treats so just goes and sits in front of it and waits for Inca to come back in with me! 

He’s come into bathroom barked and run back to kitchen when kettle had clicked off but I think that’s cos I always boil the kettle just before doing their dinner as Inca needs her kibble soaking so he’s made the association between the kettle and their dinner following. I didn’t teach him to do that.

Puppies will be puppies and sometimes run off with things.. I get Inca to go pick something up so he can see and/or hear her getting a treat or big fuss for it.  At first he’d run back in without the item he’d run off with.  I’d get Inca to go fetch it and treat her again.. by that time he’s desperate for one of these treats!..  so I throw or place item on floor closer and wait for him to go for it,  as he did I click and say/sign ‘pick it up’ and then ‘give’ just as he’s getting close enough to give me it in exchange for a treat.   It didn’t take him long to realise he’d get more out of bringing something to me than running off with it and now regularly picks up things I’ve dropped often without me needing to ask.  He doesn’t only associate it with the house or training sessions either,  recently he did it unprompted in the park as I dropped my glove whilst trying to unclip his lead to let him off to play.

I’d spent ages putting together a little slideshow..then found WordPress won’t accept anything other than it’s own which is disappointing after I uploaded 20 pics. If you click on link below, it should take you to it as it seems unable to embed the link in the page anymore either!

 

http://smilebox.com/playBlog/4d7a55354d546b324d7a593d0d0a&blogview=true

I think I maybe trying a better free blog so if anyone knows of one better for free where the links and slideshows on whatever program you have on computer will work, I’ll be interested to know.

Learning Through Play

I’ve been asked by several people how I trained Inca to do the jobs she does for me.  As I wasn’t on internet much then I never did a blog,  no camera phone or anything then to take endless photo’s of every stage!   She was older and had basic obedience before I got first symptoms of Ataxia and nearly 4yrs old by the time I was teaching to do tasks like helping with dressing by which time she had all the vocabulary she needed for me to teach the ‘job’.

With JJ it has been very different.  He arrived at just over 8 weeks,  a little fluffy bundle eager to cuddle, play and eat but with no comprehension of language or ability to follow instructions!.. so how do I shape my fluffy little bundle into my full time helper by the time he reaches maturity?

The easiest way to start is wait until he does a behaviour naturally… ie sit,  then say or sign sit you have to pretty quick for him to get the connection at first.  Clicker training is very useful for this, He sits,  you click immediately and then treat,  soon he will associate the click with the action.

a ‘sit’ and ‘look’ beautifully demonstrated by JJ!

Interactive games are great for reinforcing the actions you want to teach as they work out how to get their food out.

‘pick it up’….

.. and ‘pull’

For some skills I needed to work out a way to teach it specifically..  if it’s more complex you need to break the jobs down into stages.. work out what command needs teaching for each stage,  teach the commands first seperately then put the task back together again.  He will then be able to do more complex tasks where several commands need to be strung together to complete it.

Here’s an example..  I taught Inca to slide something out from under or behind an object by using this toy.

I taught Inca the ‘slide item under paw’ trick using this plastic igloo toy

then would hide treats just under front of sofa

.. later she can use those skills to retrieve items such as pen I dropped

Another toy I found good for teaching a variety of skills is actually an infants toy called ‘pop up pals’,  it has a variety of different switches to activate to get the ‘animal’ to pop up.  I then treat.  This was Inca’s and bought before they started making dog toys that now do the same.

JJ has to work out which can be pressed easily with paw..

.. or maybe it be easier with his mouth?

These problem solving skills can then be applied to real ‘jobs’ I need him to do for me as he gets older.  The other day he worked out how to get a pen that had dropped under front of TV cabinet.

JJ works out to turn body and lower right front leg to reach pen just underneath

The most useful skills that can apply to several easy ‘jobs’ are ‘pick it up’,  ‘bring it here’, ‘pull’ and ‘put it in’ .

JJ is practising ‘pick it up’, ‘bring it here’, and ‘put it in’ with this Tidy-up game

here he’s applying ‘pull’ to retrieving his snuggle puppy from the dryer

in a later session Inca shows him how to apply ‘pull’ to get washing out for me..

JJ practises ‘pull’..

and ‘in the basket’

This is just the beginning,  he is only 4 months old on 23rd January this month so he still has a lot to learn before all this becomes automatic and he can take over fully from Inca so she can ‘retire’.  Of course he’s also been learning toilet training,  basic commands and road safety, coping with teething and has yet to go through his ‘teens’.   So he has a busy 18 months ahead of him!!

I have every faith in him though,  he is a bright little boy and that natural collie intelligence will get him far.  The first time I let him off-lead in an enclosed tennis court,  part of it is a on a slight slope at the far back of it,  so when he brought his ball to me it would roll under my scooter. The third time without me giving him any prompts at all he put his paw on top his ball as I approached to stop the ball rolling under my scooter!!!

paw on ball to stop it rolling under scooter as I drive up to him!

JJ’s First Xmas

JJ seemed to enjoy his first xmas!!   He certainly enjoyed opening all the presents even though he didn’t know why we were having a mad present fest this particular day!    (must have thought it was his birthday!)

 

This was the first day they played in the same room with food in treat dispensers,  but of course it doesn’t give them as  much space to fling their toys about without getting in each others way.

 

I let them take turns having a go at unwrapping their big present to introduce the concept of them taking turns to do something.

    

I often get them to sit or stand and pose for photo’s I think it’s good for basic obedience,  they are learning sit,  stay and wait.

“Look what Santa Paws bought us! “

As I only got JJ in November,  this first month has just been about settling in,  learning our routine,  building the relationship up between him and Inca and learning the basics ie toilet training , basic obedience and learning to walk alongside my chair/scooter.

Of course I also use sign so he’s learning the signs as my speech isn’t very consistent and depends on my muscle tone.  Sometimes it comes out clearly,  other times I struggle to get words out at all.  I find it harder when having to speak longer sentences with more than a few words strung together as of course it’s taking alot more co-ordination between my speech muscles and breathing which are all affected by the Ataxia.  Due to this I’m also starting to use a whistle for recall as sometimes I can get a whistle sound out and he comes in instantly but again its not consistent, so hopefully a whistle will help.

So far he has learnt the following commands/sentences in speech/sign:

sit,  stay,  down, wait, no, ok,  on,  off,  ride,  pick it up,  pull,  give,  off the road,  on the path,  on the grass, wait for Inca, paws up, paws off,  toilet,  tell and most recently ‘socks off”!

JJ had a go at pulling my socks off last night!

Most importantly the relationship between them is improving which I need for him to be able to learn from Inca directly,  so she will tolerate him been in same room as her when she is ‘working’ and so he won’t pester her and be trying to jump on her or play when she’s trying to do a job for me.

Initially Inca was not keen!

 

learning to be together

 

Inca’s getting more relaxed near him

Inca doesn’t seem to growl and snap at him as much outdoors even when he tries to kiss her as they’re walking along side by side! ..  Due to heavy rain I haven’t been able to get into middle of a field with him to let him off lead safely away from cars.  I was worried he would either take off over ground I couldn’t follow him on or pester Inca and it end in a fight and I wouldn’t be able to get to them.

They have been playing  in the garden seperately cos as soon as Inca came to see what he was doing,  he took it as she wanted to play and would go charging up her and she’d get nasty with him,  same if I let them out to toilet together so neither dog would end up actually going to the toilet.  Inca was also snapping at him if he had a toy in his mouth,  although she showed no interest in playing previously other than with toys that have her food in!

walking side by side

.. and checking out stuff together

I feel we’re ready to take the next step now so once JJ’s whistle has arrived and we’ve had a bit of training around house and garden,  I’m planning to take them a little further where there’s an enclosed tennis court we can go in to start with and see how they go on off-lead together in there with lots of treats and a couple of balls!! 

 

 

 

JJ’s first Walkies!

Yesterday JJ could come for wallks with us for the first time after his vaccinations.

We went with scooter first,  he enjoyed sitting on the footplate and watching things go past.

JJ enjoys riding on the footplate

He was a bit nervous at first of all the noises it was bin day too which didn’t help loads of people dragging bins about and big refuse trucks,  he didn’t walk much of the first walk but got off to explore on some grass when we got to a quieter bit. Later in the afternoon we went to a quieter path like a woodland area that cuts through an estate opposite,  he walked more of that and started feeling braver and going further from me.

JJ wanders ahead following Inca

This morning I decided to go in powerchair to the little park.. maybe not a good choice!  Apart from the fact he was heavy on my arms (he already exceeds weight of most puppy carriers 6-9kg) we had just got through the gate and there was a load of dog walkers walking their dogs together with about 8 dogs off-lead.  They all came charging up and JJ found it a bit scary.  He managed to get under the front of my chair so of course then I couldn’t move in case I ran over him. I had to sit and wait for the people to get to us to call off their dogs and one of them to help me get JJ from under the chair!

Inca’s protective instinct seems to have kicked in and she was stood at side of my chair growling at a large chocolate lab so he couldn’t get to JJ’s face… then further around a large dog came running over to us..  again, owner miles behind.  I think it’s a Newfoundland so looks like a giant brown bear so again JJ was trying to get behind my chair.. I managed to grab top of his harness and pull him up on knee before he got too far round the back of me whilst Inca charged at the other dog which slowed him down temporarily but he still came right up and he’s right in my face as I was sat in the chair lower down,  with JJ trying to scramble over my shoulder!

So we won’t  be going in there at that time again and probably wait until he can easily manage the whole walk and is bigger to protect himself.

have the big dogs gone now mummy?

On a practical level managing two dogs and a wheelchair/mobility scooter is a challenge,  especially when one of them is too young to go off-lead at all and understand things like ‘go round’ where cars park halfway on pavement.  What I did was buy a Mikki Jogging lead,  it has an wrist strap.  In the chair I slipped seatbelt through it to secure him on my knee and took one extending lead attached to armrest.  When we were near road Inca was at side of me on extending lead (locked to a certain length close to chair) and JJ on my knee secured to my seatbelt with the jogging lead,  then when we got to park Inca came off-lead and put JJ on the extending lead so he could walk around.

On the scooter it worked out better to fasten jogging lead to scooter armrest and have Inca on that where she needed to be on-lead to cross a road etc so I still had that hand free to keep hold of the top of JJs harness (sat between my legs on footplate).

wristband of jogging lead is fastened around scooter armrest

Inca on lead before we go to cross the road

JJ was on extending lead with the chunky handle under my leg,  I found it easier to keep it in place with one hand on his harness and both legs around him.. good job I can steer scooter one-handed!  When Inca was off-lead I had extending lead handle in left hand when JJ was walking alongside too.

I let him walk as soon as we get off main road as I live on quiet cul-de-sac so don’t have loads of cars flying up and down in the middle of the day and he is learning to sit nicely at the kerb just before we reach my house.

learning to sit at the kerb with Inca

Just hoping he gets more confident quickly as he will grow so fast and soon be too big to sit on my knee in the chair.  For now we will stick with the scooter and hopefully he will be soon be walking around the village confidently alongside me and Inca!! 

Inca’s little brother!

We have a new addition to the family.  Meet Jesse-Jay!!  He will be known as JJ for short.

Jesse-Jay (JJ) 2 months old

I knew Inca getting used to him would be a challenge,  after all she has been the ONLY dog in the house for 11 and half years and had my undivided attention.  But I was stuck in a situation where she is not getting any younger, and I need a dog to be able to remain independent in my own home at least.

I looked into the route of a trained Assistance Dog,  the waiting lists are long.. 5yrs on average for most for first time owner.  (18months – 2yrs  for replacing retired dogs if you already had one) I heard of one lady who’d waited 7yrs for a Hearing Dog and as far as I know she is still waiting. As Inca will be 12yrs old next March that was not a practical solution for me.   I also decided after looking at many breeds and crossbreeds,  that what I really REALLY wanted was a pedigree Border Collie,  if this was going to be my last chance to manage a dog from a pup again.

He is a couple of months younger than Inca was when I got her. But he seems very bright even at this young age!  I’ve tried him out on a few of Inca’s interactive food puzzles already and he doesn’t take long to catch on at all!  Toilet training has been a breeze too!

JJ loves chasing his treatball

it doesn’t take him long to figure out this basic puzzle!

Inca didn’t want much to do with him when he first came and her body language was very obvious when he came anywhere near her.  I couldn’t even get a pic of them anywhere near each other at first without her snarling and snapping at him,  but she has got used to him and armed with bits of sausage to reward her for letting him gradually nearer (while under my control on harness and lead)  she is gradually getting used to him!

JJ tries to get closer and shows her his tummy (submissive sign in doggy language)

Getting closer but Inca’s still not keen!

some improvement today. down-stay..

and sit!

So… we’re getting there!!!  . hopefully by the time he can come out for walks with us  – about 3 weeks (Vet says one week after his second vaccination) I should be able to get them walking side by side so she can teach him how to walk alongside my scooter.

We’ve had bad rain for most of his first week so the back garden has been too soggy and muddy to take powerchair in to ride over grass,  so that’s next on my ‘to-do’ list for this next week as we’re due a cold spell, so the grass should be nice and solid!

So over the next few weeks, weather permitting I’m planning to have sessions with him in garden with powerchair so he can get used to the noise and walking at the side of me,  before we attempt our first walk in the great outdoors together!! 

Help Yourself!

After reading several links on Facebook about the state of the country and help for those who need it and my own experience of trying to get diagnosis and help from the NHS I have come to the conclusion that we don’t stand a chance basically unless we have the intelligence to work things out for ourselves!

When I tried to get help with my speech years ago when symptoms were just starting an ‘expert’ was sent out who expertly concluded I just ‘sounded deaf’!  (I’d been deaf since age 16 at this point age 35.. and having been born hearing,  had managed to not ‘sound deaf’ for the previous 17 years)

I’ve had a Neurophysio visit who showed me some back exercises which incidentally I was already doing on Wii Fit (the bridge exercise and crocodile stretch one) I asked about splints to help me with maintain walking I was told the NHS wouldn’t fund them for just a few steps with assistance as this is not considered ‘functional walking’… however.. try applying for an NHS powerchair whilst you can still stand and take a few steps to transfer..  THEN.. when they need to avoid having to issue too many.. it DOES count as been able to walk and you don’t qualify!   .. it took 3 attempts over several years for me to get one which was then returned after a year due to electrical failure and after the hassle I had getting anything done I decided it wasn’t worth it,  I’ll find a way to fund my next one myself and get what I think will work best for me!

The passive trainer pedals which have made a big difference to my pain and mobility levels over this last year was a last resort and going ‘against medical advice’ after again been told by an ‘expert’ it wouldn’t work for me.

Passive Trainer pedals

 

Luckily for me I ignored their advice on the splints too,  but as you can’t get splints without a prescription (I was told.. you actually can!) I had my first ones shipped from the US with a Sensory Balance Belt.  I also bought my Piedro boots privately.  It was an expensive gamble in total with the boots been over £100 each, the splints,  balance belt and shipping from US were near £200.

 

The passive trainer pedals I took a gamble on after spotting a note on bottom of one site.  I had originally been led to the ones that cost thousands called Theracycles that were originally designed for people who were actually paralysed.  After coming across the Oxycycle (above)  by accident and looking for site with cheapest price I spotted a note on one site saying that these were NOT suitable for people who were paralysed.  I emailed them to check that they were motorised and why they were so cheap in comparison with other ‘passive trainers’  I was told you needed to have the ability to move your legs to be able to use the Oxycycle and it just assisted with the motor in making the movement more fluent.

 

As the Theracycles were at least £5,000 at the time for the cheapest pedal version I decided to take a gamble on the Oxycycle and luckily it paid off with persistence!  It’s a good job I’m stubborn cos the first few months attempts resulted in it sending my legs into spasms after just the 15 min pre-set time,  but I stuck with it reducing it right down to a single minute and building up… a year later my record has been 90 consecutive mins whilst watching a film,  usually I do 30 or 60 mins though in one go.

I still believe a standing chair would greatly help in my battle to remain independent but due to the cost and weight of the electric versions I have decided to look into the manual versions.

2 different models of manual standing chair

 

They have restrictions in that you can’t move whilst in the standing position so have to come back down again to move the chair, but even standing for 30 mins whilst playing tennis on the  Wii or something would be of help. I figured if you add E-fix wheels to make it electric with a joystick,  (see pic below) you’d only need to come down a little way so the supports were off the floor to move the chair in a semi stand,  this maybe helpful in a kitchen moving between worktops,  cooker and fridge etc as you can stop at any point between sitting down and fully standing up!

Some models require strength in arms and what look like the arm rests are the levers to use your own body weight to pull you up with a ‘gas lift’ assist (kind you find in office chairs to raise and lower),  others have a little battery and powered assist for the standing feature only, which will need to be charged I would think even though the chair is manual.   Even though these are classed as ‘manual chairs’ they still start at around the £5,000 mark.. and if you were adding the E-fix you’d be looking at around £9,000, unless you could make savings by managing to obtain both second-hand.   Still the big pro for this for me personally would be that as  its a manual chair I wouldn’t get stranded,  cos I can switch it back to manual if the battery went.

The E-fix turns any manual chair into a portable powered one

It wouldn’t get me in the park as the path is not smooth enough,  as my manual chairs have very small front castors but is ok for indoor venues such as shopping centres and you still retain a folding chair to fit in a smaller car boot.  Each wheel is a little heavier than a regular 24″  wheel but not any heavier than the chair frame when all the parts are seperate.  The joystick is removable and the battery under the chair seat so a folding seat can still be folded up.

Here’s video of how to take apart and fit in a car boot:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40kNATWXpw4

 

I plan to keep an eye out for these second-hand to see if I get myself one in the next year or so,  but first need to organise a demo to see whether I could manage the version with gas lift or would need the battery assisted lift to stand.  I think if you disagree with what your health provider says will work,  you need to be prepared to do alot of research to work out why and what you feel would be a better alternative for you.

 

 

Just a Fun post: Advert for Canine Helper

This post is just for a bit of fun but I wondered if dogs could read, how many of them would apply to be my next Assistance Dog!!

“oooh… here’s a good job!”

WANTED CANINE HELPER

Your challenge should you wish to accept is to work as my partner to help me remain independent.

Your responsibilities:

You will be working everyday, throughout the day but get time for  rest breaks, playtime and walks. Some events do not happen everyday,  some events will happen in the middle of another one.  eg.  You need to tell me when my textphone is ringing or someone knocking at door or ringing doorbell regardless of what other job you are doing or if you are playing at the time!

You MUST tell me if the smoke alarm goes off by giving the danger sign (dropping to floor not leading to sound)  in case it is ever a real fire.

Helping with dressing and undressing

Laundry duties:  including removing clothes from washer and dryer and carrying peg basket outside,  picking up any pegs dropped

Tidying your toys away

Helping Inca (my elderly dog) ie opening or closing back door for her if she wants to go out (if I have transferred to bed or sofa) and helping her tidy her toys away.

Public duties: You will be expected to come with me to help with shopping trips and must be on your best behaviour at all times when you are working in public.

You must watch me closely for signed commands to what I need you to do and stay by my side at all times in public places when you are working.

 

In exchange for this you will receive:

An home for life

All the cuddles you need any time of day or night

All Food & Medical expenses paid (and any ‘professional’ grooming costs if this applies)

Birthday and Xmas presents every year for life!

Trips out to parks,  nature reserves and holidays (where funds and transport allow)

At least 90 mins exercise (1 hour mornings,  30 mins afternoon/evening)  on non-shopping days and access to your own garden all day.

Paddling pool, agility course, and ball pit available for outdoor play. (A Flyball launcher is also planned for the near future)

Lots of doggy puzzles and treat dispensers for indoor play on rainy days!

 

So how many applicants do you think I would get?