Today we reached a record breaking 102 degrees here in Minneapolis. Our own thermometer, with its sensor under our backyard deck, said 100 degrees, but the official temperature for the area was 102. This was not a good day to walk, bike, or drive around, especially since Gracie was chewing on her front paws, a sign that they were sore. After rubbing some Mushers Suave on all of her paws, I decided I should reread "You and Your New Hearing Dog: A Pamphlet Regarding the Training and Behavior of your Hearing Dog." Val e-mailed a .pdf version of this to me before Gracie came, and Martha brought a hard copy with her, which she graciously let me keep.
As I opened it up, I couldn't help drawing an analogy between this document and the course syllabus that I prepare for students to hand out to them the first day of class--or, in the case of online classes, e-mail to students before the first day of the semester. The syllabus outlines the basics of the course; the pamphlet lays out the basics of hearing dog maintenance. When students ask me questions that are answered on the syllabus, I refer them to that document. Before resorting to an e-mail to Val to ask about Gracie's paw chewing, I thought I would do the same: consult the pamphlet. I didn't find anything specifically about sore paws or chewing paws. However, I did discover that I had not been helping Gracie learn to take me to sounds in the house. I wanted to blame our lack of air conditioning and the hot weather for this, but really this was only day two of that and this is Gracie's third week with me.
"Clap your hands to make the dog jump on you or touch you with his front feet," the pamphlet advises. "One the dog is responding to your clap with little or no encouragement, then you can drop the leash and move from room to room. This will help your dog understand that you are his new boss now."
Gracie usually follows me. With this hot weather, though, she has become a bit lethargic. As I read the part about clapping, I recalled seeing how well Gracie responded to Martha's clapping while Martha was here. So today while we avoided the hot pavement, hot car, and hot everything else, we practiced having Gracie come to my clapping and then jump up on me. It didn't take long for Gracie to recall her training. We'll have to keep working on this because we need her to jump on me but not on anyone else. In the process of getting her to not jump on Bruce, we must have miscommunicated that jumping itself was bad because Gracie was reluctant at first to jump on me. I will need to keep reminding her that I want her to come quickly and jump on me when I clap for her.
As I opened it up, I couldn't help drawing an analogy between this document and the course syllabus that I prepare for students to hand out to them the first day of class--or, in the case of online classes, e-mail to students before the first day of the semester. The syllabus outlines the basics of the course; the pamphlet lays out the basics of hearing dog maintenance. When students ask me questions that are answered on the syllabus, I refer them to that document. Before resorting to an e-mail to Val to ask about Gracie's paw chewing, I thought I would do the same: consult the pamphlet. I didn't find anything specifically about sore paws or chewing paws. However, I did discover that I had not been helping Gracie learn to take me to sounds in the house. I wanted to blame our lack of air conditioning and the hot weather for this, but really this was only day two of that and this is Gracie's third week with me.
"Clap your hands to make the dog jump on you or touch you with his front feet," the pamphlet advises. "One the dog is responding to your clap with little or no encouragement, then you can drop the leash and move from room to room. This will help your dog understand that you are his new boss now."
Gracie usually follows me. With this hot weather, though, she has become a bit lethargic. As I read the part about clapping, I recalled seeing how well Gracie responded to Martha's clapping while Martha was here. So today while we avoided the hot pavement, hot car, and hot everything else, we practiced having Gracie come to my clapping and then jump up on me. It didn't take long for Gracie to recall her training. We'll have to keep working on this because we need her to jump on me but not on anyone else. In the process of getting her to not jump on Bruce, we must have miscommunicated that jumping itself was bad because Gracie was reluctant at first to jump on me. I will need to keep reminding her that I want her to come quickly and jump on me when I clap for her.
No comments:
Post a Comment