"Best Friends"

Vinson with the "Best Friends" Statue

Vinson has always been interested in the "Best Friends" statue on The Seeing Eye campus, a bronze statue representing the dedication of puppy raisers and the bond between human and canine. The statues features a young girl sitting down while the pup she's raising sits beside her, looking like he's ready to give her a kiss. A nearby plaque describes the statue in text and Braille.

Mack Truck

Vinson and "Mack"

Vinson and I took advantage of some parked construction equipment at The Seeing Eye to get this photo - Vinson "sitting" and "resting" calmly for me to snap his photo in front of a red and chrome Mack dump truck.

What you can't see in this photo is the very loud jackhammer in use off to our right and a tent (for Family Day) being assembled behind me. A great exposure exercise.

Exposure Opportunities

You never know when a great exposure opportunity might arise. In this case, Vinson was out for a quick "break" at The Seeing Eye when a "Bobcat"-type tracked construction vehicle approached.

I quickly grabbed the camera from my pocket, told Vinson to "sit" and "rest", and we worked on that as the machine crawled by.

Vinson was slightly distracted but did very well!

An Easy Way to Teach "Sit" as a Desired Response to People Approaching

During lunch break today, a 30-year veteran and guide dog training professional here at The Seeing Eye gave Vinson and I some quick work on sitting when people approach; and it was way easier than you might think.

Obviously, many people will approach you when you're walking with a puppy. If the puppy gets excited (which is almost inevitable at first) and inches his way out of the sit, it makes no difference if he/she then sits when he reaches the person; he's already received the reward of contact with the person on his own terms.

Instead, my coworker approached us from about 15 feet away while Vinson was sitting. If the pup inched forward or moved out of the sitting position in any way before the person reached him, my coworker immediately backed up and increased the gap between himself and the puppy. We repeated this a few times in just a minute or so, and Vinson got it; the desired response was for him to sit and let the person approach him.

The proof that this worked? We went out to "park" after the session. When we re-entered the building, we saw the staff member again and Vinson immediately went into a sit without any command or resistance!

If you have strangers or people that aren't dog-educated approaching you and your puppy, you can ask them to stop, or you can physically increase the gap by backing up with your puppy while you explain to the person what you're trying to accomplish.

Beautiful Day for a Walk

Vinson sitting with Sarah on the walk

Vinson enjoyed the nice weather on a good long walk near the lake today. Here he's showing how well he sits when asked to.

New Video

Here's a quick compilation video - a brief shot of a morning walk on the training path, and then some video from my office this morning, showing how Vinson is doing great at sitting, but also how he loves to bring all the toys around the desk and back; plus, when he hears the office door open, he runs to the gate and sits, hoping the person who comes in will give him some petting.

Sitting and Resting: Showing Off Skills

Vinson just met a whole group of people in the reception area at The Seeing Eye, and proudly showed them all how he can now reliably "rest", sitting in place. What a great guy!