Hi everyone. So last friday I wrote that during the weekend I would create a post about the first month with Frodo. Okay, that was a bit overambitious. I did write a long post, but it looked/still looks really messy and I am still trying to make it better. I asked Beanwood/Kate for help on where to post what I had written and she was kind enough to help. She suggested 'Labradors in service' and perhaps WordPress. I have decided on both. I am working on fixing what I had written so far and will post it/update this thread when it is readable. I am sorry for saying something that I couldn't keep in the end Kaktus.
Enjoying reading your blog on WordPress You may want to consider changing your privacy settings, I can see content as a follower, but I am not sure of the content is public. https://en.support.wordpress.com/settings/privacy-settings/
Looking forward to reading whatever you want to share. I'm always one of those 'it has to be perfect before I post to a blog' people. And I don't have a blog because I don't ever quite get around to perfect. So my advice (throwing my brick out of my glass house) is don't worry about perfect - loads of people like me will enjoy reading it in whatever state strikes your fancy! Kate is right about the privacy thing, because I can't see your blog. But will look forward to reading here (or your blog if you decide to share wider). And love the name Frodo and his big smile in your avatar.
I am trying to be less critical of my self, so I really appreciate the encouragement. The privacy setting was already on 'public', so I think that I made a mistake when I wrote the address of my blog on my profile. I tried sending the link to a friend and they had problems as well. I fixed it now and the correct one is: http://danishservicedog.wordpress.com
Thank you so much. I'm glad that you enjoy it. The privacy setting was already on 'public', so it was just me putting the wrong link on my profile. I fixed it now.
I ended up writing the wrong link on my profile. But it is fixed now. The right on is: http://danishservicedog.wordpress.com/
I'm very impressed that not only you are doing your blog, but you are doing it in English! Looking forward to hearing (well, reading) about your adventures with Frodo. In the photo on your blog, he reminds me a lot of my foster dog Carbon.
Frodo looks so much like my dog, Quinn in the picture you have on your blog, so I agree, he is VERY handsome ! Looking forward to following along!
From my blog: The first month with Frodo: A new beginning. Hi everyone. So I have decided to write a post about the first month with Frodo. This first post is only about the first three days. I got Frodo (service dog) April 6th. The first three days his trainer was at my house for a couple of hours each day. The first day was spent at home meeting each other, his trainer telling me about Frodo and his personality, needs and training. I was quite surprised by how well Frodo listened to my commands and his trainer was very impressed by how well we did together and how the day went. The second day was the first time I would take Frodo for a walk. He had been trained with a regular wheelchair, but when I am out of the house, I use an electric wheelchair. We were all a bit curious about how he would handle that, but he did so well! He really didn’t seem to care at all. We went to a green area (with just grass and bushes) where we tried the different commands and most of it was good. I did have some trouble getting him to ‘heel’ properly, but the trainer gave me some advice on how I could work on that. The third day was the big test – going to the beach. This was Frodo’s first time riding in my larger car and he just relaxed on the floor. I was excited and nervous. The day before had gone so well, but here there would be a lot of distractions. I had him on the leash a first, but then it was time to take that off. I had worried that he would simply take off towards the waves, but instead he stayed nearby sniffing around. We tried ‘heel’ both just sitting but also walking and it went great. As soon as he reached my knee, I told him to ‘heel’ and he did. It felt amazing. We did ‘sit’ and ‘stay’ while I drove about 10 meters away and when I called him to me he come running with a wagging tail. I obviously know that he has trained for this over many months, but to see him do so well and it being only day three I just felt really proud of him. Despite the good start, I was worried about whether I would be a good enough owner of Frodo. Could I meet his needs? Keep up the training and keep his skills sharp? Would he be happy living here with me? Frodo’s trainer expressed faith in our teamwork and said that if I started having any kind of trouble that I could simply give him a call or send a text. That option would later prove to be vital in regard to the problems that we would encounter. ▪ Kaktus & Frodo
That's a wonderful read and I am so pleased you and Frodo are doing so well. Your trainer sounds great and supportive. You and Frodo sound like a match made in heaven to me. Keep going and have fun with your best buddy x
(A/N: This was written in the beginning of May. Sorry I took so long to upload it.) So we ended up having some problems after a week. I would take him for a walk by a field so that he could be off leash, sniffing away to his hearts content. Only problem was that he kept getting further and further away from me. Recall was thankfully still working, but watching him speed off 30-50 meters without looking back worried me. He became very hyper and unfocused. The "heel" command was slipping as well, both when sitting and walking. Frodo's trainer had explained that it was normal for the dog to go from a perfect 100% to 60% when getting to know their new owners and that through teamwork Frodo and I will get up to 100% again, but despite that it still didn't feel right. I called his trainer asking for advice. He suggested that I keep Frodo closer to me while off leash (many recalls) meaning that when he gets to about 10 meters away I do a recall and reward heavily, and that I do exercises before I say "free" again. He also suggested that we take another trip to the beach since it went so well the first time. Okay, I can do that. The trip to the beach went okay, but it was far from satisfactory. The "heel" sitting and walking was bad, recall was alright except twice where he completely ignored me just 5 meters away, but his "sit" and "stay" was good. Not what I had hoped for, but that's life. I decided that the "heel" had to be trained at home either inside my house or in my garden, because the only he would sit properly was if an object was in the way such as the couch or a large rock. After 4 days of intense training he started to heel sitting correctly without obstaclesforcing him! Victory on that! Recall: So I found the perfect spot to have him off leash. I am not sure what it is called in English (sorry) but it is just some grass near a bunch of houses, bushes and trees closing of two of the sides. There is a path (pavement?) that goes right by it for pedestrians and bicyclists (how I found it) but it is not used that often. Anyway, I have been training with him every single day since then and he is doing amazing! I am really proud of him. He stays close by all on his own, he doesn't get hyper the same way and when I have done a recall and we do our exercises he is very focused and does very well. Last week when he was off leash and I had told him "free", a small white dog walks by behind me (20 meters or so away) and Frodo takes off in full speed. He almost reached them by the time I turn to see them and I quickly yell out "Frodo" in a high pitched, excited voice. Immediate u-turn! I couldn't believe it! He came running with a massive smile and wagging helicopter tail and the person with me on the walk said "Wow. He turned around as soon as you called!". I was surprised as well. I guess I had underestimated him. I know Frodo is a smart dog and his trainer is great, but I was amazed at how well and fast those tips helped. It was also a good and much needed confidence boost to know that I could take those tips and tricks and make them work. ▪ Kaktus and Frodo
