Viking Pups Training Adventures

Friday, April 5, 2013

Our Lil Man

Zorn is the youngest of our pups, and (don’t tell the others) possibly the smartest. This just-turned-7-month-old Red Fox Lab was quickly nicknamed the Prodigy Pup by the club, and I have on at least one occasion, heard our brilliant trainer (and the founder of QCCAN) Hillary Plog say that he showed the most promise of any puppy she’d ever tested.

He was so wee...

Zorn, like all of the rest of our babies, was donated to our group by the wonderful Christina Clark of Iron Hill Retrievers. He officially started his training around the age of 3 months, after being potty- and house- trained by some wonderful members of our sister organization QCCAN. He then came to campus with us, and started living with his foster and team leader Mary Kiolbasa, and became the first official Viking Pup to live in our official TLA (Transitional Living Area).

Although he kind of makes himself at home anywhere...

Zorn, like Oden, has been training with Viking Pups since he was a puppy. And the progress he has made has been unbelievable- this boy is only 7 months old and he’s already mastered his basic obedience and some advanced commands (settle, touch), is learning some others (heel, cover me) and is working on some unbelievably cool things that only Oden is doing (turn on lights, tug fridges and cabinets open, close those same doors). He’s brilliant, seriously.

Except when it comes to learning he's too big for his favorite places

Our little guy isn’t going to be our little guy much longer though. Zorn’s big boy legs are finally coming in, and this poor guy just can’t accept that he can’t fit into his favorite spots anymore.

Life is hard, little dude

We’re also worried that our Mister Wrinkleface is going to lose his beloved wrinkles. His concerned face is one of our favorite things, but I promise we’ll love him anyway.

Seriously, look at that face. Who wouldn't love that face?

Zorn’s wrinkles and his forgetting that he doesn’t fit everywhere is only part of this kid’s charm. He’s one of the quirkiest, weirdest, doofus-iest puppies we’ve ever met. He’s an absolutely conundrum. This guy loves to play- but he can only play with one other dog, or he forgets how. He loves training- but only until he has to start training himself (seriously, the sass this boy gives you when he has to actually do one of his tasks). He loves cuddling- but not petting. He’s both grumpier and cuddlier when he’s tired. And though he adores every other dog in the pack, this lil guy actually needs alone time. Seriously. He will wait at the foot of the stairs at home for his mom to give the ok so he can go and play with a toy in her room all by himself for a while. He’s a weirdo, all right, but we love him.

Zorn's way of saying 'I just need some alone time, Mom'

Zorn is currently in training to be a mobility dog- the client we have lined up for him is a lovely little girl who might be wheelchair bound for the rest of her life. This little guy’s got a lot of expectations to live up to, and he is working hard to live up to them. Zorn’s still got about a year and a half of training left to finish before he can be placed however, and since this wonderful family is willing to wait until he’s grown into the role he’s going to play, he’s enjoying his time being a puppy and learning all there is to learn.

Clearly he learns by osmosis (the inner biology student in me is just
screaming DIFFUSION).

To help him along is his wonderful team of trainers, Kori Marcum, Mike Roehrenbeck, and Allycia Nelson, all headed up by his foster mommy, President of Viking Pups Mary Kiolbasa. All of them love the little guy to death and are working him hard to get him where he needs to be.

Mary Kiolbasa

Kori Marcum

Mike Roehrenbeck

Kori loves how concerned he looks when she’s having a bad day. Allycia loves that he looks concerned about everything. Mary loves just how unique of a personality (ahem, weird) the little guy is (not to mention how much of a mama’s boy he is!), and Mike loves when the little weirdo nibbles on his beard (they’re both a little weird, what can we say).

Allycia Nelson (sorry I couldn't find one of you with
the baby. )

Zorn’s strengths definitely lie in how much he loves to learn, and how darn good he is at it. Zorn is shaping six tasks right now- SIX. That’s an insane amount of information for a wee puppy brain to take in, and he’s rocking at it. His push, which will turn into him pressing push plates to open handicap doors, which believe you me took some effort to start him on, is progressing more every day. He’s already turning these lights on and off:

And is doing pretty darn well on these:

And eventually will learn to do these:

And all sorts of lights.

He can open a fridge (which takes some umph from a dog), and then close it, he can open and close drawers and cabinets, he can heel, he can cover- point is he’s kind of a genius.

One of my favorite things about this guy is that even though he’s so smart and well behaved, he has some doofus moments that just remind you that he’s still a puppy. He forgets that he’s on a leash and will swerve off course after a squirrel and look surprised when he reaches the end of the leash.

He gets bored in boring classes, and will look at you like ‘C’mon. We don’t need to be here, let’s blow this popsicle stand’. He tries to get away with kind of doing his tasks- when learning settling, he’d figured out that he got treated if he put his head down. A settle is only on the side, but Zorn would put his head down between his paws and expect a treat. Then when he wouldn’t get treated, he’d go into a settle like it was the biggest chore in the world.

We're training him to write essays, too.

He’s a bit of a weirdo, and a lot of a puppy, and a GREAT dog. We can’t wait to see what he’s going to do.

Quick Fixes:

Bobo

Bobo’s feet are doing MUCH better! He’s also supporting our local hockey team, the Quad Cities Mallards, who have a great partnership with us that helps our fundraising efforts a lot, so support them to support us!

Cami

Cami’s hugs are doing amazing, and I speak from personal experience! We’ve nailed down just how much we need to bribe her to get her to learn (such a chore, Camicakes). On the downside, her new vest is killing her self-esteem; vest rules are she can’t be petted while working, and all Cami wants is to be petted. We promise they still love you, Cami girl!

Oden

Oden’s feet are doing much better, too! He had a great day off classes and though I’m sure he missed his handlers a ton (I hope) he had a great lazy day off and is ready to get back to work! Speaking of working, he’s figuring out object names like a champ, can’t wait until we can say “get the card!” and watch him pick it off of a pile!

A special thanks to:

Iron Hill Retrievers

First and foremost, Christina Clark, our fabulous breeder and owner of Iron Hill Retrievers. All of our active dogs have been donated by Christina and they are all spectacular, with wonderful temperaments and absolutely GREAT looks.

QCCAN

The Quad Cities Canine Assistant Network is the non-profit organization that makes our program possible. As sister organizations QCCAN is an integral part of the Viking Pups mission, helping us with training, putting us in contact with clients, and most importantly, training service dogs and reaching more people who need the dogs to live better lives.

Compassionate Care Veterinary Clinic

A huge shoutout to Compassionate Care Veterinary Clinic, who takes care of our pups at a discounted rate.

And last but not least:

Lisa Francescon and Captured Moments Photography

Thanks for taking all of your beautiful pictures, Lisa! They're amazing, and you show off our pups so much better than our grainy phone pictures! You're incredibly talented and deserve every bit of business you get!

To learn more / keep up to date about Viking Pups:

Thursday, April 4, 2013

Handling for Dummys

Sorry about the hiatus last week- my computer cord ripped.

No, seriously, look at this nonsense:

No laughing, it's tragic

Anyway, I had to plan accordingly, and when a blog post is competing with Organic Chemistry for my time, I’m sorry, but Organic Chemistry wins. Sorry guys.

This week, we’re going to be talking about handlers!

Being a handler for service dogs sounds like a fun job. And it is, believe me. There is no Viking Pups handler I can think of who regrets any second of their time training these dogs. We enjoy every minute we spend with them, and we’ve made some pretty fantastic friends among the handlers as well.

For instance, you hardly ever see President Mary Kiolbasa and
Vice President Allie Roehrenbeck apart.

A handler is an active member of the Viking Pups club, who sees the dogs on a pretty consistent basis. We also have the special privilege of taking them to class. Our duties, officially, are training with them if we have the time, attending one official QCCAN event and one Viking Pups event per school term, and making sure the dogs get to class and behave. We also have handlers-in-training, who have not quite been in training long enough to take the dogs to class or do official training on their own, but are handlers in every other respect. For instance, a handler may take a Oden to class and then train with him on 'tug' and 'touch close' afterwards, where in the same time span a handler-in-training would be walking around with Oden, hanging out, and maybe practicing in a public place, like a store or restaurant.

Sam Scherer, a handler in training with Cami

Trevor Farthing, a handler with Cami

From an outside perspective, the handler’s jobs seem to revolve around taking the dogs to class and making sure they mind their p’s and q’s (or, in this cases, sits and downs). As a handler, I can say the position is a lot more nuanced than that. Of the things I have done as a handler this year, only a small portion of these can really be counted as being in class with the dogs. We train them, we teach them, we clean them, we buy them treats, we clean up their poop, we pay attention to see if they’re hurt or sick, we attend fundraisers, we sell calendars and HOCKEY TICKETS (BUY THESE, I HAVE TO SELL THEM), we (ahem, I) stay out in a freezing haunted forest at night for 5 hours screaming our heads off to earn money, I’ve gone out of my way to curry favor for the club, I’ve talked to people I never would’ve initiated conversations with to make sure our image stays sparkling and even improves.

For a handler, it can seem like our lives revolve around the dogs. I can’t imagine what it’s like to be a foster. My days, and occasionally parts of my nights, are dependent on where the dogs need to go, who can babysit them, if I can take them to all of my classes, what kind of training should I do, etc., etc. It’s a hectic life.

Oden and his foster mommy, Amanda Rodriguez

A handler’s schedule (mine, in particular) might look something like this:

7:00 AM Wake Up

7:30 AM Walk the 20 minute walk to Oden’s foster’s house, get him dressed, ready, and grab any training supplies I might need. Leave in time to get to

8:30 AM Organic Chemistry, with Oden

10:20 AM Leave Organic Chemistry, train with Oden, eat, finish up any homework I might have procrastinated on, cuddle with Oden, train Oden some more, then meet with two other handlers. Give Oden to Kori, who gives Zorn to Mary, who gives Bobo to me. (This might be my favorite part of the day)

12:30 PM History with Bobo

2:30 PM Animal Communications with Bobo

4:20 PM Hang out / train with Bobo (cuddles required)

6:00 PM Drop Bobo off at his foster’s

6:00 PM – 12:00 AM: All homework, dinner, group meetings, other club meetings, emailing, scheduling, and studying.

Handlers-in-Training Kayla Boers (left) and Lauren Adamick (right) with
member Allison Kotleba (middle) and Oden (the dog)

Read between the lines, and basically I’m hanging out with a dog all day long. And there are NO complaints here. I have time with both of my guys, and they make classes a whole lot less stressful, in their own fluffy way.

No other way either of them would rather spend their day; Bobo and
his foster mommy Sarah Adam

It is, however, a LOT more challenging than you’d think. It’s time consuming, and frustrating, and sometimes downright makes you want to cry. I mean, when you have to teach a dog, no matter how smart, how to flip on and off a light switch… it’s not an easy thing.

It's a bit easier when we get to torture them back
They do not like the cones of shame.

We have to deal with pushy “animal rights activists”, angry students who miss their dogs and just want to pet the pups, difficult sponsors- the handlers have their work cut out for them. On top of all of that, there is an incredible amount of responsibility on every single handler’s shoulders. These dogs are being trained as something much more than a well behaved pet- they’re going to be giving people their freedom, and a sense of security that’s almost impossible to come by when suffering from a disability.

Dear Animal Rights Activists who tell us we abuse our dogs-
Yes. They are suffering so much.

Paula Gruenke and Tucker, a Viking Pups Gradute! Find his official page in the links below!

To use Bobo’s girl, Juls, as an example, Bobo will provide a kind of security to both Juls and her loved ones that would be impossible to find unless another person tailed her everywhere. With Juls’ William’s Syndrome, it must be a daily struggle for her, her parents, and anybody who cares about her to see her go somewhere on her own without a deep sense of worry and anxiety (William’s Syndrome comes with a lack of social inhibition, which could lead to Juls approaching people who may want to hurt her). It is the handler’s responsibility to make sure that Bobo will provide that security and comfort, and that he will do his job to the best of his abilities, even with a spacey sweetheart like Juls, who just wouldn’t have the heart or the attention span to keep him in check.

Tiny lil Oden and handler Colleen Murphy

Our baby boy Zorn might be going to a little girl who may very well be wheelchair bound for the rest of her life. Oden will likely be going to a paraplegic or quadriplegic who will not be able to do everyday tasks without his help. Cami will be a facility dog who might be working with children with disabilities or who have been abused in the past, and need her for comfort and a sense of protection. These dogs are going to be doing important jobs, and as handlers, it is our job to make sure that they can do theirs. It isn’t easy, and it’s a heavy job to take on yourself. It’s hard, time-consuming work. But it’s more worth it than anything else I can think of.

Meet some of our wonderful handlers with their adorable handl-ees:

Kori Marcum and Zorn!

Tucker and foster mommy Stephanie Dantino, now foster to our very
own Camicakes!

Mary, Sarah, and Stephanie with their kids

Ashleigh Hresan with Bobo

I’m incredibly proud to be a handler, and incredibly happy to be a member of this group. Thanks Mary and Allie and Ashleigh and Hilary, for making this a possibility here. You’ve done a wonderful thing for the school.

Mary Kiolbasa, Allie Roehrenbeck, and Ashleigh Hresan, who made this club happen.
Featured with ex-Viking Pups Augie and Thor, and tiny lil Oden in the middle!

Updates on All The Pups:

This week, the pups have had a wonderful photoshoot with the fabulous Lisa Francescon of Captured Moments Photography!

Look at these cuties.

Our partnership with the Quad Cities Mallards is doing amazing things for us, so please BUY THOSE TICKETS I WAS TALKING ABOUT!!!!

Quick Fixes:

Oden

Oden is working super hard on tug, he can now tug legs out of bed, open fridges consistently, and tug open just about anything. He can even pull off your hoodie. He’s also starting to learn names of objects! Oden back feets got hurt playing to hard on Tuesday- hopefully they’ll be better soon. We miss you on campus, pretty boy!

Bobo

Bobo is being his usual cuddly doofus self, making great progress on lap and cover. He hurt his paws playing with Oden, and hopefully he’ll be better just as fast as our golden boy. We can’t live long without our favorite cuddlebug! Bobo’s starting to work with his girl Juls outside of training as well! The two of them had two wonderful outings last week, shopping at the mall and playing in Happy Joe’s. They’re super cute together, so proud to see them working together so well!

Cami

Cami’s hard at work, learning settle, hug, and heel. Cami’s hugs have improved by millions of percents, but the thing she’s learning the most right now is how not to be a princess! Cami’s got a stubborn streak that will only break if she’s offered the right treat. This girl’s going to do a wonderful job wherever she goes, but she’s gonna make us work to get her there!

Zorn

Zorn, like Oden, is getting to be an absolute pro at tug! He’s tugging open fridges (touching them closed too!), cabinets, and drawers, and his settle is so professional you wouldn’t know he’s a puppy to watch him train. He’s having troubles adjusting to those gangly teenager legs of his, and he’s just not fitting into his favorite spots anymore, which is very upsetting to this lil man, his mom will tell you!

A special thanks to:

Iron Hill Retrievers