Training “Tails”: Building Skills with a Future Speech Therapy Dog (Part 1-The First Months)
“But I can’t do that right now. I have to snuggle the puppy. It’s for my job,” I asserted.
My patient husband, recognizing a losing battle, gave up trying to get me off the couch and left me to the very hard work (wink wink) of bonding with our new pup, Zephyr.
Getting a puppy with hopes of working together in a professional role is always a bit of a gamble. As I detailed in Puppy Love and Selecting a New Speech Therapy Dog, Zephyr shows a lot of great therapy dog qualities at this point but has completely unknown genetics that could influence his adult temperament and drive. The goal is a future of animal-assisted therapy, but I’m doing my best to remain zen on the matter and follow his lead as he matures.
For now though, I’ve planned a three-part series of articles for the coming year to show how my priorities shift and build upon one another as we get closer to Zephyr actually starting work. And even if he ultimately doesn’t show an affinity for working as a speech therapy dog and remains solely a companion dog, I’ll still be able to show the progression of building a very strong, two-way bond with a dog that will enrich both our lives together forever.
(I’m not a dog trainer, so the following information is not intended as advice specific for your situation. Instead, this article is to show possibilities and provide you with food for thought as you progress in working with your own therapy dog partner, ideally with guidance from a professional dog trainer.)
So what are my priorities in these early months when Zephyr is still a puppy with a relatively short attention span, a rapidly growing body, and an open mind? In addition to lots of time bonding together, they are body handling, luring and socialization.
Let’s look more closely at why each of these are great targets to address early in a therapy pup’s life:
Animal-assisted speech therapy candidate Zepyr at about four months of age during a socialization outing to the beach.
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Accepting touch: a paramount to safe animal-assisted speech therapy
My therapy dogs partners have seen it all while working with highly impulsive kids. Even though I teach and reinforce good dog etiquette to every client and closely monitor all interactions, kids can be surprisingly fast.
While it’s rarely ill-intentioned, I’ve had kids :
grab my dogs around their necks for a tight hug,
grab a snout for smooch,
pull a whisker,
brush their hair the wrong direction up their spine, and
hold onto a tail or paw even as my dog pulls away.
Fortunately my therapy dogs have all learned that brief discomfort around having their body handled will be amply rewarded.
The goal is not to create a robotic dog that doesn’t respond to discomfort, but to build in a safety buffer for unforeseeable moments of distress. As their handlers, we must still read our therapy dog’s body language of distress and intervene as soon as possible, ideally preventing any real discomfort whether physical or mental. But if something does happen, our furry partners should know they can rely on us to stop the situation instead of taking matters into their own paws and reacting in a way that could pose harm to a client.
While the word “aggression” has a negative connotation, in reality it is simply a non-speaking being’s way of communicating a need for space or to reject something perceived as unpleasant. Regardless, we don’t want our speech therapy dog to feel the need to rely on aggression to get their own safety requirements met.
So how am I working on building in this safety buffer of tolerance with Zephyr? As part of our brief daily trainings I’m doing the following:
· Lifting his lips
· Very briefly grasping around his muzzle
· Lightly tugging each ear
· Lightly tugging his tail
· Touching between each toe pad and touching each nail
· Gently restraining around his neck and body in a brief but moderately tight hug
And after each of these, all of which are kept below a threshold of causing pain or fear, I am giving a lot of reinforcement with praise and treats (see some of my favorites here) followed by a brief break.
I’m also recruiting other trustworthy and familiar people to do one or more of these actions, after which I am again “throwing a party” in terms in providing positive reinforcement.
I always end these training components with a play break to keep the atmosphere light. I also make sure I’m not doing the actions in the same order each time, as real life doesn’t happen in a set order.
Fortunately, Zephyr came from a rescue foster home that clearly handled the puppies extensively and he has no inherent difficulties with any body part being handled. If he did however, I would break the challenge down into smaller steps just as I would with a child on my caseload that was struggling to grasp a concept.
Delta, for instance, came with an aversion to having her paws handled. We started with breaking down the behavior into treating and praising for allowing me to touch her lower legs, then the less sensitive top of her paw, then toes, then nails, and finally between her toes. She still struggles a bit with nail trims, but otherwise loves to offer a paw shake to people now.
And speaking of nail trims, I’m trying out teaching Zephyr to participate in cooperative care, where he calmly offers me his feet for nail trims to reduce the anxiety around this necessary chore. Having one dog at home who is very dramatic about nail trims, I’m determined to keep this from becoming an issue with my newest pup. He already offers his paws and I can get one to two nails at a time trimmed before treating and giving him a break with no signs of distress on his part. And he’s quickly learned to rest his chin in my hand to have morning goobers wiped out of his eye in exchange for a treat, making this daily chore a positive bonding ritual instead of a dreaded chore.
For more information on cooperative care, check out the Fear Free Pets website.
Following a hand: a key speech therapy dog skill
I use luring, or asking my therapy dog to follow my hand, daily at work. If it’s a new or unusual request I’ll have a treat in my hand, but Delta and Sky both know that even if I’m not holding a treat in the moment they’ll still be rewarded for going where I direct them. So teaching Zephyr that it’s good to watch me for directions and try out new behaviors is a priority for me.
In practice, this looks like holding a treat in my hand and asking him to step up on slightly elevated surfaces or step over small items like a broom stick on the ground. I have a hard rubber horse feed tray and an old aerobics step I move to different locations around my home to practice, but a wider board or short stepstool with good traction would work just as well.
Because his body is still actively growing I don’t want to risk damaging any growth plates by asking him to jump or risk him falling off a high or slick surface.
Therapy dog hopeful Zephyr shows off his ability to follow my lure onto a low platform. In time I will be able to shape this behavior into many skills that could be useful in future animal-assisted speech therapy sessions.
While I’m treating extensively with any new item to build his confidence, with more familiar items I can transition to calling his name and using my finger alone to direct him, praising and treating when he responds.
Eventually my plan is to evolve this into responding to cues such as “step” to get up on furniture as a trick or to do “paws up” and place his feet on the counter to encourage kids to wash their hands at the sink.
For now though, I’m happy to have him watch my hand and offer a response. He’s also building a work ethic and learning to focus for brief periods.
(Note: Zephyr is highly food motivated and not especially play driven, so I use treats to reinforce behaviors I’m teaching. However, some dogs are more motivated by a toy and that’s great, too. And pairing a tangible reinforcer like a treat or toy with praise helps build a positive association with praise so that down the road we’re less dependent on always having that item on hand while working with our therapy dogs.)
Building an extrovert: socialization for speech therapy dogs
A puppy’s greatest window for socialization is generally agreed to be between 3 to 16 weeks old, often before we even have them in our care.
If you’re obtaining a puppy from an experienced breeder who is dedicated to creating well-adjusted dogs, they’ve probably included safe outings and/or having a variety of people coming into the home to give the little ones positive exposures to new experiences. The Puppy Culture DVD set is a great source of information for breeders and puppy owners alike and even as an experience dog owner I learned a lot from watching it.
However, if you’re adopting a puppy or adult dog from a rescue organization you may have little information about their early weeks.
Regardless of the quality of care received during that very early critical socialization window, learning to be comfortable around new people and places continues to take place as your pup is growing. Thoughtful socialization outings are extremely important for dogs who may end up working outside the home with a variety of clients.
(As a side note, my primary speech therapy dog partner Delta was a young adult when adopted and was extremely anxious away from home for many months. It took a lot of work and help from our trainer and was often two steps forward one step back, but eventually she developed enough confidence to thrive at my solo private practice. Realistically, I doubt I could have ever gotten her comfortable enough to work in a busier environment like a school or hospital. So don’t despair if you’re dog is a bit shy, but realize there may be limitations that will need to be considered.)
One caveat I often see in dog training literature is to avoid “over-socializing”, though how much is too much is never defined and likely highly individualized to each dog.
As someone who tends to have a “more is more” outlook to life, it can be hard for me to find moderation. So I’m focusing on socializing often but in small doses and avoiding trigger stacking and flooding at all costs.
Zephyr shows off the relaxed temperament that drew me to him while visiting with kids at a local t-ball game as part of our socialization outings.
That means Zephyr is coming to with me any place I can run errands that allows leashed dogs. Fortunately in the very dog-friendly small town I live in that’s most non-food stores, but regardless of where you live home-improvement stores, livestock feed stores, and pet stores often allow dogs and may even have special treats at counters for their staff to hand out.
It also means I’m not running errands with a set agenda. While it’s not as efficient as I typically like, my focus is on Zephyr and exposing him in a positive, fun way to new people (store clerks, other customers), sounds (the paint mixer at the hardware store, shoes squeaking on a concrete floor, items dropped on the floor) and sights (automatic doors, the taxidermied animals in our hardware store, moving carts).
If I’m able to pick up a few items I actually need that’s great, but I’d rather stop what I’m looking for and give my full attention to my pup at a moment’s notice, watching his body language to make sure he’s calm and confident.
If he’s looking at all anxious, I’m moving a bit farther away from the person or item that has his attention until he calms down (using a re-assuring voice and touch but not hovering) until he builds his confidence and can move a bit closer to get a treat. The goal is to keep him in the Zone of Proximal Development, where he is being slightly challenged but not overwhelmed. We then move on quickly so Zephyr learns to trust I’m not going to overwhelm him.
It also means I’m on the lookout to meet a variety of people, which sometimes looks a bit like stalking as I follow someone down an aisle hoping to catch their eye to invite them to meet Zephyr.
People of different sizes, races, and those with mobility devices or wearing hats are my biggest targets. As a naturally shy person this is the hardest part of puppy raising for me, but I know the benefits are worth it in the long run.
Most people love greeting dogs, but not all do, and I’m respectful of that. However I’m trying not to pull Zephyr away from anyone as I don’t want to discourage his extorversion. Instead I try to just change course, call his name and pat my leg to get him hurrying back to me.
I also encourage treat-feeding but show everyone how to give Zephyr a treat in their palm (“like a hand plate”) to discourage him from learning to nip or grab.
And as his stamina increases with age, I’m starting to pair a 10-15 minute “town” outing with a rewarding walk in nature both to build even more positive associations with leaving home and to expose him to a variety of surfaces, sights, and sounds.
Additional benefits of socialization outings for your speech therapy dog hopeful
A lot of outings also means a lot of opportunities to practice the basic manners you’re working on at home in new settings and with distractions. Since Zephyr is still young and my primary goal is to instill of love of experiencing new places and people, I don’t let myself get too concerned about perfect execution. But I am asking him for:
· a brief “wait” before exiting the car--key to safety in parking lots and also carried over to doorways and thresholds he’s not to cross in the office someday,
· brief sits and downs with praise and treats for relaxation (as opposed to reinforcing a crisp, square obedience competition sit or down)
· response to his name or a “watch me” cue so he starts to understand he is working when in public
All the car rides help him learn that travel is a great time to rest and conserve energy, which will be helpful when a full day of work lies at that end of that car ride.
Zephyr practices a brief “wait” before exiting the car when I give the “ok” signal. This skill can keep a speech therapy dog safe not only in the work parking lot, but also staying in the office as doors are opening. I also use it when exiting the restroom in my building’s lobby so as not to startle anyone waiting in the hallway who might not expect (or appreciate) a dog running out to greet them.
My Johnny Utah never fully relaxed in the car and as he aged it made work days that much longer and stressed his energy capacity more. (To hear more about working with a senior dog, check out my appearance on the Therapy Dog Australia podcast, Season 4 Episode 6).
I also plan quick errands where I leave Zephyr alone in the car (with a special longer lasting treat to build in a positive association with independent waiting), such as dropping off library books, to give him practice with brief separations. I know from experience there will be times at work when I will have to close him in my inner office room alone while managing a client and don’t want this to impact his welfare or cause additional problems.
As a side note, I have had one dog in the past that routinely got car sick. After discussing it with my vet and trainer this did not seem like an anxiety response on his part, but actual motion sickness. An inexpensive over the counter medication given a half-hour before car rides did the trick and he eventually outgrew the condition.
However, car sickness can sometimes indicate extreme anxiety and/or negative associations with going new places. If this is the case you need to consult a trainer or behaviorist to go very slowly through desensitization to outings and consider if your dog’s temperament is actually suited for working outside the home. See Unslumping with a Team for more on professionals to consult on therapy dog handling issues).
So for the next few months that’s what Zephyr and I will be working on as a team, building his confidence with new experiences while I get more attuned to his communication signals and what best motivates him.
Be sure to follow us on Instagram @Speech_Dogs and Facebook @Speech Dogs to see periodic updates on Zephyr’s progress. More details on the skills that are helpful can be found in the book Paws for Progress: Integrating Animal-Assisted Interventions Into Your Speech-Language Pathology Practice and the course Talk to the Paw: Foundations for Therapy Animal Inclusion in a Professional Setting.
And if you are working with a future speech therapy dog yourself, please send me a quick email about how it’s going. I love to see everyone’s animal partners and build community within this niche field!
May your day be filled with puppy wiggles and children’s giggles,
Sharlet
