CADENCE continues to make progress as she works on learning and perfecting all skills needed for a potential career as a Bracing Service Dog. Right now, Cadence is working on a behaviour where she provides forward momentum to help a client stand from a seated position and is practicing getting that skill reliably on cue. Cadence is spending lots of time working in a lightweight bracing harness and is practicing having her harness held and walking as a counterbalance for a client who may have issues balancing. Cadence is also working on sharpening her basic service skills like ‘button’ and retrieve and is working on more complicated retrieve games like retrieving her food dish at mealtime and finding and retrieving a walking cane from various places around the house and even outside! We hope to have Cadence ready for pre-placement testing in the next couple of months and look forward to sharing more successes soon!
- Skills being learned: ‘Pull’, ‘button’, retrieve, adding more difficult items and environments, counterbalance, ‘step’
- Recent field trips: Various field trips as needed with her advanced sitters
- Possible behavior challenges: Separation anxiety
- Advanced training location: Burnaby/Lower Mainland – Satellite
- Potential career path: Assistance Dog
Thank you again for all your support of Advanced Dog Cadence!
Submitted by: Training Program Manager Margaret Hicks