New Comer

New happenings while I took a long blog brake is we have a new comer :) Brought this pretty German shepherd mix home to foster and would like to keep her. We shall see if it is meant to be. One problem we have had to deal with is that she has learned to jump the fence. So we are working on different ways to keep her from doing that. Another thing is she does jump up on you so working on stopping her from doing that. I have taught her to sit and lay down. We are going to need to work on the stay. Another thing I want to teach her right now is to walk beside me when we go for walks.

So training goals the rest of this month are : Stay, Heel, and down.

Frosty had a long brake from training and it is time to get back to it. This months goal is to "bring it". Things she already knows is sit, stay, lay down, roll over and most important he reminds me to check his buds blood sugar. Have a great day and thanks for stopping by Simply Superb Dogs :)

Are You There

We are still here :) It has been a while since I posted! Things are going good with our Frosty. Things we were working on he has now gotten better and Frosty continues to stick by my little guys side.

One of the issues Frosty had before is that he would guard my little guys food. Would make sure everyone would "leave it" (even empty plates at times) but would jump at the chance to NOT "leave it" himself like if my little guy would walk away from his food. Now he does so much better in that area. I often can walk up to my son when he has his plate and Frosty doesn't act all possessive of his food or plate. He still has his days but not nearly as much.

Frosty continues to be a superb dog as he sticks by my now 7 year old son who has T1 diabetes. Where ever my son is he is usually close by. In fact when my son is not there, Frosty will whine for him. This past summer we went on a vacation without Frosty. Frosty stayed home with my husband. He whined and whined for my little guy. He missed his bud.

Here is a picture of Frosty looking for his best bud. I had come home without my little guy which was unusual. He was visiting some friends. Frosty just kept looking and waiting for his bud to come through the door. Frosty was disappointed. LOL

Hope you enjoyed my update and hope to share many more posts as I get back to sharing and training. Thanks for stopping by Simply Superb Dog :)

An Alert Ignored?!

So yesterday Frosty alerted me to check my little mans BG. His blood glucose was high. So gave my little man an insulin correction. Great job Frosty for getting my attention!! Then a little bit later Frosty started trying to get my attention again. He didn't want to go out. I am like I know I know his his BG is high. Since he was given insulin his high was being taken care of. So I didn't check BG again and was like good dog, good dog I know his BG is high. He continued to try and get my attention. I just ignored him. Finally he stopped trying to get my attention. A couple minutes later my little man said I don't feel very well. I checked my little mans BG and it was 51... he was low!! If I had of checked when Frosty was alerting instead of assuming it was the high BG from before I would have 'caught before his BG got to 51. Next time will check his BG and NOT ignore. This even made Frosty give up on getting my attention which I don't want when it comes to alerts to my little mans BG's. Thanks for stopping by Simply Superb Dog :)

Good Calm

Okay so one of Frosty's not so good behavior is he tends to guard my little guys food. If he has food Frosty will hardly let you get near him. Though I am happy to say I am seeing so many improvements. I have gotten close to my little man a few times while he was eating today and Frosty stayed calm. So many "good calm" said to Frosty and treats given for such good behavior. Next I will work with him when the little guy is eating something really meaty and flavorful and have a high value treat ready for Frosty's "good calm" Remember if you have issues with your dog there is more than likely a way to change the behavior with positive reinforcement and redirecting your dogs behavior that is good for everyone involved. For me I am remembering Triple P. Positive reinforcement, patients, and perseverance. I am finding these three things are the key. :)

What I Learned Today During Frosty's Training Session

The kind of treats and hand gestures do make a difference. This morning I was trying to get Frosty to "lay down" and he just wouldn't do it. I got him to do it once before a few days ago but couldn't seem to get him to do it this morning. I remember hearing from various trainers to change up the treats. Also to use some favorites for harder tricks. I guess this one was a harder trick for Frosty or he just didn't care to do that one. Anyway I bought some other treats. Then started working with Frosty again. He still didn't seem to get it but did seem much more eager. Then I held my hand different than previous times. Kind like how you hold your hand for the game, rock paper scissors. I brought my hand down and said "lay down" and he did it, he did it. LOL I now know what his sign for lay down is. We did that over and over again and even did some "roll overs". I also learned to spread out the training session or else they will be like what ever. With full bellies of treats they just aren't going to work so hard and will lose interest. Well that is all for today. Frosty had a busy day of alerting and training. Time for bed :)

An Accomplishment

Frosty and our Little Bear tolerating each other...this is AMAZING! :)

These guys did NOT get along. Often had to separate the two. They are now able to be around each other more and more.

Some Of The Things We Are Working On

Sit

Lay Down

Roll Over

Good Dog :)

Hello and Good-Night :)

Hello so here we are with this weeks training plan. So important.. It is so important to train with your dogs everyday especially if you want him to be a service dog. Though any dog and his family would benefit. Positive training helps the dog do something with there energy that is rewarding for both the dog and human. When we bring a dog in our homes we can't expect them to be like humans but we can teach them things that make it NOT like we are all living in a barn. Working on turning this barn into a home for us all :) We can become irritated with are pets behavior a lot of times it is no fault to the dog they are simply being a dog. If we decide to have a pet we need to take the time to train them how to behave. Even just a little bit of time, a day can go a long way. I must say I have NOT always spent each and every day training with Frosty. Life does happen and there are just times where we are pulled away with other tasks at hand. Just our normal busy daily schedules and then the unexpected like a family member passing away or a family member becoming ill can really slow our progress. Thankfully we can pick back up when we can and when it is best for our family All we need to do is pick back up where we left off. That is what I am doing now really going to get back to training and DAILY.One thing that is a must to keep at is teaching Frosty NOT to guard my little mans food. When he is eating you can't come near him without Frosty growling or coming at you. Then we will also work on something just for fun for this week. So two things I will be working on... One Food (bad) behavior What I am doing is I sit next to my little guy while he is snacking with treats in my hand. When I do this Frosty doesn't guard my little guys food. I treat Frosty as we sit. I will do this everyday for maybe around 10 days. Then some time after that will try and sit by my son without a treat when he is eating and see how Frosty does. I will try and report how it goes. For fun I plan on "capturing" something he does already. He often bows or stretches. I taught a previous service dog we had (Shiloh) to bow on command. I too plan on teaching Frosty to do the same. As soon as I see Frosty bow I will treat her and eventually saying the word then to make the command. Frosty will love this because that means more treats, treat, treats :) One thing I have never stopped doing is working those alerts. Frosty does great and I know that she will just continue to do better and better as time goes on. I will let you know how things progress.... Thanks for stopping by Simply Superb Dogs Frosty and the little man says good-night :)

Sticks around In Sickness and In Health

A little while back the little guy had the flu or what ever is going around for about a week. Frosty stayed close by. The above picture is when he started feeling bad Frosty there close by. Frosty stick around in sickness and in health :)

The little man feeling great as he does all his computer stuff and Frosty of course sticking around :) Simply Superb Dog

Alert @ Home Dog...Still Alerting

Wow it has been a while since my last post, sorry about that. Life does get you going in so many directions. Faith, family, friends,work, loss,ups and downs often can pull you away from "plans" Though I am still kicking :) and so is our little Frosty.

Frosty continues to be our alert at home dog. I continue to need to work on working with him daily as much and as regularly as possible. One thing that he has learned since we brought him home is not to jump at me when I give my little man his insulin shot. Frosty now is very good about staying right there with us and not jumping. He waits while I give it to him. Then he know a reward comes next much like on his alerts letting him know that this is a very good and important thing for my little man. He pretty much was great since the beginning with the bg checks always staying close by and was like he just knew that he needed the bg check. Was not real bad with when I gave him shots just would jump on me a little so had to hold him or get someone else to. Now I don't have to do that at all. Frosty continue to be attentive to the little man. The little man and I just love our simply superb dog :) Thanks for stopping by. Again I will try and post more often...New year new beginnings..have a simply superb day :)

A Reminder

Ok so our camping trip was a reminder that there is a lot of work to be done with Frosty. He defiantly put his guarde dog on. Positive reinforcement will for sure always be my method. I really like and agree with a lot of what Victoria Stilwell says on training your dog with positive reinforcement. I plan to watch at least one training video a day and spend at least 15 minutes (for starters) a day with Frosty. I too want to start taking him with us places more to get use to a lot of differen't people and situations. I was not sure I wanted to do that because he does get guard dog like and I don't want him to act like that around others but I think it will help him get better. I won't be taking him out as a "service dog" but as our pet and companion in training. Again I must stress as I have in other posts is I will not be bringing him around as a service dog at least not until he is fully trained and has 0 aggression. Before I ever really even weigh that possiblity. For now he is a diabetic alert dog IN TRAINING, pet/companion for my little man and simply a superb dog :) I hope to get better at posting more often and I thank you for stopping by.... Simply Superb Dogs

Frosty Goes Camping

I wish I could say our camping trip was a great success with Frosty. I really exspected him to do a lot better. He very much had his guard dog on. Barking and such at famlies around us and at another dog. He was pretty much good and quiet in the tent but when out, attack mode. A reminder that we really MUST work with him every single day. A reminder that things don't just happen over night that they take time and work. These dogs are worth the work and time, when we got home he alerted to some high BG's that my little man had. He put his sweet attentive dog on and does this often. Since there is still much work to be done he does NOT have the title of a service dog. I need at least two good years with him before I can even see if he can have that title. Though I can say he is a diabetic alert dog because he does alert to high and low bg's. Even so there is still need of work in that area as well. So got to come up with a plan. Maybe watch a training video every day. Take Frosy out to friends and family more. Continue to focus on turn off the guard dog in him if that is possible. There is other work to be done in training in obediance and such. But this is the greatest need so this is where my focus is. A good thing is often a hard road, we must learn to persevere so thanks for stopping by Simply Superb Dogs as I hang on, continue to move forward and grow and learn with Frosty the Snow Dog.

Frosty Finding his "Place"

We have been focusing on teaching Frosty "place" or as my little man says base :) This way I can have him stay in his spot when needed. When there is food around, when someone knocks on the door, when he needs time out so on and so forth. Also this will be very helpful when we go out somewhere. Here is Frosty finding his "place" :) He is getting better and better.

He is learning to wait as well. Good job Frosty the Snow Dog! Thanks for stopping by Simply Superb Dogs hope you come again.

A Boat With Four Legs :)

Several days ago it was those hopeless feeling kind of days. To much focus on the negative and not enough on the positive. Anyway I went to let Frosty in from being outside. He did his usual dash for the little man and checked on him. Frosty came running in where I was. Jumped up on me several times. I said, "Do we need to check?" He jump on me a few more times then ran for the little man as I followed. I went to the little man he was playing his DS. I touched his hands and they were sweating. Then I went for the meter as Frosty stayed close by and jumping up. I checked the little man, his BG was low....it was 63!!! I had checked him not that long ago and BG was great so would not have checked him again so soon if it weren't for Frosty. I was so excited that was such a clear alert and right on. Gave the little man a snack and treated Frosty and gave them both much loving!!! Then thanked G-d, I was reminded of how great our G-d is and the hope we have in HIM and the many tools HE uses to help us along the way to tell us HE is with us and is listening. HE is our provider, our protector, our shelter in every storm. Watch for a boat that HE will surely bring, you never know it might have four legs ;)

High BG's and Guard Dog Elavation

As I have written before unfortunately there are times Frosty has his guard dog on. This seems to be elevated when food is around (which is really bad for a service dog) so I am doing some things to turn that around which I will share in future posts. I am also finding that it seems that his guard dog tendencies seem to be elevated when my son blood glucose level are high. This morning he put his guard dog on as I walked toward the little man so I went and got the meter and he calmed down as I checked his BG. My sons BG was 400!! I am going to check his BG in 30 minutes to see if it has gone down because he has already been given insulin and his BG's are elevated. Making sure it goes down and that we don't have bad insulin. Anyway I am finding more and more that when Frosty gets his guard on and there is no food around the little man BG's are high. I will be looking at that more closely and will work towards teaching him to channel that energy elsewhere to alert me. He does calm down when I pick up the meter and go to check my sons BG's. He never discourages me from checking my sons BG's and wags his tell with excitement as I check him, that is awesome!!! Frosty the Snow Dog is so very attentive to my son this shows me he really is perfect for his job. Even so he is not without negative behavior that needs to be worked on consistently with positive reinforcement. That is all for now thanks for stopping by.

Thinking about titles "Service Dog" etc, etc...

On this journey I think about the titles "service dog" , "diabetic alert dog" and "superb dog". Is Frosty at this very moment all three of these? I would say yes and no. Since he is an adult dog and has that big dog inside a little dog... (guard attitude)sometimes, and I have only had him for a couple of months, he is not "service dog" in PUBLIC ready yet. I will take him to as many "dogs allowed" events at this time to get him use to many area's and situations. I do not want to mistakenly and prematurly give him that "service dog" title and give the "service dog" world a bad image or more struggles. There are times that people give people with "service dogs" such a hassle I do not want to add to that. So I plan to have Frosty fully trained before I go out into the public as a "service dog" I could take him out as a "service dog" because he is helping my son and a service to us in catching those BG's but I know for us and our dog personally he is not ready for that title. If your seeking to train your dog to be a service dog be sure to educate yourself, find support from those with experience and get some professional guidance. I do see Frosty as a "Diabetic Alert Dog" in training. He does alert me to high and low blood glucose levels from time to time. This is my greatest need is for him to alert me in my home especially in the middle of the night. Our dog from the shelter is already doing that already accomplishing his greatest purpose. A "superb dog" yep Frosty is that...everything rolled up into one. As he alerts me and looks after my son and learns obedience he IS Simply a Superb Dog :) All is a working progress as we learn and grow together. Hope you journey along with us you can also follow us on FB Simply Superb Dogs and be sure to Have a simply superb day :)

Missing D.A.D.'s

Had a scare yesterday. I couldn't find Frosty and saw that the back door was wide open. My other dog lets herself in and she forgets to shut the door LOL (need to teach her that one :) Anyway I called and called for her in the back. Frosty is so little he can get through small spaces. I called for him looked all around and could not find him. I drove around..still no Frosty. Prayed and prayed that I would find him. Went to the back again and no Frosty. So I went back in the house got my shoes on and thought I would look down the alley opened the back door and there was our Frosty!! So glad he is not gone...was so worried that another precious D.A.D. was taken from us.

Speaking of precious D.A.D.'s... Shiloh our D.A.D. that we got from an organization that we no longer have(they took her back they say because of breach of contract), turned a year old this month. Happy Belated Birthday Shiloh where ever you are....We miss and love you so much!!!!! Shiloh resting at my Moms house right before it was time to meet with the trainer...right before they took her away.

When we first got our precious Shiloh and our visit to the fire station. It is amazing she once was that little :)

The Great Blood Glucose Catcher Strikes Again

Frosty the Snow Dog the great BG catcher strikes again...Not once but twice in a row. This morning Frosty comes to me then back to the little man licking him then back to me like check my boy. I check him he was low with a 69...Great catch!! Juiced the little guy then went about my business. Frosty again came up to me and then ran to my 17 year old son who was sleeping. Jumped on top of him and started licking his face. I had him check, BG high! Correction made....Great catches Frosty!! Thanks for stopping by Simply Superb Dogs...please be sure to visit and "like" our FB page http://www.facebook.com/pages/Simply-Superb-Dog/236922543082038

Attentive D.A.D. in Training

More training for Frosty...moving on to more basic training and focusing on "Leave it", "come" while outside, and would like to take Frosty's "guard the little man" mode down a notch. His siblings at times can hardly get near him just to pick something up without Frosty putting his big guard dog on. LOL Nope Frosty is NOT perfect but he is perfect for my little man. Even though I think it is very interesting the Frosty wants to guard my 4 year old diabetic son it is not a good thing for the rest of the family so we will need to work on that. What is cool though is that Frosty always runs to my four year old when I go to check his blood glucose. He allows me to do it and just sits and watches. I did not train him to do this he just does it, really amazing. He also comes running when I come to give him his shot. Though at shot time I do have to say wait and keep him away. He may NOT be the perfect "service dog" (due to some aggressiveness) at the time but he is the perfect diabetic alert dog because is always right there for my son and is so attentive to him. Thanking G-d for our Simply Superb Dog an attentive D.A.D. in training.

Frosty's Tuesday Training 7/3/2012

SIT

STAY

OKAY

ALL DONE

AFTER A BUSY DAY