She's Kind of a Big Deal.

Lottie and her new friend, Luke the Picard Shepherd puppy

Lottie blew me away at camp.  Not only did she pass her Dog Scout test, she also managed to get her badge for Obstacle 1 in Agility. I’m honestly having a hard time reminding myself that her sight is so limited, I find myself wondering if her sight could actually be improving?  I have to remember back to when I first met her almost 6 months ago, when she crashed into so many things, and watched the ground all the time, never looking up at me.  Now she looks up towards me, but it’s because we have worked to get her head up into that position with treats.  She still crashes into things when she is unfamiliar with an area.  And I’m finding as I work with having her follow my hand, that she is actually working off of scent and not sight.  But she sure fools me and everyone else into thinking she can see quite well!  Amazing, and a testament to resiliency.

So many things to write about Lottie’s progress at camp, and also about my progress in understanding her, I’ll likely be posting on this stuff for months.  I’m so excited not only for what she has learned and accomplished, but also for how little effort it took on my part to get her there.  I was teaching and managing five other dogs, so I didn’t concentrate on her like I would have liked, yet she still did better than expected.

I was concerned about her DSA test, since we didn’t make much progress by the end of the first camp in June, but by early in the week this time, it was obvious she would be able to pass.  Her “stay” at a distance of 20 feet was something that we worked on previously in classes and at the first camp without much progress, but it was like she suddenly understood what I wanted.  She is very adorable in a “stay” – just lying there, 20 feet away, waiting patiently for me to return. I’ll have to get a picture . . . . anyway, once she understood this, everything else fell right into place. She’s a very smart girl. 

LEAVE IT – I touch the top of her nose.

SIT – two taps on her rump

DOWN – two taps on her shoulder blades

STAY – I touch the front of her nose

COME – I touch under her chin, and then use the palm of my hand to guide her.  I realized that I probably don’t need to guide her with my hand, because I think she is tracking me.  She lowers her nose to the ground to follow me.

HEEL – she starts in a “sit” at my side, and then I use my hand at my side as a target as I walk to get her to follow at my side and turn with me.  When we stop, she sits.

The great and amazing thing Lottie did for me at this camp was to get her Agility Obstacle One badge.  To do this, she had to navigate the A frame, a jump, and a tunnel on the agility course.  She had learned to do the small A frame at the last camp, and she didn’t forget a thing in the 3 weeks between camps.  I took her out to the course, and she went right up the A frame like a pro.  So then I tried her on the larger A frame, but again, no problem.  Up and over.  Even managed to slow her down at the bottom to hit her contact zone.  The tunnel was easy.  She went right through if I sent Tango through first, but to get her to go through on her own I had Angela’s help.  Angela held her at one end; I went to the other and enticed her through with cheese.   Just a few times and she had that.  Then the jump.  Angela and I tried setting her up, telling her to stay, and then I would go to the other side of the jump and “call” her over with a chin touch signal.  She would come, but crashed each time into the bar, not even attempting to jump.  Then we tried her on a panel jump that had small stabilizing bars in front and behind the jump, on the ground about 6 inches out.  She seemed to key off of the bar on the ground, and leaped right over!  I added another panel, so that she was jumping about 12”, and she had no problem.  I need to get some PVC pipe to make a jump like this for home.  She is so amazing and brave. One night I took a shower in the lodge late, and had to navigate back to my camper in blackness.  It was kinda unsettling, feeling my way slowly across the yard in darkness, using my hands and feet to feel for obstacles in my way as I walked really slowly and carefully.  It struck me that Lottie must have times when she cannot see what is in front of her, and yet she never lets it get to her, she charges forward with interest and joy in everything new that is presented to her.  So often she is MY teacher, and not the other way around.

So now Lottie Moon is the first deaf/blind Dog Scout.  Next, we’ll have to get her to pass her Canine Good Citizen test from the AKC.  It is not as difficult as the DSA test, but similar, so it should not be any problem for her.  After that, Therapy Dog.  I understand that TDI has lifted their ban on deaf dogs, so we can now show them how awesome deaf dogs can be.

Resting with big brother Punch
right before going up to get her Dog Scout
certification.  One day she will have
lots of badges like Punch :-)