Hearing Dog Training

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2010/04/23/national/a150644D83.DTL

One of the things every SD trainer explains to potential clients is that Hearing Dogs and other SDs are not Lassie. They are not capable of understanding dangers and thinking as humans do. They will not substitute for a human babysitter, and fetch the parents when a child is in danger.

But the "Lassie" TV show was based on tales of dog heroism and genius throughout history. And pretty frequently dogs do unexplainable things like "Buddy" of this news story; he left his injured owner trying to fight a fire in a remote area of Alaska, found a police car, and led it back to the fire.

There are several ways to train a dog to react this way. Since most dogs are not capable of these kind of deeds independently, we can train them to react to unusual situations by alerting us.

The first step is to watch your dog and note its body language and ear movements. If you notice your dog being curious or puzzled, ask it to come to you to Touch.

Asking the dog to Touch means you have distracted the dog from its emotions, and given it a task to do. This causes the dog to feel more secure, and less upset. It also breaks the dogs focus on the environment and returns it to you. Then it is up to you to figure out what is happening, and what to do about it.

Do NOT ask the dog to Touch if it is acting fearful or aggressive. You do not want to reward hysterical barking, or aggressive or fearful behavior. That will make it much worse. Stop the behavior immediately, and keep the dog focused on you. Do not allow the dog to stay in the situation if fear or aggression is involved. If you tell a dog to Touch, and give it treats or praise for interrupting its fearful or aggressive behavior, it will learn to do these behaviors simply because it associates them with you calling it back to reward it. I have seen many dogs that lunge and bark at other dogs or people, keeping one ear turned back toward the owner, ready to return eagerly and get a treat. Fearful or aggressive behavior needs professional help from a trainer with proven success in these areas.

If it is a dangerous situation for the dog (such as a rattlesnake) then you have diverted the dog back to safety. Most dogs need US to protect them from danger. Very few have the right instincts to deal with poisonous snakes, except perhaps for Donna the Dingo, who possibly knew instinctively exactly how to kill or avoid snakes.

It is a great stress for devoted K9 police or military handlers when they must send their dog into certain danger. The dog's function is supposed to prevent human officers from harm, but one handler I know has never gotten over the heartbreak of having her beloved Shepherd stabbed during an arrest.

Hearing Dogs are selected for a non-aggressive and non-protective temperament. Laws allowing them into public areas mean that the public should be safe from dog bites. Hearing Dogs should not react aggressively to situations like a stranger hugging the partner, or a child hitting the dog. Nevertheless, many of them have still protected their partners in truly dangerous situations.

Simply asking the dog to Touch whenever you notice an unusual situation can build up the dog's response to an automatic alert to you whenever it feels cautious, curious, or puzzled. This response will become a strong habit. You will be alerted to some odd things, like hummingbirds, or spiders crawling on the wall. And occasionally, you might be alerted to a neighbor lying unconscious, a flood in the basement, a gas leak in a car, or an impending earthquake.

Training the Name Call is essential in giving the dog a behavior to perform when someone needs help. (Name Call training coming soon). The dog can be sent to contact its partner, or another person, and then return.

No matter whether all or none of the people involved is Deaf, this is a useful behavior. This is what Buddy did, with no training. But almost any dog can learn Name Call. It is fun for the dog, and when the called person returns to the caller, the dog experiences the reward of having its family group united in one place. This is very important for social animals, and I always suggest a little group howl or the human equivalent (an excited hugging and happy voice with both people and dog). Dogs still possess many of the pack instincts of wolves, and often are stressed when the human pack is physically separated. "Name Call" taps into these instincts and therefore the training is easy.