Today was Ebony’s first official day of school. She started a puppy class at the Aurora PetSmart with Jennifer as the trainer. I chose PetSmart because it was affordable, close by and Jennifer was enthusiastic to work with Ebony. I wanted to get an early start with some expert advice.

The class only had only other puppy enrolled in it and they did not make it to the first day of class. Ebony basically got an hour of personalized consultation and training. It was ideal that Jennifer had her big 3 year old Doberman with her that day. Jennifer was able to show me how to train Ebony with another larger dog around who really wanted in on that yummy treat action too! Since it was just us, we had the luxury of really focusing on some of our special needs within the context of their curriculum. My speech is sometimes impacted by my MS and we discussed using a clicker, hand motions and easier to manage words and phrases.

Their first class curriculum focuses on:

• nutrition
• house training
• socialization
• using a clicker
• getting the puppy’s attention
• word choice

With our needs, we spent a lot of time on attention, words and the clicker in general. It takes just a tiny bit of coordination, nothing for the able bodied but I had to concentrate on it. Jennifer was patient and considerate in working with me on timing the clicker and using it unobtrusively. I am pretty excited about this whole clicker thing!

As I have mentioned before, I am sometimes worried about how connected Ebony is to Fergus instead of me. I must say it was extremely rewarding to teach her “watch me”. Even with the “bribe” of the clicker/treat combo, it felt satisfying to see her whip her head around and focus on me even with Jennifer providing her with distractions. The other big highlight was “all done”. I have struggled in the past with communicating with Fergus when he could stop sitting or waiting for his treat or whatever. Training Ebony now that the task is done and that she is now “at ease” just makes sense. That was the part that she doesn’t understand yet but it will come.

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Today was a play day, full of company and fun.

I had been a little worried about how Ebony seemed to be much more connected to Fergus than to people. With four extra adults around and two kids, that didn’t seem to be an issue. She had a great time, running after the kids and snuggling with the adults. Alot of her play was still focused on Fergus, but she was eager to make sure that we were all watching. I have been playing with her by wrestling on the floor with her and her toys or throwing the ball for Fergus and she chasing him. It was nice to see the kids really run her around and wear her out.

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I feel a bit better today and Ebony slept in until 9am, woot!

She recognizes her name now and is getting pretty good at the come command. She is getting the hang of her leash now. Not at the level of heeling but she no longer digs in her back feet. She prances now on her leash. We did have an oops on the kitchen floor but that was my fault. I just couldn’t get going fast enough to get her out the back door.

Hopefully, I will feel better tomorrow and we can focus more on her training. Today was more of a play day for her as she and Fergus were working out their wrestling routine.

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I don’t feel well today and Ebony woke me up very early. After I took her outside to eliminate and that I fed her, I tried to get her back in her crate. I was exhausted and I had to get back to sleep. For the first time, she really whimpered and whined. I couldn’t sleep. I moved her to the large wire crate in the back yard and put Fergus outside with her. Usually he is enough to calm her down. She continued to whine, whimper and yowl.

Even in my basement bedroom, her cries kept me awake. I was desperate and beginning to doubt my ability to train her. Finally, I brought Fergus and Ebony into my bedroom and hoped she wouldn’t go nuts in my closet. Five hours later, I woke up to find them curled up around each other and pressed up against the edge of my bed. Fergus gets very clingy when I don’t feel well and will lay down as close as he can to me as long as I am lying down. Ebony just settled down and followed his lead. Nothing was chewed and there were no messes, thank goodness!

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Day three and we have been doing great so far on the house training. No elimination indoors. She whimpers while crated, when she wakes up and needs to go. To be totally honest, most of the “success” so far has been based on my predicting that she needs to go versus her asking to go out.

I trained Fergus by putting him outside every time after he drank, ate or woke up and he only peed inside the house once in 11 years. I am trying to remember when he was able to tell me when he needed to go outside. I do remember that we had bells for him to ring when he was a puppy and I will get her some bells soon. The book Goldendoodle (Designer Dog) by Kathryn Lee also talks about using bells to signal when to go out.

I have done some other reading on the web to brush up on my house training skills. BEFORE You Get Your Puppy is a free e-book by Dr. Ian Dunbar. The 73 page book is available here. I agree that it is important to learn about what you are getting yourself into before beginning a new puppy adventure. Some of the book is repetitive and it hits hard on the point that the training is the person’s responsibility. Some puppy “problem” behavior is actually natural canine behavior that can be redirected. The aspect that I have been focusing on is anticipating her need to eliminate and getting her outside. Every time she wakes up or drinks water, out the back door she goes. She gets a treat, praise and play when she has eliminated. With Fergus, I also let him out as soon as he ate but we are trying something a bit different with her food. Per the BEFORE You Get Your Puppy book, I am stuffing her Kong with her food and then wedging some bone shape treats in the opening so she has to work a bit and chew on her toy to get to her food.

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Once upon time I had a fantasy. I had this beautiful dream in which a new puppy would be easier to train because Fergus would be a shining example. He would demonstrate, she would follow.

Well, so far it hasn’t quite worked out that way. Fergus loves the sound of the “Good puppy” voice eagerly steps over her and gets in her way when I try to teach her to come. In trying to teach her to climb stairs, Fergus will gladly climb them and lay down between her and I. Potty training? He still remembers “potty” and will either pee inbetween us so I can’t give her a treat or once even peed on her when I say “good potty”. Separating them is problematic because I don’t want him to feel punished or left at. Locking him in a room while I run her outside for a potty break doesn’t feel like the best solution. If I put him outside while we work on building her confidence on the steps he whines and whimpers and his cries upset her. Thank goodness for a niece who will take him for a nice long walk tomorrow so Ebony and I can concentrate on training.

The good news is that really like each other. Ebony is very attached to Fergus and will not whimper at all as long as he is close by. He is very protective of her. In fact, last night it wasn’t Ebony that kept waking me up but it was Fergus. He woke me up everytime he heard her collar and tag clink as she rustled in her sleep in the crate. He would go back and forth between the crate and my bed, nudging me with that cold wet nose, until I would get up and check on her. Sweet, but I will think it is even cuter if we get more sleep tonight!

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Its a poodle! Its a golden retriever! Its black?

Ebony is a black colored Goldendoodle. Sired by a King, a black standard poodle and Blanche, a red colored golden retriever at Starview Kennels, Ebony won the relative smooth face of her mother and the curly ears and black coat of her father. Although Goldendoodles are considered a designer breed, they are also prized for their potential as service, guide and therapy dogs. The gold, red and apricot goldendoodles are often more popular than their black siblings because they retain the “golden” in goldendoodle. I am already the proud owner of a much beloved golden retriever, Fergus, and Ebony provides contrast in her temperament and shedding as well as color. In future entries, I will describe in more detail about why I chose a Goldendoodle and her in particular.

I have been living with multiple sclerosis for over 20 years. The last couple of years have been increasing difficult healthwise. There are times when I am extremely thankful for the ways that I have been able to train Fergus to assist me. About 18 months ago, I tried to find some more formal training for him but at the age of 10, no one was willing to help. Even with a younger dog, it can be difficult and extremely expensive to find a certified service training dog program. Most service dogs are trained by foster parents and then trained with the new owner at about 18 months of age.

In terms of finances, my desire to bound with a puppy companion and my gosh darn independence streak, it seemed reasonable to at least try to train Ebony to be like a service dog. It is not a journey that we are taking alone. We hope to work with other dogs and their owners, regular dog trainers etc. to help us find the way. This is not designed to be a replacement for a certified service dog, those are wonderful programs but not accessible to all. Instead, we hope that this blog serves as a resource and inspiration for those interested in Goldendoodles, service/guide/therapy dogs, dog training and/or multiple sclerosis.

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