Miracle Dog and Yahaloam’s Lessons

Hello everyone!

I’ve gotten a *few* texts asking how Yahaloam’s first night home went, and the answer is it went very well! There was a bit of whining when I put him in his crate, closed the door, and climbed into bed, but not as much as I’d have expected from his first night in a new place. We also had a few accidents, but, hey, he’s a puppy. (And, to be fair, he had given us cues, we just didn’t understand them.)

Mom has said she’s gotten a few messages asking when I’m going to post my next update. I understand that; I’d want to know too. However, I will say, this is my first experience with a puppy and it’s not unlike childcare at church; watching what’s going on is more of an active activity than you’d think. I mean, he’s a puppy, right? Just a cutie-pie with big ol’ paws and ears? Well, yes–and they’re adorable!–but he’s also a puppy and interested in a lot that he really shouldn’t be. Namely, the trash–though, that may be because we had chicken for dinner last night–, the fridge, and the dishwasher. So… places with FOOD. Because of this, my mind’s been more on him than what to post. But, he’s sleeping, and I now understand the relief of nap time. AKA I-get-stuff-done-time. 🙂

Another question we’ve been getting a lot of is ‘when does he start training?’. Weeeell… we drove to Abilene to pick him up Sunday after not very much sleep Saturday night. We started the two and a half hour drive at about 8 o’ clock in the morning. I was able to pet and meet him, speak with his previous caregiver, and marvel at how he was being handed from one redhead to another. We took the two and a half hour ride home after not seeing much of Abilene. I told him to ‘load up’ to get in the car, and as soon as we were in I started getting him to recognize his new name. On the way home he got a few commands, too. After he fell asleep in the back I made my way up front, and he shortly managed to wriggle up between the two front seats and sleep most of the ride home. Once we arrived, training started in earnest. 🙂

He’s very food motivated, meaning training is pretty simple with him. You offer him a treat and he’ll figure out what you want just fine. I’ve had him home for about 25 hours as of writing this and he’s able to Name Game, Sit, Down, Wait, Stand, Come, Wait for Food, and Under on command pretty well. (Credit where credit’s due: Miss Rose taught him Sit and Down pretty well before I got him. I could not train him without Ms. Amanda’s instruction and willingness to answer all my [amateurish] questions.)

Since Yahaloam is training to be a Service Dog, some of the commands I will be sharing now and in the future aren’t exactly… how do you say… common in civilian training. Therefore, I will do my best to explain.

Name Game. If someone said your name, what would you do? Give them your attention. Usually. If you hear them. And aren’t trying to ignore them. Name Game is the same. If I say his name, I want him to look up at me and give me his attention.

Sit. [Lay] Down. Come. I figure these are all pretty common in training, yeah? No, I’m literally asking. My only other dog was Daisy and she didn’t do much, and when she did… I’m now realizing she was a dominant little sucker so training wasn’t going to happen. The only other dog I’ve “had” was Ozzy and he knew this stuff but wasn’t all that interested in doing it on command.

Wait. This is like Stay, except you DO NOT call an SD out of Stay. Wait? Sure. The way this works with Yahaloam specifically is that he has found out where I keep his food, and that tote is EXTREMELY interesting to a certain puppy. So, when I feed him, I tell him to sit and wait while I open the tub and serve up his food. Thiiiiis usually only works after we’ve been training for a little while, and even then it’s a catch-22. But, hey, I’ve had him for pretty much a day, so the fact that he does it AT ALL gets him praise.

Stand is to get the dog from a sitting position to a standing position. Maybe from a laying position to a standing one, too, but Yahaloam isn’t quite there yet. …is this one common in training, or not? Because I can see it both ways, but, again, my former dog training experience is pretty much nil.

Wait for food. This one is probably one of the two hardest for Yahaloam to get. After I’ve put food in his bowl, he’s supposed to stay sitting as I put his bowl on the floor. If his butt comes off the floor, I lift it again. He’s supposed to wait for me to indicate he should eat, and he’s doing well, but… well, like I said above, food-motivated. 🙂

Under. This command isn’t so much a command as something he’s just supposed to learn to do regularly. He lays down by my chair at meals and just… chills out. No begging, no staring awkwardly. Basically he’s supposed to fall asleep without going unconscious, if that makes sense. This is the second of the two hardest ones for Yahaloam as it deals with food. And not just any food, human food. Oh, the torture! Except it really isn’t, because he seemed to get it the first time I tried it with him, so if Miss Rose is reading this and you helped with that… THANK YOU! And if you didn’t… well, miracle, right?

As far as regular behavior training goes, we’re working on nipping and keeping bathroom visits OUTSIDE. Buuuut, baby, puppy, patience, blah blah blah.

That’s about all for the training, so… PUPPY PICTURES! 🙂

But, he is SO sweet, and adjusting so well. He’s settled into his new home quicker than anticipated and is very curious and seems to think touching me is a necessity for daytime naps.

If you give him a ball, he’ll parade around with it as proud as a pony on parade. But then it’ll fall out of his mouth because it’s too big for him and he’ll chase after it; playing fetch with himself. It is freaking adorable!

So, yep. That’s my new doggy for you. I can’t wait for y’all to meet him.

3/22/19:

Oh. My. Gosh. I forgot to upload. *facepalm*

Well, while I’ve got you here, brief update: well, he’s basically a three-year-old. He’ll go from rambunctious toddler to sweetest, smartest thing ever.

Sometimes I forget he’s a puppy.

Sometimes I forget he’s a good boy.

Sometimes he forgets he’s a good boy.

And then he’ll plop down in my lap and look up at me with big, soulful brown eyes, and we’ll take time to love each other in spite of the grittiness of life. It’s at those moments that, in my heart, I believe that maybe I can do this. I have to be doing something right if he can look at me like that, right? If he can stand to be around me even after the most common thing on my lips is, ‘Yahaloam, no’. I know it’s not the same–I KNOW it isn’t–but my heart goes out to new parents everywhere.

And, for those who may come after, who may find this when they need it: neither of us was born to fail. Nor were our dogs. I’m not about to give up on him, and neither should you. Because, like me, I’m sure you have a wonderful team of cheerleaders/pit crewers. And, if you don’t, I’ll be yours.

WHOO-HOO! GO YOU!

It’s our first week. My goal is just to get through each day without exploding in frustration. And, with the Lord’s mercy, I have done so, and by His grace, I will continue to do so.

What I’m asking him to do is not a natural use of his doggie-ness, and that means it’ll take time to get there.

So take a deep breath in, let it out, smile, and just keep swimming, swimming, swimming.

🙂