.Being.Us

I've been trying to train retrieval with my service dog in training since I got her, but she's seemed to have a block about retrieval  commands specifically. She learned around 2 dozen other things during the months she was stuck on retrieval. Last night, though, we had our first really successful training session with it. I think part of the success came from us being more bonded than when we first started training, but I thought I'd share the steps that worked in training, too, in case they help anyone else:   Step 1: Put dog food/treats in a breathable cloth bag. Have Coco go get it only on command. I used “get it” at first, which she knew from playing, and then I transitioned to “get bag”. At this stage, she was chewing on the bag, trying to get the treats out, but I would still praise her for getting it when I asked. Step 2: Repeat step 1 but ask her to “bring it” once she has it. Gently pull her and the bag towards me and reward/praise when she arriv...