In need of training help!

Obedience is absolutely a must -- in a group situation is BEST altho you might use a one on one trainer for the short haul here.

The social setting of obedience class is important -- because so much of pet therapy is all about "social" -- depending on the situation you find yourself in, either you can be surrounded by family of the patient, other patient's families (many of who are NOT dog saavy and who are running amok anyway).

Emphasize 'sit' in ALL situations.  It's imperative this dog understand he MUST **SIT** before he gets petted on all fronts. 

*YOU* have to be so unbelievably strict about that -- and it's hard to say to a stranger "Please - he's in training to be a therapy dog -- please don't touch him until I get him in a 'sit'";) because in a therapy dog setting he must appear under control all the time.

If you are doing therapy with the elderly their skin is SO fragile (Lasix and other such drugs literally makes the skin fragile), and with children THEY are often overly-ill and underly-socialized with dogs themselves.  So your dog has to "know more" than the children essentially.  So at either end of the spectrum *you* as the handler have to have complete control so he's not jumping up, or even putting a paw on someone without your say-so. 

Now not all situations are that critical ... but unfortunately the ones that ARE don't make appointments. 

When meeting a stranger -- sit first NEXT toyou ... then allow the stranger to 'pet'.

Thanks for the quick reply, Callie!  Chase is fine with sitting before being petted.  During the scenario testing (kids on the floor, people in wheelchairs, someone jumping up and down while shouting and poking at his face, being hugged, etc), he sat calmly and was very gentle.  The only contact that he initiated was laying his head in someone's lap after they had stroked him for a minute or so.  He didn't paw or jump.  He tolerated being hugged, but if it lasted too long, he slowly stood up and moved away with no sudden movements.  So we're going to work on him tolerating hugging for a bit longer.

 What sunk us was pulling on the leash during the first part of the evaluation (when they were testing both his obedience and me as a handler).  He was sniffing at coats hanging on chairs and he was very interested in the ball on the floor.  When we were walking through a crowd, he was eager to find out what was going on, instead of staying in a heel by my side.  During a group pet (4 or 5 people crowded around him and petting and talking to him all at once), he was just eating it up...but when he was expected to walk by people WITHOUT being touched, he was pulling to see what was going on.

Do you have a website or any pointers to help me teach a perfect heel?  I just don't know how to do it!  I've read stuff about being the most interesting thing to the dog, but while that may work around the neighbourhood, there were just way too many interesting things going on in the evaluation.  He's very treat-motivated, but I can't seem to make the transition from a treat-based heel to an automatic heel.

 When I say that he doesn't pull when I'm walking him, it's true...but he does usually walk a few steps ahead or trail a few steps behind.  He's rarely in a perfect heel, which isn't a problem in our day-to-day life, but obviously is a major problem for a big dog doing therapy work!

 Thanks so much!

Work on attention, and watch mes. Emma is *not* therapy dog material (and reading your description of the test brought terrible images of "what ifs" to my mind), but... we do compete in Rally O and are getting ready for our Obedience debut. I only reward for a nose up heel. I never, ever reward her for being in heel position if she's looking away. She demos for a basic obedience class, and to show off her lovely heel, the instructor decided to be mean, one week. She threw handfuls of treats just ahead of us. I was shocked, but with some encouragement, Emma's nose stayed up, and she watched me. She got BIG praise, for that.

Leave it is another good one to continue working on. Raise the distraction higher and higher til he can "leave" a juicy cheeseburger, or a bouncing ball.

It sounds like you are pressed for time.  I vote you hire a trainer for 1:1 sessions in the near term.  It will be so much easier for you on the day to day training if you have weekly sessions with a pro to show you exactly what needs to be done for you and  your dog.  You have given her a great foundation, let a pro help you with the few things  she needs to get her where she needs to be to pass her test.

Good luck!

Thanks for the posts!

 One thing that I'm working on is a "check in" command so that I can refocus Chase when his attention starts to wander. 

But I really think that I'd both be more structured and more motivated if we were in a class.  So far, no luck with group classes.  All of the spring classes around my house are full.

If I go with a private trainer, what is a reasonable cost?  And what kind of accreditation or memberships should I look for?  One trainer I've found online charges 350 dollars for 4 one-hour sessions is a member of:

Canadian Association of Professional Pet Dog Trainers

International Association of Canine Professionals

Does this sound fair?  I'm really not sure how to judge.

Thanks!

Seems a bit high, but I really can't say for your region.  I recently paid $900 for a 4 week in board boot camp for Heidi.  So glad I did it and it was worth every dollar. 

Ask some questions around your area and get some references for sure.

Good luck!