Rolling Dog Farm Blog

On her first day on the job, our new employee Mariah wasted no time in putting her training skills to work.  I had identified blind Levi as her first student, so that’s who began school today.  Levi is an incredibly sweet, eager-to-please dog, but he’s essentially had little training in his prior life.  He’s big, high-energy, and loves to jump up on people to greet them.  Given his size and lack of manners, he’s the kind of dog who can end up knocking you over in his exuberance.  Thus an excellent candidate for training!

Because he was badly beaten — he’s blind because his eyes are filled with blood, all the vessels having been ruptured by the blows — he needs a very calm and gentle approach.  His prior history of abuse resulted in Levi having a case of submissive urination … even a raised voice (particularly a man’s voice) can trigger one of these episodes.

So Mariah began with the basics — like getting him to focus, and then sit on command.  She spent about 30 minutes this afternoon working with Levi in Widget’s House, our disabled dog building.  Levi did very well, and clearly connected with Mariah, as you can see from the photo.  I’d call that a focused student, wouldn’t you?

(Click on photo for larger image.)