Retraining Mobility Service Dog

On Friday May 19, Jim and his dog arrived at Jamie's farm. Sheriff Carl, Tom, and I were also present. Carl thanked Jim for coming and said that Jamie would be working with him on retraining his dog. Jim restated that he could not afford this and Jamie said that is why he would be working with him at no cost to retrain his dog and he would need to satisfy the sheriff in the retraining. He said the only cost would be the American Kennel Club good citizen test and that cost would be paid directly to the person doing the test.

Jim asked what that cost would be and Jamie said 25 dollars and if he could save 5 dollars per week he would have it. Jamie continued that he would not schedule the AKC good citizen test until he knew that the dog was ready for it.

Tom and I moved to the other side of the barn and started working with the Retrievers that Jamie had received for PTSD customers. Both dogs were a little nervous because they could smell the dog of Jim's. I handed my lease to Tom and said this needed to change. Tom said okay and took both dogs to the barn.

I went back to where Jamie was working with Jim and his dog and explained the problem. Jamie said the damage may have already been done, but he would see if taking Jim and his dog to the area we had been using and having us then move to the area to the south of the barn would work. I said it was worth a try and we would wait until they were working before we exited the barn.

As soon and Jamie and Jim were working, Tom and I left the barn and moved to the south. The dogs were still a little nervous, but once we started working them, they settled down and were obeying commands and following directions. Tom thanked me and said this was not something he had experienced before. I said that it was probably because most had become used to each other from being in the same barn and knew the scent of each other. Jim's dog was new to the farm and the scent unknown to Jamie's dogs. Tom said he has not thought of that.

We continued until lunch time and Carl admitted that Jim's dog was behaving better that he had anticipated. Jamie said Jim would have a lot of training to undo the “guard” attitude of his dog and himself. Jim admitted this and said because of the unfriendly attitude of his neighbors, he had trained his dog that way. Carl said that he would warn the neighbors about their attitude once the dog was trained correctly. Jim said if he could find a buyer for his house, he would be happy to move.

Carl asked him were he would move to and Jim said there was a farm house he would consider that was slightly less that his house would sell for on the market. Jim explained where the farm house was located and Carl said that could be a great move and would not require a lot of extra driving for him. Carl said that the neighbors should not be a problem as the nearest was almost a mile distant and that was his daughter and son-in-law and their boxer dogs. Jamie said that he still had one boxer if Jim was interested in change dogs. Jim said not now, but in the future, maybe.

Jim said he was amazed that his dog was accepting retraining so well and thanked Jamie for allowing him work with the dog in the retraining. Jamie said that he still would require several weeks of retraining to pass the citizen test. Carl said he would be there once more the following week and suggested that Jim think seriously about the move. Jim said he already was planning to talk to the Realtor yet that afternoon. Tom and I left to work with two other dogs then and we noticed that Carl and Jim left shortly after.

Jamie came to see us and said that Carl had asked that Jim leave with him to talk to the farmer owning the house. He also stated that Carl and Jim had agreed that the Realtor Jim was thinking of using was not to be used if he wanted a reasonable price on his house. Jamie said he was happy with the progress made with Jim's dog, but there was a lot more to be accomplished. Jamie then asked me to be available on Saturday if I could and then said he would stop by and pick me up at 7:00 AM for a trip to a dog breeder in Wisconsin. I said he could and I would appreciate visiting with the breeder as I hadn't seen him since our days in the Army.