Some videos of my dog Charlee

[Kona]

My current service dog in training is a Rottweiler puppy named Charlee. I rescued her from a shelter when she was eight weeks old. Here is a video of her the day that I met her.

Charlee at 8 weeks http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nyZeN1NhUYw

I'm raising her to be a working partner for a woman who uses a wheelchair. As I've been training her, I've been making short videos showing how she's coming along. The original purpose of the videos was so that her future partner can see her grow and follow her training as it progresses, but since I started posting them on YouTube people have been emailing me to ask more specific questions about service dog training.

I thought that I'd post them here since there have been some discussions about service dogs. Plus she's just so cute. Keep in mind that the videos were not intended to go into great detail about teaching the specific commands, but rather they were just for her future "mom" to watch and enjoy. I'd be happy to answer any questions about her training.

Here are the current videos. I hope that you enjoy them, and I'll be adding more as time goes on.

Charlee at 12 weeks http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3f9k9_ghzKI

Teaching the command " Dress" URL="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=50XfbDwA-A0

Cradle and Massage http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PEjzW8QF2Lw

Luring, Shaping, and Backchaining http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ag6qFN1j7es

I'd also like to mention that these were the first videos of this type that I'd ever attempted so I learned as I went on, and I'm only using a hand-held digital camera. I'm trying to be more aware of camera angles, lighting, sound, obvious glitches in editing, and other aspects of video making. I think in the end I'm a better dog trainer than cameraman.

[britishbandit]

Wow, incredible! Can you please come and help me train my dogs? LOL And BTW, Charlee is such a cutie!

I think the link is wrong for the Luring/Shaping one though, I got a music video...HAHA.

[TribalRats]

Those are awesome Kona. I am really glad you joined GP. i think we are all going to be able to take away a ton from your being here.

[Kona]

Thank you so much for your kind welcome. I've been a member of another dog forum for over a year, but there are only a very few regular contributors and I'm really looking for some active discussions that I can participate in. There are a couple of other places that I've seen that are more "cult of personality" places that are owned or moderated by one person who is mainly interested in pushing their methods/products/classes. I have to say this place looks really great. I'm having a lot of fun reading the old threads. I hope that no one minds me contributing mainly by discussing the training of dogs, as that's my real area of expertise. I'm sure that if I see another topic that's interesting I'll butt in with my two cents.

[TribalRats]

We are pretty open minded here and we all love a good debate.

[Rivsky]

Wow those videos are awesome - Charlee is adorable!

It looks like she really enjoys learning - and I can't believe how calm and controlled she is - especially for such a young puppy!

Is it too early to tell as yet whether she is going to make the grade as a service dog?

[Mirg]

Wow, you are obviously a great trainer! You should have a TV show, you are a lot better than most of the trainers that have TV shows!

Charlee is such beautiful pup!

[MazieDog]

Wow, I'm impressed! Excellent videos - Charlee looks so eager to learn and very happy doing it ... I look forward to seeing more of your videos or reading more of your training techniques in the future.

[Kona]

Originally Posted by Rivsky

Is it too early to tell as yet whether she is going to make the grade as a service dog?

Usually service dog puppies are raised for a year and a half, and then they meet their trainers, and six months later they meet their eventual partners. In Charlee's case I'm going to be doing her advanced training and her future partner is a friend of mine. What that means is that I can tailor her training now for her future job, plus I can take as long as I need to get her ready. If a service dog that belongs to a school is taking too long to train, they usually release her from service. With Charlee we can relax and enjoy the training process and take as much time as we need.

As you can see though, she has a very confident personality and she clearly enjoys learning. I don't anticipate any problems with her eventually being able to do the job. Plus even after she goes to her partner, I'll be able to continue working with her if need be since she'll be with my friend.

[Cassiepeia]

Wonderful videos. Charlee is a real character and really seems to enjoy the training. I'm very glad you decided to join our forum...but be warned....we'll now feel the need to pick your brain whenever we have a problem.

Cass.