I sail with a service dog:
He is a pro and is always up for a sail, even though he actually doesn't care much for it. If we are motoring flat (as pictured), the is fine. When things get hectic, he gets pretty anxious - not shivering-in-a-corner anxious, but certainly not his normal confident self.
Part of the problem is that, for the most part, he has no job to do on the boat. Everywhere else (home, restaurants, airplanes, or whatever) he knows what his job is. On the boat, currently, his job is just to stay out of the way. And, his personality is very much to be involved in whatever I'm doing. So, being told to stay out of the way when "out of the way" changes all the time, that makes him nervous.
We actually moved up to this larger boat almost solely to give him more room. The deck of our previous boat just was too exposed for it to be safe for him. This wasn't an issue for my previous service dog who was perfectly happy completely staying off of the foredeck. But, my current dog is a little more hands-on and engaged. Where I go, he goes.
All this to say that I decided to do something to try to make this more fun for him. He needs jobs to do. The trick is that there aren't many jobs that he can do safely. For example, while he is definitely smart and strong enough to handle dock lines, it isn't safe for him to do so.
So, this is why I haven't trained him to do jobs on the boat. I simply haven't thought of anything useful that is also safe for him to do. Let me qualify this, though, with the brag that he is REALLY smart, and he loves to learn new tasks.
This morning, it occured to me that we are always barking out commands (see what I did there?). So, "ready about" means something to us. It should mean something to him too. It should tell him where the "correct" place is for him to be.
So, here's what I'm thinking. He already has a bunch of commands that he knows that are the building blocks for other, more complex tasks. Most importantly, he knows "touch" where he goes to and touches a specific target. I will build on that to teach him the two stations in the cockpit that are his - one on port and one on starboard.
Then, I need a command that tells him which spot to go to. My first impulse was simply "go to port" or "go to starboard", but this will likely get confused with other chatter on the boat. So, I am thinking I will use "red side" and "green side". Still easy for me to remember and unlikely to be confused with other chatter. Then, I can teach him to go to the leeward side, regardless of our tack. (I want him on the leeward side because of gravity and because crew might need to be on the windward side.)
I thought about giving him the job to hold the leeward jib sheet when we are tacking, and release it on command. But, I have some safety concerns with that. And, this probably is not great for the lines.
The other command is one he already knows, and that is "go below".
He also kind of works with "move up" to send him up to the foredeck, but that is contextually more of a permission than a command - like he asks if it's OK and I say "move up". (It is just a command he knows from elsewhere that generally means, "proceed forward a bit".)
Anyway, all this to ask for ideas for job that he can do that are actually useful that don't compromise his safety. I will say, he doesn't really like passive tasks. He MUCH prefers to be asked to do a thing, even if he already knows what to do. He just wants the engagement and, I kind of think it is a little bit of an attitude of "I'll do it if you ask nicely."
His medical job requires him to act independently in high-stress situations. So, I think he gets his fill of that and, when doing things for fun, prefers the interaction.
I'm about ready to invent some fake jobs, just to give him a sense of purpose. But, his BS-detector is pretty sharp, and he will probably see through this.
He is a pro and is always up for a sail, even though he actually doesn't care much for it. If we are motoring flat (as pictured), the is fine. When things get hectic, he gets pretty anxious - not shivering-in-a-corner anxious, but certainly not his normal confident self.
Part of the problem is that, for the most part, he has no job to do on the boat. Everywhere else (home, restaurants, airplanes, or whatever) he knows what his job is. On the boat, currently, his job is just to stay out of the way. And, his personality is very much to be involved in whatever I'm doing. So, being told to stay out of the way when "out of the way" changes all the time, that makes him nervous.
We actually moved up to this larger boat almost solely to give him more room. The deck of our previous boat just was too exposed for it to be safe for him. This wasn't an issue for my previous service dog who was perfectly happy completely staying off of the foredeck. But, my current dog is a little more hands-on and engaged. Where I go, he goes.
All this to say that I decided to do something to try to make this more fun for him. He needs jobs to do. The trick is that there aren't many jobs that he can do safely. For example, while he is definitely smart and strong enough to handle dock lines, it isn't safe for him to do so.
So, this is why I haven't trained him to do jobs on the boat. I simply haven't thought of anything useful that is also safe for him to do. Let me qualify this, though, with the brag that he is REALLY smart, and he loves to learn new tasks.
This morning, it occured to me that we are always barking out commands (see what I did there?). So, "ready about" means something to us. It should mean something to him too. It should tell him where the "correct" place is for him to be.
So, here's what I'm thinking. He already has a bunch of commands that he knows that are the building blocks for other, more complex tasks. Most importantly, he knows "touch" where he goes to and touches a specific target. I will build on that to teach him the two stations in the cockpit that are his - one on port and one on starboard.
Then, I need a command that tells him which spot to go to. My first impulse was simply "go to port" or "go to starboard", but this will likely get confused with other chatter on the boat. So, I am thinking I will use "red side" and "green side". Still easy for me to remember and unlikely to be confused with other chatter. Then, I can teach him to go to the leeward side, regardless of our tack. (I want him on the leeward side because of gravity and because crew might need to be on the windward side.)
I thought about giving him the job to hold the leeward jib sheet when we are tacking, and release it on command. But, I have some safety concerns with that. And, this probably is not great for the lines.
The other command is one he already knows, and that is "go below".
He also kind of works with "move up" to send him up to the foredeck, but that is contextually more of a permission than a command - like he asks if it's OK and I say "move up". (It is just a command he knows from elsewhere that generally means, "proceed forward a bit".)
Anyway, all this to ask for ideas for job that he can do that are actually useful that don't compromise his safety. I will say, he doesn't really like passive tasks. He MUCH prefers to be asked to do a thing, even if he already knows what to do. He just wants the engagement and, I kind of think it is a little bit of an attitude of "I'll do it if you ask nicely."
His medical job requires him to act independently in high-stress situations. So, I think he gets his fill of that and, when doing things for fun, prefers the interaction.
I'm about ready to invent some fake jobs, just to give him a sense of purpose. But, his BS-detector is pretty sharp, and he will probably see through this.
