From Puppy Breath  to Public Access

After nearly a decade partnered with Chimette, there's been a changing of the guard. A new Border Collie is on the scene. Transitioning from the magical dance of a seasoned guide in harness, to playing bumper cars with a tethered young, clueless trainee has been quite an experience. A lot has changed since I was training Met, from my training and handling abilities to the explosion in owner training itself. With this explosion, many of us are now making the decisions that used to be in the hands of programs.  So how do we decide when to let them be puppies enjoying their youth, and when to reach for the stars furthering their training with public access? So what really is public access training and at what point in the trainee's life does it begin and even advance to more involved access? How does the trainer, especially a novice one know when to move to the next step and when they are doing too much too fast? There is not one right answer, but perhaps the experiences of mine from the novice trainer to a decade of experience will enable you to form some conclusions for you and your trainee.
When Thane came into my life, it had only been two months since losing Met. Having him here even if it was only in a comforting role was great healing to my heart. At the same time, it was teaching me to appreciate his youth and playfulness, rather than focusing on my expectations of the role he would one day perform. Imagine this ridiculous image of my young adolescent, swallowed up by an enormous harness many times larger than he ever would need. To expect the enormity of this harness to fit my pup, would be no different than if I were to expect my pup to be able to handle the rigors of even a mornings' role that his predecessor performed for me. They are only young once and there is plenty of time to fill the paws of the mature assistance dog down the road.
Training is exhilarating, perplexing, exhausting, and at times quite frustrating, but the rewards for me always far outweigh what I put into it. Reflecting on my training and early access with Met as a novice trainer and first time handler, I knew this time would be much different. My plan was in large to approach training for what it truly was, a period of time where Thane would be learning the role rather than baptized into it as Met had been. By taking all aspects of training him slow and methodical, most specifically public access I was setting us both up to succeed. I see this approach as a preventative of  the uncertainty, frustration, and stress that affects many young in-training partnerships often due to ill preparation for various components of public access. Over the years I have watched numerous dogs wash out. I knew my heart would not be able to handle being the cause for such a great pup washing out- solely because I got impatient and pushed rather than following the motto *Slow is Fast*. It's so easy to think your trainee is ready for the next phase, next step, or next encounter only for the experience to wind up in failure because they just were not ready.
Despite how hard things were the first couple of months following Thane's entrance, if I could not have my undivided attention on Thane, he would not have freedom. Living alone in a sedentary lifestyle, Thane was not wanting for time to stretch his legs or to run and play like a growing pup needs to. In fact being a puppy with all its snuggling benefits is just what was instore for him and me. This was our time to get to know each other. A time of bonding and discovery as we each headed down new paths together. At this time, I was still learning how to live without Met's assistance and still in a bit of shock at all he had been doing for me as my disabilities progressed over the years. I was only then realizing the extent to which he accomodated my needs and what I had lost in his passing. Thane had his own adapting to do as well. He had come from the country and was encountering many sights and sounds for the very first time. During this special time he was learning how to play without hoarding- ahhh gotta love those Border Collie hoarders!  He was discovering that when he sat, laid down, came when called, targeted my hand, or whatever else I might conjur up, that good things always followed- mmm goodies! As with all young pups, our training included learning to relieve on leash- now that one just about left me bald. Learning loose leash walking with a trainer using a white cane was full of its own set of challenges for a friendly Border Collie experiencing so many new sights and sounds. All these things are such crucial prerequisites to public access. Though some skilled trainers do public access for a short interval prior to the beginning of fear periods to take advantage of this great socialization time, this has not been a route I take due to the age of my trainee's and my functional ability with an untrained pup.
From many people's perspectives, I was actually rather slow in beginning public access with both Met and Thane, but this is where the responsibility of the trainer comes in. As a novice trainer, knowing no better, I often got into situations that were too much for Met or myself individually and especially as a team. Rather than withdrawing from the situation as I would now, I toughed it out because I placed greater emphasis on the safety Met was providing for me to get from point A to point B and back rather than on the success of our outings. This is a realization that I see only now in hindsite. Like many novice trainers, the outings I was taking were not training exercises, but part of my life that I tagged him along with me like a parent and their toddler. From the first day we began public access, I  took him almost everywhere I needed or wanted to go. Of course looking back on the whole experience, I shake my head at my own nievete of the situation and especially at the fact that he succeeded in such an awesome way given the circumstances he was trained in. Rather than setting Met up to succeed at each interval, I was in fact, often setting him up to fail. Met was, in reality, teaching me how not to train. The best way to describe my approach to him with public access was, *ready or not, here we come!*  This is not something I am proud of, in fact just the opposite. Hopefully my honesty will help other novice trainers out there avoid some of the common mistakes of first time handler-trainers. I have learned a lot over the decade between training my dogs. One of the biggest concepts that is hard for many to get their heads around though (including myself while I was training Met) is that its not whether the law allows access, but whether or not the team is ready for it.
Even with Thane people questioned my delay in access training. I had lived for a decade with an awesome combo trained dog who adapted to my progressive disabilities over the years. After his passing and Thane's entrace, it was all I could do to adapt to my disabilities without Met. I can just picture it, a funniest home videos entry of me navigating in my wheelchair with a white cane all the while my bouncy, energetic pup zigzags and dashes to and fro across my wheelchair path in a blur because mom, its a person! Hello, hello, hello! LOL You are probably laughing right now right? Smile That is exactly what  training Thane for short walks involved. I would have loved to be accompanied by my trainee if he had been ready. He was not and I was no where near ready as an individual, so how could I ever expect us to be ready as a team to train or work together. Taking this responsibility though hard as it was, truly set us up to have amazing and productive public access training outings when it was our time. My patience to hold back truly set us up to succeed. Inititially it was about training exercises: guiding through just an aisle at the proper speed and pull. It seems so long ago that we were doing that. The true key to our success once more is assuring not just that Thane can handle the situation at hand with ease, but that we have not pushed forward until we are both rock solid as a team handling the little exercises. The larger ones awaited us. They would be there when we were ready no matter how long it took to get there. Knowing this in ones head though and being patient enough to follow it are two totally opposite ends of the spectrum. It is so crucial to treat our young trainees like trainees at the level they are at, rather than as seasoned working dogs. For Thane and I, the concept of slow is fast has rung out loud and clear- we are headed forward towards a long and productive partnership.