A visit from Dee Bogetti

I was able to have a professional diabetes alert dog trainer come to my home and evaluate the progress that we had made so far and help us to get on the most efficient path to success.

Dee Bogetti is a professional dog trainer with an impressive record of success with the training of diabetes alert dogs. I hired her to come to our house for a 2 hour lesson with Senator and me.  It was a nice combination of educational and enjoyable.  I think that we both learned a lot.  Margaret was there too and I was very pleased with how impressed she was with Dee's knowledge.  Margaret was able to know some more specific questions to ask which helped too.

We started with a demonstration of what we had been working on.  I had Margaret hide a loaded scent container in the living room while Senator and I were in the kitchen.  Senator went right to it.  Dee wanted to hide it next.  So Senator and I went back to the kitchen and Dee hid the container in the dining room on the middle shelf of a little table.  I didn't know where it was and ended up standing right in front of it while Senator was looking.  He found it quickly.  So this ruled out my body language in directing him to the container.  I was actually surprised by how well he did this.  Having it off the floor was an extra barrier.  He usually has more trouble with anything off of ground level.  So, with this, Dee was convinced that he could distinguish the low, and I was more so.

She recommended that we stop hiding the containers throughout the house and begin hiding them only on people.  Also, that we should continue to find the highest level of treats to reward Senator with.  And to do a more extreme celebration when he did find the low and give the alert.

Both she and Margaret laughed when they saw that I had loaded the container with 3 little pads.  They say one is enough and since then I've found that to be true.

We talked for awhile about training in general and both Dee and Margaret think I should be working on some more commands with Senator.  Its good for his future needs and just for his development.  So, I've been working on a command for "front" to have him come and stand in front of me with eye contact.  We talked about heel as well and I'm working on some refining aspects of that.

It was interesting watching Senator perform with these two experienced trainers.  Its amazing how he responds to their commands and body language with such precision.  There really is an art to it.  Its very inspirational.

In the meantime, I've been working on all of these things.  Senator's alerts have progressed phenomenally.  He can tell right away when I walk into a room with the scent container in my pocket.  He had alerted to one low that I had after a walk.  When we returned home, I knew that I was low so I sat him down and blew in his face.  With no verbal cues, he alerted.  It was a really exciting thing to see!