Proud of my Lab, Reba

[SonnysMom]

I work at a horse farm with a lot of younger students. I frequently bring my 2.5 year old English lab to work with me. Last week we had an newer client come that is an about 8 year old girl. She has a profoundly developmentally delayed, autistic, non-verbal brother who is about 10 years old. He is mostly wheelchair confined. He can stand if assisted.
He was fascinated with my dog Reba. Reba is generally very good with everyone as she has been coming to the farm since she was 12 weeks old. However, she can get a bit excited if people or dogs play rough with her.
The mother would stand behind the boy and hold him by the waist so he could bend over to pet Reba. He would start out gently petting her. But he would get excited and start to pet a bit roughly or pat hard. The mother would remind him to pet gently but it would go in cycles of gentle to rough. Reba stayed stretched out quietly for a good 15 minutes. Never got excited, never got rough. She was not restrained at all so had the option to leave at any time. She did not look stressed.
As they went to leave after the lesson and the boy was back in the wheelchair I offered to let both children give her a treat. She took the treats so very gently from both of them.
She understood the assignment. I was very proud of her.
The mother wants to get the son a service dog and asked me what breeder I got Reba from.
I love this dog.

I have a few holes in her training I need to fix first. But I would love to train her to be a dog that is read to by children. Many children who have difficulty with reading don’t like to read to humans. They find them judgemental. They will read to dogs since they find them non-judgemental. My old auto mechanic has had 2 Goldens certified to be reading therapy dogs at the local elementary school.

Reba’s holes are leash walking, stay, and down. She is a farm dog so I don’t leash walk her much. She has a good sit, good wait, and a great come. I can call her from anywhere she can hear me on the 80 acre farm and she comes. She is very treat motivated so I think if I take the time she will learn quickly.

[OverandOnward]

What a wonderful plan! Sounds like Reba was applying for the job!

I would suggest to anyone in the mother’s shoes – don’t buy a dog, even a trained service dog, just for this specific purpose. Even trained animals can’t be ordered like a calibrated clock from Amazon. Sometimes animals don’t work out as intended. Then what?

Plus the responsibility factor. Daily care. Keeping up with the training. Possible illnesses, injuries. It’s like adopting a furry child that has highly selective hearing for information you want to impart.

Rather, schedule regular sessions with Reba. Or another great reading therapy dog.

The magic is less likely to wear off. The child is more likely to look forward to the sessions. And Reba gets a great new job!

Good luck to Reba and this precious child, wherever their life journey takes them!

[DiamondJubilee]

I love this so much! What a good girl Reba is. They really can read people and surprise us all the time (though they really shouldn’t as dogs are just the best…).

Reba sounds so much like my farm dog. I have a Greater Swiss Mountain Dog who just loves everyone and every dog but can get a bit enthusiastic at times. She doesn’t jump up on people anymore, but will kangaroo hop beside them with gusto and literally jump up to lick their cheek - or my eyeballs in my case (she is 115lb now so I’m gad she doesn’t jump on people, but I would love her to chill a bit on the hopping ha ha).

My girl will be 3 at the end of December and I don’t leash walk her often either, but her come and sit are almost perfect. I took her to the Royal Winter Fair in Toronto for a few days and I really wasn’t sure how she would behave. I walked her around the shopping area where there were literally thousands of people wall to wall. You could barley walk. Lots of other service dogs, children and people with disabilities. She was a star and was pat and rubbed by literally hundreds of people, had her photo taken tons of times and so many questions from people asking what breed she is and comments on how quiet she is (I did have to tell people she is a great farm dog and needs lots of exercise as I would hate it for someone to purchase a Swissy and find out the hard way!). She was calm and enjoyed all the attention. She was amazing with people in wheelchairs and quietly sat beside them to be pet by all. I was pleasantly surprised and everyone there thought she was a service dog she was that quiet and well behaved.

This is literally a dog I have to walk for hours if I go camping or bikejour with her for kms to get her quiet and listening to me. She is very active and is always loose with me on my farm to get her energy out. The only issue I had with her was when I took her outside to walk on some of the paths there. The squirrels are way too friendly in Toronto and just tease her. She has a strong prey drive and has killed a few squirrels on the farm, and she badly wanted the ones in the park and she kept forgetting she was on a leash and would try to pull me towards them. It was good for her to be on a leash and learn that she can’t always chase. 100% my fault for not really leash training her so I was never upset and used it as a learning day.

I hope you do go ahead with book reading with Reba. I know our local libraries have this program and it is well loved by all <3

[OverandOnward]

Your Swissy did indeed read the fair situation, didn’t she?

You might inquire if there is a program near you that takes politely-qualified dogs to visit nursing homes and other care facilities. It means a great deal to residents who can’t have their own pets to spend some time with a calm dog who pays attention to them.

My guess is that it is important to a pack animal to fit in to a new situation, and some, at least, have some instincts that way.

My rocket-y mud/manure-rolling black lab, who loved meeting new people (“friends”, he called them), used to jog so perfectly beside me when we were at a horse trial, on his leash and harness. He didn’t pull (we did work on that!). And especially, he didn’t try to approach/rush everyone to make another new friend, his favorite thing. He didn’t try to front up the other dogs, as he would have done at home. He minded his business, with a quick friendly smile for everyone. He was great, and was able to go to a lot of horse trials because of it. Everyone loved meeting and petting him, which delighted him. When we were sitting with the spectators, he was kind and welcoming to children and people who wanted to pet him. If we were waiting around between divisions, a child could take him for a little walk, and that seemed to make both of them happy. Then back home he was his same over-exuberant always-into-something happy self again.

[widge]

Good girl, Reba.

[MunchingonHay]

Your Reba warmed my heart. She is the goodest girl!!

Its amazing how dogs (and most animals) are attuned when the people they interact with needs special care.

May I suggest that you bring up Canine Companions for your client https://canine.org/ They are wonderful and do a great job with their breeding program, puppy raisers, and matching the right dog with the right skills for the right person for that person to have most freedoms to live their life.
My friend has had 2 of their dogs and it has given her a new leash on life. (pun intended).

Good Girl Reba