Autism Service Dogs

I've been a little busy lately working on my new Access Challenge Cheat Sheet, so I haven't been doing as much training as I should with Glindy. I'm planning to correct that this evening.

I've made an appointment with my trainer in order to work on a few maneuvering issues. In particular, Glindy and I often have trouble negotiating doorways because she's been trained to allow me to go first--or, at minimum, to walk through with me.

What I'd really like to do is teach her a "front" similar to that used in formal obedience. What I want her to do is to move in front of me, turn around, and sit facing me until I come through the door. This will allow me better control of doors which open towards us, as it is often hard to keep the door from swinging shut on Glindy's tail. Doors which open away from us are much less of an issue, in my experience.

I also want to cement a better left/right finish. Glindy does an exceptional job with hand-targeting, but I'd like to be able to get her to circle behind me to the designated side on voice command. This will be a tremendous help when I need her on one side or the other, and my hands are too busy (e.g. when I'm carrying groceries) to target for her.

And lastly, I think it's time that Glindy and I begin working on our "find/bring Todd" commands. If we can nail those two commands, I'd be much more confident in removing the training patches from her vest.