I’m currently putting the finishing touches on the therapy dog training of an Australian Labradoodle…
She is a mini-doodle, approximately the size of a Cocker Spaniel. She is a smart little sprite, and has come a long way. We are currently doing long distance Come exercises, and distance command exercises. She can work around other dogs that are running around off leash, has excellent control around most distractions, and is a peppy worker.
The biggest remaining training issue is jumping on greetings. This is a result of the owner not focusing on this from the beginning, plus she has encouraged the jumping on purpose. This will be a bottleneck in getting the dog to qualify as a therapy dog, and she knows it. I’m encouraging her to start the preparations for the therapy dog testing, and I think as the date nears, she will do the assigned homework to fix this issue.
Even if she decides not to do the therapy dog work, this dog has turned out well. She is young, about a year old, so some of the remaining distractibility will solve if she keeps with the maintenance homework I will assign.
In all, this has been a pleasurable training experience. Great dog, great owner.