Practice, Practice, Practice

If there's one thing I've learned from raising a child with autism and a dog to serve him, it's that practice is everything.   This is particularly so with regard to social situations (for both Tim & Charlie) - repetition is truly the key to success.

Typically, in a non-distracting environment, Charlie behaves brilliantly as an obedient companion and servant.  However, add in a few distractions (i.e. dogs, children, trash bins, etc.) and Charlie can quickly lose his focus.  Today's outing to the Berkeley Kite Festival provided ample opportunity for Charlie to practice his social skills in an extremely challenging environment.  

 

The day started well with cool 59 degree weather (the Bay Area has a vast array of climate zones and the differential between our home and close-by Berkeley can be as much as 20-30 degrees.)   Charlie managed the drive well ( I understand he had some motion sickness issues as a young puppy but we've not experienced any of that since his arrival in SF) and eagerly responded to our commands as we unloaded our gear.

The event venue, Cesar E. Chavez Park, is a popular park for pets and their people and was even given the highest "Four Paw" rating in Maria Goodavage's book, "The Dog Lovers Companion to the San Francisco Bay Area."  That rating, combined with the kite festival madness, made for a tremendous assemblage of people, kites and dogs in one location.   For Charlie, this was distraction central.

I'd like to report that our many hours of training and practice paid dividends in this situation.  I cannot make such a report.   Pulling, tugging, leaping, lunging ... no, I'm not writing about the kites here.  The wonderdog appeared to revert to his most feral instincts in this environment and he behaved about like one would expect an 8 month old puppy to behave.

In spite of his less than optimal performance today, I am not defeated.  In fact, quite the opposite.  This situation reminded me of the importance of exposing Charlie to new and challenging environments so that he can continue to practice the skills that we work on in our distraction-free backyard.   The principle is not unlike our guiding principle in working with Tim:   practice his weakest skills and PATIENTLY await the results.  

In spite of our rough start, I must report one noteworthy behavior we observed today.  Throughout the event we were stopped a number of times by small children asking to pet Charlie.  Thankfully, in each such instance, Charlie obediently sat and waited for me to release him from his sit-stay (which I wouldn't do until the curious child had finished attending to Charlie.)  In light of his general behavior at the event, this surprised me but made me realize that Charlie is beginning to understand the important parts of his job.  As long as we get that part down, I'm not terribly bothered by his otherwise dog-like behavior!