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Keeper: The Story of a CPT Board Train

Rochelle is a Eugene resident who had a dog training quandary.  To resolve her predicament of not having the time to adequately train her 3-month old Labradoodle, Keeper, Rochelle contacted CPT about our board train program.

We began by discussing Rochelle’s overall short-term and long-term goals and the specific housebreaking, household manners, obedience, and socialization behaviors that she wished us to address.  The conversation enabled CPT to design a customized lesson plan that provided the highest probability of expeditiously accomplishing Rochelle’s short-term goals and optimally establishing a foundation to ultimately achieve her long-term goals.

Rochelle’s Board Train Goals

Rochelle’s primary short-term goal was to obtain more immediate joy from Keeper’s company via superior housebreaking, manners, and obedience capabilities.   Consequently, her lesson plan included furthering Keeper’s housebreaking program; preventing chewing, barking, jumping, digging, trash raiding, object stealing, food stealing, mouthing, and bolting problems from developing; improving leash walking; and training reliable and responsive obedience performance (sit, down, come, stay, stand, finish).

Her primary long-term goal was to prepare Keeper to become an ideal therapy animal.  Therefore, concurrent with the above lesson plan we provided plentiful, productive interspecies, intraspecies, and environmental socialization exposure.

An fMRI image of Gelsey.
An fMRI image of Neon.
An fMRI image of Olney.
A view into the MRI room from the control room.
CCI Training Manager Erin Rich and CCI Director of Research Kerinne Levy apply ear plugs and Vet Wrap prior to a scan. MRI scanners can operate with volumes between 90 to 135 dB. Our frequencies operate at 95 decibels. Nevertheless conditioning each dog to wear hearing protection is essential for the dog’s comfort during a live scan and to minimize the risk of associated hearing damage.
CCI Training Manager Erin Rich applying ear plugs and overwrap prior to a scan.
CCI Director of Research Kerinne Levy monitoring during a live scan.
CCI Training Manager Erin Rich communicating hand signals to one of the dogs during a live fMRI scan. The dog’s caudate and limbic responses to the signals is imperative to determining his potential as a future service dog.
CCI Training Supervisor Erin Rich observing as we condition one of the dogs prior to a live scan.
CCI candidate service dogs posing at the completion of a scan day. UC Berkeley has an outstanding research MRI facility and they have been wonderfully accommodating to every person and dog.
The dogs posing proudly at the completion of a scan day.
The dogs posing at the end of a scan day
At the end of a scan day the dogs posing with CCI Assistant Trainers Shelley Lampman and Amy Kinsella.
The Li Ka Shing Center for Biomedical and Health Sciences on the campus of the University of California, Berkeley. We scan the dogs with the research scanner within the Li Ka Shing Building.
Arriving at CCI’s headquarters location and Northwest Region Training Center in Santa Rosa, CA.
Entering the administrative complex at CCI’s headquarters location in Santa Rosa, CA during the start of our tour.
CCI’s National Graduate Map. CCI is the nation’s largest and most respected nonprofit service dog organization. They have existed for 40 years and now graduate approximately 270 service dogs per year.
DARPA Program Coordinator Emily Caporello, PhD, CCI Director of Research Kerinne Levy, DARPA Consultant Pae Wu, PhD, CCI Assistant Trainer Maria Bruno, and an unidentified CCI Assistant Trainer place multiple service dog candidates in a group down-stay at CCI’s Northwest Region Training Center and headquarters location in Santa Rosa, CA.
DARPA Program Coordinator Emily Caporello, CCI Director of Research Kerinne Levy, DARPA Consultant Pae Wu, CCI Assistant Trainer Maria Bruno, and an unidentified Assistant Trainer release the dogs from a down-stay.
CCI Director of Research Kerinne Levy, Dog Star Chief Operating Officer Mark Spivak, DARPA Program Coordinator Emily Caporello, and DARPA Consultant Pae Wu posing during a tour of CCI’s Santa Rosa, CA headquarters and Northwest Region Training Center.
DARPA Program Manager Doug Weber, PhD, and CCI Assistant Trainers Shelley Lampman and Amy Kinsella.
Megan Pearl and GA Tech Researcher Ceara Byrne inside the MRI Control Room.
Megan Pearl and GA Tech Researcher Ceara Byrne inside the MRI Control Room.
Greg Berns, MD, PhD, Dog Star Technologies co-founder and Chief Scientist.
Andrew Brooks, PhD, Dog Star Technologies Project Scientist. Andrew time codes the experiment during scan day, programs the software, and analyzes the data.
Ben Inglis, PhD, the Head Physicist and Manager at UC Berkeley’s Henry K. Wheeler Brain Imaging Center.
Rick Redfern, the Research and Development Engineer at UC Berkeley’s Henry K. Wheeler Brain Imaging Center.
CCI Assistant Trainer Maria Bruno posing by the door of the scanner control room.

 

The Advantages of CPT

Moreover, because CPT hires highly educated, experienced, and accomplished staff and uses the most advanced, scientific dog training methodologies, Keeper’s board train was able to satisfy Rochelle’s objectives.  Furthermore, since CPT’s board train program occurs at a trainer home, not a kennel, we can more realistically and effectively teach housebreaking, household manners, and applied obedience behaviors.

 

Every Picture Tells a Story

The above photos  and the videos below provide a pictorial story of Keeper’s board train progress.  We believe you will be impressed with Keeper’s dog training proficiency, especially given his youthful age.

CPT is dedicated to providing the best dog training services in the Eugene area.  We hope that you enjoy viewing Keeper’s story and are compelled to contact CPT to discuss how we can help you to obtain more enjoyment from your canine companion.

Keeper demonstrating his off-leash recall at Amazon Park in Eugene, Oregon. CPT’s dog training methods create a reliable and responsive recall, even when off-leash at a distance amidst distractions.

Keeper, a young Labradoodle in CPT’s board train program, improving his off-leash heeling skills while training at Amazon Park. Notice how attentive Keeper remains despite the outdoor distractions of the Park. Moreover, notice his enthusiastic attitude while working for CPT-EugeneTrainer Chrissy Mattucci.

Keeper, a Labradoodle puppy in CPT-Eugene’s board train program improves his off-leash come, distance-down, and down-stay behaviors while working with CPT-Eugene Trainer Chrissy Mattucci at Amazon Park. Despite his youthful age, Keeper works attentively, capably, and enthusiastically amidst the bicyclists and other distractions present at the Park.

In this video we allow Keeper free play, then call him. We also call him at other times from a distance, practice his down and down-stay, work on general impulse control, and improve his off-leash heeling. By integrating play training and games within Keeper’s formal training exercises he maintains a wonderful attitude, whereby even with picnickers eating, joggers, and bicyclists Keeper remains enthusiastic and focused on task. If you live in Eugene, Oregon and don’t have the time to train your dog, wish your dog trained concurrent with a family vacation, or desire that your dog achieve accelerated goals via training from an elite professional, we encourage you to enroll your dog in CPT-Eugene’s board train program.

 

(Eugene, Oregon)

(Dog Training Eugene)