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Next time: Irwin sneaks out the door to visit his friend.

Episode 2 - Crate Training - Who's Training Whom?

No fences in my yard meant that Irwin was either tethered to me most of the time, or he was in his crate.  After going out to relieve himself, he played in the yard or in the house for a short time while tethered to me with a 12-foot cord.  He followed me about, watching me with intense curiosity about everything.

After his crate introduction, we hoped that Irwin would be content to go into his crate, knowing that I would return soon.

The crate sat at the foot of the stairs, so I could hear his whimpers when he needed to go outside.  He quickly got the idea

—better to pee outside on the paper with rock than in my crate!   Who wants to sleep on pee?  

Our actual “crate introduction,” took a little detour, however.  

Day two of Irwin’s stay, we conducted his “crate introduction” lesson.  It’s a simple drill: put Irwin in the crate,

walk out of sight—around the corner is fine—for about five seconds.  Irwin whimpers, you return.  Take him out of the

crate, with a jolly voice rejoicing,  “I have returned!”  Put him in the crate, leave for 10 seconds.  Irwin whimpers, you

return.  Take him out and rejoice together again,  “I have returned.”  Continue the routine, doubling the time each time:

wait 20 seconds, then 40 seconds, a minute, two minutes, five, 10, 20, 40, etc., until you have left him for a couple hours.

You stay in a nearby room, of course.  You get the idea. Having been assured that you will return, he no longer whimpers until he has to pee. 

You do return.  You take him out with a jolly voice.  He becomes confident that you always return. 

                                          Irwin quickly learned to love his crate; it eventually became a place of solitude and quiet in his own little corner of the

                                          world.  It became his haven/cave at college, where I worked, when too many eager or lonely college students

                                          wanted to dote on him.  Solitude is a good thing …. because people who love you, will always return.

                                          That initial day, I rejoiced, too,  that  “Irwin loves his crate,”  after our three-hour routine.  I agreed to join my friends

                                          for pizza; a slice and a relaxing  chat about our latest read would be a treat.  I thought he will be fine on his own for an

                                          hour in his crate.  After we ordered at the counter, however, I felt a slight uneasiness.  I suggested we go back home to

                                          enjoy our pizza. Friends accommodated my nervousness; after all, it was my first outing while Irwin was alone.

                                         I didn’t want to be out of the house too long. 

When I opened the door, Irwin met us at the door, bouncing about with puppy exuberance. 

He bounced about the kitchen greeting each of my friends.  We were all surprised.

“Didn’t you put him in the crate?” Karen asked.  
“Of course,” I answered.  
“How did he get out?” we all questioned. 

Laughter and queries also bounced around the room in tandem with Irwin.  I took Irwin outside immediately to “get busy” (the prompt for pee ‘n poo), then returned to survey the damage.   One of my brand new loafers lay in the middle of the kitchen floor, slightly altered by Irwin’s teeth marks and now toeless, although the original design did not include this feature.  In the living room, more of Irwin’s chewing peppered the scene—a pillow, my slipper, another pillow, wait!  My slipper?  My slippers had been upstairs. Had he ascended and descended the stairs? 

“He doesn’t know how to get down stairs yet?” I announced to my friends with great concern.  

I quickly ran upstairs to find  other victims: a pillow and another two pair of shoes with altered halves.  I had inadvertently left the closet door ajar. What fun he must have had in his short escapade!  From the top of the stairs, I called his name; Irwin yelped and scurried out of sight into the kitchen.  He would have nothing to do with stairs!

His screech assured me that he had had a wary exit from the second

floor because the stairs were steep.  He had obviously bumble-tumbled

down the stairs—but I did not know how far.  My first concern was his

well-being.  He was unharmed, but for a slight fear of stairs.  That

would be cured in time and with persistence.  

The question remained, “How did get out of his crate?” It was clear

that Irwin was very smart.  We put the question to a test.

I put him back in his crate and we peeked around the corner to observe

his secret. Irwin had become progressively comfortable with his crate,

and, as I repeated the routine of in and out, un-doing the upper and then

lower latches, he learned how to open it!  Yes, open it.  As we watched,

and without hesitation, Irwin reached up to the top latch and undid it.

He undid the bottom latch, and making his escape, scampered into the

kitchen. Irwin leaped up as if to brag, “Look what I can do, Mom!”   My friends erupted in laughter and Irwin joined in.  I knew I had to meet the challenge calmly without laughter (not possible, I admit).  We all laughed and celebrated Irwin's intelligence.

Thumbs—opposable thumbs!  That would be the answer.  From that day forward I put a dog-leash clip on the crate latches that he could not undo.  That took care of the crate, but the front door would be another challenge.  

Irwin ~ from Puppy to Guide Dog - Episode 2

INTRODUCTION:    In 1997, in New York, a kind, 40-year old man, Willie, had a heart attack. When he awoke, he was blind.

In 1997, a few miles north of New York City, puppy Irwin was born blind. In about two weeks, he awoke to sight, just like puppies do. His nine Labrador puppy brothers and sisters were soon enlisted in a special training program for exceptional puppies. They would study

to become Guide Dogs for the blind, someone like Willie. In time, Irwin and Willie became partners, and Irwin shared his sight and insights with him. Irwin seemed to generate miracles ~  for me, for those around me, and for Willie.

Irwin came to my home in early July to begin his training.  In this episode, we deal with crate training.  Today (in 2014), the puppy in training comes to you house broken, but in 1997, the puppy raiser was responsible for that task.  GEB (Guiding Eyes for the Blind of Yorktown Heights, NY) instructed us to conduct crate training with guide dogs. It works well.  In Irwin’s case, he was house broken in less than two weeks.  However, his initial day of training included a small detour.  He added unexpected antics to the training process, most

of which are laughable.