IAADP
International Association of
Assistance Dog Partners
From A Distance
by Marilyn Schultz In the dark a small voice calls out.
"Lassie! I'm stuck in the well! Go to the kitchen and open the 3rd drawer to the left of the stove. Get the key to the shed. Then, get the rope ladder from the cupboard at the back of the shed. Bring it to me. Hurry! Hurry!" And thirty minutes later, Lassie and Timmy are playing fetch in the meadow. * * *
That Lassie and Timmy were some super team, weren't they? They had remote commands down to a science.
And a fantasy. That's okay, though, because we mere mortals can also use remote commands in our partnerships with our animals. And even though our remote commands aren't necessarily life-saving in every instance, as they were every Sunday night at 7 for Timmy, they are invaluable in successful dog/human partnerships.
What exactly are remote commands? Pam Albertson, a PT graduate, who regularly uses them with her canine partner, Cameo, defines the term concisely as "being able to direct your dog from a distance." PT recently interviewed Pam in depth about remote commands; we share her insights with our readers.
Pam compares remote commands to playing the game "hot and cold," where someone directs a blindfolded person to an object, guiding the person with directive words like "warm," "cold," "freezing cold,"or "you're burning hot!"
The same principle applies when Pam directs Cameo. "That's it!" "wrong," "left," "right," and other words guide Cameo to the desired object. Pam also uses "up" to direct Cameo to various items, such as paper towels, files on a desk, even toilet paper. Pam emphasizes, though, that even more important than her words is the tone of her voice, which rises with excitement, for example, when Cameo gets close, and lowers to deeper tones when Cameo gets "cold." Both negative and positive words and tones must be constantly reinforced for success. The human partner must sharply observe and pay attention to these things, anticipate specific needs, then communicate these needs to the dog.
Remote commands help Pam out in many situations, such as directing Cameo to dropped keys in the parking lot, sending Cameo to an officemate with a file, and, one time, even retrieving Pam's wheelchair after it rolled away from her car.
Pam has found that a variation of remote commands, called "object discrimination" is also crucial when Cameo is out of her sight. Cameo must know how to identify various objects so she can find them when Pam can't see her or the object. For instance, if Cameo needs to take a file to one of Pam's colleagues in another office, Cameo needs to know the name of the person. And when two colleagues have similar names, Pam gives one of them a nickname. Maryann might become "Ann," while Mary stays "Mary." Cameo can easily discriminate between the two.
Object discrimination was vitally important the time the axle of Pam's wheelchair fell apart in her shower, pinning her inside the stall. Luckily, Cameo knew "phone," and Pam was able to direct her to the phone in the other room. Cameo retrieved it successfully, Pam called a friend, and all was well.
The groundwork for happy endings like the one above is laid well before the actual event or emergency. For instance, two years before the wheelchair broke in the shower, Pam's trainer urged Pam to put a phone close to the ground and teach Cameo the word. And when Cameo had to retrieve her chair in the parking lot, it would have been more difficult if Pam's trainer had not instructed her to place a short lead onto the chair. Cameo, hesitant to grab metal and unable to get solid purchase on the chair's upholstery, was able to finally locate the lead and tug the chair back to Pam.
You're probably starting to see a pattern here -- a pattern of planning well. Pam reiterates that the most important thing one can do in a team like hers is to anticipate future needs. This careful thinking allows for clearer communication to the dog. And finally, it's practice, practice, practice to reinforce the commands.
Using remote commands rewards both human and dog as the bond between them is strengthened. But Pam reminds us that remote commands are about more than bonding, about more than mere convenience. She cites a portion of PT's Mission Statement when describing what remote commands mean to her; for her, they enhance "the role of specially trained dogs in assisting [persons with disabilities] to live more independently."
So while Cameo might not be found at the local hardware store buying a winch and pulley to help Pam out of the old mine shaft any time soon, Pam is perfectly happy to settle for consistent, useful commands to realize the full potential of her beautiful canine partner and to improve immeasurably the quality of both of their lives in this dynamic team.
Published in Partners Forum in 2003Return to Writing Contest Winners | Return to IAADP home page