Meet Our Clients

At Tao Service Dogs we provide updates on our client dogs via Facebook and sometimes even a personal blog.  You can follow their progress at the following locations. What does the color mean?
Program Dogs
	Davi Poodle X Service Dog In Training Facebook: Tao Service Dogs Public Access Foundation Skill Level Dark Green Basic Foundation Skill Level Blue Davi is a bit of a character, but it's one of the reasons we love him.  He has learned Find Car and Find Exit and is in the process of Retrieve.  He was enjoying Retrieve so much he wanted to delay the process, so he would take the pencil we were working with and chew it and then fling it and then toss it aside and then give his owner the Poodle smile and roll.  Not exactly elegent, but it showed he was having far more fun than we were.  We decided if he was going to be playing a game other than ours we'd just put the pencil up and suddenly Davi was all, "Hey, why'd you stop playing the Retrieve game?"  He got up, lifted the pencil nice as you please and handed it to his handler and asked to keep playing.  Okay, you little snot, let's go back to learning how to really do a Retrieve.  He's sense gotten a nice serious head on his shoulders, no more Poodle games, but Davi is a character. His leash skills, settle skills and social skills are spot on, so he's moved up in the program.  He can do more with his increased endurance and his handler reads him well enough to know when he's tired or he's not up to an outing of one type or another.  I trust their judgement and that they'll remove him if he needs to be removed from a situation.  Davi is making great progress and needs more field time to build up his endurance and experience in the field.  He's preparing for his first time working a resturant, a movie and other larger, longer events. Davi  is looking at graduation in 2016.
	Koda German Shepherd X Service Dog in Training Facebook: Tao Service Dogs Public Access Foundation Skill Level Red Basic Foundation Skill Level Deep Green Due to a medical emergency in the family Koda has been away from training.  We look forward to his return. Koda is not scheduled for graduation.
	Kenobe Standard Poodle Service Dog in Training Facebook: Tao Service Dogs Public Access Foundation Skill Level Dark Green Basic Foundation Skill Level Blue Kenobe has been working hard and long on his relaxation skills, his social skill and his leash skills.  He's learned to work with the power chair and has traveled to Seattle several times to work while helping with medical procedures.  Kenobe has been upgraded due to his experience, his strong leash skills and his clear indication of a switch between having his harness on and off. At this point Kenobe is working on his Retrieve skills and is making his first break throughs, with picking up larger items and handing them to his handler.  He's still too young for early harness training, so no plans have been made for harness work at this time. Kenobe's handler is reviewing other major tasks needed for graduation to ensure we don't miss the most important ones and make certain we have them trained, proofed and ready for his graduation date. No graduation date has been set.
	Kaylee Border Collie X Service Dog in Training Facebook: Tao Service Dogs Public Access Foundation Skill Level Dark Green Basic Foundation Skill Level Blue Kaylee is inKaylee has her two major tasks learned.  She was an automatic Diabetic Alert Dog and has learned to Retrieve.  She's just moved from large to small items and is picking up on persistence in picking up small items.  We are working on persistence on alerting to blood sugar drops and how to alert when standing, sitting and laying down.  Kaylee, though a self alerter, was also a very soft dog and tended to wilt because her handler, like most diabetics, got a tad grouchy when her sugars lowered.  Kaylee started to do the Last Rose of Summer and would either look at her with the "oh dear, you are smelling low" and then hide under her chair, not want to walk close to her or act like she was worried about something and alert that way.  We knew it was  her "alert" but it was not a good alert.  We checked blood sugars and yes, it was always when the blood sugars were low. To change Kaylee's alert we'd praise, treat and started using a retrieve toy, Kaylee's favorite game to perk her up.  This helped and for a sitting alert have Kaylee lay her head in her handler's lap.  This was a perfect alert for sitting.  For laying down, Kaylee jumps up and puts her nose on her handler's nose and looks at her and wags her tail.  Her handler, having taught this, now recognizes the alert and praises her and checks her blood sugar and Kaylee gets a treat for alerting.  All is going good with those two alerts now. It was the walking.  It took a bit to realize the "nope, not gonna walk with you" was really a "you are low and I am alerting" behavior.  Her handler figured it out and once she did we discussed it and decided a nose target or paw target may be best.  We will begin that training next.  Once Kaylee knows HOW tell her, she's perky and happy and all is good. She's been visiting hospitals for the past 30 days to visit a family member, learned to walk stairs without rushing up and down them, to enjoy elevators and not fear anything in the hospital.  She's good in stores, and her handler is good at reading her good and bad days for taking her out.  I have upgraded her because I trust her handler to know when to take her out and when not to.  Kaylee needs more field time and growth before graduation. No graduation date has been set.
	Leaha  Labrador X Service Dog in Training Facebook: Tao Service Dogs Public Access Foundation Skill Level Orange Basic Foundation Skill Level Blue Leaha has grown in our program and truly has shown her desire to work.  She is not only training to help with some mobility assistance, such as helping with minor balance up stairs and over curbs, but her primary goal is to assist as a psychriatic assistance dog.  She's shined in that department.  Her attentive, sensitive nature has made her a truly alert dog with her handler and shown she's not only aware of her handler's needs, but truly a calming factor when she most needs it. On nights when her handler has panic attacks, Leaha has laid across her and slowed her handler's breathing.  She's calmly licked her and nuzzled her until her handler has finally been able to relax and calm herself.  On the days her handler has been so deeply depressed due to a family loss or simply her own bio-chemical issues, Leaha has pulled her through by bringing her leash, harness and gear to her handler to remind her of appointments or simply to take her out and do something other than lay around the home. She does her Deep Pressure Therapy, her Passive  Blocking and Interuption of behavior as needed and we are now evaluating to see if Leaha needs to be taught yet more skills and tasks to help her handler with her disability.  Leaha has a firm understanding of retrieve and a true desire and love of doing it.  It won't take much to add medication retrieval and other tasks her handler may need for graduation. Leaha has rock solid basic skills, her leash skills look fantastic and she's beginning anew on her harness skills, but right now, more than anything, what we are working on is Leaha feeling safe when cornered by dogs smaller than her.  Due to several incidents at her apartment complex where Leaha was attacked by off leash dogs, Leaha feels unsafe around small dogs.  I can't blame her.  She's been bitten so badly by them that they have caused her feet to bleed.  Now, when she is cornered on more than one side Leaha is barking at dogs.  It is people who allow their dogs to attack other dogs that caused Leaha, who was doing absolutely amazing, to react this way. We are now counter conditioning Leaha to dogs, first bigger than her, and slowly working to dogs smaller than her, passing by her when she has a barrier on one side and her remaining calm.  This is vital to Leaha's success.  Thankfully, Leaha's handler is a dedicated woman who works hard on Leaha's homework and truly is gentle and caring with her.  We have not set Leaha's graduation date as of yet. No graduation date has been set.
	Sky German Shepherd Service Dog in Training Facebook: Tao Service Dogs Public Access Foundation Skill Level Red Basic Foundation Skill Level Deep Green Sky is nothing but a ball of energy. Some of our dogs get Zen early and others need Zen, Zen, Zen. Sky is the later. Get her out of her home and in the classroom and she's a party girl. She wants to pass notes, play with the boys and gossip. Her handler is working hard to learn and doing a great job. This team is shaping up, but it's a process and the process is slow sometimes. Sky is now 9 months and it's a hard age. She's full of energy and short of attention. For a German Shepherd it can be a very hard time. Her handler is getting better at getting her attention each class and I can see the homework is being done. Keep it up, the more you do, the better the relationship! No graduation date has been set.
	Ranger Miniature Australian Shepherd Service Dog in Training Facebook: Tao Service Dogs Public Access Foundation Skill Level Red Basic Foundation Skill Level Blue Ranger is close to being upgraded, except he's still skidding sometimes on those feet.  Keep up the good work on the leash work, you are 80% there and once we have Ranger near default he can start working toward his first public access work in stores, but right now, he gets so uber excited he's just not ready.  Ranger is about 7 months and Zen is the game.  He needs more time working in parking lots and learning to returning focus to his handlers and just chilling out in exciting places while walking on leash.  His handlers do a great job with him, but with a lot of excitement in the family of one member going off to be all he can be, they needed Ranger to step up and really do the job he was meant for, calm down his boy and keep him from having panic attacks. Ranger did his job and he did a great job of it too.  He slept in his boy's bed, laid on his chest without having to be told that's what would be needed to help and even laid his chin along his neck to help calm his heart rate.  Ranger is now nearing 20 pounds in weight, has learned to Retrieve and is learning to turn on a light switch so he can help with night terrors and whenever his boy starts to get upset he stops his play and rushes to him and climbs up and hugs him and then returns to his play.  He's picked up his job is to make certain his boy is NOT having a bad moment. We are looking at other ways Ranger can help his boy, who needs Ranger to keep him from having anxiety attacks and other such events and give his boy a more normal and stable life.  Ranger is, so far, making life easier already, but he's still just a pup and we want Ranger to grow up first before we take that In Training patch off. No graduation date has been set.
	Molly Labrador Retriever Service Dog in Training Facebook: Tao Service Dogs Public Access Foundation Skill Level Organge Basic Foundation Skill Level Blue Molly is progressing so nicely.  She's very good at helping her boy when he has moments of anxiety, watches her kids (she's in tune to his younger sister too) and very calm for a pup of 11 months.  We'd weathered most of her fear stages with next to no signs of the normal fears and fall out of most pups and for the most part she'd been a very calm, almost too calm, Labrador in my program.  I was, as you can guess, elated when she looked over and saw a man with a bit standard in his hands and woofed.  Oh my, Molly IS a dog! The "what is this?" stage of development has struck and Molly has become a bit of a dog.  She's barked at people with big hair, hats and other strange shapes.  Finally, Molly has had some normal developmental stages and I just smiled and said, "It's okay and not to worry too much."  Because Molly has been such a rock star this family has been taking Molly every where.  She's gone to Costco and Walmart, she's done soccer games and Church camps and more.  Mind you, Molly has done this since she was a tiny pup and so for Molly it was part of every day life.  It's just, Molly is starting to overload and needs some down time. I told them as much.  Just let Molly be Molly.  Slow down, not so long, shorter outings and not as many.  She's hitting "which dog do I have today" stage of life and she's going through a lot of brain and body growth and she really should blow out the last of her youth with a bit of fun.  After all, she's been working from the beginning and she really should be allowed to be a dog more and a service dog less before we lock her into her role. That is what we are doing.  They say she's happier and I can see it.  They are taking her out for more play time at the rivers and less time in the stores and I am seeing a happier, more dog like Molly with more energy to give to her job.  Good, cause I think a balance between play and work, even with an adult dog, is vital to a good working dog. I sure do like Molly though.  She's got a lot of good work ethic in her and I can see mischief in her.  It's there if we can pull it out.  After all, a good working dog should be a mischief maker at home sometimes. No graduation date has been set.
	Baer German Shepherd X Service Dog in Training Facebook: Tao Service Dogs Public Access Foundation Skill Level Gold Basic Foundation Skill Level Blue Baer is in our service dog program and is a bold and brash young man. He has been working stead fast with his handler on public access and task training. He is alerting to her medical condition and has begun bus training for public transit and single item purchases. He is still in need of work on his leash manners, since Baer is a go go guy, but we aren't finished with Mr. Baer yet. Baer is one  of those dogs who simply needs to be reminded he's on a leash and is not hauling lumber.  More work needs to be done on his leash manners in order to ensure he doesn't accidentally do structural damage to his body in the future.  I have seen go go guys like him actually injure their shoulders and I don't wish to see Mr. Baer do that to himself. Baer needs more work on his leash skills and focused work on just leash.  Baer is assigned Level 2 Lazy Leash as homework at this time, so he better start reading now. No graduation date has been set at this time.
	Paz American Pitbull Terrier Therapy Dog In Training Public Access Foundation Skill Level Red Basic Foundation Skill Level Blue Facebook: Tao Service Dogs Paz is in our service/therapy dog training program. He's bold, funny and has that terrier personality. He wants to learn, but he wants to do it his way and I love it. His first down was a lesson in and of itself, but once learned he got it and it stuck with him. He's going to be a lot of fun to train and like many of his breed he's a load of licks, loves and gentleness. He's being super socialized at this point with sufraces, locations, dogs, people, places and things. I see a great future for this young dog already. He reminds me very much of my young Malcolm with his go get 'em attitude to life and his gentle approach to the world.
	Milo Standard Poodle Service Dog in Training Facebook: Tao Service Dogs Public Access Foundation Skill Level Gold Basic Foundation Skill Level Blue Milo is in our service dog program.  Milo is Davi's younger brother and will be working with Davi's Dad.  He will be trained to do Phsychractic and Hearing assistance tasks.  His Dad has been laying excellent foundation skills in already.  He knows his basics of Sit, Down, Stay and beginning leash work and has attended classes in another local force free school.  He improved on his confidence around dogs and new locations there and blossomed on the idea that going places other than home was a great idea.  We are hoping to build on his public access skills, expand on his basic skills and build him into a solid service dog in our program.  He is already able to settle at his Dad's feet and relax in class during one of his early visits with us and has a close bond to his Dad.  He is approaching his first year in age, so can begin his first task training while building on the early lessons he has and assisting his Dad in the home, where he'll need it most currently, and start his journey into the world of public access with us.  We are proud to be part of Milo's family. No graduation date has been set.
	Frejya German Shepherd Service Dog in Training Facebook: Tao Service Dogs Public Access Foundation Skill Level Gold Basic Foundation Skill Level Blue Frejya came to us a girl with a lot of stress.  It is hard to believe this confident, proud girl now is the same girl.  She has worked hard to earn her Gold status.  She had a bad run in her sixth month with a dog who attacked her and sent her to the vet on the edge of loosing her life.  It both left a lasting impression with her and her handler.  They have worked hard to recover and did a remarkable job of it.  Through it all she never lost her love of adventure, her love of people and her love and trust of her handler. She has been learning to communicate with other dogs since joining Tao Service Dogs and learning to see dogs and not react.  At a distance she is doing great, so now we are working on reducing distance with sudden environmental changes.  She's well on her way to expanding when she goes into new locations and what types of locations, but for now, we are careful of where and when she explores her new freedom in learning her public skills. In class she's calm and amazingly relaxed.  She can look at each dog in class and check back in with her handler with a relaxed body and relaxed face.  That was something we worked hard on for her.  Her stress hormones needed to simply drop and drop they did.  We helped her with that and the icing on the cake was when she spent a remarkable 10 days with Lisa Lucas, an amazing local trainer, and Lisa said Ms. Frejya was a German Shepherd she could live with.  She is a sweet, loving, gentle girl who simply needs to know what tools to use to handle her world and once given them, she does amazingly well in any situation. She spent 4 days at Tao's Dojo and went through early Public Access Entry Training and with that I saw that only a brief introdcution on what she needed to know for how to do a check out or how to walk through a store or how to enter a store and she was able to truly get it.  It's just the sudden enviornmental changes of dogs.  We can handle that.  We can work on that and we are now.  Ms. Frejya is in training and training is for learning and that is what Ms. Frejya is doing.  She's intelligent, quick to learn and amazingly quick on picking up the rules.  I see a great future for this dog and handler.  They do the homework, she loves to work for her handler and the love and trust between the two has shown in a very short time a remarkable forward progress.  The sky is the limit when the team is working together. No graduation date has been set.
	Harvey Maltese Service Dog in Training Facebook: Tao Service Dogs Public Access Foundation Skill Level Red Basic Foundation Skill Level Deep Green Harvey is a character and reminds me also of Malcolm.  He's bold, ready to take on the world and a great candidate for a service dog.  His handler needs such a bold and out going little man, but right now Mr. Harvey is in need of the earliest foundation skills for basic obedience.  Good thing Mr. Bold enjoys learning.  He loves to train.  He enjoyed a good round of Zen with Max and Loose Leash with his alternate handler/trainer.  He may be small, but Harvey is well on his way. In his first class he couldn't settle at his alternate handler/trainer's feet, so we need to provide a mat and take some time working on how to get Tiny Might settling and focused on the handler and not on the world about, but we have time.  He's just begun his training and he's just 7 months old.  It's a busy time in a young dog's brain.  Harvey is just beginning his journey and I see a lot of fun on this dog's path. No graduation date has been set.
	Indy Golden Retriever Service Dog in Training Facebook: Tao Service Dogs Public Access Foundation Skill Level Red Basic Foundation Skill Level Deep Green Indy is just starting the program, but he's got the right spirit. Donated by a great breeder who wanted his young handler to have a sound service dog, Indy is a bold and gentle pup. He flew through his puppy temperament testing, loves to explore and is already showing great leash skills and early training.  The family wants what is best for him.  He begins his first month in September and we look forward to Indy's addition to our program.  On top of that, with his very cute little handler, he has a great start already. Indy has a donation account at Washington State Employees Credit Union.  If you wish to help his tiny handler, Tru Steggell, just call and say you would like to donate.  The family not only wishes to raise funds for training young Indy, but to help another family in need in the future.  Funds to be raised for Indy will help the family pay for his vet care, harness and training, plus help one other family with training for 2 years and an evaluation for a future dog/puppy coming into the program. Funds Raised: $65 Goal: $6,920 No graduation date has been set.
	Monty Saint Bernard Service Dog in Training Facebook: Tao Service Dogs Public Access Foundation Skill Level Red Basic Foundation Skill Level Blue Monty is a fun loving guy who just joined our program!  I did find out he has sound nerves when I dropped a bowl of food on his head and he just stood there wagging his tail at me. He's almost 3 years old, which means his lovely sound personality is set.  He has some pretty good basic manners so far and I like his foundation.  We are checking that no holes are in it and filling what needs filled to ensure a good solid foundation.  Once that is ensured, we'll build a solid number of hours of field time, start his basic task training and begin work towards graduation.  With him being an older dog his learning should go quicker, since we don't have to worry about fear stages, growing into an adult and such.  He just needs experience and to learn what is expected of him. So far, Monty has won the hearts of all in his class and I love his goofy, exploitative personality.  Monty surely will be a favorite in the Tao family. No graduation date has been set.
	Chewie Ultimate Doodle Therapy Dog in Training Facebook: Tao Service Dogs Public Access Foundation Skill Level Red Basic Foundation Skill Level Blue Chewie is a darlng example of what a good breeder does with Doodle breed. He's bold, happy and friendly with a self confidence that should exist.  The Doodle breed was designed by a man looking to create Guide Dogs for people with issues with dog dander and thus the Doodle was meant to handle the rigors of Guide work for the blind.  Chewie has that lovely persoanality of his three breeds, the Labrador, Golden Retriever and Poodle that makes him the Ultimate Doodle. He also has been in positive reinforcement training since he came home to his family.  He joined the Diamonds in the Ruff family and went through all of their classes, learning the foundations of good leashwork, good manners and how to learn.  This makes him ahead of the game coming into my program and I could see that during his evaluation.  I had to laugh because his latest trick, smiling, was the first thing he did when I approached him.  Though I am currently wearing a scary neck brace, Mr. Chewie sat back happily on his haunches and smiled with all of his forces at me and I had to laugh and ask, "Did you just smile at me?"  He did it again just to show me that yes, indeed, Mr. Chewie had just smiled at me and then he followed it up with a High Five. What a charmer.  His goal is to work in a local school with a set of teachers to help traumatized, autism spectrum or ADD/ADHD spectrum children who need his aid in de-escalating them when they have problems in classrooms.  Our teachers hands over the years have been tied more and more by parents who simply don't understand the importance of stopping a child from self harm or harming others safely.  It has gone to a point that now our teachers can no longer touch our children when they throw a fit or need to be removed from a room.  Chewie on the other hand can and he can help keep our children safe. So, Chewie will learn to interrupt self harming behavior, do Deep Pressure Therapy when needed and help lead children out of classrooms.  But that won't be his only job.  Chewie will also be part of the reading program to help children learn to read. For Chewie's safety he will learn to ring a bell to say when he needs a break and alert an adult.  This lets Chewie know we have his back so he never feels he needs to take things in his paws.  I just love Chewie's personality and how much fun he's having learning! No graduation date has been set.
Private Clients
	Sky Labrador Service Dog in Training Public Access Foundation Skill Level Gold Basic Foundation Skill Level Blue Facebook: Tao Service Dogs Sky is in the service dog program and is a young Labrador with need for impulse control. Her handler found it easier to pay for private lessons and work one on one for a while. She is indeed improving on her impulse control and her handler is less frustrated as a result. We are preparing with the warmer weather to work on leash skills, beginning public access and a first purchase with Sky. Sky has learned not to run into people during play via Malcolm teaching her where people are.  Her impulse control has improved and her focus is improving also.  Sky  needs to work on door  manners and begin leash manners. No graduation date has been set.
Pet Dogs
	Coco Min Pin Pet Dog Facebook: Tao Service Dogs                 Fearful Dogs Coco is a pet dog working on improving her confidence.  Coco graduated to improved confidence and enjoying her walks with her owner.  The two love exploring their world.  Thank you for having Tao in your lives.
	Pi Bernese Mountain Dog Show Dog/Therapy Dog Candidate Facebook: Tao Service Dogs                 Haute Paws Grooming and Boutique Pi is working to become a show and therapy dog. Pi has graduated to working with a specialist for Show work and enjoys her days at the shop.  Thank you for having Tao in your lives.
	Yoda German Shepherd Pet Dog/Therapy Dog Candidate Facebook: Tao Service Dogs Yoda is a pet dog who has earned his CGC and is now working toward tricks and calm behaviors for visiting nursing homes and hospitals.  Yoda has graduated to working with his owner and enjoying long walks and quiet training sessions at home.  Thank you for having Tao in your lives.
	Minnie Min Pin/Dachshund Pet Dog Facebook: Tao Service Dogs Minnie is a newly adopted pet dog working on confidence and bonding with her family.  Minnie has graduated to enjoying walks with her family and exploring her world.  Thank you for having Tao in your lives.
	Cisco American Pitbull Terrier Pet Dog Facebook: Tao Service Dogs Cisco is a foster fail at Haute Paws Grooming and has become one of their lucky family members. He is fearful, to the point of biting, of having his feet handled and and has problems integrating with all members of his new family. We are working on ways to help him with handling and getting along with his new family members. He does fine with all but one family member, another male, so we started classical conditioning whenever that dog came into the area. Cisco now enjoys seeing that dog because he means good things happen. They have also managed, for the first time since he arrived, to trim his nails without stress levels rising beyond his tolerance level. We are now working on continuing to decrease his stress on handling and improving his ability to work within the family unit.