Kaleb Van Adelrik:
Certified Assistance Dog

This next peace of information is about Judi Mullen and her experience with, and the training of, Kaleb van Adelrik for Johnathan. The information comes from Judi and she has given permission to put it on the site.

Judi got to know Kaleb as a very social dog with a good character, willing to work and please and with a "good sence of humor". Letting go of the dog, the moment Kaleb will defenitely go to Johnathan will be hard for her. She however is convinced that the dog will give Johnathan a lot of pleasure for the rest of his life.

How it started:

Johnathan was a student at the University of Boone (SC) where Judi's husband, Ken, was a teacher. At the moment doctors found out about Johnathans braintumor, which kept him out of school, friends kept in touch with him. Because of that situation Ken also stayed updated on Johns situation. After the surgery, and about two years later, Johnathan went back to school to finish his education. He and Ken met again and Johanathan asked him if he could use hoim as a reference when applying for a "service-dog".
At the same time Ed Miller tried to get Judi into Schutzhund, training Kaleb. Because of his fur, the dog was up for sale at that moment. Because of the fact that there already were several dogs at the "Mullens estate", Judi kindly thanked for the offer.
Because of the fact that Judi always talked about training "service-dogs", Ken suggested that Judi should train Kaleb for Johnathan. Kaleb's character, his willingness to work and his strength (for pulling the wheelchair) would make Kaleb ideal for service-dog work. All parties talked this proposal over and decided to take the risk.

The Traininget:

Joe Trotter, Kaleb's previous owner, already thought Kaleb the basic obedience. The excersises he knew where "healing" and "to sit'. From here on Judi worked Kaleb. Very important to know for " service-dogs " is that they are very social towards people, but certainly also towards other animals. This also was trained and Judi's cat and Kaleb became the best buddies.
Kaleb never showed any aggression towards anybody or anything, but he also wasn't the dog to do whatever you wanted him to do without resistance. Another disadvantage for Judi was the enormous weight of the dog and his huge body, without being a fat dog.
The dog still thinks he is a " lapdog "...... although weighing over 40 kilos. The strenght the dog produces when i.e. pulling the wheelchair, has to be controlled all of the time. This is something Johnathan and his family must be aware of and should be able to take the right descissions.
The actual training and teaching the dog all sorts of excersises (picking up stuff; turning the lights on and off) was basicly done with the so called "clicckermethod".
Because of the fact that Johnathan is limited in his movements and therefor his corrections, it's very important that the dog learned everything in a playing way. The info about that way of working Judi got out of books and loking at video's.
The books she read were written by a handicap man who trained his own " service-dogs ". All things and excersises the dog needed to know were all devided into small parts and excersisis and through training put together again. Because of this way of training it takes more time to teach the dog all he needs to know.
Because of the dog's enormous drive for food, the reward for good behaviour was easy.....................FOOD!
What Judi noticed about Kaleb was that it was a dog who loved to be around people and got a lot of pleasure out of doing good work.
If Kaleb will be the perfect "service-dog " is something Judi cannot predict, however one thing she is very sure of..... Kaleb will be a good compagnon.

TO SERVICEDOG 1