Teaching to "Peg" Leash to Wheelchair

Upon request of the best SD partners in NJ, Samantha and Ivy, I am working on blogging how I am currently teaching Winston to "peg" himself. I'll start from the top, but before I do so please remember - I am by no means a dog trainer and these methods are not necessarily the ones recommended by Susquehanna Service Dogs or any other Service Dog organization. Please contact the training facility that you received your dog through before attempting any of the methods I use!

The term "Pegging" originates from what is secured to ones wheelchair with the purpose of attaching the Service Dog's leash to the wheelchair, as in these photographs.

This is a front view, you can see the metal "peg" with the ring around it. Behind that is the black Flexi Lead. This is left unlocked so that when the ring is off of the peg the SD can have a long leash to go through tight quarters or roam further from you.




This second view is from the side with the leash still "pegged"




And finally, this is a photo of the Flexi and peg without being "pegged". It is a little more clear as to how it is set up.





Now that you have a clear understanding of what pegging is and how it is set up, I can begin to describe how Winston is learning to put the Ring, show here off of a leash



onto the peg.

In order to begin the process we gathered a few common training tools.


From left to right; Treat Bag with power treats, Clicker (iclick! yay) Ring, and Target)


Winston was taught that ductape is a target, so he knows either to push/touch ductape or to take it by the location with ductape on it. That being said, I took a piece of ductape about four inches long and wrapped it around an extra ring I had to make a little handle for him. Eventually I hope to be able to take this off as it looks messy and unprofessional.

Holding the ring by the opposite side of the tape, I told Winston to "Take it!" And Click/Treated when he did so. We did this process quite a few times until he was taking it from the tape even when held like so;



This process was very quick and I could eliminate having to use the spare ring almost immediately. The next tool I introduced was a Target. This had to be modified a few times so that I could hold and use it efficiently.

It is a piece of PVC piping about 12 inches long



With a butter lid taped to it



Here is a nice shot of the entire target



When held out, Winston knows to touch his nose to the lid. This is perfect for teaching Winston where I want him to bring the ring.

So, now that he knows to take the ring by the ductape, what I did next was after he picked the ring up (the ring was now on my leash), I slipped the target into the closest location to the peg. For me, this is directly behind it.

Perfect - He brought the ring over to the target and touch it - As soon as it was in an area close to that peg - it was a c&t with a huge party - I really want to reinforce him bringing it to that location.

Once he was bringing it to the target right away every time I began to eliminate the target - Allowing him to naturally bring the ring to the location desired. HUGE C&T PARTY!!!

I keep my sessions short - five or six tries and then a big "okay!" I clean up and find something to do for awhile - then try again later.

Within three days Winston was dropping the ring onto the peg - BY ACCIDENT - Maybe 4 out of 10 times. This command is something that takes a lot for the dogs to realize what they are being rewarded for.

Now that I have a new wheelchair we had to start over, the first session he got it on 2 out of 10 times and the next was 3 out of 10. Ten tries is about two separate sessions.

Winston LOVES to do this, I have to keep the target hidden or else he bring it to me, constantly. This is so much fun for he and I to work on, I really recommend it for a challenge if you and your partner are ready!

PLEASE feel free to ask questions about this as I know it is probably very confusing.

Also, I plan on making a short 30 second movie of it. If you want to see it please email me!