Our project monitor is a 14-year-old junior high student, who started training on his pet dog “Ittetsu” in June 2002. We noticed a positive change in his facial expressions and speech during the training process.
• Our project monitor
• A 14-year-old junior high student is lovingly called “Big Brother” by his family.
• He has a trunk dysfunction (he is unable to support himself) and uses a wheelchair.
• He would like his small-sized dog to assist him in reaching small items such as a pen.
• He is the main trainer and seeks support from his family only when facing difficulty.
• His dog “Ittetsu”
• Type: Shih Tzu
• Age: 1 year old
• He enjoys feeding time and playing with stuffed toys.
The training deepened the bond between Big Brother and Itettsu.
As Ittetsu had the bad habit of chewing up things, we started with basic training. Presently, Big Brother himself trains Ittetsu to “sit”, “stay”, “come” and “lay down”, before which his mother had worked on. Before the training started, Ittetsu did not recognize Big Brother’s voice, but now, he runs to his master whenever his name is called.
We started to train Ittetsu by correcting his chewing habit then moved on to the basics. During the process of training, he started to go to Big Brother’s side whenever called. Comments from Big Brother, his mother and the dog trainer
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•Big Brother |
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think Ittetsu is getting smarter because he has started listening to me.
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•Mother
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Previously, the dog did not recognize my son’s voice, but now he obeys his commands. My son seems to be enjoying the time with Ittetsu more than before. I learned to discipline the dog by adopting what the trainer told us to our daily schedule. |
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• Dog trainer
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Since Big Brother’s physical movement is restricted, we have thought of a way for him to be the main trainer following his mother’s lead.
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Comments from Dr. Kuri
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Comments from Dr. K, Big Brother’s physical therapist
He looks very happy when I ask him, through his mother, about Ittetsu. As a dog owner myself, I understand the difficulty of training. The training given to the dog, though, is quite fundamental, and I feel comfortable with and have trust in precise and in-depth support of the professionals of each area. Positive experiences of delight and joy are vitally important for people with disabilities. Though requiring a long-term vision, I expect much out of this project as part of the animal-assisted therapy that’s attracting worldwide attention
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