Vegas and the Nudge Board Part 1

by Kate Albertini, NEADS Breeding & Puppy Development Coordinator

You may remember our story about Vegas from the beginning of quarantine. Vegas had been with his Full-Time Puppy Raiser and Harvard student, Amanda, but when Harvard University closed its campus in mid-March and Amanda had to return home, Vegas returned to NEADS. He then went to live with NEADS Program Trainer Magen Blake, where he continued the work he started with Amanda.

He was advancing very well through his training until Magen encountered a problem - a missing training tool. NEADS uses a piece of equipment called a nudge board to teach the dogs how to turn light switches on and off. The board features a switch and a light that is adjustable in height.

However, all of our nudge boards were being used by Trainers on campus. NEADS volunteer Chris offered to build a custom nudge board for Vegas. NEADS provided the materials, and Chris donated his time and labor. The new nudge board features two types of switches, Standard and Decora, and many variations in the height adjustment.

You can see in the pictures the nudge board coming together in the workshop. Once the nudge board was complete, Magen brought it home to teach Vegas.