My friend has been enjoying participating in dog training for service and assistance dogs with her loving companion.
He is also enjoying the stimulation of learning new things. Together they share many delightful moments as they progress through the assistance dog training levels involved in this training adventure.
When you think about it, this would be so special to the dog, as your close friend and companion would be sharing one on one time with you. Many dog breeds are suitable to be assistance dogs. I was really surprised at how many dog breeds are willing participants!
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We all love to share companionship with a trusted friend, and this is one activity that you can share!
I certainly love sharing time with my dogs, how about you?
This dog is a rescue dog and has been looked after most lovingly by my friend and this dog, we will call him Caspar (not his real name), has been helped to adapt to a home environment and be restored to living a life that a dog should be able to experience. Sometimes we need to be very creative dog trainers to restore some of these rescue dogs!
Caspar had been learning different skills so that he could understand and associate these taught requests with the correct response. He was enjoying the stimulation of learning new tasks to add to his already growing list of sequences that he could now perform.
The day came for his debut in walking through a shopping centre.
His owner arrived early to adjust Caspar to this environment before their Trainer arrived.
However, Caspar did not feel comfortable at all. Shopping centres are not at all like going for a walk, going in the car, going to a park or even going visiting. They can be scary places for a dog, especially a dog who may not be fully confident in new surroundings.
The trainer was from an online dog training for service and assistance dogs website. The coach arrived to meet my friend at the shopping centre and straight away perceived Caspar’s stress. Thankfully this insightful dog trainer did not insist that Caspar and my friend should now go boldly into the shopping area.
Sitting outside on a bench was the best way to help Caspar adjust to the coming and going of many people either doing their shopping or simply going for a stroll for some retail therapy!
But, would you believe it, one person wheeled their laden trolley within centimetres of Caspar’s paws! How would you feel if this clunky item was wheeled very close to you with no thought about your obvious stress! This person saw Caspar wearing his service vest and sadly did not attempt to steer the trolley away from this stressed dog learning how to adjust to this new situation.
That episode alone would put him back many days!
But no, more distress was to come!
A guy with a young screaming child, without any obvious concern for this anxious animal, plonked his distraught child so close to Caspar that it caused distress for my friend and the trainer to witness this lack of empathy by this father.
So much for having a quiet sit outside the venue so that Caspar could become acclimatised and learn that this was a place where you could relax happily with your precious owner and dog trainer and enjoy the scenery.
Thankfully, a lady who had had experience with these wonderful dogs, came up and asked questions and made comments about Caspar’s handsome appearance and stately build and did not even attempt to get into his personal space. Respect was shown by this understanding lady.
The day was not finished for Caspar though, as he still needed to venture into the shopping area, as this was still the initial plan.
Caspar, together with my friend and the trainer did venture inside deciding only to walk a very short circle from the door a short distance inside and back again to the door. This was attempted twice so as not to stress Caspar beyond his anxiety levels.
I’m sure Caspar was thinking … “I’m only doing this because I love and trust my owner, so let’s get it over with quickly so I can go back home”
This planned experience has now put Caspar’s dog training for service and assistance dogs backwards by about a month, however, being such a good dog, he will adjust and learn to accept shopping centres, as my friend will provide him with the necessary reassurance and patience until he gets the hang of being in these centres.
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Until next time…
With Love, Success and Inspiration
Robin Oliver
www.robinoliveronline.com/blog
