Puppy

Stairs can be daunting to the dog that’s not had much experience with them. There are so many different types of stairs, too, that it’s important to find as many different types: wooden, spiral, concrete, metal, without risers (backs), glass, steep, short, etc. Here’s a video of Talos experiencing an odd-looking set of stairs: glass sided without any risers. He does a fine job, taking the lead of my husband.

Service dog training involves exposing the dogs to as many different situations as possible, in a safe and fun way. When Talos was only 12 weeks old (and his house training was reliable), I started taking him to public places so he could see the world.

Once a week, I try to get out to lunch with my husband where I can expose Talos to some of the neatest socialization experiences. We've done this freight elevator a couple times before, but today I had the camera with me to capture just how noisy and large a freight elevator can be!

There are a few things to pay attention to in the video:

1. I'm feeding Talos a relatively high value treat. He takes the treats most of the time. However, take note of when he refuses the treat I offer – that's a great way to gauge how much stress a dog is experiencing. If he won't take a treat, he's probably a little stressed.
2. Watch how he's able to perform the behavior "touch" (touch my hand with his nose), but cannot sit when I ask him. The situation is simply too distracting for him. That's a training issue, not an obedience issue. In other words, that's my problem, not Talos' – I need to work with him more in distracting environments.
3. Notice the position of his tail and his ears. The tail and ears can tell you a lot about what your dog is thinking and/or feeling. His tail is down, but not tucked, indicating that he may feel a little stress, but isn't terrified.
4. After we exit the elevator and we're walking away, you'll hear the (very loud) buzzer and the clanking of metal. Notice the absence of any fear reaction from Talos. That's a good indicator that he was not wigged out by the entire experience. He just lopes along, happily beside me, waiting for the next adventure.

I was very frustrated with myself after yesterday's fiasco in the library. I was frustrated for several reasons:

1. I assumed Talos knew more than he actually did.
2. I put both of us in a high pressure environment by going to the library where silence is golden.
3. I didn't prepare properly – I should have had more than one food toy.
4. I should have spent a lot more time on Talos' settle before asking him to perform to such high standards.
5. I assumed that Talos' size is indicative of his knowledge and skill. He's only five months old. He may be big, but he's still a young dog with only rudimentary skills.

Knowing the fault was mine, not the dog's, I was able to re-frame the experience and make a plan to improve his behavior. That's the main difference between the old-fashioned style of training and scientific, modern style of training.

Looked at with old-fashioned eyes, a trainer would say that Talos was being disobedient, he was trying to assert his will over mine, and that he needed to be corrected and shown that whining and playing were not appropriate in a public setting. That's not really fair, now is it? After all, I never taught Talos those skills; at least not to the standard of being in the public library.

My focus isn't on the dog's poor performance, but my own. It's not Talos' fault. That blame rests squarely on my shoulders. And I'm happy to take that responsibility. I cringe thinking about those trainers (and owners) who find it so easy to put the blame on the dog. What a lazy and cowardly way out!

I say man-up and train the behaviors you want. No sense blaming the dog for my own mistakes. I'm better than that. Talos deserves better than that. Stay tuned for more details on our settle work, there will be a lot of it in our future!