Elevators. With mirrors!
Crowded meeting rooms. Projection and audio systems. Applause. Lying down for 60 minutes with dogs (puppies!) nearby. Spending the night somewhere other than home. Seeing ships on the water. Hearing dogs bark in the room next door. These are just a few of how Levi is getting his brain stretched in so many good ways this weekend accompanying me to ClickerExpo.
Exposing a pup in a happy, no-pressure way is the best way to have a dog that’s a “go anywhere” with you dog.
Because Levi’s will be a service dog, we’re working hard to ensure that he sees all kinds of different things while he’s still quite young — before he’s five months old.
As long as we let Levi go at his own pace, we have lots of fabulous treats to help him get through novel and potentially unsettling experiences (the ship’s horn blast startled us both!), he’ll grow from each experience, realizing that new and novel things aren’t scary and — better yet — they’re fun!
Downtime for your dog is important, too.
Levi’s not even five months old. A three-day conference is a lot for any dog to take, let alone a novice youngster. Which is why I’m writing this in my hotel room while Levi takes a nap at 11:00a. Giving the dog a chance to take in the new experience, and then allowing him some downtime to rest up from that experience is crucial. By allowing him to rest in a quiet, comfortable hotel room with me, he’s recharging his batteries so that he’s ready to take in more new and exciting experiences when we head back down.
Gotta run, Levi has awakened from his nap and it’s off to the doggie bathroom area!
