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:
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
Good Boy Talos! :-))
WOW! I’m not sure how my Chloe would have done on an elevator THAT noisy! He did terrific! We’ve been on freight elevators before, but they were “padded” and opened normally (just bigger). Talos did super for such a big clunker of an elevator! Horray!
Denise and Chloe
I also think the speed (or lack thereof) of his elevator exit is a good indicator of how well he was coping. It’s not like he needed to “flee.”
Definitely some stress, but who wouldn’t be!?! /grin/ Thanks for the great video and training idea! If I can find a freight elevator around here I’ll take my next pup on it! It really is so sad when people don’t know the signs of a stressed dog, ears back, tail dropped, panting and yawning (amongst others) are not signs of relaxed dog! That’s one of my main frustrations with other raisers, they think their pups are well-adjusted when they’re just stressed and quiet in most situations! Thanks again for the video 😀
Roxanne, good eye. Yes, the fact that he didn’t feel the need to flee the elevator once it opened was a good sign, too.
Ally, thanks for the comment! It’s hard to see signs of stress in a dog for most people. I really like “Canine Behavior” A Photo Illustrated Handbook,” to help people learn what to look for. I try to look at teaching people the same way I look at teaching dogs: if they’re not getting it, I need to change what/how I’m doing to make it easier for the learner.
Hi, my name is Jade and I have Talo’s half sister? Katie (same litter as Arrow) who is a full fledged service dog. I just want to tell you what a great job you are doing. In situations as noisy and stressful as that I put Katie in a down-stay as she is not as well prepared to cope with those situations as Talos seems to be, so huge kudos to you!
Hi Jade, smooches to Katie from us here in MD! I always carry a high-value treat with me. If Talos looks scared or uncertain, I’ll speak to him in a calm, reassuring manner and feed him. If he won’t eat, I know I’ve put him in a position where he’s way over his threshold and I need to get him back out of that as quickly as possible.
If he’ll eat the treats, I’ll continue to talk calmly, and try to engage him in an easy activity (like touch, in the video) to keep his mind off the scary thing.
In the end, it’s up to me to teach him that something’s not scary. I can’t *force* him to believe me, so patience and high value treats are the answer.