I took Lilly for an in-town outing for the first time in doggone ages last Sunday. We mostly ran errands and such, but she did get her first chance to visit my mom at the assisted living place. It wasn’t a perfect visit behavior-wise, but it wasn’t terrible either. I kept it short (10 minutes). I rewarded the heck out of every tiny confident thing. Looks like we have a few challenges to train, if indeed Lilly would like to continue these visits.
1. Automatic doors
We’ve trained and counter-conditioned Lilly’s fears to doors that slide to the side, like those at a mall. We’ve also worked with the single doors that open out, like at a grocery store. BUT, the ones at my mom’s new place are double doors that open out. There is a loud click as they unlatch, then a whirring noise as they open.
There are two sets of those, with hair triggers in the ground/floor.
2. Elevator doors
Then, just inside there is a main elevator that bings when it opens. And, since it was right before lunch, there were lots of people with walkers pouring out.
If we wanted to go to my mom’s apartment, that would require an elevator trip. I’m not sure Lilly has ever been in one. We’d have to work on that during a low-traffic time.
3. People with walkers (lots of them)
While Lilly did great when she visited my mom in the rehab place last spring, but we were training consistently then. I think Lilly is just out of practice. Plus, there really were many, many people coming at her from all directions.
Still, she poked my mom and let her pet her a bunch, then we heeled around the main living room area. I asked her to SIT. I asked for a DOWN. I even asked for ROLLOVER, and she did fine.
But, I could tell from her ear position and tail tuck that she was nervous.
So, I ran her back out to the car, then I went back in to have lunch with my mom.
There are also a several dogs who live at the facility, and even a couple of “house” dogs who are there most of the time. Thankfully, none of them were around during Lilly’s short visit. I made sure of that before bringing her inside.
As Lilly’s reward for being such a good girl all day, we stopped in Golden before we headed home and went for a nice walk. Lilly was so happy to be out doing something after all her time at home lately. She did a great job with our make-shift agility work.
I liked this! Since Frisbee was a therapy dog until his retirement, I can relate to this. Good for you and Lilly!
I like the new design; learning to navigate it.
Hilary
Love the new blog design! Glad to hear how well Lilly did among the people with walkers!