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Originally Posted by marcerella02  i got an email back today from the man in charge of pet therapy here in London and he said there are 53 dogs on a waiting list to be tested and only 36 get tested a year... yikes, but he also included the test and it seems that Layla may need a year or two to work on a few things... which is ok.... i have a few questions
1. They need to be able to drop a metal bowl 6 feet away from her and not have her react... well Layla is afraid when a baggie falls on the floor... any ideas on how i can get her used to this... i'd say it is beyond normal fear... it is something that can affect her whole day.... if we are using a fly swatter to kill a fly.. she is done for the dya... this all started last christmas when we were in Florida and she heard a firecracker.. we were outside peeing (ok SHE was peeing) and she wasnt ready for it.. before this she could care less about thunderstorms... and now... she is a complete mess... anyways.. an ideas on the bowl would be great
2. She needs to be excited and easily calmed.... should i use a key word... like easy??? i am not usre how to teach *be calm*
3. She needs to be comfortable around a wheel chair.. any ideas where i can get her exposed to this??? i don't know anyone in a wheel chair or who owns one.
any help would be so great.. i want to work with her for a few years so we can have this down and pass the test with flying colors... i want so bad to be a therapy dog with her... Thanks! |
1) Is she afraid of the vacuum cleaner? Blender? To get Izzy used to noises I would hold her while I'm running the vacuum, using the blender and she got used to it. So maybe while holding her - stop to drop things and make a silly saying like, "uh-oh - Layla mommy dropped the silly....whatever....make a game out of it. See if that works and take it in small baby steps.
2) We covered this in puppy class....you get them all excited and goofy with your high-pitched voice and silly sounds and start to name fruits and vegetables, then you start to calm them down by starting to speak very softly and say the same fruits/veggies - they do calm down after a minute or two because you are calm and talking softly - trust me this works - we had 8 puppies in our class and all were insane but once you start to talk softly to them they just naturally calm down.
3) Again my trainer is going to have a Good Citizen course and they have wheelchairs, etc., to get them used to it. Check with your PetsMart and see if they offer Good Citizen classes.
That's a start at least.
