Training At The Pet Store

Jade and I had training today and our trainer decided we should try it at the pet store since there are plenty of distractions there.  Shes right.  There are a lot of smells, dog food, toys, other dogs, even a Vet clinic.  Then there are the other dogs coming in, walking around with their owners, and leaving. Theres also a doggie day-care inside the store, with a very large picture window (made of some sort of plexi-glass) so that all the dogs in day-care can see out into the store, a place for cat adoptions, and a grooming salon.   So, yes, a lot of distractions!

My trainer also thought itd be a good idea to have Jade meet with another dog and do some training together, to see how shes getting along with the defensiveness issue shes had since her pit bull attack.  The trainer had another client with her and her service dog in training...a black Lab....well call him, Gabe.

So, we started by walking Gabe and Jade passed each other a few times outside, then the last time, we stopped closest to each other and did a sit/stay.  All of that went very well. Then we let them meet.  They sniffed each other, and sniffed some more, then Jade went on the sniffing other things.  So that went very well and I was VERY pleased....and very proud of her.

Gabes owner asked me about Jade being attacked back then.  She asked me what kind of dog it was....I answered, "It was a pit bull."  Well, that kicked off a whole new conversation about pit bulls.  Seems Gabes owner isnt too fond of pit bulls either.  She asked me what the owner of the pit bull said to me after the attack, and I explained that the owner was nowhere to be found...just a loose pit bull, roaming free, with a broken chain around its neck.  She talked about how that "always seems to be the case....and pit bulls maul and kill a lot of dogs and children, for that matter!"  We talked a bit about the pit bull problem here in Tucson and just the sheer numbers of pit bulls here, as this place is overrun with them!  The trainer also chimed in a bit and talked about how the wrong kind of people are drawn to pit bulls and seem to be the most irresponsible and immature people.  Cant argue with that! Gabes owner said, "I dont blame Jade for having been defensive after that happened to her, I would be too!" Seems Jade is moving past those days now, thankfully!

Anyway....Once we let the two dogs get a good greeting and get to know one another, we all headed inside the store to do some training together.

We did some sit/stays, some down/stays, some "leave its," some down/stay and handler goes out of sight for a few moments, and walking past other dogs.  We had a good time, and Jade did wonderfully! She used to have a hard time with doing down/stay and me going out of sight for a few moments, but she does it now, and just stares at where I went until I get back.  We always laugh because my trainer says, "Wow, I dont think she even blinked until you got back!" Haha! Thats my girl!

We also did a down/stay and had a couple of strangers come and step over her, and worked a bit on her check out counter etiquette, which didnt need much work at all.  Everything seems to be going so well, and the trainer said it wont be long now before were ready to take the certification test.  Weve certainly been practicing for it.

Hopefully it wont be long now until Jade gets her pretty green vest, and is an official Certified Service Dog!

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