I like to talk about Autism Assistance puppy Carolina’s Firsts a lot. First outing, first bath, first nail trimming, first vet appointment…etc etc, you get my point. But I was reminded today that it’s not just the firsts that are crucial for Carolina’s socialization training, it’s also the seconds and thirds and so on. Yes, it’s always important to make sure she is good with an experience the first time. But it’s also important every time after that as well. I can’t just socialize Carolina with something one time and expect her to be good with it the rest of her life. I have to continue going back multiple times through her life as well as taking her to new places and experiences.
The list of places and things that most service dogs need to visit and experience for socialization is very long. It is easy to get into a bad habit of just checking everything off the list once the pup encounters it and does well one time. But all the things on those lists are very important and need to be revisited more then once, and we service-dog-in-training handlers are reminded of that almost every day!
Today Carolina and I went to Target. She did great with so many new things! Everything from a skateboard to the big scary red balls out front!
But sometimes trouble comes in areas you least expect. As we walked through the freezer section she stopped, unsure of her next steps. Just another reminder of the things we humans tend to overlook in our busy lives; the freezers are all glass, cold, tall, long, and pretty loud which can be scary to a little puppy. As soon as the freezers’ humming hit her little ears she stopped and gave me an “Are you crazy?! We are gonna die over there!” look. I quickly realized what the poor girl was thinking and we sat on the floor practically blocking the aisle as we took a few mins to work her through it. By the time we started walking again she was a lot more confident, but I know that her freezer training is not complete yet.
Thankfully most people waiting for us to get out of the way, are patient when it comes to a cute puppy in training! 😉
When a puppy is young it is normally relatively easy to convince them that something they perceive as “scary” really isn’t all that terrifying after all. Just like with anything repetition and consistency is key, but it never hurts to throw a few treats in the mix to convince them! But just like with children, as they get older they start to see things from a different angle. It’s important that when they start thinking they might distrust something, we handlers and owners are there to step in and help them through it…whether it’s a “first” or “tenth” for our little furry friends.
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