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Well, I've learned that Grimm and I can walk to the train station here in my city. German train stations are really busy. I took Grimm there late this afternoon, and we did some heeling, some focus, some sits and downs-- but we did it amidst this new setting. It was somewhat calmer than normal, as today is a Saturday on a sleepy holiday weekend. (Germany basicly closes down Easter Sunday and Monday) But, Grimm had never been there before.
There were bumpily cobblestone surfaces to heel over, stairs to go down and a tunnel to go through, plus a conveyorbelt-thingy for luggage that chugs up and down the stairs by the side. We were on a platform that had at first nothing happening, just trains sitting there... then a train came in on one side of us, LOUDLY, and chaos as hordes of people, kids, strollers, luggage all surged out from the train. Whistles blew, loudspeakers crackled and boomed announcements, luggage rolled by. Many smells, sights, sounds.
How did Grimm do? Well, he did fine on the 20 minute downstay I had him do to begin our adventure there, to ground him. His heeling in general, let alone in a new place, is very poor... I am currently using a Halti to correct leash reactivity re other dogs-- and it is a horrible, terrible tool to try and get ANY precision out of an adolesent dog who is distracted at that age and needs reminders to heel. Oh, well... we did okay, not good, with heeling-- but we kept at it, did left circles, and I got some good results body-blocking and stuff, using treats and clicker. Not great... precision is lost with the Halti for heeling a youngster with Grimm's strong mind and temperament.
Grimmi did GREAT with his sits and downs, his come-fores, stays, and his focuswork.. when NOT in motion. We are definitely not great at focus while in motion-- but in such a distracting area, he did great focus when we were standing still and i had my hands held far apart at my sides with kibble in 'em.
The whole loud experience was chaos-- and for a pup of 16 months, he did great his first time there. He yammered a very tiny bit when a train ROARED then screeeeeched in LOUDLY right in front of us, while he held his sit-stay as throngs of people stampeded out of the train, and he didn't get to meet anybody or kiss anyone.
But he really was pretty cool about it. His forehead was full of velvetty wrinkles, ears ultra-alert, but he held his positions--most of the time. It's a start! We will go there again this week a few times, to keep up with this. I am doing this to add to his experiences, and just help him learn to listen to me in the midst of chaos. It's a beginning, anyway!
Anybody got tips for training calm in new situations and helping focus? Where do you train for building acceptance of new situations and calmness?
There were bumpily cobblestone surfaces to heel over, stairs to go down and a tunnel to go through, plus a conveyorbelt-thingy for luggage that chugs up and down the stairs by the side. We were on a platform that had at first nothing happening, just trains sitting there... then a train came in on one side of us, LOUDLY, and chaos as hordes of people, kids, strollers, luggage all surged out from the train. Whistles blew, loudspeakers crackled and boomed announcements, luggage rolled by. Many smells, sights, sounds.
How did Grimm do? Well, he did fine on the 20 minute downstay I had him do to begin our adventure there, to ground him. His heeling in general, let alone in a new place, is very poor... I am currently using a Halti to correct leash reactivity re other dogs-- and it is a horrible, terrible tool to try and get ANY precision out of an adolesent dog who is distracted at that age and needs reminders to heel. Oh, well... we did okay, not good, with heeling-- but we kept at it, did left circles, and I got some good results body-blocking and stuff, using treats and clicker. Not great... precision is lost with the Halti for heeling a youngster with Grimm's strong mind and temperament.
Grimmi did GREAT with his sits and downs, his come-fores, stays, and his focuswork.. when NOT in motion. We are definitely not great at focus while in motion-- but in such a distracting area, he did great focus when we were standing still and i had my hands held far apart at my sides with kibble in 'em.
The whole loud experience was chaos-- and for a pup of 16 months, he did great his first time there. He yammered a very tiny bit when a train ROARED then screeeeeched in LOUDLY right in front of us, while he held his sit-stay as throngs of people stampeded out of the train, and he didn't get to meet anybody or kiss anyone.

Anybody got tips for training calm in new situations and helping focus? Where do you train for building acceptance of new situations and calmness?

