# Kaiju's first public access!



## Pax8 (Apr 8, 2014)

Kaiju's been performing service behaviors for me for quite a long time now, alerting to panic attacks since he was maybe five months old. But it's only been recently that I've looked seriously into training him for public access. Soooo after some brushing up at dog friendly stores, we had our first public access trip to our local Target and he was spectacular! 

We had one slight forging issue going in the front door and then two instances of trying to sniff (one was while we were walking by the meat case - so tempting!) but a quick reminder to heel and a leave it had him back in position and focused. He alerted me to every spike in anxiety without fail, and was on top of interrupting my compulsive habit even with all the distractions of the busy store.

We even had some toughies while we were walking around. A kid ran up screaming behind him and yanked his tail. He sidestepped slightly closer to me and continued on without even looking at the kid. When we were exiting the bathroom, another kid was running in as we were walking out. She ran into his chest so hard he stumbled back a couple feet and I lost hold of the leash. But he didn't even startle. Just recovered, returned calmly to heel, and waited for me to pick up the leash. And finally some guy in the checkout line was trying to distract him and threw a piece of beef jerky from the package he was eating. Kaiju glanced at it, then returned his attention to me without even a leave it. I'm so proud of my boy!


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## glowingtoadfly (Feb 28, 2014)

Congratulations!


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## Lobo dog (Sep 19, 2014)

That's so cool! How old is he? Congratulations


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## Pax8 (Apr 8, 2014)

Lobo dog said:


> That's so cool! How old is he? Congratulations


He is now 18 months. Doing pretty well for a youngster!


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## Lobo dog (Sep 19, 2014)

That's very impressive!


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## Hineni7 (Nov 8, 2014)

Yay Kaiju!! Areli and Akivah have done several Walmart trips (PTSD and left arm disability that has to be protected or swells to 5x normal size) at 4mos but never had such challenges to overcome! I know both mine have the ability temperament, but focus issues is still a long way off (8 and 9mos old).. Really happy for you!  give Kaiju a big kiss and pet from me, lol


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## Shade (Feb 20, 2012)

Fantastic!


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## Pax8 (Apr 8, 2014)

Thought I'd follow this one up because we just had a great trip to a local bar. I've done some light PA work at some restaurants, but we've mostly done small snacks and then run because I've been nervous about him getting bored and misbehaving. 

But we did a full meal tonight and he was wonderful. Didn't sniff anything, only shifted his hips in his down stay a couple times to get more comfortable, and when the waitress dropped a bowl of chips on her way by he didn't even move a muscle towards any of the chips that scattered across his paws. And of course, kept up his alerts when my anxiety got high (loud, crowded bar, lots of triggers for me) and interrupted my self-destructive behavior every time. Jeesh, sometimes I forget how much I love this dog.


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## Stonevintage (Aug 26, 2014)

That is amazing! It sounds like all the hard work for you two is showing it's rewards. Onward and upward with your buddy!


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## dogma13 (Mar 8, 2014)

That's fantastic!


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## kelbonc (Aug 25, 2014)

Great job Kaiju!


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## Cheyanna (Aug 18, 2012)

Good job! What a blessing he is. These dogs are amazing aren't they?


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## Pax8 (Apr 8, 2014)

Cheyanna said:


> Good job! What a blessing he is. These dogs are amazing aren't they?


They really are! I know I got especially lucky since I really picked him up just as a pet dog originally with no intention of service work. But he's apparently just found a role where he's needed and has filled it.  Guess my little workaholic pup couldn't go without having some kind of formalized job, lol!


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## Ruger Monster (Jan 29, 2015)

Amazing!! Great job, Kaiju!!


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## Colie CVT (Nov 10, 2013)

Great to hear!  Kaiju seems like such a great boy! It is wonderful when dogs surpass any expectations that you had for them. It is not an easy thing to be a service dog, especially with all the distractions. Restaurants tend to be the hardest too since there is food involved, but it is always rewarding when you stand up to leave and everyone is shocked because they had no idea there was a dog with you! It's how you know they were super good.


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## Pax8 (Apr 8, 2014)

Colie CVT said:


> Great to hear!  Kaiju seems like such a great boy! It is wonderful when dogs surpass any expectations that you had for them. It is not an easy thing to be a service dog, especially with all the distractions. Restaurants tend to be the hardest too since there is food involved, but it is always rewarding when you stand up to leave and everyone is shocked because they had no idea there was a dog with you! It's how you know they were super good.


Haha, he's really good at going unseen. A couple of my friends have taken to calling him a "service ninja" because he's so quiet and to himself when he's not alerting. He's also so very careful when he's walking through stores and tight crowds. I've seen a couple other service dogs that are really well behaved, but still sometimes accidentally knock product with their tail or brush past people. I've always been really impressed with how body aware Kaiju is. It probably came from agility foundations. But he has a habit of pressing in close to avoid even touching people while he glides past and if he has to turn or has his back to shelves, he tucks in his tail so he doesn't hit shelves or product.


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## Colie CVT (Nov 10, 2013)

I had Myles with me for a full conference, and no one realized that there was a dog in the room unless he was standing up and at my side lol. I really only need his help when I am walking/standing for long periods of time. Though his very presence has an overall calming effect for me.

I love when they are that body aware! It really is helpful in all kinds of situations. I have had some issues where if I get bumped or step wrong I can go falling. I noticed Myles watching for ways through crowds to avoid us getting bumped lol. It is amazing how many people are unaware of the dog, even if you would think that they would see them! People and carts are a real hazard to dog feet and tails.


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## Pax8 (Apr 8, 2014)

Colie CVT said:


> I had Myles with me for a full conference, and no one realized that there was a dog in the room unless he was standing up and at my side lol. I really only need his help when I am walking/standing for long periods of time. Though his very presence has an overall calming effect for me.
> 
> I love when they are that body aware! It really is helpful in all kinds of situations. I have had some issues where if I get bumped or step wrong I can go falling. I noticed Myles watching for ways through crowds to avoid us getting bumped lol. It is amazing how many people are unaware of the dog, even if you would think that they would see them! People and carts are a real hazard to dog feet and tails.


Kaiju's never been super great and finding paths because he tends to be more focused on me. Then again, he doesn't do stability work like Myles. But he is good at being as invisible as possible along whatever path I take him on.

Even so, people can be so pushy. I've had a couples of people step on his paws when passing me just not paying attention. He's the first service dog I've ever trained, so a lot of this has been trial and error. Teaching him to tuck his legs and tail has helped a lot. But I've also been really lucky that he's rock solid in temperament because it's kept my mistakes from ruining him as a service dog. :blush: Even after getting his tail shut in a couple doors, having some people step on him, and a kid that rushed up and smacked him in the head (I was SO mad!), he's never so much as shied from anything. Haha, even when I took him out to my friend's gun range without even thinking about having desensitized him to loud noises, he was just fine. He even slept through us firing the mini cannon!

I'll know much better for the next dog, but he's been the perfect dog to learn with thus far. The perfect combination of bomb-proof and bull-headed.


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