Gotta just reinforce around that threshold. If she can’t hold it together getting into the elevator, then lots of treats and praise just in sight of the elevator. If that’s too much, then just around the corner or through the lobby door or whatever.
If you can get some low traffic time at night or very early in the morning for some easy in-and-outs without the door closing, you can start to bridge that gap just in baby steps… So you can reward for every cue: Press the button, treat. Car arrives, treat. Chime sounds, treat… etc. But it’s hard, and pushing too far too fast can cause a significant setback.
And then you still gotta be super careful about encountering other dogs, or people who might trigger her… Which of course you don’t know about until the door opens.
My dog had a really hard time living in a building with an elevator… I will go to extreme lengths to avoid needing to do that again, lol.
Nice work! The other thing we found that helped is super high value treats. Our dog was terrified of cars and she still doesn’t like them but will get in and out by herself. Her normal training treats weren’t enough to even allow her to get close enough to start desensitization but some cheese was the ticket.
Hey it’s a long process. Take it very very slowly but it’s training like anything else. Have her look at the elevator. Treat everytime she looks at it… For days. Take a step closer days later and treat. Eventually go in the elevator but don’t take it, go back out to a safe distance and treat treat treat. Repeat for weeks. Practice the same thing other places with elevators in different environments. Eventually you’ll be fine, but it will take a lot of patience.
Figure out a really high value treat, and then make that the “elevator only” treat? I know when we were crate training, ours did not want to go in the crate, and it took a bunch of practice, lots of treats when he got close to the cage and even more when he got in. Now he demands to have his nap at noon and bedtime at 9PM.
He loves his routines (he has dogtism), and the more we’re able to do the same things the same way every day - food time, nap time, walk time, play time, bed time - the easier it is for him to roll with it when we have to change it up for some reason.
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Gotta just reinforce around that threshold. If she can’t hold it together getting into the elevator, then lots of treats and praise just in sight of the elevator. If that’s too much, then just around the corner or through the lobby door or whatever.
If you can get some low traffic time at night or very early in the morning for some easy in-and-outs without the door closing, you can start to bridge that gap just in baby steps… So you can reward for every cue: Press the button, treat. Car arrives, treat. Chime sounds, treat… etc. But it’s hard, and pushing too far too fast can cause a significant setback.
And then you still gotta be super careful about encountering other dogs, or people who might trigger her… Which of course you don’t know about until the door opens.
My dog had a really hard time living in a building with an elevator… I will go to extreme lengths to avoid needing to do that again, lol.
deleted by creator
Nice work! The other thing we found that helped is super high value treats. Our dog was terrified of cars and she still doesn’t like them but will get in and out by herself. Her normal training treats weren’t enough to even allow her to get close enough to start desensitization but some cheese was the ticket.
Perfect lol. You will get there then… Might still take some serious management, but it sounds like you’re on the right track.
Who wrote this, my CBT therapist??
If I was, I would not be able to divulge that information for patient confidentiality reasons.
Why? Have you been bad?
Thank you for taking the time to allow her to properly acclimate.
Hey it’s a long process. Take it very very slowly but it’s training like anything else. Have her look at the elevator. Treat everytime she looks at it… For days. Take a step closer days later and treat. Eventually go in the elevator but don’t take it, go back out to a safe distance and treat treat treat. Repeat for weeks. Practice the same thing other places with elevators in different environments. Eventually you’ll be fine, but it will take a lot of patience.
Figure out a really high value treat, and then make that the “elevator only” treat? I know when we were crate training, ours did not want to go in the crate, and it took a bunch of practice, lots of treats when he got close to the cage and even more when he got in. Now he demands to have his nap at noon and bedtime at 9PM.
He loves his routines (he has dogtism), and the more we’re able to do the same things the same way every day - food time, nap time, walk time, play time, bed time - the easier it is for him to roll with it when we have to change it up for some reason.
Awwww