Setting Osa Up for Success: Museum of the Dog Behind the Scenes Footage (Patreon)

This video shows some behind the scenes footage of an event Osa and I did last week. We headed up to the Museum of the Dog in NYC with 4 other Fidelco guide dogs. This was a challenging environment to say the least. The museum is located right by Grand Central Station, and the museum itself featured shiny floors, lots of people, cameras, elevators, stairs with glass panels and more! It’s a lot for a little dog.

I was super impressed with how Osa did at this event. In this post I want to discuss the components of what made this event such a success for Osa:

1. Solid breeding. This dog has a very stable temperament.
2. Preparation and Training
3. Expectations, Management, and Yummy Snacks

Since I had nothing to do with number one (that’s all the Fidelco breeding program), I want to discuss numbers 2 and 3 here.

Preparation and Training:

If you’ve been on this page, you know that I’ve been training this pup from day one, but I’ve also been socializing her extensively in short bits every day, while trying to build a confident animal through positive experiences and having success at puppy-size challenges. 

The training portion helped here because she had a repertoire of behavior she could offer and be rewarded for which made us both happy and more relaxed. As far as socialization, she had already been exposed to open back stairs, elevators, shiny floors etc. None of this was new, but it also hadn’t been done all at once. Each piece of the puzzle had been laid so when she encountered them in this new environment, she wasn’t phased by them. 

Plan B: Now, if she had been nervous or over-faced, I had options such as carrying her around to reduce stress/expectations of walking on shiny floors, stairs etc. or putting her in the car if she showed signs of stress. I didn’t have to do either of those things, but I came into the event knowing my options. It’s always best to be prepared!

Expectations, Management, and Yummy Snacks:

Here is a list of things I did to make sure I set Osa up for success at this event:

• did the annoying thing (for me) of bringing the Klimb platform and lugging it around NYC so she had a place that she was familiar with in an unfamiliar environment
• Gave her space (moved away from dogs and people periodically throughout the event to give her a break)
• Picked her up for petting so I could control how much petting was happening. I could write a whole topic on petting but that’s for another day. Basically I controlled who had access to her, when and for how long so she wasn’t overwhelmed.
• Potty break beforehand and during
• Lots of cookies. I had a trail mix of yummies in my treat pouch. 2x more than I thought I would need to be sure I didn’t run out.
• Treated it like a training exercise and didn’t compromise training for looks/appearance (this required that I explained what I was doing to guests at the event, but that’s a small price to pay to maintain our relationship/trust.) For example, during that group stay I dictated where she would be (on the bench) and told the camera people that I was going in to treat her several times, even though that was less convenient for those involved. It allowed Osa to be successful in her first group stay at a public event.
• Gave her breaks and played silly games
• Managed everyone else’s expectations of her by discussing what was typical for a 12 week old puppy.
• Gave her hand cues as necessary, even though she is on verbal cues in a less busy environment.
• Brought food back in as lures as necessary

All of the above is what made this event successful for both Osa and I. What I hope that you take away from this post is that preparation, training, realistic expectations, and advocating for your dog when necessary is your responsibility as the trainer. When all of those things align, everything will be less stressful for both of you. And always have a plan B!

Happy Training!