Aqua, Amber, Coral, Diamond, Topaz, Taz and Opal didn't really go shopping. But they did go to the mall!
Today the puppies went on one of their first public outings to the Colonial Park Mall. Our trainers, the puppies' breeder caretakers and several of our wonderful volunteers each took a puppy and walked around the mall. Even though the puppies are only seven weeks old, it's important for them to have early socialization with new people and to visit many new environments. Sometimes new people and environments can be very scary for dogs, so we make sure that the puppies have plenty of new experiences so they learn to adapt quickly and easily. Once they become service dogs, they'll find themselves accompanying their partner to all sorts of different places, and they need to be able to continue to assist their partner no matter what situation they're in.
The Gemstones puppies seemed to have a blast in the mall. The puppies probably greeted every person who was in the mall today - great experience for the pups! Normally, you shouldn't just stop and pet a working service dog or service dog-in-training, especially without asking first. However, for this particular outing, we wanted people to pet the puppies. We invited everyone to stop and pet them.
In addition to greeting people, the puppies encountered stairs, ramps, and loud noises. In this video, SSD Amber (red collar) walks up the steps.
SSD Taz and his handler found a photo booth at the mall, and Taz had no trouble walking through it to reach his handler on the other side.
SSD Diamond checks out the kid cars.
SSD Aqua walks on a loose leash.
SSD Opal has a great time exploring the mall. Check out her smile!
SSD Topaz takes a quick look around.
After taking care of an itchy spot, SSD Coral heads over to greet more people.
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
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How long was this outing?
ReplyDeleteThe outing was only about 45 minutes. All of the puppies started out with tons of energy. They scampered around the mall, exploring everything. By the last ten minutes, the puppies had worn themselves out, and several of them decided it was a good time to take a nap. SSD Opal, though, was still exploring the mall right up until we walked out the door.
ReplyDeleteI think, this outing is depend upon the how you train them. I guess dogs and puppies get scare at first time outings, So it has become compulsory to keep an eye on them. This post is really useful for those people who makes their puppies outings.
ReplyDelete