Alright, it's Friday, time for the next Leo update. This time, I took Leo to the Denver International Airport, which is a major hub (and a big airport) in the USA. 🛬 I had to drop my daughter off, so I decided this would be a good training opportunity and take Leo with us. When we first got into the airport, I started with the regular leash and quickly realized Leo was a little nervous. He did not do anything bad, and he was not trying to back away or panic, but you could tell he was a bit overwhelmed by all the people, the noise, and the announcements. So I switched back to the leader leash setup. That helped a lot. After a few minutes, he became much calmer, and we started walking through some of the busiest areas of the airport on a Friday morning. We went from baggage claim to check-in to the security area, and overall he did really well. At one point, when my daughter went to pick up her friend, I thought about going back outside, but then I figured, I already drove about 40 minutes to get there, so I might as well use the opportunity and spend more time training with Leo inside the airport. 🕑 So we went back in and kept going. One funny part was the escalator. The first time, he was definitely not sure about it and tried to back away. But the service dog harness has a really solid loop on it, so I was able to lift him and place him properly on the escalator, and once he was on, he was fine. Later, we used the elevator instead. 🐶😁 We went through some very busy check-in areas, back through baggage claim, and around a lot of people, noise, and movement. People were loud, some were shouting, and Leo stayed pretty calm through all of it. 👌 He also got a lot of smiles from people around us. A lot of people were looking at him like, “service dog, so cute,” which was nice. He has the “do not pet” sticker on, and I was happy that nobody actually tried to pet him. That let him just do his job and stay focused. So other than the first few minutes, and the first escalator experience, he really did very well.

....... full report coming later!

Sorry I missed last Friday. Last week was pretty crazy for me; 2 new tinnitus sufferers signed up for my program, new video, and working on the new interactive course that hopefully you all can experience yourself soon. Leo & I are still working on the sound alert training, and we did make progress. 👌 At this point, I stopped using treats during the actual alert practice. Now I ring the bell and wait to see if he will come to me on his own and do the right behavior, which is come over and make sure I pay attention. When he does come to me, I reward him with attention, affection, and a lot of “good job, Leo.” So the reward now is more about my response to him than food. Then I go to a different part of the house, let things settle down a bit, and do it again. Sometimes he gets it right away, and sometimes not so quickly. 😂 If I see that he is not making the connection, I try to catch his attention visually without saying anything, just enough to help him realize, okay, I need to go alert my dad that there was a sound. So overall, definitely making progress, but still more work and repetition needed. He still misses some of them, especially if he is busy with something more interesting at that moment. But he is definitely starting to understand the job better. The second update is that I got his (actual) service dog harness. That is helping a lot! 🐕‍🦺 Before, I was using that short leader leash, which worked, but honestly was awkward. Now with the harness, I can use a regular leash attached to something that is actually built for this kind of work. We already practiced with it multiple times, and he is adapting pretty quickly. ✌️ The next big test is going to be this Friday. I’m planning to take him to... the airport! 🛫 That will be a very different level of distraction and stimulation, so it will be a really good test to see if he can still stay patient, focused, and work with me in a busy environment. 🤞🐶 I’ll report back after that. What do YOU think will happen at the airport? Vote below.

Alright, it's Friday! Time for the next Leo update. This week we started working on sound alerts. 🚨 The goal is pretty simple: 👉 When there’s an important environmental sound, like a bell, alarm, something I should notice, Leo should come to me and poke my hand until I pay attention. So this is basically a two-step process. 1️⃣ Step one was teaching the actual behavior. Coming to me and pushing his nose into my hand repeatedly. For this, I used a small treat in my closed fist. At the beginning, he was just sniffing and trying to figure out how to get it. I only rewarded him when he actually touched or pushed my hand with his nose, multiple times in a row. So instead of one quick touch, he had to poke again… and again… and stay persistent. The idea was to build that behavior of: 👉 don’t give up, keep nudging until I respond After a few sessions, it clicked. 👍🐶 2️⃣ The second step is where it gets interesting. Now he needs to do that… because of a sound. 🚨 And this is not going that great so far. 😄 I’m using a remote bell that I placed near the door, so I can trigger it from anywhere. The idea is that when the bell rings, he comes to me and does the alert behavior. But here’s the problem: He’s smart enough to know when the sound actually means something. If someone is at the door, he already reacts on his own, barking, running to the door, showing me something is happening. That part is natural for him. But when I ring the bell remotely… He hears it, but he also knows there’s no one there. So from his point of view, it’s basically: “Okay… I hear it… but why should I care?” 🐶 Another funny part is that he’s already learned the first step too well. If he sees my hand move even a little bit, he assumes I have a treat and immediately comes to poke my hand. So now he’s reacting to my hand, not to the sound. What I’ve started doing now is hiding from him. 🏃‍➡️ I’ll go somewhere in the house where he can’t see me, ring the bell, and let him figure out that he needs to find me and do the alert.

Alright, so here’s the first update! The first thing we focused on this week was walking together. More specifically, walking with a short leash, what they call a 'leader leash.' Up until now, Leo was used to a longer leash, so he had more freedom to move around. This is very different. Now he has to stay right next to me, same pace, same direction. At the beginning, it was not smooth at all. (understatement of the year 😂) He kept trying to switch sides, crossing in front of me, going left, then right. Basically trying to figure out where he’s supposed to be. And honestly, I also had to adjust. Because this is not just about controlling him, it’s about both of us getting used to moving together. After a few days, it started to look much better. And now, after almost 2 weeks, he’s staying next to me pretty consistently, and we’re already doing this in public spaces too. For example, I took him to Home Depot. We walked through some pretty narrow aisles, sometimes with people around, and overall he did really well. A couple of times he tried to pull me toward things that caught his attention, but nothing too crazy. At one point there was another dog, and he definitely noticed… but he still stayed next to me and kept walking. We also went outside to the garden area and then back inside. The whole experience was actually pretty smooth. 🐕‍🦺 I’d say 95% of the time he stayed in sync with me, which honestly surprised me. One small step for dog.... one giant leap for service dog qualification! 🥇 I attached a photo and a 10-second video from one of the walks this week. Next step will be adding more real-world situations and distractions. This week we started working on alert behaviors (he alerts me of things happening). But I'll save this for the next update. 🐶 Quick question: Have any of you ever trained a dog like this, or seen this kind of process before? Happy Friday! Guy & Leo PS - Tagging the people I believe showed interested in this journey.