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.
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.
…yeah. that’s what I’m doing, 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.
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?