Updated Service Dog Training: Heel, Anxiety Alerts, Settling in Public | AstroFromTheBlue ~ Aussie 

For the carousel, I would personally start where he can just see it and reward him for eye contact and engagement, then move closer in small increments and rewarding for all good behavior. If he reacts negatively then restart and redirect his attention back to you. It can take minutes or days of training but once you get him close enough to the carousel where you can touch it, jackpot him. Then have him do things near it like sitting with his back to it, laying down, and just generally practicing things he knows next to it. Than let him sniff it, eat a treat off it, put his paws up on it, and just show him it is safe. You can also touch the animals, showing him they’re not real and will not move to him and are no danger to you or him. After lots of repetition of these behaviors and after him getting comfortable with it, you could even start it up. It’s similar to the process of if a dog is scared of statues or things similar. Also escalators if that’s something you want to train. It can be a long process but is worth it in the end. This is just my opinion and in no way shape or form am I trying to tell you how to do this. It’s just my advice and it’s what works with my SDiT.

I'm glad you kept in his startling at the mini carousel. Wish other handlers would show their downs in training. It's not all sunshine and rainbows! I personally would work at a distance, find a distance where he doesn't react, but can easily see it. Reward heavily for being calm and non reactive toward it. Eventually get a little bit closer, repeating the process. Just keep doing that slowly until he is fine being next to it. I've done this with my dog with a few scary things and it worked.

I love how patent you are with him! You guys are definitely on a path to success! I can't believe it's already been 3 months! I literally just found out right before watching your video that it's also been around exactly 3 months since my SDit and I just started working on public access too!! I really love watching the progress you guys make, and you've definitely been growing with how you make your videos too! You got a unique style ^^ also I 100% agree about the herm sprenger! It's so life changing and makes a hugeeee difference!! I think before you went into the mall Astro was kinda giving some signs of maybe getting a bit distracted and a lil frustrated... idk, kinda the vibe I got. I definitely would have become quite stressed if I had to deal with something similar when he started barking, so I think you handled it better than I would. Overall, for his first time there, you guys did amazing! despite getting stressed and anxious in the car at the beginning, (Ik the feeling, it absolutely sucks...) and his reactivity at the end. You handled everything great, and did awesome!!

Yes I love it when people teach there kids right.

Astro did really good he has definitely improved from the beginning , with the incident in the mall part i definitely think its good to know about it may be find an area outside with something like that and train so your not in a building where people will be kinda annoyed with barking if he does. that's about it thought hes improved so so much !

On the prong collar: Scientifically, punishment gives results short term, but long term, it can be damaging to the dogs mental state and they learn less. Instead of making it about “I’m gonna do everything I can to stop her hurting me”, make it “I’m gonna do everything I can to get that treat/praise/toy!” I used aversives with my perfectly sound Aussie shepherd with an amazing temperament and now he has developed dog and human reactivity, bordering on aggressive, with severe anxiety and fear around punishment and even verbal corrections.

I get so excited every time you upload a video 💜 y’all are improving so much! Thanks for the great videos!

my fav emojis: 🥰💜🌚 we're an aussie/american shepherd mix team. my boy is great. he responds much better to positive reinforcement and verbal corrections. we used a training collar but it did nothing for him. it's wonderful that you found a tool that works well for y'all as a team. i'm sure you're using it responsibly. i really have no issue with teams using tools so long as the dog is not reliant on it (i.e cannot work a flat collar even once "fully trained") and is used correctly. it's nice to see you be so patient with him and give him grace. y'all are doing great! also, having a training plan is great! your dog is allowed to be spooked and make mistakes, it's about the recovery.

so glad the prong is working for you guys as a team! people need to realize that what may be aversive to one dog, might not be to another dog. especially if it’s introduced properly. astro is improving in leaps and bounds every time you upload :D sending love from south africa ❤️

I had to wash my SD due to reactivity but he is so much better now he never reacts to dogs anymore he is now a at home service dog but I’m proud of his accomplishment

Beautiful. I'm actually thinking of getting a service dog for Psychiatric reasons. I'm glad to see this training do far🥰

I love how when she is talking about tips/gadgets she says it works for us (us=her and Astro) she is so loving ❤ ILYSM!❤

my service dog in training, Moose, has been alerting a lot lately!! hes been doing amazing, hes a cardiac alert dog rn, and omg astro is so so so cute.

Love your videos very helpful my grandson has a service dog really helps

I got a $20 e collar from Amazon and it's been a game changer. I use low vibration to correct him, beep sound for praise, and i removed the electric nibs bc I don't shock him - I am able to take him off leash now and give him more freedom. I don't think I would use a prong collar - he's already a good boy, plus heard far too many bad things about them. Glad you are honest about your process though. Your videos have given me TONS of ideas and tips

Love the detail you put into the intro music and visuals

Astro did so so good!!!!!

So if you know what is there. Then take him to where you first notice him reactingtake about 10 steps backlerlt him stand there and look. Then walk away do that a till he is comfortable just looking at it. Then repeat the same steps going forward in his training.

You guys are doing so well!

i like the linting bolt

He is so cute

Astro is such a good boy me and my in training service dog are also training everywhere she has done amazing and I had a little down fall and she helped me I wish you luck on your service dog!

I took watson to Hime Depot to train today, and he did a great job. I’m so glad because it’s been a rough few weeks.

Maybe you could buy a very small handheld replica of the carousel to getting used to it miniature before going to the outside version. That’s greatly it’s so well at his first time in the bookstore

I would have walked towards it slowly to see how close I could get click and treat for each time he was quiet as I walked up to the carousel. A trainer told me this

I prolly would have panicked too 😢but maybe would have taken him far enough but he could see it. Make sure he calm and slow inch my way closer. Maybe even let a sniff of it help it not happen again 🤷🏻‍♀️

So Astro does really good on not watching people as they go by. I have watched you videos for a while and I see you do very well. My stid as trained for a while now and still get distracted when people walk by. So I was wondering:Any tips?

My mom has made me and my brother deep clean our house and I think I’m done so I am “relaxing”

I know this is a rlly late reply and you’ve probably got this figured out or won’t see this but what if to teach him “head down” you have him lay, then hold the treat to the floor and make him sniff at it or whatever while laying, then add the cue “head down!” Till he understands? Idk. I don’t have much experience in dog training but I feel like that would work. I’m also rlly bad at explaining things as you may have noticed😂

Red eye + boogies usually equals an infection, my dog just had the same and we got her on antibiotics and it cleared up instantly. Also just saying hi, been watching your videos for some time now and really appreciate the work you put into your videos. I have my own SDiT and we're working on public access, and it's so great to see your and Astro's progress!

Astro is such a good boy! My new poodle puppy is learning (not sure if he should be a service dog or not) and has a lot to learn. I wish I knew the extent of taking care of a puppy it is NOT easy. I can't wait for mine to be a year old all ready LOL

Watching it all!! Nice!! We’re working on public settling outside before going in. He’s gets so excited going into new places. Any tips?

Sometimes we can’t train through it for whatever reason. I think removing and making a training plan was an excellent choice. There was no reason for you to train through that because you didn’t have to be there. Now if you were on a plane or a bus, that’s different, but training through this wasn’t necessary. Regroup and make a solid plan and then you can help him through it! Your instincts were spot on. Also 🧀

I am not giving any negativity with this comment just some advice so please don't come at me in the wrong way, I think instead of letting him get away with the distractions some times its better to re-direct to a less crowded area so then once he realizes that he shouldn't be looking at that kid or man, or woman that is coming by and the more you continue to do that the less hell have to be re-directed. HOPE THIS HELPS!😁😁✨✨

im seeing this sooo late but if anyone reads this please help. when theres people running after eachother or fighting she reacts to it, barking, lunging and no focus. any tips please???

You two are doing great! Astro looks like a really good dog and he's so focused on you. Sorry that the barking incident happened, I know I feel frustrated and anxious when my own dog gets scared like that. Personally, I would first find a place where your dog can calm down (like you did in the video). Next, I would go back in sight of the carousel again (at a far distance), and make sure the dog doesn't begin to stare/hyperfixate on the trigger by redirecting their attention or blocking them. If the dog is hard-staring for too long, they might react again. Then, I would work a lot on engagement and ignoring the trigger. Over time, you could even move a little closer. (That advice is not 100% my own, but rather some advice I've heard from other people/trainers. I hope I'm not offending anyone by giving it out. Still, I hope you and Astro work through it, good luck!)

I feel so safe here! I need a psychiatric service dog, and Im younger and plan on training it by myself when the dog is a puppy. I feel like I would do well with the training because I have taught family dogs that are over 8 months to heal and not pull, etc, it only took a few days. But, I'm not saying that I'm gonna try and rush it lol. I like watching your videos because it teaches me so much! Thank you! And, I have a question, how old should the puppy be when I start training it? I want to start as soon as I can, but then again I don't want to do anything wrong, like pushing the dog out of it's comfort zone..would training sessions between 10-20 minutes everyday be good? ( At home when were first starting.)Sorry if this is alot!

Astro is so well behaved in public!! I also have a question, im training my dog to be my service dog and she is having a hard time learning to heel. She is not treat motivated when it comes to heeling. Should I put her on a prong collar?

Just a thought maybe you could teach Astro to take treats with the cue “Astro okay” instead of “leave it” Then he’ll hopefully leave stuff on the floor when going places easier 😉

I Just recently started training my year old Shar-pei x staffy to be a service dog! shes doing so well already but we haven't really started PA work, i just don't know where to start. If anybody has any tip for starting public access work with a dog that's never been anywhere more distrcting than a walk, it would be greatly appritiated

I do need a service dog but my mom is scared of dogs and im still not so sure if My school would allow training in the school even if the dog is very well behaved and does not focus on others

SLAY

I suffer with severe anxiety and I’m training my 6 month old pitbull right now to be a service dog. The issue I have is he pulls me in public in a new place. It’s makes me so anxious. How to do you get your dog to heel in a super stimulation place ?

Just out of curiosity how did u stop the wining?

My favorite emojis:😂🤣🥰😘😊💖💗💞💝

💕👀😘😭😂💃🏽

My dog Tucker is a service dog and he has bad times like that he's in training to

Are you planning on sticking to one color (blue) or will you get different gear? I have a blue vest that doesn't fit my boy I could send you some photos of it on Instagram if you have one :) Also my Shepsky is twinning with Astro they both have one blue eye and one brown eye! 💙🤎 Also I find people will approach you if you fall into the category of "not looking disabled/disabled enough to have a service dog". Edit: Go to where you can see the carousel in the distance give him treats, then slowly move closer and closer with the treats becoming more and more high rewards. If he looks then looks back at you with little to no reaction jackpot him. This should help him get through it.