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Right now we're at the "sitting in the lobby and watching people get on and off" stage of desensitization.
this post was submitted on 01 Aug 2024
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Actually no, she was so scared she turned her nose up at treats. That was the first thing I tried! Little bit of shaking and trying to hide under the lobby furniture too (which I'd allow if she wasn't nigh impossible to get back out). I've also been carrying her out to start so I can make sure she pees first or she'll piss herself either in the elevator or in the lobby. She's a COVID puppy who's never really had to go on an elevator before this big stressful move (she's also never moved before). We managed to get her socialized enough that she's not going to bite anyone or fight with other dogs (she'll even say hi sometimes!) but she was a very nervous dog to begin with, and we haven't always been 100% on making sure to acclimate her to lots of different stimuli so this is a LOT for her.
Awwww
Hey it's a long process. Take it very very slowly but it's training like anything else. Have her look at the elevator. Treat everytime she looks at it... For days. Take a step closer days later and treat. Eventually go in the elevator but don't take it, go back out to a safe distance and treat treat treat. Repeat for weeks. Practice the same thing other places with elevators in different environments. Eventually you'll be fine, but it will take a lot of patience.
Thank you for taking the time to allow her to properly acclimate.
Figure out a really high value treat, and then make that the "elevator only" treat? I know when we were crate training, ours did not want to go in the crate, and it took a bunch of practice, lots of treats when he got close to the cage and even more when he got in. Now he demands to have his nap at noon and bedtime at 9PM.
He loves his routines (he has dogtism), and the more we're able to do the same things the same way every day - food time, nap time, walk time, play time, bed time - the easier it is for him to roll with it when we have to change it up for some reason.
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.
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?
...yeah. that's what I'm doing, LOL