Part of our intention with Burke when we got him was to train him as a service animal for Jake. I didn't know exactly what form this would take at first, or if we'd need to train him for public access at all - or if just having a good family dog that Jake could interact with would be enough. And they love each other madly and have these great play sessions at home, which in itself is incredible.
Lately Burke has taken to following Jake down to our brook and staying close to him - which is great, because Jake has taken to wandering too far at times. We are pursuing some training for Burke in search and rescue as well as alerting when Jake goes too far, as service dog tasks.
But another task that I think Burke can do is to keep Jake regulated and from jumping and running and flapping in the aisles when we are in stores. Stores - supermarket, clothing, whatever - have been extremely hard for Jake. Clothing is worst because of the formaldehyde smell, but the stimulation and fluorescents in the supermarket is pretty bad too. While I shop, Jake typically runs up and down the aisles, making an "eeeeeee" sound and flapping. It's tough; I'm constantly calling him back to me and he has about 20 minutes before he starts crying or getting angry and frustrated with everything and needs to leave.
So when Burke was around 6m old I took Jake into Kohl's with Burke - Jake held one leash attached to Burke's service dog in training vest and I held the other. Even as a puppy, Burke seemed to know instinctively how to behave in the store and was a model of good behavior. His biggest issue was wanting to lunge toward people to greet them - he loves people and has never met a stranger.
Since Burke's adolescent antics stage I haven't tried public access again. It takes a lot of work and I just haven't been confident in his behavior. But in the past few weeks I've been working with him amid some distractions, and felt he could handle it. We did Big Lots first for a short trip/trial with Burke. He did awesome!!!! Jake however freaked out and ended up waiting in the car with Katie while I finished paying.
Then we went to the supermarket. With Burke. And Jake. Katie and I took turns handling Burke - with the headcollar. Jake held another leash attached to Burke's vest. We were in there for over an hour - back to school stockup.
Well, Jake calmly held Burke's leash the entire time. I think he dropped it like twice and picked it right back up when I reminded him. It's 6 feet long and I am looking to try 2 and 4 feet as well as one of those buddy leashes that we could put around Jake's waist, although I think holding the leash itself is therapeutic for Jake. I could not believe the difference in his behavior. No flapping. No running up and down the aisles. NO VOCALIZING. He just walked next to Burke, calmly, the entire shopping trip. He was calm in the checkout line. He was calm all the way to the car. It was incredible.
So I really need to pursue this. One of my fall goals was to take classes with Burke and Jake, group obedience, at a local training school (just for obedience/agility). I need to call the trainer and talk with her about options for Burke and how to work with Jake. Jake likes to repeat commands to Burke when I say them, so getting him to work toward being Burke's handler may even be a possibility.
Just had to share. I'm all excited. I never thought the supermarket could go that smoothly. I love being able to take Jake places he can't usually handle. Burke was a model service dog, he was spontaneously sitting every time I stopped moving by the end of the trip, and his only weakness was children, LOL. He would wag his tail and move slightly toward them whenever he saw them. But he now won't lunge toward adults and he isn't at all bouncy or hyper or anything. He tried to sniff snout-level food once or twice but stopped after we corrected him and didn't do it again. He looked darn close to a completely trained dog, not even a dog in training. He will walk at a complete heel without being told to. He is such a good boy!!! Three months ago I would have never imagined this happening.
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