Today Felix and I went on a short training outing. First we stopped by Wendy’s, since Felix has never been inside Wendy’s before and I had a coupon for a $1 hamburger.
He did a good job heeling across the parking lot and making it through the double doors. The double doors are really tricky for a wheelchair and service dog because they are offset from each other so you have to go in one door, turn right, then the next door is on your left, and then you have to turn right after the door to go to the main part of the restaurant. Felix handled it like a champ!
I ordered through the app, so Felix had to just hang out next to me while I figured out how to place my order. He did a good job at that, too!
Then they gave me my tray. I couldn’t hold onto the tray and Felix at the same time as I drove my wheelchair, so I had to let Felix go hands-free. He did a good job! He just did a through (walking in front of me) down the narrow aisle the whole way until we got to a seat near the door.
I put his mat down next to me and started eating. He did get up four times while I was eating my burger. But this was because there was a small crumb on the floor next to his mat and he really wanted it! So it was four times quickly in a row until he realized I was not going to let him get that crumb.
While I ate my Frosty, he only got up once, which is much better. I got some pictures of him lying next to my wheelchair on his rainbow mat in Wendy’s. He’s wearing his purple vest that Karin made him.
We were at Wendy’s for probably 15 minutes, and then we headed to TJ Maxx. I wanted to work on some of the PAT items he was weak on last time we went there and used zero treats. This time I used treats, but not his normal cheese stick treats. Instead I kept my treats in my wheelchair bag and got one out every time I wanted to give it to him. I also didn’t give them super often, trying to wean him off treats.
He did a good job! He was heeling nicely through the store. Unfortunately they’ve added some extra displays to one of the formerly wide aisles that we liked to use, so it is tricky to maneuver there anymore.
He said hi to three people while we were there. The first person just stood there and didn’t engage with him at all, so we decided to repeat it. Felix did just what he was supposed to, and was confused why she didn’t engage. Another person started petting him, and then a big cart came by and dropped something off the cart right next to Felix, which scared him. He did recover and go back to petting, but I wanted a third time to make sure he was OK.
The third time he did petting, he stood on the person’s feet LOL. I guess that’s OK if they don’t mind.
We also worked on our turns, especially our U-turn. I figured out that he likes U-turns to the right much better than U-turns to the left. He is really good at U-turns to the right. I got a video of us doing it, but it is a little tricky to see what’s going on since I was holding the phone and leash in the same hand!
The time that he has to be told to leave it, one of the people he had previously said hi to came up to the end of the aisle as we passed by, and he was distracted by wanting to continue to say hi to her.
We worked on leaving a treat on the floor as we walked past, as well, and he did a pretty good job.
We also worked on his stays some more. He was very good at that.
We were in the store probably 15–20 minutes, and I wanted to be sure we ended on a high note before Felix got tired of things. So we headed back to the car and came home. It was a nice short and sweet training outing, and I think Felix did a very good job!