From our trainer Andrew, who is working with Kathy, who suffers from extreme anxiety, and her SDIT, Olla.

Andrew writes:

This last session occurred at Kathy’s house. We had planned on going to Lowe’s to practice the Public Access Test, which they are just about ready to pass, but Kathy was unfortunately not feeling well due to anxiety that day. So, we worked on teaching Olla to help Kathy with that by conditioning the Olla to lick a certain spot on Kathy’s arm when she senses Kathy’s anxiety, and to offer her comfort by snuggling. We also learned how train Olla to nudge Kathy and be continue to alert when Kathy begins to disconnect from her world due to her stress levels. We spent the rest of the time in our session working on obedience and basic playfulness, and getting Olla’s energy out. It was a tribute to Kathy’s persistence to continue the training process even when she felt at her worst.