Public Access - Canine Generalization SOAPS

During SD training Bello will be exposed to various settings, objects, animals, and people also known as SOAPs.  Trainer Brian Jennings has created a SOAPs program that is based on easy, difficult and unique experiences,  Bello needs to perform obedience skills and manners as well as his service skills in every environment we encounter.  Where our home is quiet and the objects in our home pretty much stay the same day after day, and Monkey our cat is friendly and we are friendly with our neighbors the rest of the world does not have the same peaceful experience we do at home.

--Bello at Christmas parade

Socialization begins at home by exposing Bello to Monkey, our home, our neighbors and occasional visitors to our home he has been able to understand our normal daily experiences at home. For the first few weeks Bello has lived with me (we've been together 14 weeks last Saturday) we didn't go anywhere except around our neighborhood for walks. This helped Bello understand the normal noises and activity in and around our home.  This time at home allowed me to have a glimpse into Bello's mind about what sounds and objects might make him nervous and areas we needed to improve.

However anyone who knows me knows that staying home is not normal for me. We had to advance Bello's socialization to the world. Bello and I began hitting the road and visiting all the area parks, local festivals, friends and family members homes and traveling to other destinations to expose him to various sites and sounds. This is also the time we enrolled in obedience class to help with socialization.  It wasn't necessary the obedience training I needed help with but Bello and I needed to work around other people we didn't know and other dog we didn't know so that we could see how Bello did in this situation and any areas we needed to work on.

Bello's obedience training and socialization has continued 3-5 times a week in brief sessions with the addition of our SAR training on Sunday afternoons but it also continues any time  Bello and I are interacting because I am learning his body language and facial expressions and he is learning mine and what I expect from him with given voice commands, hand signals, body postures, etc.  Whenever we are walking around town or in a park or at someone's home or our own home I am always watching Bello for opportunities to teach him how to be around particular settings, objects, animals and people.

At the end of each week I evaluate how we did and what areas need more work. I begin by asking myself

• where did we go
• what did Bello and I do
• how long did Bello and I spend at particular activities (training and social)
• did Bello see anything new or unusual and what was his reaction
• did Bello hear any new noises and what was his reaction
• did any of the walking surfaces have any effect on him
• what were any problems we encountered
• what were the positive experiences
• How did Bello respond to me
• Did Bello show any fear, nervousness, aggression, or resistance
• what were the specific areas we worked on and any hand signals
• should we repeat this outing again