Thanks, CJ

With the supervised seperation, just start off slow. Hand the leash to someone, and walk like 3 feet away. Arm your helper with TONS of yummy treats and let them be a treat machine.

When you step away, don't make it a big deal. Act like you are just going to pick something up. Increase the distance, and when he's comfortable with a pretty good distance, add some seperation.

Take a step around a corner and come right back. Add time to that as he becomes more and more comfortable. The WHOLE time, the helper can be talking to him and giving him HIGH VALUE treats.

One big thing is to not make it a big deal. I tell the dog to sit or down and walk away. I don't make a big production of leaving or of coming back. I don't make eye contact with the dog until I take the leash back. If I make a big deal out of it, the dog is going to think it's something that might be worth worrying about. If I act like it's a routine thing, and my body is not tense, the dog isn't going to think too much about it- she will be more interested in the treats my helper is giving her.

As a groomer, I learned that most dogs are actually much better behaved when their owners are gone than when they are present. I had one dog that was a nut case when the owner was there, and she said the dog had severe seperation anxiety and made a HUGE deal out of leaving the dog "good bye baby, be good baby girl" - that kind of thing. Once she was gone, the dog was perfect. I honestly think the dog was relieved to be rid of her for a while

The dog can't get treats during the test, so as he gets more and more comfortable with you away, have the helper cut back on the treats. Before you know it, it's been three minutes and he's aced the test During Drift's supervised seperation, she laid down and took a 3 minute nap- it was no different to her than being in her crate when we are gone.

And, yes, Cat's been on an elevator and an escalator. She was fine with the elevator, but it took a few times for her to be comfortable with the escalator- she would LEAP off of it at the end because she wasn't sure about that part where the track stops and the floor starts She figured out to put herself into heel position and to step off when I step off.

Hey Kelly, great information!

And yes, I totally agree about actions regarding separation anxiety. This boy is good though. He's had a stable upbringing in that regard with us leaving for work every day, outings with individual dogs where he may be the one left behind and outings solely with him. No worries there.

And as much as I love every bone in his body, when it comes to training, I do have the ability to separate emotions from the task at hand.

I think where his problem might come in is all the motivational recall work we've done with him. He's really good when it's Bob holding the leash. As much as he may lack in training enthusiasm he can hold and control our boys and follows directions well when required. Echo stands with him nicely and waits for my return.

When I was walking away she said he was fine. He was just standing though, I didn't give any commands. She said the second I turned the corner he bolted, which was the case with him immediately by my side, acting proud as punch and looking for his speedy come treat.

Had she given a small amount of leash pressure, instead of letting go and perhaps knowing the signs of his increasing excitement, I think he would have held it together.

But you are so right, it was too much too soon. I just assumed because he was so good with Bob, I could carry on from the point we were at. NOT. And of course we have no idea of the handling abilities of person in the test. And this is what shouldn't but does concern me.

There are so few circumstances in our real life where I would actually hand the leash over to a complete stranger, but I guess it just takes that one time to make it count.

In many ways I'm glad she let go though. He just got the games mixed up (not that he knows that). Had she gotten in a power struggle with him, who knows what effect that would have.

I like the way you’ve laid it out here:

Hand the leash to someone, and walk like 3 feet away. Arm your helper with TONS of yummy treats and let them be a treat machine.

Act like you are just going to pick something up. Increase the distance, and when he's comfortable with a pretty good distance, add some separation

Take a step around a corner and come right back. Providing he’s not there to greet me but shouldn't be a problem with:

The WHOLE time, the helper can be talking to him and giving him HIGH VALUE treats.

And I need to use the right helper the next time. Love this gal but a dog person she is not.

Thanks for the tips.

And we've never done an escalator. Sounds like an interesting experience for them. Other than a mall, I don’t know where I'd find one around here.