I put this topic her because it is for a SAR dog in training and none of the other bins seemed to fit.

A friend of mine is a member of a mounted horse patrol and the fire department and police department are coming over to her farm today in uniforms and turnout gear and running the sirens to acclimate the horses.

I plan on taking Cyra as fire trucks would be part of the exposure she could expect during a search.

She is 15 months old. Nothing so far in life has fazed her expect for a harsh stare from me. Last week she rode out a major storm with numerous lightning strikes within about one mile in a crate in my parked SUV with no issues. Now some stress is good but too much is too much. Also it did not faze her when I backed my SUV with her in it into a hitching post and destroyed the liftgate.....Well I dented it badly enough that the body shop said I would have to replace it ... and it was a boom and a jolt enough to get MY adrenalin flowing.

What signs should I be looking for aside from the obvious pulling back on the lead before I determine she has "had enough"?

Is a little stress like ears flicking and lip licking ok for her to work through as long since I am there and nothing bad will happen?

I want her to have the experience but do not want to over do it. Suggestions?

Ideally, I wouldn't want to see any stress. I would want to see a relaxed and happy dog. If the dog is throwing displacement behaviors, I would back off to a distance where they are aware of the fire trucks but can be relaxed and happy. To me, the risks of overexposure far outweigh the benefits. I'd rather take my time and be certain that the dog is exposed in a way where they are comfortable, than accidentally push it too far and end up with a big problem.

Nancy,
Yawning can be a good predictor but you have to know your own dog and what is normal behavior to really know.
Karen

I think I will slowly move into the situation and observe for subtle changes in body language and back off at that point if I see any hesitation; normally her curiousity takes over so she *should* be wanting to move towards the weird stuff and if not I will not pull her in....of course she likes food and I can make some good associations there.

Sounds like a sensible approach.

No problems
We were about 15 feet away and she just cocked her head everytime they changed the siren
I did not realize how many different sounds a fire engine could make.

Nancy, Sounds like your dog did great. For future reference, play with your dog and it's reward (kong, ball, etc) as you move slowly up to anymore new exposures. Even a really solid, young dog can stress with something new, but it's toy will help keep it's mind occupied. When we do the fire trucks, we start in back of the fire house, outside. Shotguns, the same way. I started throwing my dogs kong for him about 100 yards from the trap field. In just a half dozen throws, we were five feet behind the guns. He never even flicked an ear.

Good suggestions!

I had a pocket full of food which I kept doling out here and there

... we would have worked right into the truck but the event was for the horse team who set it up and I was grateful to be able to bring Cyra.

I had a scary moment when one of the horses spooked and got a little too close but she remained calm with that too. .... You wonder how they can tolerate this -- my ears rang for a good 30 minutes afterwards