NOTE: ARTICLE WRITTEN BY KEISHA OF ARPEGGIO POODLES

Desensitization is very important for your prospective Service dog. Without this important step you might find yourself in a situation you did not prepare or train for and the reaction of your service dog may not be positive. Its true that it is almost impossible to train for every situation you might encounter, but if the proper socialization and desensitization has been done in the past it will make your Service dog more confident and adaptable to new situations. I wanted to create this list to help people create a good foundation in their Service dogs. The list contains not only sounds you want to desensitize too, but also physical stimuli (Sights and smells). Remember that when desensitizing your dog that you want to give your dog as much of the experience as possible. For example when desensitizing to fireworks, not only do you want to work with your dog on the sounds produced but you also want your dog to experience the visual part of the bright flashing lights and the smell of the cinder and smoke. Otherwise your dog may have no reaction to the sound but might startle at the light effects of the fire works. You will want to be able to get as close to these things as you possibly can for proper desensitization. I realize that sometimes its not always possible to be able to get out to a place where you can expose your dog to these things. In this case use of recorded sounds is an acceptable substitute. When using recorded sound it is best listened too through a stereo system or surround sound system. Remember though that recorded sound is always a little bit distorted. Here is a link to a site that has prerecorded sounds for you to use. SOUNDDOGS.COM If you think of anything that is not on this list please do not hesitate to email me with the information.

DESENSITIZATION LIST Air conditioner Air horn Airport - The whole experience is important. Especially if you ever plan to fly Ambulance - light and sirens on and off Applause Automatic Doors Balloons - All types Banging pots and pans Bed side commode Bicycles Boats Broom Buses Canes Carnival Rides and Atmosphere Car washes - both self serve and drive though Casino Cats Chair - sliding in and out of a spot Costumes - Especially clowns Diesel trucks Dogs Door Bell Drill Earth quake siren Elevators Facial hair on men Fans Farm animals Fax machine Fire hydrant Fire Trucks - siren and lights on and off Floor polisher Flushing Toilet Fork lift Grocery Store Gun fire Hair clippers Hammer Hats - all different types Horns Hose Hospitals - The whole experience is important. You never know when you will have to be in the hospital. Hotel Ice Cream Truck Kids - Screaming, Crying, Playing, Running, Jumping Kiddie Rides at the front of stores Ladders Lawn mower Leaf Blower Life size dolls Lightening Mop Motorcycle Movie theater Older people - Smells, noises they make Paramedics People of other races People walking by in close proximity Play ground equipment Police Car Power chairs Printer Rake Resturant - Fast food and sit down Ringing bells - School bells Road working equipment - jack hammers, rollers, cutters Roller blades Roller Skates Rotating Doors Saws Scooters Shopping basket Shopping carts Shopping malls Shovels Skateboards Slamming Doors Sprinklers Sporting events Stairs Street Vendors Swimming pools Tap shoes Taxi Telephone Thunder storms Tillers Traffic Trains Walkers Weed eaters Wheel chairs Wild animals Wigs Work place - The whole experience is important. Especially if you plan to have your Service dog at work. Vacuum cleaner