We are Jen & Pharaby, this is our story.
I started task training my puppy when she was about 12 weeks old. At that age it was a game to her so tons of cookies were involved. The first task we started with was DPT, she was small but would be growing up so this was just to get the motions down. After I felt that she had a solid understanding of the motions, I started incorporating the signs she would need to watch for in order for her to know when to do this task in real life. I swear she thought me breathing like I was having a panic attack was the funniest thing she had ever seen. Everytime I did a simulation she would get so hyper & start jumping & barking at me, lol. She was a baby after all. I was happy she was responding & doing something to get my attention. Her natural response to any of my episodes is to 1. nudge me, 2, jump on me & if I don’t do what I am supposed to, she still barks at me. She is now 15 months old so I am hoping we can find a more quiet way for her to show her frustration with me if I don’t respond to her alerts.
After she gets my attention for the panic attacks I am supposed to sit down so she can do DPT. This is very helpful for me and she has incorporated her own little task of licking my tears away and that is so sweet!
Of course we have to do test runs on occasion and now if I fake this behavior she get worried for me & when she realizes I am really OK she is almost pissed off, lol! She will pull my ponytail to tell me to get up & stop lying. She is so full of personality. I couldn’t ask for a better pup.