In those few seconds, Shiloh's ENTIRE training flashed before my eyes!

You will NEVER guess what happened to me last Tuesday.

Heck, I still can’t believe I witnessed it myself!

If you’ve been a Dire Wolf Project Inner Circle member for a while, you know that our beautiful giant stud, Shiloh (fka: Monstro; Essex/Razar) left Dire Wolf Project headquarters earlier this year at one and half years old to become a mobility service dog.

Every week I travel the three hours (round trip) into town to train Shiloh and his new owner.

Well…

This week, we took Shiloh into a store for the first time in his life.

In my head, I pictured a nice, quiet (serene) first introduction to being in a store environment.

I certainly did NOT (ever in my wildest dreams) imagine introducing Shiloh to public access training by walking into what I can only describe as the WORST POSSIBLE store scenario I have ever been in with a service dog in training.

And when I say “worst possible”, that includes what I had previously hailed as the reigning champion of difficult public access scenarios…

WALMART JUST AFTER PAYDAY!

Oh yes!

This experience beats that chaotic, stress-filled environment by a mile!

Imagine, if you will, a place WORST than crowded grocery aisles filled with screaming kids and shopping carts piled up behind you trying to get around.

The ONLY time I enter a Walmart is when I am training a dog for public access.

I never go to Walmart for any other reason.

Because…

Walmart gives me very high levels of anxiety.

And if you just can’t understand how a WALMART could be like I describe because YOUR Walmart isn’t all that stress-inducing, then you’ll have to take my word for it.  

Where I live, Walmart has:

1. THREE patrolling security cars in the parking lot,
2. TWO security guards posted at all three exits, and
3. regular visits by the SHERIFF to check the bathrooms!

Count yourself lucky if you don’t have that experience in the Walmart where you live.

It’s great for training a dog to remain calm in a stressful environment, though.

Now…

In that Walmart experience described above, which I previously felt was the WORST CASE SCENARIO for public access training, at least the DOG, itself, is not manipulated/touched/harmed in any way.

The dog simply has to observe and experience the chaos.

Certainly, doable.

But on Tuesday,

Shiloh was directly in the center

of the chaos!

From the moment I walked Shiloh to the front door until he walked back out about forty minutes later, my worst dog training nightmare came to life before my very eyes.

The reason Shiloh went to this particular store was because he needed his nails trimmed.

This grooming shop assured Shiloh’s momma that they could trim his nails properly, driving the “quick” back so that his nails did not click on the floor causing him to walk on his back pads.

And I will say this before I describe the utter disaster that awaited Shiloh inside this grooming shop, the groomer/owner DID do an excellent job with his nails.

They were trimmed perfectly.

She used heavy-duty clippers, and then also used a Dremel to sand the nails on either side of the quick to train them to stay as short as possible.

Not many groomers will trim a dog’s nails this short, so I absolutely commend her nail trimming skills.

However, flashbacks of my days working all weekend at my mom’s grooming shop in the late 80’s permeated my mind the moment I stopped Shiloh at the front door.

Looking through the glass front, I could see that someone was using a ShopVac to clean the cement floors right in front of the entrance.

Not wanting to bring Shiloh into a store for the first time with the loudest vacuum on the planet blaring in his ears, I waited.

Little did I know a loud ShopVac was going to be the least of my worries.

As I watched, I realized, the vacuuming was being done by a ten-year-old child.

Okay, we have children to contend with.

I wasn’t expecting Shiloh to have the pleasure of being around children in a small grooming shop location, but so be it.

“He’s a great dog, so it’s not an issue.” I reasoned.

When we walked in, I instantly had the sinking feeling this first store introduction was going to be a big mistake…

But his owner looked secure, and Shiloh wasn’t showing signs of much stress at all.

So…

I led him to a chair away from the children so that he could observe without being directly in their midst.

As the three children (all around ten or eleven) fought loudly over a Doritos bag one of them had stolen from the other, I looked around.

In a large wire crate next to the children, a German Shepherd Dog (GSD) mix peeked out emitting a low growl.

To the right near the side windows, two cages housed several squeaking guinea pigs and a third cage had either a snake or tortoise. I couldn’t tell, but something reptilian.

On the left side of the room behind the front counter, two women held a white standard Poodle on a tall grooming table.

One of them had her arms wrapped around the Poodle’s legs.

The groomer had her right arm around the dog’s neck. An electric razor buzzed in her left hand as she put the finishing touches on the Poodle’s top notch.

“I don’t know why she’s acting like this today,” one of them sighed in frustration.

As the women discussed the Poodle’s resistant behavior, the kids darted around the room bickering.

One of them opened the back door into a hallway.

(I think he was going to retrieve a broom to clean up the Doritos that had spilled on the floor).

From a far room at the end of the hallway came the most jarring screech by some kind of large tropical bird.

“Oh, that’s our Cockatoo. He’s in trouble for being a lunatic loud-mouth,” one of the ladies holding the Poodle shared.

“Shut the door!” she yelled over to the boy. “We don’t need to hear his screaming. He’s in time out.”

The boy rushed back to the hallway door, closed it, took something from the cluttered countertop nearby, and walked out the front door.

The second boy followed.

The girl yelled across the room, “He went outside! He’s not supposed to go outside.”

A third woman appeared out of nowhere from an adjacent dog washing room and collected the second boy. “You aren’t in trouble, but you can’t go outside. I can’t see you out there.”

The boy hung his head a bit, then walked over to a chair next to the large crate with the GSD mix and glued himself to his phone.

During all of this, the Poodle somehow disappeared.

I have a vague memory of her being transported to the back somewhere down the hallway.

Now, up until this point, Shiloh and I observed the chaotic scene without much ado.

Shiloh was completely calm in fact, despite my own past grooming shop memories thrust into the forefront of my mind after over thirty years of mental repression.

But all that was about to change!

Because it was Shiloh’s turn.

“Does he know how to put his paws up into a car?” the groomer inquired as she took the leash from me and led Shiloh to the grooming table.

His mom and I both nodded in agreement.

But then my eyes widened as the groomer patted the top of the grooming table, expecting Shiloh to willingly place his front paws above his head.

Let me just take a moment to give you a better mental picture of this here grooming table.

You know how countertops are 36 inches tall, right?

This grooming table was right around 40 inches tall and about 2’ x 3’ in size!

For comparison, Shiloh requires a 3’ x 4’ dog crate.

There was absolutely NO WAY Shiloh was going to hop his front feet onto that small table above his head.

“No problem. I’ll just pick him up,” the groomer said.

And faster than Superman can change clothes in a phone booth, the groomer grabbed Shiloh around the chest and lifted his front paws up onto the table!

To say I was mortified is an understatement.

I was absolutely gobsmacked at this groomer’s lack of fear around a strange dog and brazen disregard for Shiloh’s feelings.

Shiloh’s eyes were wide and pleading for support, but he gave no indication that he was going to emotionally shut down.

His 138-pound body let this stranger dangle his front feet with her arms tied around his chest.

Shiloh had absolutely NO idea what she wanted.

So, to help with Shiloh’s confusion, I rushed to his rear and lifted it onto the table to match his front feet.

Shiloh did not slink down, but bravely stood (with some initial leg shaking) on that tall grooming table.

His head literally towered over us at least six and a half feet above the ground.

The groomer placed the short noose around Shiloh’s neck.

On a grooming table, a noose is generally a safety measure in case a dog accidentally falls from the table while being groomed.

But can you imagine a giant 138-pound dog being held up by a thin rope tethered to an aluminum grooming table not anchored to the ground?

I can’t.

Even thinking about it now, I can’t, for the life of me, understand why the groomer didn’t just sit with Shiloh on the ground to do his nails.

The only reason I can come up with for why she wanted him on that tall grooming table is because it would be easier for her to reach his toes.

I don’t know… I’m not a groomer.

If you know why, let me know.

Shiloh leaned into the noose, causing it to tighten around his neck.

Without concern, the groomer grabbed Shiloh’s back foot and clipped his toes with ease.

This woman definitely knew what she was doing with the toenail clippers.

The process was so fast, all four legs were done before I knew it.

Shiloh stood there leaning on the tether, but otherwise, was calm and collected.

Then, came the Dremel.

When Shiloh felt that tiny rotating sander tickle his toes, he moved his rear feet slightly, which caused him to…

slip off the back of the table!

His full weight pulled on his neck still attached to the noose!

The groomer tried to lift his chest so that he wouldn’t fall further.

Panic-stricken, I rushed to lift his rear legs back onto the table.

In those few seconds,

Shiloh’s entire training flashed before my eyes!

I thought surely he was going to need therapy after this ordeal.

But when I caught Shiloh’s gaze to see if he was okay, he did not appear phased in any way.

If I thought for a second that Shiloh was panicked or hurt, I would have pulled the plug.

But Shiloh did not appear to have any concern about the slip from the table or the few seconds his body dangled without air.

He was more occupied with pulling his foot back from the Dremel, because the groomer continued her work without hesitation.

I looked on in awe.

If the bird squawked, the kids argued, or the GSD mix growled, I didn’t hear a thing at that point.

All I could focus on was how the heck Shiloh was still standing tall and worrying his pretty little head over that silly… rotating… Dremel.

The groomer had even nicked his quick ever so slightly with the nail clippers  when she first started.

Shiloh didn’t flinch.

Children fussing, birds screaming, dogs growling, vacuums roaring, being nicked by toenail clippers, and hung by a noose… no problem!!

It was the tickling of the sander that caused him to falter.

What a FANTASTIC DOG Shiloh is!

And while it is a rare dog, indeed, that will not care if proverbial bombs go off all around him, Shiloh’s incredible tolerance on Tuesday enduring the WORST POSSIBLE PUBLIC ACCESS TRAINING DAY EVER makes me so proud to be a Dire Wolf Project breeder.

Breeding for a calm, gentle temperament above outward appearance is one of the hallmarks of the Dire Wolf Project.

When even an adult American Dirus dog that has never before had any experiences in town around the public can stand tall and proud in the face of intense adversity, you know how very serious we are in making sure our DireWolf Dogs have the fortitude it takes to be the best.

If Shiloh’s owner hadn’t been open to loving an adult dog looking for its forever home, he would never have had the possibility to show us his amazing resilience.

Shiloh is progressing so quickly in his mobility service dog training.

If Tuesday’s experience doesn’t ultimately set him back, he is on track for being able to pass both the public access and the three required service tasks by the end of the year.

Adult American Dirus dogs are just as special as our cute, fluffy eight-week-old puppies.

Don’t discount them simply because you think you want that puppy experience.

Many adult American Dirus dogs are already potty-trained, leash-trained, crate-trained, manners-trained, car-trained, and have that mature mind to problem solve new tasks with ease.

And just like Shiloh, they are sweet, loving, gentle, kind-hearted, and willing to bond strongly to a family they can call their own.

Find out all about the American Dirus adult dogs looking for their forever homes at the link below:

https://direwolfdogs.com/dogs-for-sale/adults/

Jennifer Stoeckl is the co-founder of the Dire Wolf Project, founder of the DireWolf Guardians American Dirus Dog Training Program, and owner/operator of DireWolf Dogs of Vallecito. She lives in the beautiful inland northwest among the Ponderosa pine forests with her pack of American Dirus dogs.