Guy Gaudreau on teaching Johnny how to skate: “The first few months was pretty much a waste of time. He’s laying on the ice. And then I had some older kids I used to coach, some 16 year olds, and I’d have them come out with Skittles. And they’d put a Skittle right on the ice about ten feet in front of him, so he’d crawl to it or try to skate to it. He’d pick the Skittle up and eat the Skittle, he loved Skittles. So we’d bribe him to move around a little bit. So we’d eat Skittles and entertain him for a little while.”
I also want to point out some body language here. This dog is mildly stressed in this situation – you can see a little bit of tension around the eyes, in the set of tongue, a little bit in the standing stance, and how it looks around frequently – but this is a good example of where stress isn’t necessarily bad. This is a dog that’s learned to work in difficult situations, and a dog that can adapt to new environments pretty quickly. It’s a little stressed (my guess is that the situation is a bit overwhelming), but he’s still focused and on point and doing his job.
Steel Phoenix Studios 