Seva is working on a new skill called Get the Door. It’s an impressive skill, once it’s mastered.

Suppose I’m in a wheelchair. Holding a door open while going through it can be tough, so I hang a strap on the door, tell Seva to Get the Door, and she opens it and holds it while I get through the doorway.

Pretty cool, huh?

Only, Seva has a weird issue with the strap.

It shocked me, because she got the base skills immediately. I hold the strap out, she Takes it and Holds it until I say Release. No problem.

As soon as the strap is near a door, Seva won’t go near it. Not even for a COOKIE!

Our trainer, Eileen, gave me a fleece toy to get Seva excited about the door. So she had a breakthrough with the toy. She can open a door with the fleece toy. But…watch the video.

I think it’s funny when I put the strap on the door and Seva bows her head. It’s like, “I can’t see it. I don’t know what you’re talking about. What door?”

Even when she watches me put her cookies right inside the door, she won’t touch the strap.

Hmmm…I’m not sure how we’re going to get past this one.