The fireplace is scary!!!

My parents frequently have a fire in the fireplace at their house. Dylan has never had a problem. I also had a gas fireplace at my old duplex. We used it often to heat up our basement. Dylan never thought it was scary.

Last winter, Dylan was scared of Paul's fireplace. For some reason fire inside of Paul's house is scary when it's not anywhere else. Dylan is an experienced camper and never had any issues with the campfire either.

Last winter we'd do some clicker training and eventually I got him retrieving a ball off the hearth when there was a fire going. He'd do okay as long as I didn't let him shut down too much before doing some c/t with him for working near the fire.

Last night we went to Paul's after fire. I was thrilled to see the fire crackling when we arrived. Dylan, however, was not happy. He decided that it was safest to hide under the dining room table as far away from the fire place as possible. I decided it was time to get the clicker out again. We used our homemade target stick to help Dylan gain some confidence around the fire. Dylan doesn't quite understand that he is supposed to touch the green end. I haven't been that picky when I used it in the past. As long as he touches the stick, he gets a click and a treat! It wasn't long before he was leaning over the hearth to touch the stick - right near the crackling fire. The rest of the evening, his tail was wagging! He avoids going too close to the fire but at least he isn't hiding! Guess we'll be working on this again this winter! Hopefully one of these days he will realize that the fireplace really isn't scary!!