Lennie Carries the Mail

Lennie now carries the mail for me. We live in a 2nd floor apartment, and he runs up the stairs like they are nothing. So, he now carries the mail up the stairs for me, or small packages. Actually he will carry anything he can carry, and does it gleefully! He initially only carried one thing up the stairs for me, then waited at the top of the steps. However, after a few days, he started doing this:

• carry the mail (or another object) to the top of the stairs, then placing it in front of the door
• running back down the stairs, wanting something else to carry, and does it again (runs to the top of the stairs and places the object, usually my billfold, in front of the door)
• repeating this sequence until he has carried everything I have-phone, key fob, small packages, whatever)–unless it is too big or heavy for him

He came up with this himself. Wow! I never expected this, but now he does it routinely. At first, when I initially trained him, he needed extra training to get new things. However, now he has generalized his training to carry anything he can–he just knows what to do, and insists on carrying things for me. He even carried my tablet computer for me earlier this week, though it was a little heavy, but he kept it up until he carried it for me to its destination.

Terriers are good service dogs because of their inbred diligence and persistence. His boundless energy serves him well, and really serves me well!

Dr. Marcie