One of the purposes in doing the "Sevens" is to identify
those areas where you are going to have problems. For those who haven't
been following, one of the training tools is to literally write down SEVEN
different permutations on one problem in a sort of "training log" and you
set up lessons for you and the service animal. The "Seven" log need not be
complicated or written as though you were presenting it to a judge or jury.


The "SEVENS" refer to the days of the week so you plan on visiting at least
one SEVEN every day. You write down your "plan of action" for the week and
keep a log/journal of the sevens you've done and the animal's reaction.

SEVEN stairs: Bleachers, enclosed indoor house stairs with carpet, indoor
house stairs with open banister and slats on side and wall on the other,
hotel "grand entry" marble stairs, dingy little metal down into the basement
for a sandwich stairs, FIRE ESCAPE STAIRS (try to do every time you find
them), those danged circular stairs that are such a pain in the behind to
work with a dog), narrow concrete stairs that lead to a porch which leads to
a regular house, outdoor stairs that go to the second floor apartments, etc.

SEVEN smells: Walk by bakery, street vendor with wares down low, "cookie
bakery" (I had a dog that would literally frantically LUNGE for the cookie
bakery door, nails scrabbling on the concrete walk, down low because he was
so determined to get in the door - he looked like a cartoon character.
Periodically the frantic scrabbling would stop and he'd try to dig his
toenails into the concrete for purchase with with his whole body and do a
sort of body hump towards the cookie store's door. The dog literally was
"the missile has left the silo" - couldn't hear, couldn't see, whole being
going COOKIE!!!! GIMME COOKIE!! Fortunately Lexter was a Maltese so there
was no damage done to humans when the dog went nutz but), butcher shop, dry
cleaning, laundramat, photographs, popcorn vendors, restaurants, BBQ
places....

Seven tastes: FOOD (food objects useful for judging treat values - tongue
to object, don't eat - feed high value treats when mission accomplished -
working towards handing you food - go through "tasted" objects afterwards,
feed dog what you want and allow dog to discard the rest in garbage if
you've gotten that far with training) - olives, pickles, ketchup, mustard,
onion, cheese... (if this looks like basic burger ingredients, it is. You
want your "running free" dog to come back to you with any food stuff it
finds before it eats what it has scavenged. (dog sez: "What'll you give me
for this burger scrap" I reply: ICE CREAM TIME, come on!!!) You are
training the dog to trade up as well as obey the "LEAVE IT" you just
bellowed across an open field where the dog has been loose to play.)

Seven tastes: RETRIEVAL - metal (key retrieval - very important), papers
such as newspaper (very acid), "paper" money, (ask anyone who has fed a
service dog money while training them to hand it over undrooled on), mail
(mixed papers), leather, cloth, those soft fuzzy balls that can be attached
to things like mobile phones so the dog doesn't chomp/drool on the
electronic components, koosh balls, various small stuffies, rubber balls,
tennis balls, smooth wood, rough wood...

Training sessions are geared to last less than 3 minutes per
session although I do string several sessions together. One iteration of
walking past barking dog, one iteration of walking past a fence rager, one
iteration of coffee and cookie bought from street vendor, one iteration of
"drinking water from cheapo paper cup after snorking on shared cookie,"
etc. John Q Public would probably do the exact same route and think it was
a fine outing with a pet. The difference is, I am watching the set of the
ear and the dog's tension as we meander past the barking dog or the fence
rager. I am the one stopping with the high value treat.

I promise you, you will not realize how much of your day is spent training
your beastling until you do a sevens log.