A clever guide dog was caught on video leading his visually-impaired handler on a slight detour into his favorite pet store during a recent trip to the mall.
Danielle Sykora of Oxford, New Jersey relies on her service dog, Thai to safely navigate the world around her. So, naturally, on a recent trip to their local mall, Thai, a clever dog that’s been trained to make decisions to keep both he and Sykora safe, decided a pit stop in the ‘Good Dog Gear’ store was on the agenda.
Danielle’s sister, Michele Sykora, captured video of the brilliant seeing-eye dog sneakily guiding Danielle into the store:
My sisters guide dog always sneakily walks her into this store without her knowing ?? I love dogs, man pic.twitter.com/UuE9wDN4md
— Michele Sykora (@michelesykora) April 20, 2018
Michele Sykora, who volunteers to raise and train puppies to be service dogs, said, “this behavior is definitely normal for a smart service dog. A guide dog’s entire training is based off making decisions for themselves to keep the handler safe.
“Because Thai is so smart, he will often remember places that my sister loves to go. For example, he will show her any time they pass a Starbucks because my sister loves going there.”
And sometimes, Thai leads her to places he loves to go – like the Cool Dog Gear store!
