Wow Bubbatd! Cool. I think that must have been a great feeling and a lot of fun waving that certificate around! LOL. Good for you! That is so impressive....all those Goldens....therapy dogs. How neat.
Well, dropping a metal plate on the floor would do my Chihuahua in I think. Not Lyric....he's a pretty steady as she goes kind of dog that way. Well, he'd probably startle, but recover quickly, I think. He stands so close to the lawnmower, that I'm always having to yell above the motor, "LYRIC! Watch out! Out of the way!" He has been on elevators, around trains, all over the city sidewalks, machinery of various sorts, electric doors, walking over sewer grates. I use to take him to the grocery store parking lot and walk him on my left and a basket on my right, rattling over the parking lot. This was all part of his socialization. And we'd stop and see new people every day. I had to drive for an hour about 3 times a week to get to the closest city of any size to get him around a lot of stuff.
That's nice that there are so many Dobes doing this. It's good for their image. They need all the help they can get. They do come in various temperaments. Being aloof or suspicious is part of the standard and is correct, (not shy, not vicious) but there are some who are much more outgoing and well suited for this type of thing. Maybe that doesn't necessarily mean everything for this therapy work. (?)
After Lyric meets someone new who he's sizing up...making sure they're on the up and up, he usually decides they're pretty neat and then he's all over them, sticking his face in their face if they squat down, trying to be affectionate, but most people aren't too keen on having a 95 LB Doberman Pinscher's face in their face. I guess I should discourage such rude behavior. But I've always been trying make sure he knows that people are great. (unless otherwise posted) LOL.
So, I wonder if he could do this. What do you think by my long winded description of him?