Therapy Dog in Training ‘Confused’ As Invisible Man Gives Him Commands

A therapy dog in training has melted hearts as he looked for attention from the automated voice from a pedestrian crossing.

Kira Schultz, 38, is a dog trainer based in Oklahoma City, and recently went viral for catching a brilliant moment with one client who proved he had mastered the ‘wait’ command.

Goldendoodle Nash is 10 months old and in training to become a therapy dog for a children’s hospital and homeless youth service. And Schultz told Newsweek: “He has to be super well-trained.”

Schultz has been working with Nash for months, giving him the skills of socialization, obedience and dealing with distractions. She said he is “going to make a fantastic therapy dog.”

The results of Schultz’s training were showcased beyond a doubt in a video to her TikTok account, @dogtrainerkira, on June 30. She and Nash waited by the crossing of a busy road to practice “crosswalk manners,” and an automated voice repeated: “Wait.”

In the clip, Nash sits patiently by the crossing—but as the voice repeats the word “wait,” the dog keeps looking over his shoulder, left to right and back again, as Schultz says, “he keeps looking for the person.”

“You’re doing great,” Schultz tells Nash, and she added in a caption: “Nash was very confused by the invisible man that kept repeating the cue he was already doing.”

Schultz said that she had been recording a video to send to Nash’s owner when he started reacting to the voice, and he did it to all four crosswalks they practiced on.

She added that Nash is “such a love bug and just wants people to touch him and love on him,” and he “just kept looking to see if he could find the person who was talking so that they would touch him.”

“He really just wants everyone to give him attention,” Schultz said, making him the “perfect” candidate for his future therapy work. “He gets to just have teens and kids love on him and pet him all day. I think he is going to love it.”

Therapy dogs provide relief to people in difficult situations, in institutions including hospitals and nursing homes. The canines’ visits may help lower blood pressure, heart rate and anxiety levels, and increase endorphins in those they are visiting, according to the American Kennel Club (AKC).

Therapy dogs must be older than one year and be fully trained to interact in a friendly manner and follow all cues on command.

TikTok users fell in love with Nash, watching the video close to 900,000 times, as one commenter posted: “This feels like when I can’t tell if the sirens are in the song or if I’m getting pulled over.”

“It’s like at self checkout when the machine says ‘put item in bag or cart’,” another wrote, while one pointed out Nash’s “ears flapping around.”

“Bro is waiting the hardest he’s ever waited,” one comment read, as another shared their own story: “My dog is reactive so he quietly growls at the invisible man. He don’t appreciate the sorcery.”

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