Dior was a busy girl during the month of March, with plenty of downtime in between.
The folks at BC Ambulance at SMH gave her plenty of lovin’, which she soaked up without complaint. While her manners were not impeccable, her ‘go say hi’s’ are becoming quite lovely with a gentle lean into the person.
She attended another live theatre event where settling was an issue, but we finally nailed it halfway through the performance, all without disturbing anyone else.
She DID NOT swim with her friends at DogSwim. She was disinclined to get into the pool this time. I don’t know what that was all about, as she generally loves the water.
A few days later, Dior lay so quietly during a doctor’s appointment that the doctor forgot she was there. When I got up to exit the room, Dior stood up after coming out from under my chair, and I had to peel the doctor off the ceiling. The following day, an extended wait time of 55 minutes at Life Labs had her quietly settling next to a 4 year that entertained the entire waiting room, talking non-stop about how puppies poop.
Dior enjoyed a whole lot of petting by little hands at the Abbotsford Canucks game in mid-March. We sat on the floor, and as 1 or 2 children at a time came over to pet Dior, we educated the parents by telling the kids, big and small, about Service dogs, what they do and how they should be treated in public. (I think Dior’s raiser had more fun than Dior.) :0)
A Tim Horton’s puppy class field trip to practice settling was another great experience for this still slightly spicey adolescent puppy. After a few resets, she heaved a sigh, put her head down and settled for a good long while.
We headed towards the end of the month with a mega field trip to the Surrey Public Library, all aspects of the Sky Train, including chatting with the ST security people, taking the glassed-in elevator, waiting for and riding a couple of stops and returning. We finished our solo field trip with a quick look in at the SFU Surrey Campus, where she was fascinated by a game of ping pong. The following day, she impressed the heck out of the staff at the Surrey Food as we went on an personal tour of the facility. We finished up the month with a visit to the chiropractor, where the staff were so fantastic about ignoring her. When we’re finished, I cue to ‘go say hi’ to each one of them, and we leave them with big smiles on their faces.
Dior, as another raiser/sitter said just recently, is transitioning into a lovely young lady. We still have our tough moments and make our way through them with a shorter and shorter recovery time. There are still plenty of struggles with the dog-to-dog distraction in certain situations. Urination marking has just started and is being worked on. Jumping up on people while greeting is way down big time. She sleeps nicely in a covered but doorless kennel all night. If I get up to use the bathroom, she gets up and escorts me, returning to her bed when I do. Sock & underwear stealing is down, but paper shredding is up.
You can’t win’em all. :0)
Submitted by: Heather DeVries
