Sunday, September 14, 2008

Her First Trip

























Harleen had a very busy and successful Sunday. First we went to Raley's for a few things. She rode in the cart wearing her gentle leader (the thing over her nose which is used to direct her with the leash; it does not restrict her mouth) and her special Canine Companions for Independence cape. The logo for CCI is right where Kerry's left hand is. She was a star at the grocery store. People have been good about asking if they can pet her; the answer is no. So they admire her from a distance.

Then we went to the Veterans' Hall in Lincoln. Our neighbor's son was getting his Eagle Scout Award. She was impressively well-behaved there too. She laid on the floor on the quilt that is in the picture above, through an hour of speeches and applause. She didn't like the applause so I would pet her each time it happened. Part of our job is to get her used to noises that she will hear as a service dog. Well, applause is taken care of.

I feel like we made it over the first hurdle, and we all passed. Oh, also she pooped while walking. When you are a service dog that's important.
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3 comments:

Anonymous said...

are you afraid of getting too attatched to her? Or no?
She's just so darn cute!

blogauthor said...

It's great fun to take a dog out in public. Its turning out that 90% of the reason we have Dog is to make Wheeler more accessible to people - *everyone* stops to talk to him when Dog is with him. Sometimes it can be annoying, but mostly its really fun.

I really think you should bring her next month.

Mrs4444 said...

Okay-I get the gentle leader thingy now :) Congrats on your son making his Eagle; ours hopes to accomplish that next year. What was his project?

And why couldn't people pet her then, but they can now?