Time flies. Journey is growing
like a weed. He is almost as big as Ember now, in height and weight. His
training is progressing very nicely. He's getting tons of exposure to
new things, and new creatures. He's seen birds, reptiles, fish in
display tanks, guinea pigs, mice and rats, and ferrets. He politely
watches the cats at the adoption areas. He has also had a chance to meet
a few pet rabbits at a distance, and a pet piglet!
Journey's ID
tag mysteriously vanished into thin air the other day, so we had to stop
by the store to get another. I took him and Ember both so he could
practice politely walking beside her when needed. He's getting a lot
better about it, but still has puppy tendency to want to play, which is
normal. It was funny because Ember was doing her "side work" position
even though she wasn't in her gear or being asked to work, and Journey
tried to get her to play and she told him off with a corrective bark
because she was trying to work. Serious dog is serious, hehe. Clever
girl.
Ember came home mainly to go with me to the hospital
recently, and she did her job well as always. I took her back to the
farm for more R&R while I do more focus training with Journey. He's
been doing very well with his outings. Got his last round of puppy
shots. Had another round of braving Walmart and Home Depot, all of which
went very well and was met with polite curiosity.
I have met
more people who acknowledge and understand that Journey is a working dog
( even one in training ) in the handful of times I have taken him to
non-pet store locations, than in all the trips Ember and I have gone on
together since we moved back down South. Which makes me so curious why
people don't recognize the same thing of Ember when she has a
professional work vest proclaiming she is a service dog. Is it some kind
of mental thing because she is a black dog? You'd think the red service
vest shows better on her. Maybe it's a breed thing? Maybe most people
just recognize an Alsatian as a working breed, and just assume since
Journey's in a place dogs normally aren't allowed, he's
training/working. It just baffles me why so many people don't make the
same connection when Ember is working.
While in Walmart I paused
to let Journey choose between two bags of treats, to which he sprawled
and grumbled at, and I asked "which one?" and he sniffed between the
two, but indicated both by nudging. So I asked him again, and he did it
again, and I laughed and told him he had to choose, and moved them
further apart and he grumbled and sighed at me. I asked again, and I
heard a laugh. I glanced up and realized a woman had stopped at the
endcap of the isle and been watching the whole time and was grinning
from ear to ear. Sure Journey wanted both! I asked again and added
"only one" ( not that he's actually learned that clearly yet ), and he
looked up at me and he did that brow furrowing thing and tilted his head
as if thinking it over. I asked again and offered both bags, and he
finally picked one. The woman laughed and said it was the cutest thing
she'd seen.
We finally managed to get into a training class with
multiple dogs around Journey's age and size, who have had varying
amounts of basic training as he has. Had our first class this past
Thursday. Until now we have mostly just been lurking in pet stores
multiple times a week, greeting friendly dogs, avoiding only the
severely non-socialized ones. He's also met tons of new people, and seen
all sorts of different clothing and contraptions. He's fascinated by
upright dust pans and brooms for some reason. He finally got to see
someone using an electric chair/cart at the grocery store. I need to
practice with him around one sometime, and manual wheelchair and
crutches too.
Journey's met different people in different work
attire, various hats, aprons and shoes. We stopped to get food at
Chic-Fil-A and everyone loved him. He ignored cleaning being done and
when one of the workers offered to get me a refill. He politely greeted a
plethora of random people both when we first arrived, and before we
left. He kept his focus on me while I chatted with curious people about
his training, and he was good about not greeting anyone till I told him
it was okay. He even ignored a little boy who came and stood right by
him. The little boy politely asked me if he could pet Journey before
even trying to ( after watching other people pet him ) so of course I
said yes since both of them did the right thing! I thanked the boy so
he knew he did good, and he was all huge smiles and thanked me and
Journey.
We went to Starbucks and a barista who had helped me
previously when I stopped by with Ember happily said hello, and then
"you have a different dog tonight!" when she saw Journey. It was his
first time there so I introduced him and everyone thought he was
adorable. One guy who works there ( I think he's a manager type )
laughed when he saw Journey's ears were so big, and asked if he was part
rabbit. I joked maybe eventually he'd grow into them, and he leaned
over the counter for a better look and exclaimed "oh man, those paws are
huuuge!". We get a lot of surprise at how big he'll probably be, and
it is never any less amusing. Journey saw his first tablet PC while
there as some ladies played a game, and he watched them curiously. They
found it amusing. We have been several times and so far he's doing
amazingly well, no reactions to the blenders or loud things they use.
He's
had random people come up wanting to pet him before asking, but
normally just looks toward them and wags. He may move slightly toward
them, but otherwise he will normally ignore people and lay quietly next
to me unless I tell him he can say hello. He's even ignored the
temptation of people thinking it was "cute" to call to him and make
noises to get his attention, or encourage their kids to do the same. The
times he has gotten distracted, I have been able to regain his
attention before puppy tendency kicks in.
He has his moments.
He's just a puppy and still learning, and most folks realize that. Many
people have been impressed he is doing so well and so focused for such a
young pup. He's developing quite a personality, getting to the age
where he becomes more curious and independent. Upcoming training should
be interesting, working with distractions, duration, and distance.
We'll also be building on foundation heel skills and working toward more
advanced heel work. Looking forward to it!
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