Being Good in the Neighborhood

We had a rough week, but it has ended on an up note. It could have gone either way, but luckily for us and for Jordan (who's Bat Mitzvah it was) it went really well and Her Royal Highness Berkeley decided that appearing before a crowd merited some good behavior.

One of the things she does really well is the Out command.

Here is a shot of Her Royal Highness (HRH) Berkeley waiting patiently in the well of the car for me to give her the Out command so she can leave the car. Berkeley always waits for me to gather my purse and get situated. She never lunges for the ground.

When we first arrived at the St. Pete Country Club, several people thought I had Elvis, her brother. She did great upon arrival, handling the crowd just fine. We made our way over to the Trapper table.

This was to be our table. As we walked by people, I had to explain that you couldn't pet her as she had her coat on. But everyone was very receptive and friendly.

At the table everyone had a dog bone cookie saying that there had been a donation made in their name to the Southeastern Guide Dogs. That was pretty cool!

All the flower arrangements were in dog bowls because raising Jim was Jordan's mitzvah project and the theme was SEGD and dogs. All the bowls and other items were donated to SEGD. It was a really cute theme and was done beautifully.

At first when John showed up with Dodger, I though, "Oh man! This was a bad idea. He should have sat on the other side of the table." All Dodger and HRH tried to do was get next to each other. So for the next 10 minutes all John and I did was grunt hello and then wrestle our dogs into down-under. I discovered the magic two-legged under chair scoot, where by you put your dog in a down position and by keeping your hand on their shoulder blades, use your two heels to scoot their body back under your chair. Try it at a full dining room table! It will make you sweat through your finery. 8-)

When I got her settled away from Dodger she decided that she wanted to be near him and barked. That's usually when she barks: when she is not near someone she wants to be near (me, Fred, Dodger). She happened to bark during our introduction, so it got a few laughs.

We went up on the dance floor and introduced ourselves and talked a little about being a puppy raiser and what it all means. I pointed out what all Jordan had signedup for when she committed to doing this as her project and how she should be commended for her dedication. Then we did a little obedience. Very little because, she's 5 months old and I really had no clue what she was going to do! Sit, down, stay, forward, about face. She and Dodger were great. Then "Let's eat!"

The "Let's eat!" got big applause. I'm so entertaining. 8-)

This video shows HRH being good under the chair. Jordan and her friends were demonstrating her Irish dancing, which when they have their hard shoes on can be very loud. HRH is unconcerned with the noise. When the applause comes at the end, all she does is lift her head. Good girl!