Handsome Docile Lad

Yesterday I met a friend out for lunch for her birthday at Red Mesa Cantina.  Jam was a pretty good boy at lunch, although we were in a fairly dangerous lunch spot: our booth was on the high spot of the garden outside overlooking the fountain area, so that the tables below us were at about shoulder height for Jam.  Or rather butt height for him if he turned his "most appealing side" around.  

Not that he ever gets up and changes position under a table. (Twice.) Sigh.

However, we were blessed that the table below us was filled with dog lovers as it was a mom and her son and a girlfriend out to lunch.  The friend was on the Jam side and the son was very interested in Jam.  The mom immediately explained that he was working and he couldn't be touched as I quickly tried to down Jam out of sight.  The boy was good, and kept an eagle out for Jam appearances and didn't seem disappointed by any full moons.

After lunch we went by the Dali museum gift shop for Theresa to pick up a present for a friend.  Jam had never been, so this would be a new experience for him.  As soon as we got out of the car, he started picking up his paws really fast indicating hot pavement, so we ran over to some grass.  I took off his coat so that he could busy before we entered.  

As previously mentioned in our puppy sitting post, Jam had disappointed us by marking once in Brian and Susan's house.  It was a community pillow that all of their dogs slept on, one of them being the male dog, but still, up until that point, I could claim that Jam hadn't ever marked in the house.  Now, all bets were off and I wasn't feeling so confident.

"Busy busy." I said as we stepped onto an expanse of green grass.  Jam wandered around and eyed me. He tried to sidle up to the eletrical box that was nearby, but that seemed like a dangerous combination, so moved him to more grassy expanses.  No deal.  There was going to be no peeing.  We walked some more.  The museum was getting closer.  He did finally pee and I did say busy busy before he did it, but I'm not sure if it counts as marking or not.

We went into the museum.  But I had the sense that Jam was a bit on edge.  Because we had been on vacation and Debbie had visited us with her rain, we hadn't had the time to take Jam on many outings and this was really his first big errand day.  

I wanted to get a photo of him in a down stay in the aisle. 

Jam, clearly not in a down stay. He's up and moving and actually going for his diaper bag.

 As soon as I got him in the down stay, my diaper bag swung down and Jam went for it and started biting it.  Then he got frisky.  IN THE MIDDLE OF THE GIFT AISLE. So, I have to detach the diaper bag from his mouth with a firm NO. And praise.  And then put him back in a down stay, with praise. And then try the photo again.

Jam in a down stay in the aisle.

 Success.  The car started thundering and then raining.  Well, it is the freaking, Dali museum, what do you expect?  That is why Jam's expression is so curious.  He's wondering

1. Why is a car in the middle of the gift shop?
2. Why is it raining in the car?
3. Why is thunder coming from the car?

 We just left that aisle and went to stand by the weird giraffe. On our way there, the elevator security man says into his walkie talkie, "There is a service dog on the premises.  A Southeastern guide dog."  I always love it when they announce him.  

Of course, Jam is getting lots of smiles directed at him.  98% percent of the people smile at me or at him and don't meet his eye so that they don't rile him up.  But as we get to the door, there is this one lady who just has to meet his eye and say how handsome he is.  Honestly.  But Jam remains in his down stay and only wags his tail.  Good boy.  

As Theresa goes to pay for her purchases, I follow with Jam and down stay him.  Then the cashier delivers this line, "He looks like the most docile dog.  I just want to come over and hug his face. He's so handsome."

I barked out a laugh.  "Oh, he's on a knife's edge and it's not docility. But thank you! He is a breeder candidate and is unusually good looking." Jam just watched the people coming in and out.  

On the way out, we ran for the big expanse of grass and since it was a large expanse of grass, I didn't take off Jam's coat.  As we were walking over the grass to the car, Jam starts peeing.  No lifting of the leg, no indication that there is going to be some urination. No nothing.  Just a walking pee.

"NO! Honestly!" I look down at Jam.  In coat.  On the grass. You were walking dude.  I don't know what to do about the pee situation.  I have three weeks to consult with my AC on ways to deal with his peculiarity. I am flummoxed.

We went on to Dillards at International Mall where when we entered we were met by one of the happiest clerks ever.  I think it absolutely filled him with joy to see Jam.  As we walked in, this man was working the jewelry counter and he looked up and was overcome with a huge grin.  I needed to know where the elevators were and thought why not ask the happy, grinning person?

"What a handsome, young dog you have there!" He said.

"Yes, he is. Thank you. Can you point me to the elevators?"

"Oh yes!" And he proceeds to give me very detailed instructions, all the while watching Jam.  Then he says, "What is this handsome boy's name?"

"Jam."

"Oh! That is delightful!"  It was like talking to an elf.  So fun. We made it to the elevators were we waited and evidently so surprised the people getting off that they forgot they were getting off.  They just welcomed us on the elevators and said they were continuing to go down.  I said that I was going up and would wait until they came back up.  Then they realized they had to get off.

Jam outside the elevator

I attempted another photo of Jam in the aisle of Dillards by the bedding.  It would have been cute.  But again that darn diaper bag slid down and Jam was off to the races!  Tug of war with the bag and it was just before he was going to do the puppy crazy spin run that I was able to get him to sit and down.  Fortunately, Dillards has large aisles and we were in bedding.  Fortunately, he is older and more manageable.  Fortunately, he knows his commands and will do them.

Sometimes, he just choose to do them on a bit of a delay.  

So we double timed it out of there.  Not quite a run, not quite a walk.  And when we hit the parking lot and were on our way to the car, I saw a man staring at me.  Then I noticed his huge grin.  He was staring at Jam and Jam had just made his day. 

I wonder if he too thought Jam was a handsome, docile lad.

What's in Your Diaper Bag?

All puppy raisers live in fear of having a pee-saster or poop-cident in a public place. We generally have different ways of dealing with this, mine is usually with an elevated heart rate and a fervant prayer for tile or formica flooring! We have had one puppy raiser go the unusual route of catching the poo in her hands before it hit the floor of a Bealls Department store, but most of us aren't that quick.

I, myself, have picked up a humping, about to poo, 50-pound puppy and run with him through a mall to the outside where he did then poo. No actually poo in the mall. Score one for puppy raiser! However, I was caught unaware as HRH (Her Royal Highness) Berkeley had a pee-saster in the library workroom in front of me, but like that other intrepid poo-catching puppy raiser, I reacted without thinking. If you are wondering how do you stop a peeing puppy? I'll let you in on a secret: You pick your puppy up by the booty.

So, HRH is in the middle of peeing and I leaned down and grabbed her back legs and hiked them into the air. It would be fair to say that without anthropomorphising her at all, that shock and astonishment were her most apparent facial expressions. She looked back at me and at her now airborn booty and then back at me quizzically. But, magically, she had stopped peeing (and let me tell you, this girl can PEE!). I was able to hustle her outside, let her finish peeing and then start the cleanup inside.

It has been my only inside pee-saster at school in two years. Pretty good overall. That being said, I obsessively carry a complete doggy diaper bag that should be able to deal with any emergency that presents itself. So, here's what I carry in my diaper bag. If you carry something different, please comment!

I have two diaper bags: a small one for just my purse.

This is a small bag that will fit in most purses and doesn't scream POO BAGS! It does, however, contain inside of it, as the next photo shows, poo bags, hand sanitizers, and two small shamwows and some ziploc bags.



Now, you may be asking, "Why a shamwow?" Have you seen HRH pee? Well, she did have a pee-saster in the mall during Christmas and thankfully the mall is patrolled endlessly by mall security looking for things to cleanup. As soon as a drop of her pee hit the marble floors, a small alarm went out and two janitors were dispatched to our location. Seriously! In 30 seconds of her peeing, we had a manager and janitors waiting to clean it up. I, of course, had already whipped out my purse diaper bag, which at the time was only equiped with paper towels. Four paper towels in a lake of pee were a sodden, nasty mess and I had just looked up with frantic eyes to Fred to get him to go get more paper towels when the manager said, "We've got this."

Ah, Christmas at the mall. There are some advantages. That got me thinking that paper towels suck when it comes to soaking up a pee-saster. You need something that really can soak up like 5X its weight in liquid: SHAMWOW!

I went straight to CVS. I bought the whole package, big and small. The big one is in my big diaper bag and the two smalls are in the small diaper bag. I also keep ziploc bags to put the sodden shamwows into because you can wash them and use them again.

My big bag is the blue SEGD bag and I have it filled with poo bags, a collapsible water dish, ziploc bags, the big shamwow and hand sanitizer in wipes and in a bottle. I have since been told of a puppy raiser who had a poop-cident involving runny poo on carpet (eep!), and Diane carries with her a spray bottle of stain and odor remover in her diaper bag. So I will be adding that to my diaper bag as well! (OCD I tell you!). Thank you Diane!


I like the wet ones for cleaning up after a pickup, but the bottle is nice to have if you are eating out and need to clean your hands or share with people at the table. I also learned at the walkathon that the Gulpy Pet Water Dispenser is considered to be one of the best and probably should replace my collapsible bowl. Tracey recommended the Gulpy. I'll be going out and finding one of these as well. They are nice because they won't release water until you squeeze them. No leaking!

I also carry a little first aid kit in the car at all times, just in case, but I don't keep it with the diaper bag. If you have any ideas for what to carry in the diaper bag or carry something that you find extremely useful, please comment!