One Stubborn Boy!

Dewey's litter has a special problem.  They are a soft litter.  Some of them are a bit anxious. Some are a bit fearful.  Some might be a bit visually overwhelmed.  We know for sure that Dewey is very sensitive and all it takes is one firm NO and he is pretty much with the program.

What we haven't quite been able to figure out is where Dewey is on the spectrum of softness.

I'm leaning towards stubborness. Let me explain.  Last week, I was walking out to my car with Dewey.   We have assigned parking.  So, by the second week, he knows where we park and what the route is.  As we started across the second median and into the shaded path, we made it halfway across when Dewey sat down.

"Dewey?" I looked back to see him in his FOREVER sit. He was looking firmly rooted to the ground. I put on my happy voice. "Let's go!" I gave a little tug on the leash.

No way! He was not moving.

At this point, Laura was walking out of her office and spied us having a leash disagreement in the brush.

"Is this Darth Dewey?" She asked.

"Oh my yes." I replied.  She watched and laughed as he denied all of my attempts to get him to walk.  I tried treats, I tried more happiness.  I nearly burst with joy, but to no avail.  He would not move.

Then I remember that I had not parked in my usual spot.  Someone was in my spot and I had to park in a visitor's spot.  So I looked at Dewey and said, "Left, left."

I started walking away from where we usually walk and Dewey followed me like a meek little lamb!

Success!!!  I had found the key.  Trick him.  Now, I just had to park in a different spot every day or take a new route to the car and trick him into thinking we weren't going to the car.

He's also very cautious, which is exemplified in his reaction to the full length mirror in the ladies' bathroom.  Every other puppy we have had, has gone crazy mad, when they see themselves in the mirror.  This madness usually involves barking, zoomies, possibly some jumping up.

Dewey saw himself and said, "Oh.  There's another dog."  He went up to the mirror to get another look and it freaked him out a bit so, he decided to get some distance from the mirror dog.

He sat down and stared at the mirror dog for a while.  Then he scooted back a foot or so.  I went up to the glass and tapped it.  

"Do you want to meet the doggy?" I asked him.

He thought about it some more, then he got up and with a happy tail, held high, he walked up to the mirror and touched noses with the mirror dog.

 He's stubborn.  But he's also smart, thoughtful and cautious.  All good qualities, I think, for a guide dog.

Now, if only I didn't have to change my parking spot every day!

Jammin' Highlights

On Thursday, Jam and I went to the hairdressers to get our hair done. Here he is at an empty station where he watched me get my hair done so he wouldn't eat any hair.



In case you are wondering, the hairdresser's is a great exposure for puppies as the chairs go up and down as well as around. In addition, there is usually music playing over a sound system. There are hair dryers, mirrors and all sorts of other things that can be of interest to a puppy.

We first stopped at the shampoo station, which is great as Jam got to do a down stay. I'm pretty lucky that Jam is very laid back and will lie down and sleep pretty much at will. So, when the shampooing started, he went to sleep.


My hairdresser is very puppy friendly!


As you can see from the outer edges of Jam's ears, she is a whiz with color as well! She gave him just a hint of caramel on the tips of his ears.


I'm kidding! 8-) He didn't get highlights. Those are lowlights. Haha. I'm kidding again. Who would give their dog a dye job? Well, come to think of it, there was a groomer I knew who had poodles and he would give them mohawks and dye them pink. He also put them in punk collars with the spikes running round them. So, imagine this: you have standard poodles (those are the big ones), with pink mohawks, and punk spike collars greeting you when you bring your dog in to get groomed. It was quite a sight. But no, Jam's a natural blonde with lowlights. He even has a streak of lowlights running along his spine. He is quite a handsome boy, my Jam.


I don't think he appreciated my remarks about the highlights.

He did, however, enjoy the mirrors at the salon. I caught some of his mirror interaction on video. It is below.

KnightMUN: The Hotel Experience

The weekend was our annual hotel experience with the Model United Nation's club at my school. We took Bingo last year and it was the perfect hotel experience and the kids seemed to enjoy it as well. The conference is called KnightMUN and is held at UCF's campus on Saturday and Sunday, which means a VERY early rising on Saturday morning and a late return on Sunday night.

4:20 am

The alarm should have gone off at 4:20 am, but it didn't. It was on the 5 days a week schedule and this being a Saturday...I woke up at 4:50.

"Holy crap! Berkeley! Downstairs, eat, poop, out the door!"

We managed to be on the road in 20 minutes. I had packed and showered the night before. 8-)

Fortunately for us, we weren't the last ones to arrive. I won't tattle on anyone (faculty or student!), but I did rest a little easier knowing that we had a little time to chill. Here's a shot of Her Royal Highness (HRH) Berkeley in the car waiting for that last student to arrive so we can get on the road.



Orlando

We followed the bus to Orlando and met them at the Panera where we all had breakfast. Imagine the Panera staff's excitement at having 30 teens surge through their doors all famished and needing caffeine and carbs! Followed closely by teachers needing caffeine. Not a comforting sight. Then add to that, a small black dog. The Panera staff made not a peep. Good Panera staff! Good.

Radisson

We dropped the kids off at the conference, got them registered and then went to the hotel to register our rooms. Since I had HRH, Michele was already at the counter getting the rooms assigned. As I walked up to the counter I could see the hotel clerk's face get stiff and her posture go rigid. She turned from Michele to address me.

"We don't allow dogs in the hotel."

"She's a service dog for the blind. She's in training." I said and had HRH sit, which she did beautifully. She has a perfect sense of audience.

Michele looked up from the folder she was perusing and in her very clear, not to be messed with teacher voice, said, "We come here ever year with a service dog and there has never been a problem. It's the ADA. Look it up." Then she went back to her forms, dismissing the clerk.

The clerk glanced at me and I raised an eyebrow, signifying that I wouldn't mess with Michele if I were the clerk and she should drop the matter if she were smart, which she did. I love Michele.

Here's a shot of one of the MUN kids bringing in HRH's crate. Mitchell carried in her crate and carried it out. He's a big HRH fan.


Barnes and Noble

The nice thing about MUN tournaments is that for us, as chaperones, we get lots of work done because we spend the day in the bookstore. Here is a shot of HRH and Tim in the cafe of Barnes and Noble. They also were lovely about HRH and treated us very well.


I'm So Pretty

When we got back to the hotel room Berkeley got to experience the BIG MIRROR. Here's a snippet of her reaction. I have to say that Bingo was mesmerized by himself for at least 15 minutes. 8-)



Closing Ceremonies

The next day it was more of the same and HRH continued to be a little lady. It was only at the end of the day at the closing ceremonies, sort of like a toddler who has been up too long and needs a nap, she started to bark a little and be a bit crotchety. But the screaming, cheering crowd drowned out her little barks and all was good.

Soon we were on the road and homeward bound. Hotel experience, checked off.