Three Dog Tea

Before Baccaleaureate I usually have tea for some of the seniors that I have spent a lot of time with, had in my advisory, had in clubs, who were student library proctors or who spent a lot time in the library.  This year, I had four girls come to tea and we had a wonderful time.  

However, this was our first time having tea with THREE DOGS IN THE HOUSE!  Now, all the girls are familiar with Southeastern Guide Dogs and know about the program and how to behave around the puppies.  They all know Jam and several were really excited about seeing him again.  Coach was pretty blase about the tea.  Willow was irritated because a tea is really a ladies thing and having the two boys crash it wasn't good.

Jammy has a teapot in front of him and tries to explain to Coach and
Willow who are looking on  how a perfect pot of tea is brewed.

Jammy is like one of those cool, surfer dudes, who knows everything and is able to instruct you on the intricacies of the tea ceremony.  His eyes always seem to be laughing, so he never seems to take anything completely seriously. Fred said that Jam did not want to stay upstairs and wanted to be downstairs with the ladies.

Jammy's new favorite spot by the fridge where he can now watch for things to drop and eat them.

Jam was especially pleased by the fact that now that he was no longer a Southeastern Guide Dog and was just a regular dog, he could have a piece of chicken or bread.  

I think Jam is telling Coach about the chicken treat, but Coach isn't allowed any treats. Poor Coach. Jam is on the left hand side of the hardwood floor lying down and Coach is lying next to him.  They are both looking up at the camera.

But, in the end, I think that Jammy, got a little to big for his boots.  When we first brought him home, he had some problems with counter surfing (as in jumping up on the counter with his front paws). So we were working on that.  As I started to put out the food for the tea, Jam followed me with his big laughing eyes.

"Oh, these sandwiches look good!" Jam is standing right next to the table looking up
and is very close to the tray of cucumber sandwiches.

He would go up to the buffet and lean in close to the cake stand.  

Sniff, sniff.  "Jam! No!"  He turned in my direction.  His eyes were sad.  "But I didn't eat anything!"

He walked around the table and stopped at the cucumber sandwiches. Sniff, sniff.  "Jam! No!"

Sad, sad, eyes.  He continued walking to the egg salad sandwiches.  There, though, the M.O. changed.  Instead of just sniffing, Jammy brought out the big guns.

But the sandwiches he really wanted were the egg
salad and watercress on mini croissants.

Sniff, sniff.  Then, a second later, a long pink tongue reached out to see if it could scoop out egg salad and separate it from the croissant.

"JAM!"

The girls and I and the three dogs trying to get into position for a nice photo. Insanity.

In the end, Jam gave up and tried instead to crash the ladies photo outside.

Just the humans!

The crisis was averted and no sandwiches were stolen and eaten.  And none were licked.

At least none were licked that I knew about...

Tea Party on Friday

On Friday I had a Book Club reunion for my former students, some now college sophomores!, to see them before they went away and Bingo was a big hit. Here they all are with a very tired Bingo.Of course, Willow did have her admirers too. Lauren and Allison have house sat for us and are big Willow fans. So, Willow was not without lots of pats and kisses as well.

But, Bingo did get the lion's share of the attention. He sat to receive attention. He didn't bite very much. He played nicely. The kids were all super good about following the rules: no people food, no letting him up on the furniture, etc.

This is why I love working in a school: the chance to connect with wonderful kids. These kids are so bright and talented and it is such fun to see them as they head out to college and then go off on their careers. Tonight, for example, we are headed off to an art gallery photography show that a former student and New College graduate curated. That should be very interesting.

I'm very lucky to be able to have a job not only where I work with such wonderful teens, but also where I am allowed to bring my guide dog in training to work, which will happen on Monday.