The Queen Hears Queen and We Avoid a Huge Peesaster

On Friday, Fred, Her Royal Highness (HRH) Berkeley and I joined our friend and fellow puppy raiser Stephanie and her friend Nancy for dinner and a concert. We met up at Red Mesa Cantina in Downtown St. Pete.

I've mentioned the Cantina before, it is my favorite restaurant downtown and they had a wonderful early bird special dinner: drink, salad, entree and dessert for $14! It was quite a deal. I made the mistake of ordering the seafood mofongo. It was odd. But everyone else got something amazing. HRH was chilling under the table and nancy quite forgot she was there.

It was such a lovely night and Mahaffey was fairly close so we decided to walk over. It would give Madame Pees-alot a chance to relieve her bladder. As we approached a possible pee station, Fred took off her coat and coaxed her onto it. Nancy and Stephanie started to laugh.

"I don't think she likes it."

"I know. It's not grass." I shook my head. HRH was tip-toe-ing on the barking and rolling her eyes as if to say "Really? This is the best you can do?" By the time we did get to some grass she was so disgusted with us that she was to annoyed to pee.

We walked up to the counter to get out tickets accompanied by murmers of "Oh, look at the puppy in training. She's so cute." That always makes me smile.



Here we are before the concert looking lovely. I was a bit concerned that HRH might haul off and let loose a bark or two. She had to be removed from convocation that morning for barking during a piano recital. Very disappointing!

We proceeded into the Mahaffey. I took her with me into the ladies room where she was very good and she ended up surprising a couple of ladies, but not too badly. 8-) Then we headed out to our seats. That's when Fred heard it.

"What's that? It's not a guide dog is it?"

"No, it's a puppy in training."

"You know these people are really pushing the limits of what they should be doing!"

Fortunately Fred didn't tell me this until we were seated.

"They said WHAT?"



HRH took it without a peep. Here she is curled up under Fred's chair like a good girl. The concert was the Florida Orchestra performing selections from Queen, which having HRH watch Queen was quite ironic I thought. 8-) I was wondering what she would do when the music started and it wasn't much.

ROCK MUSIC: HRH sleeping.

She could have howled and no one would have heard it. At the intermission we went out and HRH started to pull a little on the leash, and Fred said,

"Peesaster on the way! Exit, Exit!"

So we hurridly made for the exit and then for the green, lush grass of the Mahaffey Center lawn overlooked by about 20 concert goers. Lit softly by the bare winter trees, HRH sighed and peed.

This was more like it.

The Grass Is Always Greener...Unless There Isn't Any Grass

One of the things we are supposed to do with our guide dog puppy is encourage her to pee on many different surfaces: grass, gravel, concrete, tarmac, rocks. Her Royal Highness (HRH) Berkeley, of course, was partial to grass.



It is so cool and delightful to the paw, so springy. Why would any smart puppy choose to relieve themselves on another inferior surface? One that is scratchy and might even be smelly or hot to the touch? No, no. Best to stick to that cool, green oasis of restroom quietude. Thus HRH lulled us into a false sense of variety.

When we would go to a planter that had bark, she would slip ever so slightly near the grassy part and pee near it. When we would walk her in the gravel, all ability to pee would desert her.

"Why, sir, I cannot! Heaven forfend! It is not within me." The puppy eyes would commence and we would give up.

Thus Arizona was a BIG SHOCK to HRH, mostly because Arizona is a desert. There aren't any grassy bits in Arizona. In fact, Mom and Dad's back yard look a lot like the photo of gravel below.



HRH wouldn't go for almost a day. She kept walking around and around on her toes as if somewhere, hidden in the rocks, there was some grass. Maybe, over here, in this corner. No? Perhaps by this bush? No?

By evening, she was crosslegged and pretty sure we were in hell.



"This is the most inauspicious place to spend the holidays. Fortunately, the hosts are kind and have padded beds on which I can lie."

In the end, the rocks won. But I'm pretty sure unless she is in the desert, she won't resort to using them. She is, after all, HRH.