Coach Does Some Shopping

A Wordless Wednesday photographic essay from yesterday's outing to the Coach Store at International mall.

Coach is sitting by the glass railing looking down.  He is very calm.

The Coach logo over the Coach store.

Coach and I standing in the doorway of the coach store. 

Coach and I consider some purses to buy.  He doesn't seem to have an opinion and looks fairly bored.

Coach meets the Coach dog, who doesn't have any eyes or fur, which makes my Coach sniff.

Jam Will Never Poo Again!

Today we had our meeting at Countryside Mall.  So, since Jam was still feeling a little snakey about the backyard, I took him for a walk before the meeting.  We went around the block.  Wouldn't you know it, as soon as it looked like he had picked out a spot and was about to do something, the people who owned the house came out the front door (grandma and grandchild).  The little girl wanted to pet Jam.

All thoughts of poo immediately retreated, so to speak.  Jam was now more interested in the approaching people and I felt a vague need to take my plastic bag out of my pocket and wave it like a white flag as if to say, "See, if he had poo'ed in your yard, I would have picked it up.  I am a good neighbor."  Instead, I stood there awkwardly and looked a bit shifty eyed.

I moved Jam out to the sidewalk and said in a rather loud voice, "OK, Jam you need to sit." And then I made Jam sit and go down.  Jam is much more controlled in a down stay than in a sit.  When they got closer I explained about Jam's situation and that Jam needed to be calm in order to be petted.

Our new neighbor was AWESOME!  Everytime she approached, Jam would pop up and she would step back.  I would make him sit and down and then she would try again.  Until finally, he was calm.  By then her granddaughter had decided that Captain Crazypants was to crazy to pet and she didn't want to pet him.  But Annette did and Jam was very good.

I was so happy to meet such a nice neighbor.  And Jam was really tired out.  We were able to walk on two or three houses down before he had to poo.  Those neighbors stayed inside, thankfully.  

Guide dog puppy in training Jam sitting at food court table.

When we got to the meeting, Jam was anxious to meet everyone.  Fred thinks that if Jam is able to at least sniff all the dogs he is much better able to stay in the circle of acceptance than outside.  I don't know.  I just know that Jam had a good poo and was in the circle of acceptance and life was good.  I was even feeling very good about myself because just that morning I had cleaned the dogs' ears and part of the obedience was doing some of the tests from the AKC Canine Good Citizen Test, which includes having someone massage the ears and paws.  Little did I know another paw massage was coming up later (dum dum dum! foreshadowing!!).

Soon enough, AC Carolyn had sent us on our way and we were off to see what we could find on her list.  We did have one marking problem.  GRRR.  We have been avoiding all upright and vertical surfaces and keeping an eagle eye out for any slight veering to the left, but Jam got a quick one off on a planter.  I was able to clean it up quickly.  ShamWows are very good at cleaning up pee-sasters. Even small ones.  He never marks inside, but Malls are tricky and dogs can feel like they are outside.

Guide dog puppy in training Jam sitting in front of noisy arcade games.

We were still making our way around the mall with our older dog group when I happened to notice Jam's butt.  Frankly, I look at his butt a lot just to make sure he isn't holding anything back.  And sure enough, he had the gopher butt.

"Fred! He has to poo!"  Fred started to speed walk towards Sears with Jam.  Sylvia followed with Denny.  Fred and Jam were really going and made it to the doors without any problems.  They made it outside and Jam took the opportunity to water some more plants.  I pointed out a spot that was wider than the small median where they currently were and it was mostly mulch and a couple of flowers, so this would be a different type of ground on which to relieve himself.

Jam and Fred and I walked over to it and Jam hopped up the curve and started to twirl.  It seemed a bit odd to me, that a dog who is normally really concerned about things "being right snakey" would just hop up on some strange median without even looking at it.  But he did.  He didn't look or smell or even take into consideration that there might be little flowers that he was crushing (he wasn't).

He poo'ed and then he did a crazy thing.  He did a little leap, a leap high into the air and landed by Fred. Then he stuck out his back leg, which was now the color of night and started to shake it violently.  You see, Jam had twirled and stopped to poo on top of an anthill and those ants were extremely opposed to being covered in excrement.  Or having their house stopped up with big logs of well, you get my point. So to express their displeasure they had run screaming out of their hill and raced up his paw.

"Oh my God!" This is me, not taking any photos of his paw and swiping off ants. I can't understand those photojournalists who are the only ones on the scene when someone is going to set themselves on fire and they just stand there and shoot film.  Really?  Get a blanket and stop, drop and roll that crazy nutjob!

"Do you see his leg?" This is Fred, equally discomposed and frantic knocking ants off his paw as Jam is trying to bite the little bastards as they are trying to bite him.

I went in between his toes and looked for every little ant I could find and we got them all.

Now Jam will never poo again!

Update:  Jam has pooped.  I'm so relieved.  It seems our backyard is safe now and he is perfectly willing to walk around all parts of it once again.  He is also willing to relieve himself on any and all spots in the yard.  I'm glad I am not a mind reader.  I would think a mind reader would get trapped in the tangled mess that is Jam's brain.

Mall Walking

On Saturday, Fred decided that he needed to buy some new sandals. Fred wanting to go shopping at all is a bit of a big deal so I was very up for the outing! We decided to make a morning of it.

That meant first getting breakfast. Jam had already been up (at 4:30) for his breakfast and morning poo, so we were set for a while.

We walked in and found a booth. Jam went under the table and after a few initial scrounges around for crumbs, finally settled in for a little nap. Then it was on to Macy's at Tyrone Square.

We were able to park close, since it was just before 10 and that's when they open. Since jam was up a bit early I wanted him to try again to busy, but the areas around Macy's aren't really busy friendly. Jam wasn't interested. So we went into the store.

As you first walk in, there are some rugs laid down for wet feet, so you don't slip. The tile is a white shiny marble. It's highly reflective. Jam made it to the rugs ok, but once he saw that sea of white tile, he balked.

NO WAY.

Fred coaxed. Jam said, NO.

Fred coaxed. Jam said, I'll step over to the side.

Fred coaxed. Jam said, I'll continue over to the side. I guess when he didn't fall in at the side of the tile (by this time he is at the wall), he decided the tile was ok and he could walk in the center. But he didn't want to walk very fast.

So we sort of ambled down the aisles of Macy's followed by the cooing of customers of and salespeople:

"Oh, look at him!"

"Isn't he cute!"

Then one saleslady said, "He is just adorable!" Right then, Jam leaned over and snatched at a pair of pants hanging off a rounder. Eeeep! I corrected him back over to me. The pants stayed on the hanger. I didn't look back and moved more in the center of the aisle.

At every mannequin, Jam would rush over to their feet and look up. He loved them! They fascinated him. He would stop and stare at them. I would have to get his attention and get him moving forward again.

This happened at EVERY mannequin. Macy's has lots of mannequins.

I kept us on the tile because Jam generally has an 11 o'clock poo and it was 10 and he had gotten up early. I was carefully watching for poo signs. This is part of the puppy raiser experience: does that jog to the left mean "I'm going to poo?" or does is just mean "I like that smell?" So my shopping experience is completely taken over with watching Jam's butt and looking for poo signs.

Jam's Poo Signs
Drifting off to the left
Stopping and starting
Sniffing (see, it could be anything!)
Suddenly running off to a far away
Gopher butt (I would explain, but you probably don't want me to)
Circling
And if you don't catch the circling,
The dreaded humpback (but it's probably too late by then!)

About midway through Macy's I get a sniffing and drifting sign and tell Fred Jam has to poo. We go out. No poo. I tell Fred to go in and look at shoes and I'll wait.

No poo. Macy's really sucks for poo places. We walked to a better place. It still sucked. We went back in. I'm not any calmer. This dog is filled with poo and it is going to come out.

Why are malls so problematic?

Malls are a good place to take guide dogs in training because the ceilings are very high and the light is bright and there are lots of plants, which can fool them into thinking they are outdoors. You don't want them thinking they are outdoors.

Fred says, "Lets go to Dillards."

Great.

More mall walking.

We start walking to Dillards. We get all the way to JC Penny's when he starts to stop and start. I turn to Fred.

"This dog has GOT to poo! I'll meet you at Dillards." I took him out the exit at Penny's. Around the corner, thankfully, a shady poo spot. Room for circling.

Poo at last!

Now, with a spring in his step, we continued into the mall and on to Dillards.



Fred bought three pairs of shoes. Unheard of! Jam did not have an accident in the mall! Good job!

She Can't Be My Dog!

I was shocked, I tell you, shocked, the other day at TJ Maxx. There we were in the shoe aisle. I had Her Royal Highness (HRH) Berkeley in a down stay for her own safety as there were some pretty high heels around and I didn't want her wandering around and catching a stilleto on the head and poking her eye out. That would not be good! So, down she went as I careened around the aisle grabbing shoes and trying them on, and on, and on.

I did hear some soft doggy sighs, but thought nothing of it. I glanced back and she was still motionless. Still in her down stay. Good girl. She certainly wasn't enthralled by the TJ Maxx bargains like I was.

Oooh! Look at that Born sandal! What a price. 8-)

Just then, a lady looked in our aisle and said, "Oh, mommy, take this baby home! She is tired, tired, tired!"

Seriously?!! A woman(!) just told me to stop SHOE SHOPPING!? And told me my dog was bored? Honestly. What the world is coming to. Some people are so rude.

Then I looked at HRH. Perhaps if we had been at Nordstrom's she wouldn't have been bored.

Sorry, baby, mommy likes her bargains. Guess we'll go on home! No shoes for you today.

To the Mall!

Yesterday, we went to our big monthly meeting and it was held at Countryside Mall. I learned that Malls are important exposures because the dogs are easily confused and have accidents in malls because the ceilings are so high and there is so much vegetation around that they think they are outdoors. So we are encouraged to take our pups to malls as often as we can (did you read that Fred?!). We were also told to bring lots of clean up supplies in anticipation of many accidents.



Here Fred and Her Royal Highness (HRH) practice the Under-Down command. Since we learned that SEGD has the dogs do this for meals we now have her eat all her meals from an under down command from a chair. She is very good at this command at 14 weeks. 8-) Amazing what motivation dinner will give her! Marcy was in charge of the meeting and had us go on a scavenger hunt. Puppies had the second floor only, but the bigger dogs had the 1st and 2nd floors. Countryside Mall has tile AND CARPET. GRRRR. Not good. As soon as the scavenger hunt started, the bowels let loose. Not HRH's, thanks be. At one point as we headed over to the Disney store there was a line of poops about seven cubits long with a couple of puppy raisers with bags and cleanup wipes getting rid of the evidence as fast as they could!

We kept HRH a bit back from the poo-line thinking that if she smelled it she might think it was ok to do it. So we hung out by Yankee Candle for a little bit, which stalled us from a good time in the scavenger hunt (this is the beginning of my excuse for not winning the hunt, can you tell? 8-)



The next stop was the Disney store. They were very nice. Startled, but friendly. Then we stopped to watch the ice skaters, because afterall, we wanted her to get the full mall experience (excuse #2!). While we were gazing at the ice rink, I noticed an older couple coming towards us. The man had his arm stuck out in front of him with his fingers open and grasping. He was several feet ahead of his wife. She was hurrying toward him and me, saying, "You can't touch her! You can't touch her!" He kept coming toward us with that one arm extended, rather like a zombie only without the lifeless heaving to and fro and dead eyes and, I suppose, the desire to eat human brains.

I stepped up to him and said, "I'm sorry, but she's got her coat on and she's working. You can't pet her now."

"See, I told you. You can't pet them. They are working." He seemed very disappointed.

I tried to mollify the situation. "She is very cute though in her coat, isn't she? She's hard to resist. We're having a meeting in the mall, so you will see lots of us morning."



Our next stop was Build a Bear. Fred was afraid HRH would go nuts and ravage the stuffed animals so he waited outside with her. Inside, the saleslady told me a sweet story of a blind person and their guide dog who came in to get another build a bear. The guide dog had torn it up. She said the dog seemed very sad and contrite about it.

We have had no word on Bingo (or Jim or Rob!) so I asked Marcy to check for us. It's been 5 weeks and we are a little nuts wondering what has happened to him. She said she would check and let us know. She had gotten some news on x-rays and would send us an email.



After the meeting we went to lunch. HRH was so worn out that she passed out under the table. That was nice.

Holiday Dog

When Bingo ordered all of his thank you presents for the people who donated to his Sit Stay Give Campaign, he also got a "FREE" holiday necklace. He's wearing it in this photo. It has little snowmen on it. I'm beginning it wonder if maybe Bingo doesn't have a shopping problem.

Perhaps he spends too much time watching me....As a matter of fact, where are my credit cards and is that the home shopping network I'm hearing!

The Mall and a Movie: Round 3

Destination: Westshore Mall. Timing: lunchtime. We were hoping for an afternoon nap lull to get him through the movie this time as we have been unsuccessful in our previous two attempts to see a movie with Bingo.

This time we had it all planned out. Lunch at Mitchell's. Followed by vigorous mall walking to tire him out. Then a brief bout of staring at the escalator (guide dogs aren't allowed to go on escalators, but they should be brought near them to see them, Bingo was unimpressed). Then on to the movie: Nine (BTW, a more thoroughly joyless and depressing movie, I can't imagine. Please don't go see it. Completely pointless. And heaven forbid, don't take children to see it!). We even had our seats picked out, last row, right corner. We had taped his tags to stop any jingling. We also made sure to have his butt sticking back under the seat and his head poking out by our feet. That way he wasn't sneaking back under the seats licking up stray bits of food, which is very bad for him and just plain gross.


I'm happy to report that Bingo made it through the whole movie! Not one peep from him. That was a real feat for him. The other two movies were plagued with either snores or whines, but he was very quiet the whole way through this one.

We even had a bit of a rock star moment when we were leaving the theater. As we came out, there were a couple of middle school girls and I heard them say, "Oh, that looks like Bingo!" He's a star no matter where he goes. 8-)

He did very well on his mall walking too. This week we have a pep rally on Friday with the Highlander Band playing. I'll take some video of that. Should be fun!