My Velcro Dogs

My Velcro Dogs
Louie, Bradley and Echo

Friday, August 8, 2008

Out to eat and eating raw






Yesterday was a great day for both dogs. Bradley took his first trip to the bank, where he did wonderfully. He tried to say "hi" to someone once but once he laid down and established our reason for being there, he was perfect. He was pretty attentive, although curious (who can blame him?). A couple people walked by him while he was laying down and were obviously taking in and appreciating his cuteness. Usually, when Bradley notices that he's being gawked at, he turns into Mr. Personality and tries to give the people what they want, a big, snuggly Golden Retriever puppy greeting. He's getting much better at differentiating between when to charm and when to focus. This is a HUGE accomplishment on his part because he's such a lover! Some times when he's laying down, while working, he'll notice someone smiling at him and focusing on him from across the room and he'll maintain eye contact with them and wag his tail profusely. That's usually a precurser to him breaking his stay and seeking out the person of interest. It used to happen constantly every time there was a child around. He loves kids! (Sorry, Bradley, I wish I could say the same for myself.)

After the bank, we went into a clothing store we frequent. Unfortunately, there was constrution being done on the exterior of the building and there were pretty loud noises inside. He was uneasy about the sounds so we decided to leave, not wanting to sour him of the store we go to so often.

We then went out for a very early lunch. This was our first attempt at a sit down restaurant with him. He had been to a Subway with us before and we sat down, but that was only for about 10 minutes tops. We have been hesitant about giving restaurants a try, as we weren't sure he could stay settled down the whole time and if he couldn't, we couldn't easily walk away from our meals and leave.

We asked to be seated in a secluded area. They sat us near the bar, which one would hope wouldn't be too crowded at 11 AM on a Thursday. We were the only ones sitting in that area, which I'm sure contributed to the positive outcome of the experience. He laid down, pretty readily, despite being interested in exploring the new environment (again, can't blame him). A couple times, he tried to lick/sniff things he noticed on the floor near us. After a few reminders that it wasn't the time and place to do so, he ceased to do so. He didn't sit under the table, as service dogs are normally expected to do at restaurants. He also didn't sit flush against the booth so if it was more crowded, people would have either had to step over him or go around him. I didn't dwell on these details this time though, as the important thing at this point is simply exposing him to the experience. Struggling with him to maintain a position he hasn't yet been trained to assume, neither would have been fair nor made the experience positive for him. One thing I've very proud of is that none of my dogs have ever been under the impression that they are entitled to the food people are eating. Therefore, begggin is nonexistant. However, we'll definitely need to put some serious time into refusal of food offered by others, as well as tasty morsels found on the ground :)

The day ended for both dogs with some juicy, raw ribs. We try to feed raw as frequently as we can, although we normally feed dry kibble (Canidae and Innova). Last's meal was Louie's first time getting the hang of how to eat meat off a bone. The first time we offered him raw meat, he barked at it! This time, he started by licking it as if it was a lollipop. After a few minutes of confusion as to the foreign object's purpose, he started picking at it. Before long, he was eating it like a natural; albeit dragging it around from room to room. Bradley immediately had at it and was tearing the meat off the bone almost as efficiently as our previous dog, Sydney.

No comments: