The adventures of SD Juno and SDIT Kaline (and their human, Colt).

05 August 2012

Sunday funday

The dogs got out and about a bunch today. We got up early and walked downtown, planning to meet Dad at the Farmer's Market. On the way, we stopped at Peet's, where we saw Max with his mom, and another dog we know, Darby, a poodle mix. Darby is working on his dog reactivity, so it's great for him when other dogs in training (as opposed to crazy MDIFs—check out this post if you don't know what I mean) come by. He did very well and didn't bark at Juno or Kaline. Max went crazy when he saw me, was glad to see Juno, and told the puppy in no uncertain terms to behave himself, hehe.

After our impromptu doggy meetup, we headed to the Farmer's Market. I vested both dogs and took them through, and I must say, it's pretty tough trying to work two dogs in a slow crowd like that. They did fine, behavior-wise, but we definitely have to figure out some sort of system regarding positioning. It doesn't help that I really want Juno not to sit, in those situations, and I do like it when Kaline sits. It's a tail thing.

We then did a quick in and out at the bagel store—a sit-stay by the door, then a quick loop to the back of the store and out again. Kaline did well at not sniffing and not soliciting attention. Then we headed to Cafe Borrone for some breakfast. I didn't vest the dogs, because we were going to sit outside and I wanted Kaline to be able to go say hi to people. There were, of course, a lot of people who wanted to pet him and love on him. He took a little while to settle down on his mat, partially because of all the people coming to say hi, and partially because just across the way was a little Catahoula puppy!

We met her foster mom after breakfast—the puppy is up for adoption, along with her six brothers and sisters—and found out the little girl is about Kaline's age. She had very similar coloring as well, though more of a blunt face. And a tail, of course. The hilarious thing was, once they started to kind of play with each other (as much as they could on leash and basically under a table), we suddenly noticed how much bigger Kaline's paws were. Overall, he really wasn't much larger than the Catahoula, but his feet were probably at least twice as large!

After a while, Kaline finally settled on his mat, right at the end of it so he was close to his beloved Juno. A couple times he rested his head on her back, but I was never fast enough with my phone to get a picture. Drat!
We came home briefly after breakfast, then headed out again to the Michigan Alumni Student Send-off. Supposedly this event is for the kids heading off to Michigan at the end of the month, but really it's for the alumni to get a much-needed taste of "home." The club ships in Cottage Inn Pizza, breads, meats and cheeses from Zingerman's Deli, and best of all, ice cream from Stucchi's! It's fabulous.

I was hoping this would be sort of a chill-out event for the dogs, but as we drove into the park where the event was held, we saw a ton of No Pets signs. I was so bummed. You've got this absolutely gorgeous big park, and no one can bring their pet dogs! How awful! So the pups had to go vested. No biggie for Juno—I actually think she likes it better when strangers leave her alone. She really doesn't have any interest in them unless they scratch her Happy Spot or they have food for her. Kaline, though, is my little social butterfly and would have loved getting to go schmooze with everyone.
Nonetheless, both dogs did very well. Kaline settled much more quickly at the picnic than at the cafe. It was on dirt, so everyone's gear has to get washed, but hey, it's an occupational hazard. The kids got in a bit more crowd work, and just relaxed with all the people around. We got to do some service dog education, and I even met (in person) someone I had met years ago online when we were both part of a Brad Ausmus-obsessed Yahoo group! That was really cool. I was pretty pleased with how Kaline did, given all the people he wasn't allowed to say hi to, and all the food he wasn't allowed to have. He pawed at his head collar a bit, but that was about all.

And an update on Kaline's neck: The hair loss isn't getting worse, at least. I emailed Maura about it, and she said that fleece-lined flat collars or no flat collar at all would be the way to go. Kaline can go naked at home, but outside a lot of the time he needs to be wearing a collar with tags, so I guess we'll be getting a fleece-lined collar soon. Also coming soon: two spare, magnetic closure, super awesome bait bags! Hurrah!

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