Michigan Trip, Day 3

16 August 2013

Kaline was such a star. I was super proud of him! I got up early to take him on a campus walk (now that we had a normal-sized car I felt safe driving into town). We started by Angell Hall, went through the Diag, past East Quad where I lived my first three years at University of Michigan, down Hill St. and all the way to the Rock, an enormous boulder that gets painted by pretty much all the different student groups throughout the year. Then we walked back up South U. back through the Diag and back to the car.

The M on the Diag. Kaline doesn't have to worry about stepping on it because he'll never have to take a blue book exam.

Everyone comes to Rick's.

Home sweet home.

Kaline at the Rock.

I vested Kaline to do a little shopping. We also picked up some Bruegger's bagels for breakfast (we don't have proper bagels on the West Coast so in Michigan we really stock up). Kaline did great momentum pulling and even did turns on verbal-only cues. I only did that for really obvious turns, but still! Yay! He got many compliments.

We came home to eat and I ran Kaline in the back. Later, Dad, Kay and I had lunch with one of my old professors at Saigon Garden. Kay had a little trouble settling under the table because of its “foot” but eventually made himself comfy.

At Saigon Garden.

Then we got Mom and visited some of the shops in Kerrytown. After another run for Kaline, we headed into Detroit for the Tigers game.

Kaline was freaking amazing. We did all the required photos, of course, of me and him with all the Al Kaline things. And the big Tiger outside, and Ernie Harwell, etc. In the crowds, he did momentum pull. I do not do well in crowds if I keep getting stopped and penned in. Kaline was such a pro, consistently seeking out the path of least resistance through the dense crowds and barely sniffing anyone. He did great in the crowded Tigers store as well, where everyone loved his name. Naturally.

With the Big Tiger.

With Ernie Harwell, the statue.

One of the many Al Kaline displays!

1968 Tigers, my all-time favorite team.

Al Kaline jersey.

Al Kaline statue!

The accessible seats we got were fantastic. Squishy folding chairs and tons of room for Kaline to curl up on his blanket, no risk of him getting stepped on. We got shut out 3-0, which sucked, but it was still a really fun time. Dad and I had great fun just looking at all the different Tigers shirts people were wearing. I know, that's normal in Detroit, but we're so used to getting excited when we see other people wearing Tigers gear that it was just fascinating to see the entire stadium dressed up. We saw maybe three Royals fans the entire night.

We left as soon as the game ended because there was going to be a fireworks show on the field and Kaline had never been close to fireworks. He was surprisingly calm about the whole thing though; we watched some of the show from our parking lot, plenty close to see the lights and hear/feel the booming. I was just crazy impressed with my little guy!

Michigan Trip, Day 1

14 August 2013

What a long day our first one was. I got up quite early to make sure Kaline had a long walk before heading to the airport. I've never been quite so glad to have him do No. 1 and No. 2 with great efficiency! I basically let him pee on anything he wanted—I just wanted him empty.

By design, we did not get to the airport terribly early. It worked out perfectly. We had just enough time to check our bags, for me to whisk Kaline for one last pee at the far-away animal relief area, get through security, and board early.

On the way to the relief area, I had Kaline practice his momentum pull. He is still sometimes pulling too hard, but he did great in the few little crowds he had to navigate.

Security went okay, except for the shoe retrieve got botched. I will know for the future not to get caught up talking to the person behind me—while I was doing that, Kaline lost focus a bit and when I asked him to get the shoes, he looked at me like, “Ehhhh, you get 'em.” Dad got them. He did great getting both my jacket and hoodie off though. He held a nice down stay before his recall through the metal detector. A burly bearded guy did the pat down, and before starting he knelt in front of Kaline to get kisses and hugs. Kaline was thrilled.

In the short wait before we boarded the plane, Kaline, as I expected, had a nothing-vomit. Luckily, this was literally nothing (sometimes there is a tiny amount of yellow bile). He gave me so much warning with the heaving that I had time to search through my backpack, find the collapsible bowl, and position it in front of his mouth. Everyone was staring, it was a little embarrassing, but not too big a deal.

Kaline in the airport, post-nothing-vomit.

Kaline settled into his spot on the plane between my feet pretty well, but then got very scared by the takeoff. I was feeding his treats the whole time but it wasn't enough (then again, he never got so scared he wouldn't eat them!). For a while after we got in the air, he was trembling on and off, popping up, yawning, licking his lips, panting. Finally he settled down again and took a series of cat naps, mostly with his head on my knee. For his first flight, not too bad. He did pretty well on landing, just opened his eyes very wide.

On the plane, pre-takeoff.

Settled for a catnap.

My knee made an excellent chin rest.

In the Detroit airport, he was fantastic, just a bit overzealous with his momentum pull. We got our bags, then got the Hertz bus. Kay was very good on there. Getting the car took forever—I gave Kaline a long potty break, reapplied liquid bandaid to his ear, etc.—and Dad ended up getting a hulking Escalade (we exchanged it the next day because it was so monstrous).

Kaline on the Hertz bus.

We drove to TownePlace Suites, a hotel by the mall, which is not only pet friendly (so no hassle at the front desk about paperwork, ID, certification, or anything else) but also gave us an accessible room which had a separate bedroom, yay! We got dinner at nearby Red Robin and Kaline slept under the table.

In a kind way at dinner, the parents asked if I felt I would ever not need to use a SD, if I could “conquer” the psych stuff. I explained that since a SD works for me, that would be a reason to keep going, not stop. If I were on medication that treated my conditions, I would continue to take it, because it's doing what it's supposed to. I wouldn't see the fact that meds were working as a reason to discontinue them. Since medications don't work for me, I treat myself using a service dog. But it's the same basic idea. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

I dressed Kaline in his Tiger pajamas when we got back to the hotel and he looked unspeakably adorable. He also tried to take over both the regular bed and the fold-out bed. Attaboy.

Kaline's bed.

Tigers jammies!