Isaac Has Arrived

The trainer brought him to my home this afternoon about 3:30 pm.  It's now almost 9:00 pm and he is resting in his crate and I am exhausted on the couch.  It's been quite an evening!

He was very wound up and excited to see his new home and ran around like a little tornado, sniffing everything.  He chased one of my cats into the bedroom, where she hid under the bed.  The trainer brought a treadmill for him and showed me how he loves to go for a run on it (yes, it's adorable to watch, and yes, he really does love it).  She gave me all sorts of stuff for him, including this light switch extender-thingies that make it easier for him to turn on the lights, his service dog vest, three collars and a leash, ear drops (he has a fungal infection in his ears), some dog food, some chicken treats, a certificate that says he's a service dog (not required by law, but used by the state of Ohio to verify he is a service so I get a free lifetime license for him), a stuffed toy, and a blanket he's been sleeping on at her house.

After the trainer left, Mike and I took Isaac for a walk and then went to a Mexican restaurant for dinner.  Isaac did well at the restaurant.  For the first little while we were there, he kept wanting to get out from under the table but I was able to keep him under control.  Then he settled down, lay down, and dozed off.  There were some loud, squealing little kids at the next table and he ignored them.  When we left the restaurant, we had to walk really close to another table with food on it and he ignored it completely, didn't even look in that direction.

No one at the restaurant questioned me about him.  I know I've only gone a few places with him so far, but so far, no one has ever asked me about him or tried to tell me I can't bring my dog into their business.  When I was staying at a hotel for three days and working with him and the trainer, the hotel did try to charge me a $27.12 "pet fee," but all I had to do was explain, "He's a service dog, not a pet," and they deleted the charge right away.

We've had a few difficult moments already.  At one point, I was taking him outside to pee and he saw something (I don't know what, it was dark out and I didn't see anything but he must have because he took off after it) and took off running, pulling the leash right out of my hand.  I was walking down the steps that lead from my front door and it almost made me fall down the steps.  It also caused my back to go into muscle spasms.  Mike had to come outside to help me because I didn't even know where Isaac had gone.  He was over at the neighbor's house, it turns out.

Then, later, he actually started to pee in my house!  That is not supposed to happen.  He is housebroken.  I was horrified.  Mike said it was probably just an accident, probably because everything is so new and he's so excited over everything.  I really, really hope that doesn't happen again.

Larry is in the house somewhere, but hiding.  I think Indigo is outside; I haven't seen her since Isaac arrived.  Cayenne is sleeping in the living window right now, apparently not too concerned about the big dog that has invaded her home.  As long as he's quiet and doesn't run at her, she is OK with him getting within a foot or so of her.  He thinks she looks like a really fun toy and doesn't know why I won't let him play fetch with her.  But I don't think she'll have much trouble adjusting to his presence.  The other cats, though... well, hopefully they don't decide to run away from home.