Another Cute Encounter

Today I had to go to my doctor's office for my weekly allergy shot (I can't do the shots myself at home in case I have a severe allergic reaction, so I have to go to the office once a week, which is a pain). I am working Isaac naked because I left his vest in my van, which is in the shop.

There was a little girl about three or four in the waiting room and she informed her dad, "There's a dog. I like dogs."

Her dad said, "Yes, but we can't pet that dog. He's working," which was especially nice since Isaac was working naked. I've found people can often tell he is a service dog by how he acts, even if he doesn't have his vest on. And Isaac knows he is working even if he doesn't have his vest on, based on where we are and how I am acting, I think.

I asked the little girl if she'd like to say hi to Isaac and she did. She sat down on the floor and petted his head very gently and spoke softly to him and it was really sweet.

Her dad told me she is learning about service dogs and that if she sees dogs in places where there usually are no dogs, they are working and she shouldn't pet them unless she asks first. I reminded her that she should always ask if it's a dog she doesn't know, even if it's not a service dog, just to make sure the dog is friendly and wants to be petted.

I almost asked if I could take a picture of the two of them, they were so cute. Isaac had his head on the floor, relaxing, and she was just stroking his head and talking really softly to him.

And then the medical assistant opened the door to the waiting room and called my name. Isaac has learned that when she calls me name, we get up and go into the back. So she called my name and Isaac jumped to him feet, all ready to go. Practically ready to go without me, he jumped up so fast. Sweetness over.

Today at the Library

I had a really cute encounter with a little girl at the library today. She was about seven years old, I would guess.

Isaac and I were looking at books on composting and then on canning. Well, I was. Isaac was napping by my feet and looking rather annoyed every time I had to ask him to move. At one point I dropped my tote bag and he picked it up for me.

This little girl was following us, kind of looking at books but mostly looking at Isaac. I doubt she was really interested in books on gardening and food preservation, plus we were in the adult section. Although she did pick out a book on making ice cream and showed it to me. It looked interesting.

Anyway, after Isaac picked up my tote bag, she commented, "Your dog is really good."

I said yes, he was.

She said "That's a good trick, he gets things for you."

I said he gets all kinds of things for me.

She seemed impressed. And never tried to pet or distract him.

Watch Where You're Going

So a kid tripped over my service dog today.

We were at the Medicaid office and they were very busy so there were no chairs free. So I was standing beside a row of chairs, trying to be out of the way, and Isaac was lying down right up against my feet.

This little kid, about three or four, was walking backwards for some reason, so not looking at all where he was going. I was looking at the window I was going to, trying to figure out how long a wait I was going to have, so I didn't realize the kid was going to walk into my dog until it was too late. If Isaac had not been there, the kid would have ran into me. He walked (backwards) right into Isaac, tripped over him, and fell down. Kind of on top of my dog.

Isaac did not mind. He just looked up like "Wha? That woke me up."

I apologized to the kid and his mother, although I don't think my dog was really in the way. I mean, he was as out of the way as he could be. But I wasn't watching so I didn't stop the kid before he tripped over my dog.

The mother apologized to me, the kid apologized to my dog, and the mother scolded the kid for not watching where he was going.

Meanwhile, Isaac just went back to sleep.

Holy Shit, He Caught One!

So my silly dog caught himself a groundhog today. He has chased them before and though they might look fat and slow, those things can move. He's never come close to catching one, or anything else for that matter. Today he ran off into a field of soybeans and I didn't even know he was chasing a groundhog until I called him and he came bounding out of the bean field with a big old groundhog in his mouth.

I was like, "Holy shit, you caught one!" It scared the crap out of me, to be honest. \

Isaac gave it a big shake and I yelled at him to drop it. He looked at me like, "Seriously? This is mine." But he stopped shaking it and just stood there. 

I didn't want him to run off with it so I told him to sit and he did. Then he just sat there looking at me with the groundhog in his mouth. I could see if was alive. I walked around Isaac to stand behind him, because I did not want him to drop it and then it run up my leg or something. I got behind Isaac and held his collar and told him again to drop it and he did.

It sat there for a minute and I was afraid it was injured and wondering what I was going to do with it then, but then it ran away. I checked Isaac and found no bites or scratches on him and also no blood, so I don't think the groundhog was injured much.

Isaac is quite proud of himself and the little dog that lives across the hall says Isaac is his hero.

But You Can See OK, Right?

You know how they ask to see ID along with your insurance card at doctor's offices sometimes? So I was seeing this new doctor today and he has my driver's license in his hand.

He looks at Isaac and asks, "Is that a work dog?"

I don't know what he means by work dog but I say, "He's a service dog."

The doctor says, "But you can see OK, right?" and hands me back my driver's license.

I'm like, "Yeah. They don't give you one of these if you can't see." I guess they didn't cover that in medical school.

X-Rays

Today I had to go get my knee x-rayed. I was planning to put Isaac in a downstay behind the little divider thing where they x-ray tech stands but there was another x-ray tech that volunteered to hold the leash for me in an adjoining room. They left the connecting door open so I could hear what was going on in there.

They had to take several x-rays and partway through I heard Isaac's tags jingle and heard the tech tell him, "They will be done in a minute."

I called out, "Isaac, stay" and didn't hear anything else. 

As soon as I was done, I called him and he came trotting, but not running, into the room where I was. 

Then when I started to walk out of the room, Isaac turned back to the tech that had watched him for me and said goodbye by nuzzling her hand for a second. It was cute. 

And he behaved very well. 

And no one asked me why I had a service dog.

Why Is There a Dog in the Store?

Today I was shopping for canning jars at Meijer, at a location I don't usually shop at.

There was this little boy, maybe five years old, who asked his dad, "Why is there a dog in the store?'

The dad said, "That dog helps her."

Either the little boy didn't understand or he wasn't sure his dad was right, because he asked his dad again, "But why is the dog in the store? Dogs aren't allowed in the store." His dad assured him this dog was allowed but the kid kept asking why.

I stopped and said, "He's a service dog. He helps me with stuff. That's why he is allowed in the store. He had to go to school for almost two years to learn to be a service dog so he could be allowed in stores."

The dad thanked me for explaining.

I guess the kid was satisfied or he believed me more than he believed his dad, because I didn't hear him asking anything else.

A Little Game of Tug

Isaac and his friend Quinn playing tug at the dog park.

The other dog is named Charlie.  She kept distracting Quinn, which allowed Isaac to get the rope away from him temporarily.