Things are going well --Leon and I are still settling in at home. I still have unpacking to do, but we have pretty much gotten into the routine, which is not as active as normal since it is summer (no classes.)
We haven't done much except for run errands this week and go to college group on Wednesday night. Our first trip to the grocery store since coming home was Thursday and it went really well --nothing really to report.
Yesterday, we went to my Physical Therapy evaluation, Best Buy, and the credit union. The staff at the PT center were impressed with Leon and were very happy that I now have him. I'll start PT next week (3x a week), so Leon and I will at least be out of the apartment for a while on those days.
Best Buy went well. One of the employees asked good questions and was curious about Leon's harness and what he did for me. I was happy to answer his questions. :)
By the time we were done at the credit union, though, fatigue had hit me full force, so we both went home to rest. Spent the rest of the day sleeping off an on.
Today, we relaxed all morning. Then, to get out of the apartment for a bit, we went to Subway for a salad (I got a salad, not Leon.) There was a family with 2 kids ahead of us in line. The kids looked at Leon and read his patches to their dad. The kids continued to watch us as we ordered and went to our table. Leon went under the table and took a snooze while I ate. After, I threw away my trash (Leon retrieved a straw wrapper that I dropped) and the kids watched us as we left. I had almost forgotten how sometimes people look at you like you have a third leg/eye or something when you have a service dog --not something most folks see on a regular basis. :)
We then practiced our daily obedience card at Michael's. Leon did VERY well in this distracting environment. I even found some bells/maracas in the kids section and shook them/dropped them to try to get him to break a stay, but he didn't! I found a little wind-up ladybug and put it on the floor to see what Leon would do --he had mild surprise at first, but just quietly sniffed it to investigate, wagging his tail happily. I wish I could have bought it for him, but $3,99 for a tiny wind-up ladybug is just too much.
I found something I wanted to buy for $3, so we went to check out. Leon did a great "go pay" at the register and I got to talk to the lady about how he pays for my purchases when I use my scooter and the counter is too high for me to reach. As we were leaving, a lady at the next register over had seen Leon "go pay" and asked "So, does he get to go to Petco now?" lol I told her that we were going home, but I did pay my dog for doing a good job and pointed to my treat pouch. She smiled and wished me a good day.
We've just been chilling all evening. I feel bad that, on days like yesterday and today when I am not doing great that Leon has a lot of downtime --he's been bored for most of the day. I need to come up with more thinking/training games for us to do together when I'm not feeling well enough to go anywhere for very long.
Going to church in the morning --this will be Leon's first Sunday at my church!
You know, the story aout the kids made me think- when my brother and I saw service dogs, we did stare... not because they were unusual (they were), but because we wanted to pet them, even though we knew we couldn't!
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