Avery's Aunt Tessa recently had surgery, so we went for a visit after the playgroup, with a very calm happy dog in vest for some real world training time. This was Porter and Avery's first visit to a hospital, so it was interesting for all, with plenty of things to be afraid of, as well as plenty of pleasant things (lots of happy staff/patients to greet us all).We mainly focused on SIT, and HEEL commands, with a few DOWN commands... all from our recent dog training classes. Porter is doing very well, I think for his loyalty to his treats, but also because he is a very smart puppy. He experienced elevators, creepy cold stairwells (which he seems to dislike quite a bit), big turnstile revolving doors, hospital rooms, and much more.
I think we may make the hospital a regular saturday visit with a calm tired out Porter. As soon as we walked in the door, there were two requests for Porter to visit some patients, one woman who had been there for 109 days, and all she would love is to see a smiling Porter. I am seeing the therapy through others now as we visit and educate about our training and scenario. I am growing even more heart for my community and I am so grateful to be in the position that we are because it is forcing us all to get out in our community and share time with others.
After the hospital visit, we headed home for some rest for all. It was a lazy day the rest of the day, a proper saturday. Sunday we took Porter and Avery downtown in the late afternoon to the Madison Winter Festival. The whole capital area was full of distractions, happy people, and frequent ski-racers zipping by. Porter did great, and so did Avery. Recently Avery has been covering his ears a lot when he is overwhelmed, whether it be too loud, or a scary situation. When Avery needed alone time to cool down, Mom and him would seek out a fun safe place while Dad and Porter fielded the crowd of puppy lovers. We even had a group of young people approach, quickly learn about our family's situation, and ask to pray to God for us. It was so very nice to hear their reflections, after such a brief meeting, and to hear them all pray for Avery's positive development.
After the downtown walk-around, we had a sincere request from Avery to visit the Children's Museum, which is right across from the capital building. Avery LOVES this place, it is chock-full of learning tools and FUN really. As soon as I walked in the door and heard the hundreds of children running/playing/screaming/laughing, I knew this could be a great experience for Porter, as well as terrifying. Alas, Avery ran off and played happily with Momma, and Porter and I walked around and practiced HEEL. Porter did AMAZING, he didn't seem to even flinch at all the distractions and noise. He sat so well for all the inquiring parents, and patiently waited as I shared my knowledge so far about our situation. Again, it was so nice to experience this communication with parents and children in our community.
Below are the only real good pictures I could get all weekend, mainly because I was focused on training, with very little time to pull out a camera. Porter was VERY curious about the chickens in the rooftop garden on the top of the Children's Museum. With his tasty treats, I was able to keep him focused, which I think is a major feat. He also was very curious about what those small walking things were down below...
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.....and an Awesome Picture Jessica took:
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