One hurdle cleared - several more to go!

Hello all,


This "bark to text" app mom got me works really well! Eliminates the need for a keyboard . . .or hands for that matter. :) (that's a little dog humor for ya folks)


Mom went to the Introductory Seminar that Mid South Therapy Dogs hosted on Sunday, July 22nd. They had therapy teams there that shared their experiences and she got to see an actual therapy visit. She came back home super-excited and very touched by the stories she heard. And that got me excited too! (But I didn't piddle on anything!)


I asked Mom what it meant to be a therapy team. She explained that we'd get to go visit hospitals, hospices, rehab centers, facilities for at-risk youth, and the like. That we'd go, I'd get to meet all kinds of new people and they would pet me, brush me, hug me, tell me what a good and sweet boy I am and maybe even give me a treat.  That the people we will go see are sick or sad and maybe don't have much to smile about, so the goal of our visits is to make them happy and smile, even if it's just for a little while. 


"Happy like a belly rub happy? Or happy like finding a forever home happy?" I asked. "It depends on the person, Sammy" she answered. "I think we may be able to do both." 


Well sign me up for that gig! I know how happy getting my belly rub makes me, so if I can make just one person "forever home" happy! Wow! That's a great feat for a mutt like me!


So we have to be re-certified in basic obedience (it's more for Mom, I'm good with the whole, sit, stay, down, etc. . . She needs to know how to get me to do it!) and we went to our first class last night.


It was kinda scary at first, lots of yappy young dogs jumping at me and Mom, trying to play with me, nip me, and sniff me. All I could think was "Oh my gosh, this is a million times worse then that squeaky beer bottle chew toy the Coyote got me!"


Things settled down a bit. I walked beside Mom for a bit, we practiced "sit". Mom would pull up on my collar or push up on my chin - it took just a few times before I realized that also meant "sit". Now why she didn't just say it I don't know, humans can be so silly sometimes!


Then we worked on sit-stay. That was easy. We'd never practiced it where Mom walked around me in a circle, but then the lady running the class explained that is so I would get used to people passing around and behind me when we go to visit as they might have to do in a hospital room or other small space. I thought that was pretty cool and very smart for a human to figure out!


Then for some reason we kept walking around and Mom would let me sniff the floor, another dog, get petted by another person, and then call me back to her! I guess she was lonely. So I came back to her to reassure her I wasn't going to run away.


The lady that teaches the class, Donna, is very sweet and she had excellent treats! I tried my dogi mind trick and my best border collie stare on her to give me more treats, but she is definitely a dogi master - darn it! She didn't give in at all. 


I got petted a lot and told how good of a dog I was. Mom talked to Donna and found out that she had evaluated me during class and thought that I'd be a great therapy dog. Mom was so happy! She hugged me and told me what a good boy I was (well, duh!). The attention was nice, though. 


Mom and I know we have a lot of work ahead of us - we have a lot to practice and to learn. I want to make humans "forever home" happy, so wish me and Mom lotsa luck!


I'll post more when I can. Battery is about dead on my Barkberry and Sophie is trying to eat the charger (sigh).


Sniff ya later - paws out!


Sammy