On Monday, some of my service dog friends were nice enough to meet up with me to help ensure Hestia is around some stable dogs after her attack.
A couple of people forgot, and a couple of people cancelled, so it was just three of us (plus Brad!) total. But that was still great for Hestia!
Skyler and Korra showed up at my house for a walk around the neighborhood. Hestia and Korra were happy to see each other and wanted to play a little. We didn’t let them, though! And they soon calmed down.
Korra reminds me of Ollie so much since they are both Standard Poodles. The way Korra’s butt looks when she lies down, her poodley nose, and especially how much she loves to shake hands! She is funny and goofy like Ollie was!
We only walked a short time around the neighborhood because it was too hot for the dogs to go much further. Boy it is hot in South Carolina in the summers!!!
Then we headed over to Starbucks. I ordered my drink in the app on the way over (I LOVE not having to actually talk with someone to place my order!!!), so I got it and found us a table. I left my coffee to cool and hung out with Skyler and Korra in line. Hestia and Korra were GREAT in Starbucks! The pickup area had coffee beans all over the floor and Korra totally ignored them! Hestia did want to investigate LOL, but with a leave it she was great.
We went to sit down, and when Skyler’s drink was ready, she left Korra in a stay (with Brad holding the leash) and Korra did EXCELLENTLY!!! We are so proud of them!
Barbara with Tripper showed up soon after that. Hestia and Tripper are good friends, so it was hard for them at first not to say hi, but they really did a great job! Hestia was happy but she didn’t do anything other than try to sniff in Tripper’s direction repeatedly. Not even any wiggley butt!
We had a great time at Starbucks, and I was so proud of Hestia because she was on the floor the whole time. Normally in restaurants I need my SD on my lap to provide pressure therapy, so we haven’t worked on floors in restaurants as much. But with puppy coming, I need to be able to switch out which dog is in my lap and which is on the floor.
We talked for a long while, and eventually all headed home. It was a great experience for Hestia!
Brad got some great pictures, of course! Most are in black and white. In them, I am a round woman with long wavy brown hair wearing a pink bird dress and when outside a straw hat. Hestia is a small white and black dog with a smushed nose wearing a galaxy vest. Skyler is a woman wearing a beige-green top and shorts. Korra is a sable Standard Poodle with a burgundy vest. Barbara is a blond woman wearing a pink dress, and Tripper is a Golden Retriever with a turquoise vest. Brad is a bearded man with a blue blazer and turquoise hat with a screaming lizard pin on his lapel.
There are lots of good pictures of Hestia and Korra walking together and standing around outside. In some of them, you can tell the dogs really want to say hello, but always in the next shot they’re paying attention to their handlers. There are some great shots in Starbucks from doggy height, showing the dogs working wonderfully. There’s a few pictures of Tripper doing a paws up to help Barbara when she wasn’t well. And Korra does a fantastic long-legged poodle pose while sleeping under the table! The final shot is a selfie Brad took of himself with all of the humans in the background– that one is in color!
