Yesterday we gave a talk at the Cherokee County Library for the nonprofit we volunteer for, Psychiatric Service Dog Partners. It was a little over an hour’s drive away, but luckily all on easy to drive back roads. Brad drove there and back, so I could look at the interesting scenery on the way.
When we arrived, I tried having Felix on the ground for a bit to walk into the library. You may remember he’s been on a vacation since November 20th and hasn’t worked since then. So he was a bit rusty and was not wanting to walk nicely on the leash. I hadn’t planned to make it a training outing for him anyway, as I still feel like he needs more of a vacation, so I just picked him up and put him on my lap.
He also wasn’t great when the first attendee came into the room, and he wanted to greet her. I had to redirect him from trying to say hi. A little embarrassing, but he’s technically on a vacation right now and so I’m not really focusing on perfect behavior. He didn’t actually get to greet, just showed a little more interest than I would like.
Only four people came to our talk, but it was still good with lots of engagement from two of the people. We were there for two hours, with our talk lasting a little over an hour, and the rest of the time being Q&A. I think it was really helpful to the people who attended. We might do it again during the summer when attendance should be higher.
Interestingly enough, as we were packing up the van to leave, a dog in a pink coat that was pulling and sniffing a lot went into the library with their person! So I hope they were able to use their newfound knowledge of the two ADA questions and appropriate service dog behavior to best accommodate the person how they should have been. Not saying the dog wasn’t necessarily a service dog—I know outside of stores I often let my dogs off duty to potty. But at least the library staff will know the two questions, and will know what to do if the dog wasn’t behaving appropriately.
We got a picture of us after our presentation in front of one of the slides. It is a slide about board and trains, and shows a picture of Allison with Ruby the Golden Retriever doing a spin. In the picture Brad is wearing a tan three-piece suit and I am wearing my blue mushroom dress. Felix the Japanese Chin has a purple vest on.
