Baseball!!!

We had a busy Sunday in celebration of Father's Day! Haddie was up and out early right alongside us for the entire day. Thankfully, she was her amazing-self and didn't create any surprises in behavior. Overall, I think she is doing very well.

My son surprised me and wanted Haddie's leash while we had breakfast with my cousin. My cousin had been in town for a portion of the week for a business conference, and it worked out that we could meet her for breakfast before she headed home.

Haddie got a little celebrity-star struck and posed perfectly in this photo!! Some may recognize my cousin as she has had many appearances and successful final wins on Food Network Cupcake Wars. A little plug for her Gluten Free Bakery - visit Crave Bake Shop in Lake Oswego, OR! Yummy sweets you will not want to miss.

Because my son and I were on the opposite ends of the table, I really had no idea how Haddie was behaving. But since my son continued in the conversation with all of us, I figured it was all-good. He at least wasn't making it obvious that he had a dog parked under the table.

I asked him later how she did and he said she passed. She slept for a little bit, otherwise she was just watching people. Her only naughty was brushing her face with the gentle leader against my son's leg.

We had a woman that was dared by her family to come over and ask questions about our puppy in training. Very cute. They were visiting from Maine and have a Change of Career dog from a Search and Rescue Program (I think, that's how I interpreted what she meant anyway). She was fascinated by Haddie and our volunteer role, having received a dog that didn't pass but was equally as amazing, she wanted our "side of the story." Very fun, quick conversation.

After breakfast my cousin traveled home and we went to the big city to take Haddie to her first Major League Baseball Game!!  The benefit to this whole adventure was that we had to walk a long and stimulating distance to get through the parking garage, the streets, an overcrowded team store, and the stadium before we reached our seats. By then Haddie had had her exercise and was ready to chill-out.

It is a new adventure going with a pup to an environment that we had been to a couple dozen times prior. No more escalator use that dominants crowd control with ease of moving people, we had to find and use the ramps and stairs. It really showed how the stadium was designed, as everyone was on the escalators, no one used the ramps. We were the only ones.

Which meant that I could easily stop to provide some water for Haddie, and work on her slow-walking. I must say our hour long working-walk last week paid off already! I was able to hold the leash very loose in my hand. As soon Haddie passed me, and the leash was naturally slipping from my hand due to her getting to far out, I would say "With me" and Haddie would look at me and slow down quickly back to my side. So excited! It was a very controlled, yet testing way to see if Haddie would have been able to walk with us in that environment with out a leash at all. Of course we would never do that, but meaning she really was listening and managing herself.

Our Seats. Haddie held her Under and Down position for the entire game (minus one bathroom break back outside the stadium). She held her down in that she continued with all four paws, legs, and belly on the ground, but she did army crawl from under one chair to another with in our family. The cute little girl and family in front of us adored Haddie, but were kind enough to provide the perfect amount of distraction, with out being obnoxious to Haddie's need for self-control. So Adorable!!

We spied at a lower level seating area a working CCI graduate! I was watching that dog carefully to judge the behavior of Haddie - to see what we were missing, or what she needed to be doing. Other than Haddie belly surfing under our seats to get comfy, the two dogs were identical. They. did. nothing.

The loud noises, the music, the loud speaker, the smells, our eating lunch in front of her, peanut shells scattered on the floor around her - nothing phased Haddie. I was hoping for a Home Run from our team in order to get the fireworks in use, but no such luck. But we did win the game!  Yay!

After spending all day in this new, highly stimulating environment, we found the team mascot roaming around at the end. I took the chance to get the "Meet someone in Costume" checked off Haddie's List. Oh my goodness - you would have thought she was meeting the biggest stuffed animal dog toy in the world! She was in heaven!!  Haddie received plenty of "Oohs and Awws" from the Security Guard that follows the mascot, and others standing-by, and we got a Thumbs Up Paw from our Mascot. YAAAAAAY!!!

A successful Father's Day!!!