Good Listening

Today's adventure took us back to the new shopping center in our small town. I am finding it to be a great location to walk Kolby outside - with four corners of "highway" that intersect at this location. I use the term Highway because that is what each road is called, but I would say it is just a high-traffic street with big trucks, buses, and loud motorcyles frequenting often.

We included a fair amount of walking the sidewalks that meandered through the large parking lot and then parallel to the highway. Just at the right moment, a loud (firecracker-like) motorcycle cruised passed us popping his noise every few seconds. Kolby was not impressed, as he took a fighting stance in shock every time the cycle backfired.

The good news is that Kolby recovered nicely and each time looked at me for assistance. Such sweet eyes to look into - my favorite part of watching Kolby is him watching me.

We also took a walk through two stores. The first being a big box grocery-all-purpose store. I selected the door that entered into the Toy Department. While I saved pushing buttons that created noise and movements for another day, the agenda today was getting him used to walking up and down aisles, the reflections and shadows off of the very, very clean and shinny floor, and learning how to turn in to me to make a right turn, or away from me to make a left turn.

I continued to pass two kiddos who were riding in the shopping cart. The brothers would stop talking and just stare at Kolby - their mom busy paying attention to shopping duties, she never looked up. The boys kept talking to her about Kolby, just as we had vanished from their sight. Ha! Gotta love hearing the mom's reaction when she thinks the kids are joking because we have now moved on. Every time we passed them, the mom did not see us. A little Puppy Raiser humor.

The next stop was the boutique style pet store. After being witness to too many unfriendly dogs, because of the lack of integrity by their owners, at the big pet store chains, I refuse to take my dog and CCI puppies into those type of stores. I find more like-minded pet owners in stores that are run by Ma and Pa, or Feed Stores. I venture into those to give the puppies the same exposure.

Kolby went in and came out wagging his tail from the cute all natural pet boutique He was one proud and happy puppy to be able to visit a Pet Store. The agenda was letting him get familiar to all the smells that this Happiest Place on Earth provided Kolby. Loose leash throughout, my pup smelled e.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.n.g and we were the only ones in the store, so it gave him prime opportunity to stay focused on smelling.

He only licked once - the wrapped bones - but a quick Don't and his tongue went back into his mouth. Good Boy! I am so proud that he maintained a loose leash, and kept his sniffer on and his licker off. By the time he was done smelling, it was time to go. I did one final loop through each aisle to test him, and he chose to walk beside me rather than stopping to smell the food, the toys, the leashes, etc. etc. Yay! Allowing him time to observe and get his environment in check made it possible for him to walk through like a veteran.

A great morning adventure! We will round out our afternoon with a bath and detailed grooming.