Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Back to School

...for an afternoon, anyway!  And look who's with me...

I'm standing with a black lab in working jacket, in front of a colorful round tiled planter with school flagpoles in the middle
Yes, that's Tracy's puppy Celia.

Monday, the kids and I had the opportunity to share about GDTx with a great group of crossing guards at Highland Park Elementary.  Thank you so much to Ms. Fosdick, the other teachers and parents, and most of all our terrific audience.  We really enjoyed it!!

When I originally set up this appointment, I had no idea when the puppy swap would be, what puppy I'd have then, or what he'd be like.  As it happens, our presentation was to be outdoors, in an area near a playground and tennis courts...full of difficult distractions for a pup like Petey.  While I'd love to take him there just for training sometime, I felt that speaking and helping him to behave at the same time would be a bit more than I could handle.  After checking with Michelle, I got the OK to borrow Celia as my "demo dog" for the day, in Petey's place (remember her from our mini-swap?-- see March 2nd post.) 

closeup of Celia's face as she rides in the car; her whiskers on eyes and muzzle are highlighted in the sun
I like how her whiskers catch the light!

As it turned out, at the moment Celia was staying with the Pawsitive Approach unit at Travis County Jail.  So that's where I actually picked her up from.  She definitely remembered us, and was as sweet as ever.  I arrived early, thinking I'd walk her for a while before our appointment to calm her down.  What was I thinking?!  Celia is the definition of "calm."  After our "calm down" walk she was so exhausted she just wanted to flop over and take a nap, poor thing!   She was perfect during our talk, and afterward too when I allowed the kids who wanted to come pet her.  Thank you Officer Mullins for letting us borrow her!

Can't believe you ditched me for Celia!

In the meantime, Petey and I continue our work together.  With practice, hard work...and, yes, liver...I think we're making progress!

4 comments:

Sarah and Romeo said...

ha ha it's okay Petey, you will get there and then you can do all the demonstations ya want :)

Becky Andrews said...

Also love getting the chance to educate. Also love your last comment re: liver!

Clive said...

We love doing school visits too! Nothing like the enthusiasm of children. Well done Celia!

Ruby's Raiser said...

Nice job, Celia. Always great to visit with kids, I love the questions they raise, so clever. They really "get it."