Escalators

Different schools may have different policies when it comes to escalators, I'm not sure.  At GDTx, puppy raisers don't take dogs on moving escalators.  Alfie used to try to go on them when he was little, and I had to stop him!

Looks fun, let's go!

  Still, there are times when the escalators are stopped and you can use them like stairs.  We were at the mall with puppy raising supervisor Larry last week and the escalators were stopped, so he had us work them.  Here's what Alfie thought at first:

Um...now that I'm older and wiser...that thing looks dangerous!

Charissa was with us, so we had her walk up the escalator first, followed by Larry.  When Alfie saw they were getting on okay, he was willing to try.  His face looked tense and his tail was down, but he gave it a brave effort despite the odd footing.  All the praise and attention he got for it must have made it worthwhile though, because the second time around he went on with much less reluctance.  By the third time, his head and tail were high again and he seemed quite pleased with himself.  He's a showoff and shameless attention seeker -- when he learns new stuff he seems proud and wants you to make a fuss.  That can be good or bad, depending on the situation...on this day, I just thought it was funny!

Here's how it's done, folks!

Who's In Charge Here?

Alphini's already been with us a week and a half! We've been thoroughly enjoying his cuddly, larger-than-life personality.

Yesterday he visited the vet for his 9-week checkup, and weighed in at 9.6 lb. A growing boy!

Thanks, Dr. Boggs!

I think, though, that puppies should come with a little label: "Some assembly required"! Part of the "assembly" is pretty easy: teaching them to "sit" and "come," for example. But I'll bet most puppy raisers would agree that the hardest part, at least at first, is teaching them what not to do: don't nip, don't jump up, don't soil the house...and, really, don't even think about disassembling the Christmas tree! We just put it up!

Alfie's main confusion lies in his little idea that he's supposed to teach us what to do, not the other way around. What he doesn't know is that we're onto him. Dakota, our last puppy, also went through this stage so we were prepared when Alfie came along with his dreams of ruling the world.

We've been enjoying our walks and have already been quite a few different places. Here we are on one of our first outings.

Other dogs sit at the curb...Alfie thinks he should lie down.

Hey, who's walking who? Alfie keeps me on my toes...literally!

I love Alfie's confidence and curiosity. When he sees something he doesn't understand, he doesn't bark or run away; instead he likes to just sit and study it for a while before going on. Unfortunately, more than once in our early walks, the place he chose to do this was really inconvenient...like right in the middle of the automatic doors to the library, with a line of people behind us! A couple of times, I just had to scoop him up and carry him out of the way so that people could get past.

Michelle, our puppy program manager, warned me that if I didn't watch out he'd soon be using this technique to manipulate me and get a free ride whenever he wanted. She must have the inside line on puppies because that's just what happened at the mall.

All went well at first...here we are happily trotting toward the entrance...

Woo-hoo! A new place to check out!

The puppies don't ride on escalators, but it's important for them not to be frightened by the sight and sound of them. Not to worry, Alfie only thought they were interesting.

Looks like fun to me!

But as we continued our walk, Alfie up and decided that he was ready to be carried. He just sat down and refused to move. He wasn't afraid; his body language was relaxed and happy; he just wouldn't go!

Time for my staff to carry me!

We're not supposed to pull on the leash to get the puppy to move, so it was on to plan B. First I tried luring him along with treats. He went a step or two, then sat down and wouldn't budge. Next I moved on to the squeaky toy. That was interesting for a while, but after a bit he sat down again, indifferent. I tried my most exciting voice to encourage him along, but to no avail. It was becoming clear that he was gaining the upper hand...not good!

Well, there weren't any other shoppers around, and there wasn't anything dangerous that he could get into (we were far from the escalators by now). So it just dawned on me that I was going to have to convince him that he couldn't control me, and the best way to do that was to walk away. I made a show of dropping his leash, turning my back, and walking off. I was only bluffing of course, but I hoped he didn't know it. I had gone all of two steps when he raced up to my side, all full of licking and apology!

Don't ever leave me again!

The rest of our walk was absolutely perfect. Alfie bounced along cheerily either at my side, or a little ahead.


We rode the elevator down, and when we passed the escalators again, he tried to go for a ride. I stopped him just in time. Silly boy!

All in all, it was a great walk. Alfie's a smart boy...we just have to be smarter than him!

I'll be a great guide dog one day! Wait and see!