Things going well by Thida

Things have been very busy and intense for me in a good way. Hermione has changed my life. I just never realized how much I struggled each day to just get by. Hermione does more than just pick things up for me and open my fridge door. People treat me better. Folks open doors for me. When I ask for a straw, I get one directly in my cup. No fumbling around awkwardly with the wrapper or worse a straw in my cup with the "straw condom" on. Folks are patient with me if I'm slow or drop things even without my adorable kids.

It has just been a huge adjustment. Good, but huge

I was worried about integrating her needs into my daily routine. I'm still tweeking things, but it's been a lot more fun than I expected. Exercising with a dog is fun. We've walked everyday. Thanks to Hermione's wonderful BCs and PRs for teaching her house manners. She knows them all. Just testing me on one house manners thing (not eating the tons of food my kids drop on the floor. Testing is normal when switching handlers and especially normal for someone like me who's never had a dog before, but mostly stopped this weekend.

Quiet alert

I spend a lot of time like this. My human calls it "quiet alert." It's a tough job, but somebody's gotta do it.

People snap photos. Sometimes they don't even know my human. My human's husband took this one.

Invisible dog

Dear readers,
I apologize for my joke yesterday. I was overcome with my desire for food. Now here I show you correct assistance dog behavior. You ask where is the dog in this picture? I'm invisible as an assistance dog should be. I'm tucked under the bench quiet and calm as this photo is taken.

Please send food

Dear readers,
Please send food. I am only fed twice a day with occasional treats. [kibble kept back from her meal.] My human has still not got the message that I LOVE FOOD.


[She has been fed twice a day since a young puppy and is fed the amount determined by CCI that's best for her health. She's a lab, so loves food, and this is a joke. I snapped this photo as I was offering a treat aka a piece of her kibble to SIT in a proper formation, but she's not sitting properly so isn't getting the treat and is trying to persuade me to give it to her anyway. This look is hard to resist. As the trainers say in Team Training, they're still dogs.]

My new home

I love my human's female puppy (and male one) and she loves me. I'm just never sure exactly what she's going to do. She moves fast. She loves me to lick her feet.