Day of Ash: Wobbely Wednesday

As the title suggests, I was really wobbely. Ash knew it as well.

The morning started with Ash deciding himself that I was more than able to go to work. He was sitting at the side of the bed and pawing at me until Julie decided to get up herself. As she is the controller of food, he no longer cared if I got up at that moment.

At work, I noticed he kept making eye contact with me. So through the whole day, I got this look.

Day of Ash: Wobbley Wednesday

Oh, yes, I fixed it so you can click on the image and get a bigger view.

Anyways, Ash did amazing. He even started to anticipate when I would stutter and put more tension on the leash to help counter it.

Once we got to my desk though, we didn’t move again until almost thirty minutes before quitting time. Ash slept the whole time, got up once to stretch.

That was when Ash finally decided he should go outside. He put his feet up on the desk and just looked at the pack. I agreed, and my team all said that by the time I took him out, and got back, it would be time to go.

When we got back upstairs, I realized how quick Ash and I have gotten on his potty breaks. It was only five after, and we still had another twenty five minutes to go.

So, as Ash did really good, I plopped myself down in the cube with all the co-workers who whine about not seeing Ash enough, and took his pack off.

That killed the rest of the day, allowed me to talk over a couple job points, and Ash laid out on the floor while three of them pet him.

On the way home, Julie told me to stop and pick up beer to go with the corned beef. At the liquor store, Ash and I are walking around the beer aisles, and I notice his attention is really split.

That is when I hear the nails of another dog on the floor.

The owner has a loose dog in the store. Suddenly she is up running to catch her dog, and Ash blocks in front of me. Ears at full attention, and tail doing that odd tick of “Play, or defense?”

Once the lady got her dog under control and out of sight, she came back and apologized. We talked about Ash a bit and other service dogs she has been around.

Ash though showed me, that I need to work on him being able to bring his focus back to me. He was too worried about where the other dog went, and almost tripped me rather than helping me. When I stomped my foot because it was the only way to catch myself, Ash dropped his tail and got in position. He knows he messed up.

Yet, so did I. This shows me that we need to go to pet stores, with him working. So he learns, that if the pack is on and other dogs are around, he still has to focus on my needs. This weekend we are getting some dog food, so I may stop at PetSmart as well and just do a pass through the store.

When we got home, he got to visit puppies through the cage panels.

Ash laid down in the living room and watched us while Julie and I had dinner. The Dark Truth Stout went well with dinner. (https://www.boulevard.com/BoulevardBeers/dark-truth-stout/)

When the bedroom opened up, Ash went straight there on his own.

He was done for the day and just wanted to cuddle.

Day of Ash: Wobbley Wednesday

-Z

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