Fun and Games before Puppy College

I'm getting closer and closer to the time I get to go to puppy college at the CCI training center in Oceanside, California! It's exciting to think about. My PR mom says I'm gonna love it. It's a place that is comfortable and safe for me. There will be a whole lot of other dogs there, the teachers really know what they're doing, and there are lots of volunteers to bathe me (okay), love me (yes!), take me for walks once in a while (super), trim my nails (yuck), and do many other things. So - good learning, good playing, good sleeping, good attention - what more could I ask? Other than a little peanut butter. Maybe an ice cube once in a while. Do they have ice cubes in California?

So my PRs decided I could use a few more adventures... sort of a combination of pre-graduate studies and senior trip. This is what we've done:

One day we drove way out into the country. Finally we got to a small town (even I could tell it wasn't a big city) called Calhan, Colorado, and went through a gate that said, "El Paso County Fair." Well, I've been to street fairs, but they weren't like this. The streets were dirt and not asphalt. And they had things I'd never seen at a street fair.


This is a pond exhibit - a fine place to practice an "up."


There were also a lot of trucks. Dogs who like to chase trucks (I'm not one) need to run the other way from this one!



There were also quilts and photographs and paintings which my mom wanted to see, so of course we were gracious enough to let her. (It was time for a nap, anyhow.)

At this fair, I saw animals I had never seen before. I usually like other animals...

...but not this one! I would be embarrassed to tell you what this cow said to me.


The goats and sheep were... well, okay. Some of them were scared of me, but most of the just stared. The 4H people raising the goats liked me, though.



So did other people at the fair.








Here I am posing on a little tractor.





Here I am posing on a big tractor.

Pssst! Here is how it was really done! That's my tail end you're seeing as my dad picks me up!








After that, my PRs took me to another kind of fair. It was mostly people. But what people!












I am a cool dog. They didn't scare me.

But I wouldn't want to be seen in getup like that. I'll keep my nice fur coat, thank you.

I found these guys interesting. You have to look over the blue fence. I thought I'd stay on the near side of it. Not that I was concerned.

On the other hand, these weren't interesting. Rare cork-nosed piggies, my four feet! I was looking around for real piggies.

Hm. I had to see if this was a real fur tablecloth or a make-believe one. Couldn't tell for sure. I don't think the smell was interesting enough to be real. They may not want everybody to know that.


After a while we sat in the grass... and watched horses (and people on them) ride around like crazy. This rider came to the end of the riding area, saw me, and smiled. I don't know whether he was supposed to do that or not, but I liked it.


Now here are some Renaissance people I really like.

Here is Cindy, the Mastiff. Her ancestors were really around in Renaissance times!

And so were my greyhound friends!


After lunch, we visited some more friendly beasts... well, not quite. Uh-oh - there's another one of those cows!





The little horse was friendly...



... and so were the goats.





But the llama couldn't make up its mind.



Oh, look - a real pig! Now, that's better. You can really only see our noses.


And the sheep said my fur coat was better than theirs. They did. Really.








By the time I'd taken my people all around this fair, I was exhausted!




The next day my PR dad fell off a ladder. (If he'd had four legs instead of two, he probably could have landed properly.) So I did some visiting around to friends' houses while they took him to the hospital. But the hospital people said I could visit - actually, I could have visited even if I weren't a service dog in training - so that's what I did.

My dad is home now. He's going to be OK, and I'm trying to help him. I seem to get in the way a lot, though. I wish I could pick up what he drops and give it back to him. (Well, I do pick it up, but I don't always give it back.) I seem to sit in the wrong place and then I need to move. I want to be a Service Dog, but I'm not one yet. I guess that's what I'm going to college for - to learn more!