Moray loves little kids.  The first couple times I witnessed how enamored he was with them, I was worried that he was nervous about them.  But nope, he just loves them.  He loves to watch them and their exciting, unpredictable movements, and he especially loves when they pet him, hug him, and love on him.  

While it is great that he isn't afraid of them or worried about them, it is not very becoming of a future service dog to be so enthralled and excited whenever he sees children.  My mom and I happened to sign up for the same month of teaching children's church for the toddlers during the month of February.  Usually during the months I help I just send Moray with my mom and she works him for the morning.  It wasn't until after we had already signed up that we realized we didn't know what to do with Moray since we would both be together.  We could leave him home, but that would mean a 5+ hour stretch in his kennel every week, and losing valuable training time that he really does need around lots of people at church.  

 We decided to go for it and see how he does with us.  Today was his first morning teaching the littles, and he did fairly well.  Between Dante and Moray coming to church for nearly two years now, I'm fairly certain the kids don't remember NOT having a dog in church, so there was little surprise about Moray, and they all were very, very good.

My mom showing off Moray's "shake."

Moray did not do quite as well as I expect from him, but he was far from horrible.  He was super excited when we first started, but settled in and was completely calm laid back by the end of our hour and 45 minutes.  

He is getting much better and being calm with lots of little hands (and tugging on his tail!).

I put him on tie down on the table, and gave him a small toy to give him something constructive to do.  He popped up several times, but was pretty easily corrected back into a "Down." The kids were cute and always echoed my commands of "sit" or "down."  I think I'm going to rearrange some chairs so that I can tie him on the other side up against the wall where he won't have kids walking all around and be tempted to jump up.  I'm sure that by the end of the month, Moray will be well on his way to desensitizing to little ones, and listening to only me in the midst of some mini chaos!

Me Too!

We have been sitting still in the church pew for over an hour now.  I am amazed that after a few days of too much school to do, and even more rain, that Dante has behaved himself as well as he has for the last few hours.  For not getting as much exercise as he really needed in the last few days, he has made it through Sunday morning better than I expected.  I honestly prepared myself to have to sit outside with him.  But he is great, and laying so still.

Until.

You see, Dante thinks he is entitled to certain things.  Oh, like kibble when he does something well.  Hence why a pouch of treats on the hip is a necessity of any fashionable outfit in my life.  It usually works quite well; Dante does something I like, I praise and (at his age, occasionally) reward him.

Dante is very good about not begging for food when we go out to eat.  But, he also knows that people do not eat in Church.  And he apparently thinks that anything I have in my hand is meant for him.  Or so he thought.

This week we had Communion, and Dante thought he was entitled to partake.  As the plate was passed down the row, Dante's head popped up.  "Uh-oh," I think.  My eyes meet my mom's and we know we are in for it.  I put my foot on the leash, just as Dante tries to sit up.  We spend a few minutes with Dante trying to pop up without avail, but then he settles down again.  Just as I let my guard down, "WOOF!"  I quickly cup my hand over his muzzle, "Quiet!"  I whisper.  

I look up, everyone was startled at first, but then started laughing.  It is times like these that I am incredible thankful for a Church Family that is supportive of puppy raising and loves Dante.  But that doesn't mean puppy raising does not have its embarrassing moments.  

Thank you, Dante, for keeping me humble. 

Friends

Yesterday, Dante had a play date with his favorite friend.  

 Izzy is a friend from church's dog.  She is a four year old, beautiful German Shepherd.  She is amazing with puppies, and when Dante was younger, she really taught him a lot about appropriate play.  They haven't played in a few months, but they remembered each other right away. 

They get along famously.

Dante and I are both thankful for great friends to play with (and get tired out by)!

Church Retreat

This past weekend, Dante and I attended a retreat with my church.  It was a stretch for Dante to be in public all weekend.  I have a tendency to over-prepare as far as keeping him busy and making sure I have (tons) of toys to play with during breaks, but he did much better then I expected.  

Friday night was just one workshop, and Dante did well and slept through the whole thing.  Usually this is the time when he gets his walk (because it's so hot during the day), so I was expecting him to need a toy to stay occupied, but he was very good.

On Saturday morning, we arrived at the camp and our workshop was at picnic tables outside, and Dante did OK.  He kept trying to eat the ants and dirt on the ground, but I gave him a Nylabone, and that kept him occupied most of the time. 

After lunch (where he took up the WHOLE underneath the table) we had some free time.  And Dante got to go . . . SWIMMING!

When he first set foot on the sand, and saw the lake, I could see him thinking "OMG!  I know what I'm doing here!!!  This is the BEST day ever!"  He must have remembered swimming with Margo.  He.  Went.  Crazy.  

By the time I got his vest and gentle leader off, he was so excited and crazy that he almost pulled me over.  I can walk on my ankle, but balance is still not the best, so before I landed on my face, I decided it best to hand him over to my mom and stick with picture taking.

I'm starting to wonder if I'm ever gonna break his habit of carrying the leash.

 He insisted on holding onto his leash until we gave him a ball.  He was so cute!  When he first went in, he was swimming funny trying to keep his whole body up high.  It took him half an hour to swim normally.

He had to come out every 5 minutes to shake off and get everyone else wet:

After an hour or so, we decided to get him out so he could get cleaned up and dried off.  After Dante calmed down, he then got to go on his first boat.  He didn't want to get into the canoe at first, but some kibble fixed that and he had a fabulous time!

Dante doesn't "wind down," but goes a mile a minute until you physically make him lie down, and then he conks out cold.  He was out in less then a minute of getting inside.  Then he slept . . .

. . . And slept . . .

. . . And slept . . .

He's not technically sleeping here, but you get the idea ;-)

. . . For the rest of the afternoon and night.  Tired puppies are good puppies.  Dante was a very good puppy.

On Sunday, I don't think Dante had recovered from all that swimming, and he slept all morning during service and lunch afterwards.

Oh, and he also got a matching shirt like the rest of us.  I took off his vest and let him wear it because everyone knows him and I knew there wouldn't be a problem with him.

I had to take this picture at lunch on Sunday as proof that he CAN, in fact, curl up in a tight ball!

 Have I mentioned how much Dante LOVES everyone at church??  And they love him.  A little too much.  I noticed especially after this weekend that Dante is getting too distracted by people (my fault as much as his), so we are back to "no petting" for a while.  

Dante was so good all weekend.  At the stage he's in right now, his behavior is often hit or miss, so I am so glad he did well.  

And to end, here are a few pics that my sister took of us working:

Random Pictures!

Meeting my rabbit, Che Bella, for the 1st time

Our 1st outing together after I broke my ankle.

Totally ignoring everything on the floor.

The closest to harmony that we're gonna get  ;-)

Dante's 2nd week at church.  We need to work on not taking up so much space...

Dante is very popular at church, but I think these two like each other best!

My cuddle bug! :-)

Just being cute!