Ah, Maturity

Oh, the beauty of maturity. Talos, now just over one year old, is starting to show glimmers of how good a service dog he's going to be. 

His trouble has always been settling down. He likes to be on the move. He likes to have attention. He's no fan of just hanging out. Of sitting still. Or – heaven forbid – of lying down and taking a nap while he's in public. (He's ALL for naps when he's home.)

Yesterday he went to a Federal agency with me to have lunch with my husband. Normally we eat quickly then get Talos out and about. Sometimes we were in a hurry because we wanted to get Talos on the freight elevator, or up and down the clear glass stairs. But usually we were in a hurry because Talos would whine loudly if we took too long. 

Yesterday, though, after just a couple whines, he laid down and took a short snooze. Incredible! I didn't think Talos was capable! 

Today he ran errands with me that took us to the bank and to WalMart. In the bank he stretched out an patiently waited. I began to wonder if he was feeling ok!

Walmart is one of his favorite stores – filled with kids. He was attentive, walked at my pace, turned to me when I called his name… I was thinking maybe someone had switched dogs on me in the middle of the night or something. 

In the checkout line – where everything is at eye/mouth level for him – he left the candy alone, moved up when I asked, and yes <gasp> even laid down in the checkout line. 

Maturity is a good thing.