Teddy Takes on the Federal Government

It's not nearly as serious as it sounds. My husband works for the Federal government and it's a terrific place to socialize the service dogs in training. The campus is huge, there are long, shiny corridors, gigantic cafeterias, a bazillion different types of staircases, and two very different types of elevators: regular passenger elevators and big, bulky, noisy freight elevators.

You might remember Talos' experience (and video) with the very same freight elevator. I took video of Teddy's experience, too. But I need to figure out how to convert 3gp format to something my Mac recognizes. (I took the video on my Droid, not the Flip.)

I will get the video posted as soon as I figure it out, but in the meantime the report on Teddy is good: he noticed the loud bangs and ducked at the outset, but recovered super-quickly and pranced right into the vast elevator. Once he was on, he very curiously looked around like he was at Disney World!

It becomes clearer and clearer that I'm not doing enough polite walking exercises with him. He's at the end of his leash and pulling hard very often. I stop everytime the leash gets tight – and that makes for slow going. I also carry treats with me so I can reward him when he's in the right position. He gets it for a little while then is distracted quickly. Did you see the movie "Up?" He's like the main doggie character who's having an intelligent conversation and then is instantly sidetracked: "SQUIRREL!"

All in all, a good socializing experience for Teddy today.