Last Updated on: 8th May 2023, 10:51 am
Man, that foot soak last night worked miracles on my poor feet. I wonder how long those effects will last.
It’s Portland day. The day where we cram in all the city work. Malls, escalators, food courts, farmer’s markets, you want it, they’ve got it.
We also talked about airports. I learned something new. Now they advocate that you take off the dog’s whole harness when you’re on the plane. If you leave the body on, and it bulges out, the dog could use it as a chew toy. Hmm. Who was the schmuck who taught them that lesson, I wonder?
Also, I walked through the fake TSA checkpoint and figured out why I’ve been screwing it up lately. You’re not supposed to make a loop at long leash, you’re supposed to have the leash fully extended and hold the tippy end. So that’s why I keep getting molested.
Domino fit remarkably well under the airplane seat for being a bigger dog. This won’t be so bad!
We got some good news. It sounds like all of our puppy raisers are coming. Woo! Even Nevada guy! I get to see Domino go loopy.
We drove to Portland and scooted through a farmer’s market. It wasn’t super busy yet, but it was busy enough. Then we went down some stairs and into a shopping mall. We did some escalators and we took some pictures of Domino and I on the sky bridge. Then we moseyed through the food court. Domino had his back booties and his gentle leader on and he moved through like a champ. We sat and ate our delicious bag lunches and then I went into a store called “Made in Oregon” and I bought his raiser some stuff. I hope he likes it. Then we took another escalator and left the mall. We walked to a coffee shop called Case Study Coffee and I got an iced tea. On our way there, Domino slowed down to size up some brass figures of animals in a water feature, not sure if they were going to attack. Then I swear I saw two guys getting ready to have a fight because one of them bumped the other. There had better have been some personal history there.
Oh I forgot one embarrassing incident in the mall. I went to get up and Domino got his leash hooked on the chair. So I tried to free him and down went the chair. I was out of it, and over backwards it went. Oops.
Did I mention what happened this morning? I gave the Humane Society a call to find out if I had to go there or if I could fill something out online or whatever. I told them I was blind and it’s a guide dog. They told me I had to get a doctor’s note. I tried to explain that it’s not an emotional support animal, it’s a guide dog, but they didn’t care. So I’m trying to get a doctor’s note. We’ll see.
Domino blew his first curb this morning. Those are always a bit scary.
It was time to head back to the van and head back to campus. I was so tired I was dozing off in the van as we drove. We got back and I gave him water and took him out to relieve…and relieve he did! I forgot to get him in a sit after his first load of gross poop, and he unloaded another one. And I stepped in it. Raaaaaar! I was not a happy camper, and I told them so. I told them we have to figure out a solution because when I get home, I don’t have ready access to a hose and an easy way to clean off my shoes. They said they would have the resident assistant person watch us for the next while to see if I could improve my search technique for finding the poop, but I said it was because he was pooping on the move. I actually caught him squatting, pooping, moving, squatting, pooping, moving, repeat. They said if this keeps being a problem, I could have someone come and fit him with a relieving belt. That’s a belt with a strategically placed bag on it to catch all the poop. But they didn’t want to do that now. That was for follow-up. Arg. Let’s hope that isn’t necessary.
I HAD THE CHAT ABOUT TRANSITIONING TO MY HOME AND THAT WAS PRETTY EASY. Then I fed him and tried to relieve him and nothing happened. So I went for dinner, jerk pork and loaded potatoes and corn. Then we had our chat with the alumni association lady. Not much new there. Then I came back, groomed him, and took him to the music room so he could chase a kong around. Boy did he have fun with that. That’s the most excited I’ve seen him so far. But I stopped the game when he started hacking and hacking.
At any time in the next couple of days, I could get the call from his raiser. It hasn’t happened yet. Soon, I’m sure.
We got our big zip files of what used to be in that binder they would send us home with. It looks like the vet history is in a readable format. Woo! We also got links to our exit survey. It’s getting close now. On top of that, we got a link to where our graduation will be streamed. Yes, people all over the place will be able to watch it.
I think I’m all out of steam now. Must crash so I can survive tomorrow.