The Mall! And the Food Court!

We all went to the Mall! Our trainers tried their usual tactics to distract our dogs but we and they were amazing! I challenge the London Guards marching at Westminster!

The trainers instructed us to command our dogs to squeeze under low benches and tables and stay there. We practiced getting on and off the elevator, followed the trainers past kiosks with colorful, noisy, jumping toys and dropped personal items on the floor for them to pick up. Fido is terrific at retrieving my keys and wallet.

While all that was going on, we also had to handle the usual activities in a busy mall - noises, bright lights, kids running by, people cutting us off, etc. One woman stopped by me and was gushing about the dogs but keeping a bit back. I offered to let her Shake with my dog and she was thrilled.

The big challenge was lunch. We went to the Food Court, bought our food, settled down at tables and had our dogs go Under and lay Down. But it was no time to eat and shoot the breeze. Our trainers came by and sprinkled food right at our dogs' feet. Four pieces were thrown down around Fido's face with one piece falling right under his nose. Did he go after any? No! Good dog!

After lunch, it was time to head back but before doing that, we all had to "go". Using the mall bathroom (for us) was no big deal, as we've now had the dogs with us 24-7 for a few days. We took our dogs outside to the small mulched areas at the base of trees. The areas are about 4' by 4'. We commanded Release and Hurry and they all went.

By now, I've got the loading the dog into the car down pat for this vehicle so that was a snap and off we went. As I'm using the travel scooter for the Training, he's used to me putting that in the van after he's settled. Back home, I only use it when I'm going somewhere with extended walking so we can skip that step. When I get to FL, we'll have to adjust to a different car but I'm confident that will go just fine.