Yep! I'm back in business. Well sort of. It's only monthly for now and because of a bunch of stuff I have zero control over, we don't meet again until September. But let me tell you about it.
I'm working with some tiny two legged puppies who have Autism. They are between ages of 2 and about 8. It's way different than my elementary school kids, and the kids at the library. The first time I went to see them, they were in a big group and some of them were screaming at me. I didn't like that much, but Mom was right behind me so I just sat and tried to look very calming. That's my job - to be very calming. At least I think so. One of their teachers read a couple of books while the kids petted me. Well some of them petted me. The others ran away and hid in the corner. I don't know why they would do that. I'm not scary. But then I showed them how I play Muffin Tin. That was fun and they laughed when I got all my treats and put my tennis balls back where they belonged. I did Sit for them and Down. And Shake and pretty much all my tricks. But soon we had to leave because some of the kids couldn't pay attention any more. But I think I did my job.
Mom wasn't so sure. I mean she wasn't real sure what my job was supposed to be. So Mom, being Mom, did what Mom always does when she isn't sure. She consulted Professor Google and bought 5 new books. So now she's teaching me new tricks for our future classes. She's been teaching me BANG which means I'm supposed to fall on my side and play dead. And after that I'm supposed to learn how to roll onto my back for a belly rub. (Which I do very well, thank you, but she wants me to do it on command. I just do it when I want to.) So we've been playing BANG when I go out to do my business in the green spots down the street. I didn't have it down by the time we went to see the kiddies again last Friday, so we just decided to do other stuff instead.
When we got there, they were all in a tizzy. (I think the teachers are not so organized as they should be -- or else the kids are too much even for them on some days. Anyway, only one kid had a permission slip to see me, so we did a "One on One." Sam is 8 years old and is leaving the school to go to a school for older kids soon. So he was a little sad, and I tried to cheer him up. He came over to let me sniff his hand, and I gave him my paw to shake. (Kids always like the Shake thing. And I do too.) Then he read to me a little from my very own picture book. Actually, he wanted Mom to read it, but when she started, he pushed her aside and did it himself to show us all how good he could read. Which was what we wanted him to do in the first place! Then he and Mom each took a leash and walked me up and down the halls. Oh, yeah, I almost forgot. He also filled up my water bowl so I wasn't thirsty. I did very much appreciate that!
The school is moving up the street next month, so we won't go back then. After that guess where I am going? Back to California to play in the ocean!!! I love, love, love, love running in the ocean. I can't hardly wait.
But Mom says we need to continue working on my new tricks. Just maybe not so often. She says I'm gaining too much weight from the treats. I think she's wrong, but she doesn't listen to me about those things.
Here's me practicing my BANG trick!
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Hope you have fun gigs to do!
Love, G
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