Service puppy at the grocery store

I figured that I would take Paige out on a really challenging outing. She did so well at Winners last week that I figured I would give a shot at this. I took it on with the understanding that we may end up abandoning a shopping cart half way through the trip. It wasn't going to be that long of a trip. I needed just a few items.

I am very proud of Paige and how she did. She had to work on getting focused when we first got there. It's still taking her a little bit to get into "the zone". Once she was there, she was spot on. There was even one point where we were walking forward and I said "wait" and she stopped on a dime. Perfect. She stayed right beside me the whole time, paying attention to where I was and what I was doing. I only had to use "leave it" a couple of times when her curiosity got the best of her. She didn't solicit attention at any point. I had her lay in front of the self checkout terminal. The girl monitoring the system said "I wish my dog was that well behaved." We seem to be gathering complements no matter where we go.

One thing that we do need to work on is simply walking around the community. When we were walking home, I just left her in vest because my hands were full and the bags were heavy. We saw a dog on the way. I told Paige to stay and she did, but she was talking her fool head off trying to convince the dog to come over. I'm very proud of the other owner. She asked if they could come say hello which let me respond "not right now. She's in uniform." But this is something that we need to practice more.