We met her near the mall and got on a city bus. Once again, Ro had done this plenty of times-but I had never been on one! The only buses I had been on were the big yellow school buses that I use for field trips when I take my class out. I got mixed up a little bit trying to figure out how the ramps on the buses work because they were different than the ones at work. Things worked out well, but I learned some things I would want to fix for next time for where I'd have Ro go. We had a bit of a wait in-between bus rides, so while we were waiting we practiced some of the cues. I have been using the leash a bit too much when asking her to do cues-so we did some exercises that helped me practice not relying so much on that to have her move around the chair. I just need to give her some process time before I start using the leash to direct her. Sure enough, when I just relaxed she would listen and go where I needed her to. It was also very interesting because we were near the school of the blind so there were lots of people walking by with canes and the first one (cane) startled her-but just a bit. Then after that Ro was fine. I know that a lot of times I end up being in the way for most people, so I was worried that I might REALLY get in the way of ones that needed canes to walk! It's amazing how they adjust. We had some stuff on the ground that we had been using while working with Ro and I was like "Oh, sorry let me move that." and the man was like "No worries!", felt it with the cane, stepped over and kept on moving. I guess they just adapt to their limitations like I've learned to adapt to mine. Before we went to the buses Barb had told me about the two types of ramps that city buses have, and we ended up getting to practice with both of them! Honestly, I had never been on the buses because I don't like going into situations when I'm not sure how things work. I might have to add city buses on my list of things to do now-it was much easier than I thought it'd be.
After that we walked around 'The Streets of Southglenn" mall and made our way to Whole Foods for lunch. I didn't realize they had a whole eatery type thing. I had an Asian stir-fry type thing and it was really nice. We went to the 24 hr. Fitness and walked around all the machines. We also went to the library. On the way into the library there was another service dog, but it was very high energy and Ro did a great job of staying calm and listening to me (I was so proud!). I worked on having her in a 'down' position and staying in the same place while I looked at the books. She did fabulous!
After the mall, I had a massage scheduled, so we headed to Southlands (other side of town) for that. Ro did a fabulous job of taking a nap under a chair in the room while I got a nice relaxing massage! It was wonderful after such a fun and busy week. Once the massage was over we hurried back to our house because the weather has been crazy! We didn't want to get in a bad storm, so we hopped in the car and came straight back. At home we played a game of retrieve and then Ro laid down for another nap! If the rain calms down we are going to try to fit in a walk to the mail box.
Lastly, Barb gave me some more photos of our training from yesterday. I put them in the slideshow (on the left bar) but here is my favorite ones! The first is of how Ro puts her head in my lap a lot now! :)
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