Well, now that we've been home to Orlando for over 24 hours, I think I can safely say Garrett is settling in well. Let us return to the thrilling days of, well, yesterday morning, to a far away place called Newark Airport. Joy, one of the trainers for our Seeing Eye class, gave us a lift to the airport. All the way, Garrett had his big, yellow lab head laying in my lap; an action Joy called, "mushy." Pretty appropo.
At Newark, we were on a completely full flight. Never ideal. Still, Garrett curled up at my feet and seemed to take the flight quite well. Only when we were on approach to Orlando did he get up and look around. Even that seemed more like curiousity than discomfort. On the ground in Orlado, he walked off the plane like he owned it and, there at the top of the ramp was Marvelyne (and man, it was good to hug her for the first time in three weeks.)
To keep from getting Garrett any more stressed out than necessary, we went sighted guide through MCO. Garrett on leash in my left hand, my right on the small of Marvelyne's back.
Once home, we went to some neutral territory out on the sidewalk to intro Garrett to my stepdaughter's dog. Smooches is a little schnauzerpoo and wasn't quite sure what to think of Garrett. Still, no aggression or feather ruffling on either of ther parts. After park time, Garrett got to sniff his way around the house. He seems to find the front door quite interesting. Not sure if it's the cut glass, the view into the front yard, just where he entered the house OR b/c it's where his harness hangs.
After sniffing around the house and relaxing for a bit, we went to one of our fav local restaurants. Apparently, Garrett likes Mexican crumbs. He really did fine, but laying down onto a floor where folks have been dropping their crumbs is, in a word, heaven (for Garrett, not me.)
This afternoon, we took about a mile long walk around our neighborhood. I want to be sure Garrett isn't being challenged here at first, but can do routes that build his confidence in his work and with me at the other end of the harness handle. This seems like a perfect route to accomplish just that.
Now that we're home, I'll still give some frequent updates on Garrett. Yet, the focus of Engel's Ensights will return to what it was prior to dog training; thought provoking inspirational and motivational tidbits from the life of yours truly.
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So good to hear you and the G-Man made it home, “Safe & Sound”! You are far more ambitious than I am, Marcus, taking Garrett with you to a favorite restaurant already. Congrats! Mike has today off and we’re thinking of heading down the street to our favorite tavern this afternoon, get Harper used to it when it isn’t so crowded. We’ll see about that, though. Just like you, I’m trying to ease him in to our local environment slowly –the poor guy has already encountered not one, not two, but *three* traffic checks. He stopped on a dime at each one. as did I. Phew!I know we didn’t get to say goodbye in class, Marcus, but here’s a confession: I *hate* saying goodbye. And heck, maybe we’ll all be able to get together again in March when Harper, Mike and I are in Orlando. Continued success with Garrett, and send our love to Marvelyne. You all are a great team.
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