The Little Professional

The last time I blogged I mentioned that Tucker would be joining me at the North Carolina Honors Conference at Western Carolina University.  Well, he did a FANTASTIC job.  The whole "jacket=working, no jacket= playtime" idea definitely clicked for him that weekend, and I'm sure he impressed everyone who saw him.  Although Tucker was with us when we ate breakfast in one of Western's cafeterias (and had met one of the head chefs who was all in favor of his presence), he really threw them off at lunchtime.  Right after we settled at a table, a man came up to me and said he'd have to leave. I explained to him that he was a service dog in training, that we were both there for the honors conference, and that he'd been approved ahead of time.  Well, this gentleman didn't care, and apparently had not been notified.  He wanted to see Tucker's health records because he was convinced the health department was going to jump down his throat any minute.  While that, I would assume, might be a legitimate concern, I don't carry all of Tucker's health records around with me - they're on file at GWU.  I tried to tell him that he wouldn't be getting in trouble, that GWU let's him in their cafeteria, and that he could get copies of all Tucker's papers faxed to him from GWU Monday morning, but he just wouldn't let it go.  Of course, Dr. Jones was away parking the vans during the whole thing, so I didn't have back up outside of my friends ( who I believe were more upset than I was ).  Finally, one of the Western honors professors saw what was happening and came to my rescue, and the man gave up and left. 

The best part of the weekend, however, was watching Tucker in the Harrah's Cherokee hotel.  We stayed in a smaller hotel across the street, but went inside to view the Cherokee art and stroll through the casino.  Tucker was perfect in the hotel.  He did a great sit-stay beside one of the statues for me to take his picture (onlookers were highly impressed with him).  Not only did he do a great job of holding his bladder and waiting until I released him to "park" to relieve himself, but he wasn't bothered by any of the craziness of the casino.  In fact, he hardly even looked at the blinking, dinging machines and only tried to pick trash up off the floor once or twice.  He was awesome.  Oh, and kudos to the hotel for not kicking me out - in fact, they didn't question me at all and were super friendly.

This past weekend Tucker was pretty busy as well.  Friday night we went to a drive-in movie with a few of "our" friends (they would probably be offended if I just said they were "my" friends ;) ) and saw Real Steel and The Help.  Want to hear something funny?  The outdoor drive in wasn't going to let us in because of Tucker.  Of all places, it would have never occurred to me to call an outdoor drive-in ahead of time.  Thankfully, my friend knew the owner, and once we told him why we had Tuck with us, he was a-okay with it.  Tucker was in hog heaven.  Not only did he get to sit in the back of a truck with four of his favorite people, but he got to snuggle with all of them!  He did a great job - I bet we were the only people who even knew he was there.

Unfortunately, it would appear that Tucker and I royally ticked off a spider at some point during our stay at the drive-in.  When we got back to the dorm, Tucker's eyelids were red and swollen and his nose was covered in welts.  I also had a bite on my ankle, but was unaware at the time how severe it was.  I gave Tucker a dose of benadryl (I've heard the dosing instructions at work so many times I have it memorized), but of course, failed to give myself any.  Saturday morning, Tucker's face was back to normal, but my ankle was quite swollen.  Thinking it would just go away, we proceeded to work the Dawg Day (open house) for GWU.  By the time we had finished giving the tour, my ankle was enormous, red, hot to the touch, and itchy.  I had a nurse take a look at it, took benadryl, and went on to my next job - serving the VIPs in the President's Box at the football game.

I was filling in for someone and had called the day before to ask if Tucker could accompany me for a little while.  When the woman returned my call, I said, "Yes, I was calling to see if Tucker could join me in the President's box."  She said, "Now how old is your son?"  I just about died laughing.  Anyway, Tucker joined me in the box for an hour and got to see Dr. Bonner (GWU president) again and met his wife.  He then slept curled up next to the trashcan for the majority of the next hour while I served people. :)  I know at least one person whipped out a camera phone and took his picture. ;)   At 4, because I knew he would soon be hungry and hard to manage, Dr. Jones (honors professor) picked him up and took him down to the football game to sit with the honors kids at the fundraising table. 

When the game was over, I picked him up and Dr. Jones told me he had been really itchy.  Apparently, although his swelling was gone, the itchiness had just hit.  When we got back to the room I gave him more benadryl, took some more myself, and sat on the couch with my foot up and under a bag of frozen peas. 

Sunday morning we had a Joyful Hands performance (ASL signing choir) so he joined me in the Chapel for that.  While we were practicing he had a hard time behaving, but once the service started he did a really good job.  As soon as Joyful Hands was finished, we left because I was still on benadryl from the stupid spider bite, and it knocks me out. 

Monday was the first day Tucker and I could survive without Benadryl, but this morning my foot was still slightly puffy and it still itches like crazy.  One of my friends suggested we had been bitten by a radioactive spider - I said if Tucker starts climbing the walls, it's game-over.  ;)  I don't think I can handle spider-pup. 

Phew, that was long.  If you survived that whole post you deserve a reward, so here are some cute pictures. :)

Posing with the Cherokee art.

Looking handsome at the conference.

Sleeping while I presented.

With the gang.

"Mom, I said no more pictures!"

Disclaimer- I do NOT let him on the couch - he did this when I went to the bathroom, but I couldn't help but take a picture of the reaction I got when I asked him what he thought he was doing on my couch. ;)

Again, seriously, I have never let him sit on the couch. However - A few nights ago, I left him asleep (on the FLOOR) and went down to the lobby to see some friends.  When I got back, he was passed out not only on the couch, but on my pillows which I had been using to prop my spider-bitten foot up.

I've taken to calling him my "little prince" because he seems to think his little bed on the floor isn't fluffy enough and keeps trying to get on the couch.  I've tried everything I can think of to keep him off of it, so suggestions would be appreciated fellow puppy raisers!