Let’s ride

This week I was given the green light to take G dog out for car rides! We’re not certified to go into public places together yet, but with my health situation, I won’t go anywhere public anyway without being fully vaccinated. (One more shot to go!) Car rides have been a simple but welcome source of escape for me during this past year, so the thought of sharing that with G was exciting to me.

It turned out to be a gorgeous day on Monday. After my training session with Connie, my son and I decided to go out for some ice cream with G dog in tow. I know it seems like this should be a pretty straightforward process, but I do have some extra considerations to contend with just to get from my house to the car. There’s not a super handicap-accessible way in and out of my house. My husband built some half steps for me from the kitchen to the back hallway and then down into my garage, which does make things a little easier. It’s a little bit of a production for me to get up and down these half steps, and I need to grab onto the doorways to do it. So, it’s exceptionally critical that I don’t have a super excited dog bumping into me while I navigate these.

Fortunately, G was incredibly obedient while I put him in a Down and Stay mode, waiting for me to “release” him when I was in a less precarious position. Getting him in the car was as easy as could be, despite the fact that this was a new activity and he had never had the chance to explore our garage before. (So many new sights and smells!)

I drove us to our neighborhood ice cream shop and waited in the car while Aidan purchased our frozen treats. As I devoured my incredibly decadent turtle sundae, I gave G dog some dog biscuits to enjoy so he wouldn’t feel left out. Once we all were done with our treats, Aidan and I went on a long drive through some rural back roads for a change of scenery and a chance to jam with some tunes. With the fresh air and sunshine along for the ride, it was truly bliss. (For those of you reading this via email, check out the actual web page to see our selfie.)

Sometimes during the week, I need to either take Aidan to school or pick him up. During these times in the past, I would usually put G in his crate. This week, I decided to take G with me to pick up the boy. This meant that I would have to do the whole getting into the garage and car thing on my own without my son’s help if needed. I’m so happy to say that everything went as smoothly as it possibly could. It feels really amazing to know that I can count on G to behave perfectly for excursions like this. These little success stories just keep building up my trust in him.

It’s hard to know what G really thought of these experiences. Some of the time, he would sit up and look out the window, fascinated by all the other cars and pedestrians, while other times, he’d lay down and just chill out. I have to think he appreciated the opportunity to add some variety to his generally monotonous day, and I’m looking forward to doing more of this with him.