Sparkle's casual Friday
A morning walk, rompy playtime in the backyard, then a quick errand to the store: All part of Sparkle's education.
Friday was a routine kind of winter day, but I kept Sparkle engaged. After our usual morning neighborhood walk, I took Sparkle and Porter out in the backyard and threw the tire around for them. They were quite rompy, and thoroughly enjoyed some rough-housing over the toy. Colder weather does bring out their wolfish exuberance!
Later, I made a quick run with Sparkle to the local home-improvement store. I snapped on her green vest, and we headed straight for the lawn-power-tool aisle, where I picked out a replacement bump knob for the weed trimmer. (I'd snapped the plastic tabs last fall trying to hastily straighten out a tangled cutting cord.) I'm always fiddling with these darn trimmers, but that's another matter...
Sparkle waited quite patiently while I found the part, but she did knock over a small trash can at the cash register trying to say hi to the clerk.
It wasn't any big outing, but taking the pup along on routine errands is a fundamental part of training. After all, a guide dog is involved in getting her new owner just about everywhere, no matter how ordinary the destination.