Glindy and I got back from our first
successful business trip late last night. We spent two nights in a
hotel in northern California, about 3.5 hours away from home.
The trip down wasn't too bad, although Glindy whined a lot. She
tends to do that when aroused or anxious, and a lot of times she
whines to say "Hey! Wait! Where are we going?!" Luckily, she tends
to settle down when moving at highway speeds, so it wasn't much of
an issue on this trip.
She was very well-behaved at the hotel, although she refused to
stay in her portable crate. She's fond of her crate at home, but I
guess the fear of being abandoned in a new place was just too much
for her.
She handled herself well at an extremely busy--and very
noisy--French restaurant, although we ended up going elsewhere to
eat when I realized it was just too crowded for her to sit safely
at my feet. She was very calm, even with people's unfortunate
tendency to loom over her and occasionally try to pet her. I was
very proud.
Another incident was the fire alarm that went off at two in the
morning on Saturday morning. It was the sort of fire alarm that
uses a shrill, never-ending screeching sound, and it cut right
through *my* brain and definitely hurt my ears. Glindy, on the
other hand, was quite calm, and appeared to be in no distress.
Mostly, she just kept looking at me to figure out what we needed to
do. I was proud enough to pop.
On the way home, though, the poor girl was emotionally exhausted
from all the noise, and the constant anxiety of all the new sounds,
smells, and unfamiliar places. She slept the entire way, except for
a few times when she nosed me for belly rubs.
Overall, I'd give her an A+ on our first trip. We *do* have a few
things to work on, though, that I didn't think about until this
trip:
- Who should go first through doors and into elevators?
- What sort of street recognition and parking lot safety do I
need to train for, to ensure she's safe should her leash or collar
ever snap?
- What ways can I work with her to ensure she doesn't get stepped
on in busy places?
None of these things interfered on this trip, but they're
definitely considerations for future training.