Bunny taking over the keyboard here.
Thursday night was an exciting night during our nursing home visit. It’s always exciting when we get to go, but this week it was especially good. This week, Bella of The Hound Dogs fame made her first ever nursing home visit. It was also our first time to meet her in person. I can’t tell you all what an honor it was to meet her, even though she was feeling a little shy.
That crazy puppy, Luka, got in her face and she had to set him straight. I feel that I should mention here that most of us experienced nursing home visitors have had to explain personal space to Luka. He’s a little, well a lot, too forward, especially with lady hounds. I have the advantage of having Kuster around to practice on, so I don’t have trouble with him, but he’s seven months old and thinks he’s Casanova. I know Hound Dog Mom felt bad about it, but I don’t think she should at all.
The truth is, Bella and Luka are both new to visiting the nursing home. It takes time to get your groove on there. Both of them are still learning about things. I wasn’t always a pro at visiting, either. Mom spent about a year and a half moping about how I wasn’t as good as Treat at visiting until I had a great moment and really proved myself. I spent time studying Blueberry and what she did, along with a few of my other Paw to Paw companions like Steppen and Journey. They all had to learn from someone else, too.
So, I’d like for Bella to know that I’m sure she’s going to make a great therapy dog and to stick with it. She’s got a great wardrobe and really loves people. Bella is always gentle and quiet. Getting used to strange old people petting you isn’t easy. However, Bella has impeccable manners, unlike a certain black fuzz ball here, who shall remain unnamed. She doesn’t jump on people and patiently lets them come to her. I just know she’s going to go far in this world, and one day, her human is going to look back and shake her head that she ever was apologizing for Bella.
We all learn things at different times and in different ways. Not every dog is made to be a therapy dog, either, but none of those who are start out perfect. We all have to learn how to be partners with our humans. Kuster learns from watching things and using his nose. I learn from getting treats after I do something the right way. I just know that you can’t give up. You just give it your all and see what happens.
We’re participating in this Saturday’s Pet Blog Hop, hosting by Life With Dogs, Two Little Cavaliers and Confessions of the Plume. If you’d like to participate, please follow the rules and follow your three hosts, add your blog to the Linky and copy and paste the html code into your html editor. Thanks again to our hosts for putting on the hop!
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