And Now, Back to Cabana

Poor Cabana, this is supposed to be her blog, but somehow, her air time got usurped by a lot of other doggy activities! Even though I've been busy at the animal shelter, I make sure Cabana never gets short shrift in real life, although she might sometimes get left out on her blog.

Cabana still enjoys her daily morning walk to the dog park fields, about 3 miles round trip, plus whatever running Cabana does at the park. Now that school is out, we leave the house around 7am. The streets and paths are quiet, so Cabana gets to walk off-leash most of the time. There are still a few spots where I have to leash her because of the lure of cat poop, but other than that, Cabana has earned the privilege of freedom. If we cross paths with other people, with or without dogs, I always call Cabana over to me, and she walks alongside me until the people pass, after which she's free to meander.

On our morning walks, we often see the former trainer for Guide Dogs for the Blind who lives in our neighborhood (he recently retired after 27 years there), along with his wife (also a former dog trainer) and their German shepherd, Dillon. Last week, they both commented on how much Cabana has matured and has become such a well-mannered and wonderful dog. They had witnessed firsthand how much I struggled with Cabana when she was a puppy in training, since Cabana always seemed to be extra uncontrollable around them. So it was a proud moment for me.

A less-than-proud moment was when, later that morning, Cabana found a mud hole at the dog park. It seems there is a faulty sprinkler head in the middle of the field, and it forms a puddle that never dries out.

Cabana decided that the puddle was an invitation to dig her way to China. Cat poop ingesting is not the only cause for leashing, as Cabana learned that day. Getting to be off-leash is a privilege, even at the off-leash dog park.

Cabana's therapy work has had a few hiccups. We stopped going to the Alzheimer's residence for a number of reasons, but mostly because they had us scheduled to come during their social hour, which is when all the residents are eating snacks. It was just too challenging to keep Cabana from becoming a vacuum cleaner every time. Plus, the therapy dog organization was dealing with internal political junk. The organization splintered into three different groups, then two of the groups joined back together again. They assigned us to a library for a reading dog program, so we got mentored there, only to have them take the post away from us before we could actually begin, because one of the splintered-off groups took over that location.

Long story short, we have now started volunteering at our local Boys & Girls Club. Today was Cabana's first day as a reading buddy! She did a fabulous job. The kids loved her, and she loved them. She curled right up on their green naugahyde couch, and kids ranging from 6 to 16 took turns reading to her. They each gave her a treat after saying, "the end". I think that might become her favorite phrase.