Yesterday we went to Lowe’s to train little Alice. We went with Scarlet and Skyler with Korra (sable Standard Poodle).
We started outside the store for a while to let Alice get comfortable, and then moved inside. Alice did a great job walking through the doors all on her own!
When we got inside the store, an employee saw her and about melted! She sat down to say hi to Alice and ended up kissing her and even picking her up! Alice took it all in stride, she is totally cool with people!
Then Skyler and Korra arrived! Korra was excited to see Alice, and Alice was curious about Korra. They both did a very good job around each other.
We started to walk around the store, and came to a corner where there was a big metal step-ladder thing. Alice put on the brakes! I got her to walk a little closer to it, but realized that it was best not to push it. So I carried her past the ladder and through the pesticide section next to the ladder.
After that we had a good time walking around the store. We stopped occasionally to hang out and watch things happen, too.
My favorite picture of the day was taken in the aisle with the peepholes (we had to pick up a couple), where Alice is in front of a wall of small drawers with hardware.
For most of the store, Alice walked behind Korra. That made her a bit braver in experiencing a new store. But after the peephole, Alice was able to lead the way!
We also had fun walking alongside Skyler and Korra—that was super cute!
After checkout, Brad got a great pic of Korra outside, where he decided to add a more dramatic sky behind her head!
And I got some pictures of Brad with little Alice! They are so cute together!
Overall I think Alice did pretty well in the store. I would have liked her to be a little more confident, but she did fine. It was a difficult environment, and while she did get a little worried a few times (especially about those metal stair-ladder things), she worked through it almost every time except the first time. I think with more exposure she’ll be totally comfortable in stores like this.
In the pictures, I have my hair in a ponytail and am wearing a turquoise dress with navy patterns on it. I have on a teal mask with blue stars. Alice is a tiny sable and white Japanese Chin puppy. Scarlet is using forearm crutches and has on a black skirt and a black and white striped blouse with a black mask. Skyler has on leggings and a t-shirt and a black mask. Korra is a sable Standard Poodle. Brad is wearing turquoise pants, a maroon shirt, a red and white striped blazer, a turquoise bowtie, a green mask, and a turquoise hat, and he is in a power wheelchair.
