Today I had to get the oil changed in our van. I brought Felix with me, and my wheelchair.
I started off inside, where I put Felix on his mat next to my wheelchair. He did a tolerable job staying in a down while I scrolled on my phone. He wasn’t great, though. He occasionally whined a bit. I think this was because my foot hurt this morning so I couldn’t take him for a walk. This meant he had too much energy.
Even so, he did a good job staying as people walked past. And when the person sitting on the couch next to me knocked a bunch of flyers over and they fell on the floor loudly, he sat up but did not get off his mat. When the person was done picking up the flyers, he lay back down.
After a bit, my friend Chris called, so I went outside. It was chilly, so I held Felix in my lap to keep him warm. He enjoyed sniffing the air while I was talking… except when a smoker came and sat near us (NOT in the smoking section!). Luckily I was in my chair so I could move far away.
When we went back inside, I put Felix in a down again on his mat next to me. I asked a person in the waiting room who looked super bored if he wanted to help with Felix’s training. I asked him to say hi to Felix, and I asked if I could record him (without his face) while he did so. He agreed and did a great greet with Felix. Felix stayed in his down on his mat while I was talking with the guy and while he approached. He waited until I gave him the “visit” cue to go say hi to the man. Unfortunately his leash was caught around his leg, so he stopped trying to say hi. So I cued him again, and this time was better. After a few seconds, I had to say “working” twice and then he came back to focus on me! Pretty good! That video is below.
I also got a picture of him lying on his mat looking up at me. It’s a rainbow mat and he is a sable and white Japanese Chin wearing a Disney themed vest.
All in all, we were there about an hour and fifteen minutes. Half an hour of that time I was outside talking to Chris, but the rest of it Felix was doing a nice relaxed down next to me inside. He got much better as time went on, and by the end of our time there, he was starting to look sleepy.
Eventually they told me my van was done, so I paid and we headed home.