“Service Dog In The Building!”
Posted on January 3, 2009
we went to the seattle aquarium a couple of days ago. right before we were about to enter the aquarium the front desk clerk made what i would have assumed was a general staff announcement that there was a “service dog in the building.” i didnt understand it at first and thought it a little insulting but then it occurred to me that even though liame had been introduced to all types of environments that the penguins, otters and octopus might be a little taken aback by the fact that there was this furry predator staring them down. sure enough when we came to the octopus tank, the octopus started squirming around in him tank and tried to hide behind a rock. according to the attendant the octopus had barely moved all day. when we came up to another tank which happened to be really long and at liames level, he spotted a fish swimming really fast in it and tried to chase it down the wall. telling him to “leave it” worked but it bugs me that i have to be so reactive all the time. i wonder if his age is causing this impulsiveness or maybe its because he is the product of champion hunters? when i picked out liame i knew i needed a dog that would be an active participant in my life, a dog with a lot of energy and drive to encourage me to get out of the house. guide dogs have such passive personalities that they seem to be more like an assistive device rather than a living breathing animal. i know they select their breeding stock so that they turn out that way. sometimes though liames constant on the go, inquisitive personality makes me wonder, did i screw up and get a dog with too much drive?
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I have a few questions in response to your questions.
How old is Liam? How much work have you done with working around distrations like fish tanks, small animals and such? How much excerise is Liam getting? Young dogs often have more energy that we as pwds realize and throught we think we are doing a good job meeting their excercise needs– they often could use double or triple what we are giving them. Does he get well excercise before going to work?