September 12, 2014

Another stellar A.J. day today! Greg actually suggested we go to dinner someplace where we could take A.J. with us. So we went to Flatbread Pizza. (Greg has made it clear he doesn’t actually understand why anyone would want to take their dog to dinner, but because it’s something I’ve really wanted to do he’s going along with it.)

A.J. was wonderful. Throughout dinner I had to remind him a couple of times to sit down, but otherwise he sat or lied down the whole time. A few times he actually just lied down and put his head down. Customers and waiters walked by without a problem, he never got in anyone’s way. Partway through dinner a woman at another table walked up to us.

“Is that a springer?”

She said her kids have a springer, she asked where we got A.J. She was really surprised to find out he was a rescue. A.J. did stand up when she came over, which he shouldn’t have done, but he greeted her nicely and she petted him while we talked. Then I told him to sit and he continued being a great dog. I’m very, very, very proud of him.

As we left the restaurant we walked past a family that had been struggling to control their two little dogs. A woman at the table said “I wish our dogs were as well-behaved as yours.” Yay! (I told her “This took a lot of work,” which seemed to make her feel a little better.)

When we finished dinner we decided to walk A.J. around a little bit, so we headed for the school next door. As we headed out toward the field behind the school I realized it was completely fenced on three sides. So I unhooked the leash and A.J. got to have a good run around the field. A fitting reward for being such a good boy through dinner.

All in all a super great evening for all of us.