New York New Yokr!

Ok, you had to know it was coming, so here's New York.

New York City! Prada goes to 5th Avenue! Really wasn't as eventful as it could have been, which is a good thing. I have discovered that Prada has a considerable amount of energy on our morning runs and she always behaves better if I use the gentle leader for the first hour or so. I'm hoping this will wear off eventually and Shannon assures me that it will, but I used it this morning for the majority of our NYC run.  (I don’t use the gentle leader very often anymore, only if we’re having a really bad day.  Age does help)

We drove in to the Port Authority Bus Terminal, the largest bus terminal in the world, and parked up on the 7th (not tthe top, mind you, just the 7th) floor.  I can't imagine what TSE pays for parking up there...anyway, we worked down to the subway level, the lower one of two subway levels, and took the E from 42nd Ave to 53rd.  From there we walked to 59th, Central Park, and bordered the park for a block or so.  Plenty of distractions, what with horse carriages and dogs and fishbait--I mean little tiny doggy thingies--and tons of people and sidewalk markety things all over the place.

Prada and the other student team we were paired with did absolutely wonderfully around the distractions, and Prada even forewent eating the annoying little pug that barked at her! Good girl, Prada! Save that for a midnight snack.

(Ok, she didn’t entirely ignore it.  The little thing was on an extendable lead and ran up to her.  Prada ignored it until it jumped at her.  Then she turned around and gave it a single, low-throated “woof” as if to say “get lost, punk”.  The little bugger went yapping back to its mother, who yelled at me.  I pretended to be Helen Keller and didn’t hear her, just kept walking.)

From the park we wove around a few different blocks and ended up in a little Italian place for lunch a block or so from Time Square, then walked back to Port Authority and drove home.

On 5^th Avenue I discovered that Prada’s normal prancing pace has a ‘show-off” setting.  She must have noticed a change in my attitude or posture or something as Bryan and I joked about Prada on 5^th Ave. because she started preening like she owned the place.  Also, she likes flirting with K9 units.  As we walked through Time Square Bryan warned me that there were a pair of them and their handlers across the street.  I expected Prada to get distracted but she had other ideas.  The little tease lifted her head, tail, and paws, glanced once at the K9’s, and just walked on past as if she knew they’d be distracted by her.  Unfortunately for the poor K9’s her strategy worked and they got in trouble for starting to pull towards her.  Little stinker!

No major fiascos, no major mix-ups, we returned with the same number of dogs and students that we showed up with, good day! Oh, and we didn't get rained on, either! It was a bit overcast but warm and not too humid.

Because the NYC trip is a bit long and can be stressful for the dogs due to the number of distractions the instructors schedule only one trip for that day.  Our only other engagement for the afternoon was a quick vet visit.  The vet read our health report to me, then implanted the Home Again microchip that will help a shelter ID her if she ever ends up lost (this is also a requirement for travel to Hawaii and most international travel, as well).

So has Prada had a healthy life? Yes, remarkably so! The only major entries in her health record were a couple of removed teeth due to fracture. This can be caused by roughhousing with other dogs in the kennels, destroying hard toys, or chewing on the kennels, and doesn't cause any future issues with eating or anything.  Just notes on the paper, that's all.  Prada was not at all pleased about the microchip shot she received, crying and jumping back into my arms after the vet let her go.  Other than that she was fairly well behaved in the vet's office.  (Prada is STILL a complete wuss at the vet.  Apparently this is typical of shepherds)

Tonight we have our Going Home Lecture.  They say it's a long one so you probably won't see a summary of it until tomorrow.