First Week Down

First week back at school, and I think I’ve figured out Prada’s favorite and least favorite classes already. Least favorite? Karate, because I get to go work out, move around, spar, play, and she doesn’t get to play with me. No, she has to sit leashed to a cabinet in the back to protect my sparring partner from shepherd hugs  Not that I think she’d hurt anybody in there, but we play rough and some folks don’t like playing as rough as me and my girl do. She cried at me the first five to ten minutes of class, then I told her to be quiet, and she promptly lay down on my roommate’s black wool jacket in protest. Kara says she doesn’t mind, though, so long as the jacket stays in good condition. Favorite class? Acting! Prada played a drug-sniffer dog in one of our improve exercises where I acted a grumpy TSA officer. Unfortunately Prada has difficulty getting into character. She asked the suspected terrorist to pet her after she finished sniffing.

We’re slowly working on getting back into schedule with parking, food, and classes rearranging our days. Some days I have class right over her usual dinner time so I have to be creative about that one to make sure I get her out on time. We’re also working on rebuilding our work ethic routine. Stopping at crosswalks, really stopping instead of just the California stop we’d perfected, and the like. So far we seem to be doing pretty good. It’s a matter of self-discipline for me to remember that it’s ok to be a minute late for a class if it prevents us from getting run over or having dominance issues.

I’ve noticed that Prada gets really excited when we get into a car or head towards a car to go somewhere. I’m thinking it’s just because she likes new places and we’re very routine-oriented while on campus. To combat that, and for other reasons, I’ve started making church, college ministries, and midweek Bible studies higher priorities. It gets Prada out more and is mentally and spiritually and emotionally strengthening for me. That’s another 4 outings a week, three of which are off campus, so I’m hoping that’ll help settle her down a bit when it comes to cars. If it doesn’t, of course, I’ll need to explore new methods, probably call TSE for their advice.