Portland Day 2

Day 2 began bright and early for me. I had trouble sleeping in while in Oregon. I'm so used to being up at the crack of dawn because of the military (Josh leaving early for PT) and my kids like getting up early too.

Today began with coffee, as usual, and Kati was Hazel's handler for the first part of the morning. We then went to Target and I took Hazel's leash for the first time. We bought her some treats, a new collar and leash and I began to realize that she really is the incredible dog everyone said she was. 

She did great her first day of training with me. We had a great time at Costco, she began to look for me when I would move away. She still looked to Kati frequently but it really warmed my heart to see her look for me occasionally. I had been so worried about bonding with her. 

We had lunch at McMenamins and they had amazing gluten free pizza! Hazel laid under the table exactly like the day before, she was calm and most people probably didn't even know she was there! 

We were able to get her to the park to play ball again for a bit. So funny watching her chase the ball and slide to get it. She's a funny girl. Kati left Hazel at the hotel with me at the end of this day. Hazel was a little nervous at first, we went for a long walk and with every step I felt a little more confidence developing.

I honestly debated just staying in for dinner this night. I was tired and a little worried about taking Hazel out all on my own for dinner. But I decided that I needed to just push myself and do it so we went to John Barleycorns for dinner. Just the two of us. She laid behind my feet in the booth and just stayed put while I ate my dinner. She was nice company to have while eating dinner alone. A number of the wait staff at the restaurant stopped to talk about her (she is pretty gorgeous after all) and everyone knew not to try and touch her or feed her. 

After dinner I decided to visit Trader Joe's. We don't have one near us so it was fun to go and visit, we kept it a short trip since the store was very busy but I wanted to get some things so it was nice again to get a chance to practice.

The day was less overwhelming. It was like once I was hands on with Hazel, it all fell into place. I'm not saying I'm a world class dog handler or anything like that but it just seemed to make sense to me and the information overload from the night before was not present this day. Hazel curled up on the hotel bed with me and watch food network for a bit before we settled down for bed. 

Lounging with mommy.