Amy F. just sent this: “Say hello to Diego, a miniature horse training to be a comfort animal. He was just about to attend an event at the library for children with autism. He is a chill little dude, even with all the attention he was receiving. Diego is four months old and, according to his owner, will get a few inches taller. He is wearing doggie boots for traction on slippery floors! Meeting him made my day!”
Hey, if you get those shoes on the spike, I’ll really be impressed!
Also, squeeeeee!
SQUEEEEEEEEE. That is all.
Doggie boots for traction, how ingenious! I bet it also cuts down on the clippity cloppity noise so the librarian doesn’t get crossed LOL!
Not directly related to the miniature horseling (who is very cute in his boots!) but on the subject of service animals, I was out doing some grocery shopping earlier today, and there was this lady with a very teeny black puppy on a leash, possibly a lab from my limited knowledge of dog breeds. (I’m more of a cat person.) Still, this little guy was just adorable, and while I wondered at first what this gal was doing with such a young dog in a grocery store, I had an “aha!” moment when I finally noticed the harness which said “Service Dog in Training.” 🙂
I had a student this semester who has a service dog. First time ever in 20 years of teaching. It was soOo hard. All I wanted to do was snorgle this little guy. He was a black lab mix but a little shorter than a lab, with wavy fur, “those ears” and a baroo that would make anyone faint. But I controlled myself for the entire. five. hours. She let him come up and “meet” me after class – he promptly started licking my feet. The student decided to drop the class, which is probably for the best all around, and the school is small enough I’m sure I’ll bump into them again.
I used to work with a woman who now raises aspiring seeing-eye puppies. They keep them for about a year, socialize them, teach them to go places and not cause trouble, etc., and then they get returned to the organization for further (more specialized) training and eventual matching with a person who needs their services. She’s had a few pups now, all Labs, I believe.
I think she got one back that didn’t make it through the further training for some reason, who is now a pet.