Movies, the mall, and the scary escalator

       I think the weather forecast is showing some relief from these 100+ temps!  Churry is very hopeful...she hates this heat!  In the meantime, we have been doing lots of indoor outings and saving our playtime outside for late evenings.  Tayler and I had a date night at the movies last night.  We went to the cheap theater and saw The Lucky One.  Unfortunately, Churry was NOT the slightest bit interested in watching a movie, so I saw half of it, then finally just left and took her across to the mall.  I didn't want to be the rude guest with the dog that wouldn't lie down.  I am trying to transition her from her Halti to a collar and the majority of the time she is doing fantastic with it.  However, the popcorn and skittles that were apparently under my chair were just too much for her.  And she just wasn't in the mood for a nap, either.  Good thing it was the cheap theater!  It wasn't a total waste of an outing though.   At the mall, we practiced heeling and ignoring people in our new collar.  She did great!  She stays right next to me or just slightly ahead and keeps her attention on me.  We also went and just watched the scary escalator for awhile.  It didn't seem nearly as scary by the time we left.  She would get really close and do a Down or Sit and calmly watch it.  It amazed me how many people wanted to stand and watch us watching the escalator!  I kept moving out of their way and they would say, "Oh, we don't need on it, we're just watching you.  It's fascinating."   They were so impressed at where I got her to compared to where we had started watching from.

      Today, after we went for our weekly visit to the Children's Discovery Center, where she gets tons of attention and interaction with the public, I took her back to the mall.  I want to be sure that allowing her to interact with people at the Discovery Center is not hindering her ability to ignore people in other situations.  She seems to know the difference.  When we are in other public places, she never tries to solicit attention.  And when we are at the Discovery Center, she remains in a Down position at my feet until I give her permission to "talk".    Today, at the mall, we again visited the escalator.  She's pretty much over her fear.  I think she would get on and ride it, but I certainly don't want to jinx it and have her get a paw pinched or something.  So, I think I'll wait until I have someone with more experience with me before I let her on it.  We also went into the arcade.  It was empty, so it was a great time to go in.  She was great in there!  She stood on many different surfaces with blinking lights underneath her, didn't mind the loud crazy sounds coming from the machines, and did a "Go up" on several games.  Churry always loves adventures.  The more exciting and overstimulating the place may seem, the more she enjoys it.  She doesn't enjoy the "boring" outings where she is expected to just sit and be good, such as the movies.  I would love some ideas for more "boring" places from my readers that we could go practice at!  I don't think her future partner is probably going to be a wild loud party animal.  Although, if they are, Churry would be a great match!  She seems to thrive in loud, stimulating environments.  Being raised in a home with four kids and their activities makes her more comfortable in those situations I'm sure.

      Looking forward to a cooler week ahead!  (And for my readers not from this area, when I say cooler I'm talking about 95 degrees being a cold front!)  Keeping my fingers crossed!