Lessons in Shopping

With the holiday season upon us, I have been shopping like a mad woman.  A normal shopping trip for us usually involves at least one curious person or two, but this one was exhausting in more ways than one.

Brownie and I took the boyfriend to work (8 am) and ate breakfast before starting our day.  From there, we hit up Target #1 (There are 4 within the area that I go shopping in).  We scoured the store for gifties, I overheard many children asking their parents why I had a dog in the store and most parents explaining that "we can't pet that doggie because it's working," or, "you have to ask to pet that dog."  Both are acceptable answers to anyone's questions, especially when the person with the service animal is not nearly as understanding as I often am.

One particular dad had two young ones with him and was having a difficult time explaining to his children why I had a dog in the store, so I decided it was time to speak up.  I explained to the kids that I was sick (I did not elaborate) and that Brownie knew what to do in case of a flair up.  They, of course, had lots of questions, and I tried to answer them all.  (What can I say?  I love well-behaved, curious children almost as much as I love dogs.)

When the curiosity had be sated and the family left, a woman came up to me and thanked me for helping educate them.  She didn't even know them or me, but she seemed very happy about the situation, and, of course, brightened my day even more.

We went a few other places (Mall #1, Target #2, Kohls...).  It was about 4 pm, though, and Mall #2 presented a problem.  I was waiting for a personalized gift at one of the mall kiosks when something scared the shit out of Brownie.  I don't know WHAT it was, but she yelped and began hiding behind me and shaking like crazy.  Of course, everyone gathered around us while I tried in vain to calm down the dog who is meant to calm me down.  Everyone wanted to know what she did for me, why she was so worked up, and every other question in the world While I attempted to get Brownie to focus on me and her Puppy Push-ups.  She calmed down a little, and we attempted our shopping excursion.  She just refused to calm down, though, so our trip was cut shorter than expected.

The experience at Mall #2 definitely was a learning experience.  The number one lesson I learned was, if my dog gets freaked, neither of us should continue on our way.  It's hard for me to calm down quickly after something like that, and I usually have the ability to tell myself that life is fine or I have Brownie to calm me down.  If Brownie has an issue like this (first time I've seen this since our training), it's a lot harder for her to recover when everyone stops us and asks questions and occupies precious time to refocus.  The second lesson is, always take the dog outside after this kind of incident because she now needs to relieve herself.  Yes, Brownie had the poop scared out of her.  She was really good about it, though, and didn't go until she was told to (outside in the grass, of course).  The third lesson: neither of us should be shopping for 6 hours straight.  It's just too much.  We got home and tried to wrap presents and cook, but I'm pretty sure we just curled up in bed.