This pup is absolutely amazing when in public. The photos above were taken on 3/29/10. I had a regular Dr's appointment with the Cancer Clinic and figured she and I would hit a few other errands while we were out. In All Pet, she kept her nose to herself through all the aisles and laid next to my feet while we waited on her new ID tag. Their "store" cat did its best to buffalo the new puppy in its territory, but after living her entire life with 6 cats that have taught her what real slaps in the face are all about, she barely took notice their cat was even there.
In the Dr's office, she slid in under my chair once I got checked in and sat down and once I got off the scales, she worked the entire rest of the time we were there with her leash tucked into her pack instead of me holding it, with only one mistake. When we met another patient and a nurse coming towards us, she wasn't sure where she was supposed to go to get out of their way.
I'm not going to try an off leash trip in Wal-mart. While I believe it wouldn't be a problem with the manager or the employees (they all know Lucy very well by now) I think it may push a few of the customers who still walk by with their noses out of joint for there being a dog in the store, over the edge. At any rate, we were stopped twice in the store by people who have a real interest in our program and in Lucy, to let her show off a little for them, and then two more times in the parking lot on the way back to the van.
Her best comment to date: "Man, that pup is incredible! I've never seen a full grown dog do what she does."

20 - 24 weeks: At 6 months, Lucy is now 20 inches tall and just under 60 lbs. She has continued to work on her pick-em up skills, as well as her "take it too.." and "Go find..." tasks. She is now very proficient in taking the "Jenny toy" between Jenny and myself to let me know when Jenny needs assistance. She also now picks up her leash to hand it back to me when we are at a check-out in the stores or other areas, with no hesitation. I have added "Up" to her commands, asking her to get items from above her head and on counters where she will need to jump up to retrieve them for me. This was done again through the use of treats, by placing them on top of something so she would need to get up there to get them. A natural extention of the pick-em ups.
During this time, Lucy has worked on her "public" skills. Meeting and greeting new people and dogs in both public areas and within our home. Our purpose here is to begin to mitigate any problems she may begin to show with territorial issues or other dominance behavioral issues. At six months, puppies begin to push their limits so to speak. To see how much they can get away with. Primarily, this behavior confines itself to just other dogs, but occasionally, and more often if allowed, with people and other animals as well. This is the beginning of a guard dog if you allow it or want to specifically train for it. In Lucy's case however, being a Service Dog, she can never show these canine traits and must be taught that they are inappropriate. Also, up to now, Lucy has been literally adored by many who have watched her work in our local Public Access areas. Other shoppers are just now beginning to understand that she is being trained to work, and that she is not with me in the store just to be cute. While I have allowed everyone to pet her, many times without asking me first, I am now working with Lucy to ignore the tones of voice used by people which to the dog means "Come see me! I'll pet you!" As people see me give her that quick tug on her leash to remind her we do not do that anymore, they also begin to see that I do not want them to distract her at the moment, and are beginning to ask if they can say hello and give her a quick pat. Lucy has learned to Sit for these and not show exuberance at meeting someone new. Up to now, she has also been allowed to sniff things close to the ground as we walk down the aisles. Although I never allowed her to take anything from a shelf, I did want her to at least know that the things she is seeing here, food cans, loaves of bread, and such, are the same as she sees everyday, and knows she cannot have, at home. We are now working to ignore them altogether while in the store.
At times when she is unsecure of herself or her surroundings, Lucy has a tendency to push into me as we walk. To counteract this, I have begun using the command, "Watch me" or "Watch what I'm doing" to her list. I do not attempt to step around her, but walk through her instead. A quick tap in the side from my artificial (very hard) leg, and Lucy quickly remembers to pay attention to where my legs and feet are. I only want to remind her though, not physically hurt her, which this leg could do very easily, so a concerted effort must be made not to actually step on her. Although this has almost resulted in putting me on the floor a couple of times, Lucy has learned from those times that when she acts this way, she can get me into serious trouble, so she is learning quite well to walk just a couple of inches further away, and to pay closer attention to where I am going.
Lucy went to her first restaurant this last week. I expected her to be much more interested in the super smells of this place than she was. We have always worked, since day one, on food manners at home. Learning "Wait" and that sometimes, though not often, leftovers just don't come. I have worked with her a little on her natural aptitude for laying down anytime I sit in a chair, and we have begun to use the "Under" command when wanting her to go under a table or some other object. Primarily this is used in restaurants specifically when eating to keep the dog out of the way of other diners as well as the staff, waitresses and dishwashers. Lucy went well beyond my expectations in her first restaurant outing and acted as though she had been doing this for years. She got an "A" for the day.
Load-up & Wait. She has learned how to load into our vehicle on command, a snap of the fingers and pointing into the van, but she balked a bit at getting into another car that we sometimes use here at the shelter. So we spent the month going back and forth between riding in the van and then in the car. We also added the "Wait" command. She is well aware of "Wait" during her previous training in having to wait for her leftovers while Jenny & I eat. She knew that the basic command meant she needed to just sit and be patient. It was very easy to add this into waiting before just jumping out of a vehicle once the door was opened for her.
Lucy has now been introduced to Gracie. A 6 week old black lab puppy brought to the shelter after being found in a ditch where someone had thrown her away. We will begin training Gracie in the same manner as Lucy has been and Lucy will help by showing Gracie what it is we want her to do as each command is given. In this way, Lucy's duties have instantly expanded to include being a trainer as well. She will also help Beth and I in our Dog Obedience classes in this task, showing other dogs how to behave and obey.