Wish me luck today!

[Amy (guffer)]

Hubby and I are taking Apollo and Zeus to the Children's Hospital for an interview today at noon.  They have their CGC and TDI certifications and this is the final step!  Basically we're just going to hang out in the lobby (during the busiest time of the day) and see how the dogs react to everyone.  The good news is that the lady who runs the pet therapy program is a nurse on my floor and she LOVES big dogs.  Her dog, Chief, was a huge golden retriever who logged over 700 hours visiting the children in his lifetime.  He unfortunately passed away last year, but I met him a few times and he was a wonderful boy. 

I have confidence in my boys that they are going to love greeting everyone.  I'm just nervous that they're still kinda puppyish.  I don't want them to get too excited by all the commotion.  I'm planning on trying to wear them out in the morning playing in the backyard.  The sidewalks are still too slippery for a good walk.  This is weird, too, but I've noticed that my attempts to expend as much energy as possible before training classes usually backfire, because they seem too tired to listen to me.  Does that make sense?  Any suggestions on keeping them at their best behavior would be appreciated!

[Ursa]

Good luck!  I'm sure they'll do fine!

[Berner_Mom]

Good luck, have a good time! I'm sure they'll do great.

[jesday]

Wow. you're taking both at the same time? They must be so special. I am excited to see how they do and you are really inspiring me to follow through with doing the necessary training with my bubs.

This is so cool! Good luck with their final.

[AudgePadge]

i don't think you need a "good luck" but...HAVE FUN    I'm sure they're gonna do GREAT!

[vmimom2006]

Everyone is gonna love'em!! 

[Amy (guffer)]

Well, we're back and the boys did great!  I was so nervous, and I've been awake since yesterday evening because of work, so that didn't help.    But Apollo and Zeus proved themselves to be naturals at this therapy dog business.  They were extremely well behaved (other than pulling at the lead a bit) and just ate up the attention.  One young woman even told me that she was terrified of dogs, but she just had to pet Apollo because he looked like a big fluffy teddy bear.  So sweet!

The interview was basically a repeat of the Therapy Dog International test with the added distraction of hundreds of patients, visitors and employees walking through the hospital's main lobby!  And about 90% of the people stopped to give the boys a scratch or a hug.  I'm soooo incredibly proud of how they behaved!

It was just a great day!  And now finally I can hit the sack for a while.  Thanks everyone for your words of encouragement!  I read them all with hubby before leaving the house this morning and they helped calm our nerves.  BPO is the BEST! 

[jesday]

Congratulations Apollo and Zeus. Sounds like they had a wonderful time and will want to go everyday. I hope I can do therapy with Clifford when he gets a little older. He has the loving personality, but still has a bit too much puppy energy and needs some more training on my part.

Yeah, me too. It's that 'more training' part that seems to be my biggest hurdle right now

[Ursa]

I missed this yesterday - congrats on a job well done!