Molly Comes Home

Molly in her face harness, getting ready to go home!

Paul had some concerns about how Molly, a 43 lb 7 month old yellow lab, would do as a service dog, because of a couple personality quirks. She tends to be shyer around new dogs, and that made her not quite ideal. So i sat and waited for his call as he tested her on Monday. that day, the Anxiety monster almost killed me. His cousin, the What If monster, kept me busy all day. But at long last, I got the call. Molly had passed the little tests Paul had challenged her with, and she was mine!

Tuesday, my mom and i went to Paul's house, armed with about a million questions. He patiently answered them all, then offered to let us borrow a dog crate until we bought one so we could take her home that night. My Mom said yes, and Molly got to come home that night. Things were a bit chaotic, since we hadn't  been prepared for her to come, but it was absolutely incredible to have her by my side.

Our first assignment was tethering. Molly would be essentially tied to me by a leash, so that our bonding would happen more quickly. It was awkward and cumbersome to have her next to me all the time at first, but we slowly got more used to it and perfected our traveling together. The biggest challenge was the stairs and doors. I more then once accidentally bounced a door off her rump because I tried to close it too fast. Luckily, she's a good sport and we have both adjusted to accommodate each other. I close doors slower, and she goes up stairs slower.