Random Acts of Kindness

This morning on our walk we ran into the Treat Lady! The Treat Lady (as my puppyraiser calls her) is this really nice lady that lives in our hood. For some reason she doesn't have dogs of her own, but she LOVES all dogs, big and small. The Treat Lady carries dog treats with her and every time she passes by a dog, she gives the dog a treat (after she receives the ok from the dog’s person). All dogs love the Treat Lady and run up and sit nicely in front of her when they see her!

Of course, I don't get to have any treats. I asked my puppyraiser about this and she said it was because I was "special". That didn't make sense at all to me. If I'm "special" then shouldn't I get even more treats than all of the "non-special" dogs? My puppyraiser tried to further explain it by saying that it was important that I learn to focus on one person. Right now that one person is my puppyraiser. But, someday, if I graduate, it will be the person that I am matched with. My puppyraiser said that if other people gave me treats then I would lose focus. She’s got a point there. Sigh... being an assistance dog in training sure can be tough sometimes. Although, I can’t really complain too much because my puppyraiser does reward me with treats when I’m being a good boy. And, even better... with love and attention!

Even though I can't have any treats from the Treat Lady, I still love it when I see her coming. I get really excited. Partially because Lucky gets excited (she gets to have treats from her. Whatever!). And, partially because the Treat Lady talks to me and she tells me how special I am and that I'm doing well with my training. She's super duper nice.

The Treat Lady carries treats with her all the time. She doesn't just do it during the holiday season. My puppyraiser said that if everyone were as nice as the Treat Lady and did similar random acts of kindness, the world would be a much better place.