WE'RE HOME AT LAST

It’s time to let all of you know that we made it home safely and are beginning our life together.

Thursday was a very long day. The wake-up call came for me at 3:30 EDT. This time I showered first and Trinity’s food was brought at 4:00. After relieving and grooming her, I had a hasty breakfast in the common lounge and quickly finished packing those last-minute details. My suitcase with all the new things I had been given topped the scale at about 49.5 pounds with a 50 pound limit.

My instructor took two of us to the airport together and we moved quickly through security and to our gate. She was heading home to Florida and I to Washington State. In Security, I had trinity sit as I went through the metal detector first and then, once I was clear and still holding the end of the long leash, I called her to me. She was then checked for having set off the security alarm with her metal collar and harness.

The first leg of my flight was from 7:10 EDT to 10:10 PDT. It was uneventful. Trinity rode at my feet under the seat in front of me. When I went to the bathroom, I took her with me there. We are both small and she, like all of my previous dogs, can fit in there. I did open the door and let her out before flushing the noisy toilet. There is something that I had never known about before. Some, if not all, planes have curtains that can be drawn outside the bathroom to give a larger area for people with mobility issues who may need more room. I suggested that the attendant might hold her leash, but she offered the curtain instead. I chose to take Trinity in and close the door.

My nephew met us at SeaTac and took us to lunch to help pass the time of the 3.5 hour delay before my smaller plane took us to our local area.

It was 3:00 when we arrived home. I took Trinity to explore the house on leash, going to each room in turn. Our Basset was spending the afternoon at doggie day care to give us some time alone.

We had 4 places to go that afternoon. We visited pet Co and purchased a new bed that Trinity loves. It is a 3-inch thick egg crate pad with a fleece cover on the top. Next we went to Haute Daug to let Trinity and EZ meet in the lobby, neutral territory.

After taking EZ home, we set out again for a quick stop at Home Depot and then went out for a fast dinner at Jack in the Box.

Still 97 degrees at 8:30, it was just too hot for the initial walk on the day of arrival. Most of the time during all the errands I went sighted guide with Trinity.

My suitcase had been tagged for the evening flight and Clif went to retrieve it later. Thankfully, I had obtained an extra serving of food to put in my carry-on.

Friday, after the morning routine starting at 6:15, I walked with Trinity partly around two blocks and then made my decision to continue on to church. She was doing well and there was little traffic. There was one signal intersection and most of the walk was along residential streets. On arrival we visited with a few people and visited the various rooms where we sat briefly before walking home. We spent the rest of the day doing as little as possible and resting from our trip.

Yesterday, we walked down town, just over a mile, to a restaurant where we met my husband for breakfast and then walked home. We did little else that day. There was relatively little traffic. She did well with a few work errors to be expected.

Today we walked to church where we spent about 3 hours. We were called up front at the beginning of the service and Trinity was introduced and I had a minute to review the basic rules about not engaging her.

We are still resting lots and trying to recover from jet lag and the heat that has followed us home. I plan to keep Trinity on leash for the two weeks that is recommended to minimize any problems with her adjusting from kennel life to home life again. I must admit that this is somewhat tedious work, always having the leash in one hand.

It seems as if this is a very good match. She works differently from Sydney, but she is doing well. There is less pull in the harness and that is good for my shoulder. She was calm in church and when out. She and EZ are both on leash when they are in the same room. EZ wants to be friends, but Trinity is somewhat put off by her advances. We have two cats. The white one went nose to nose with her immediately when they saw each other. The black one is keeping her distance for now, but is narrowing the gap between them. The other animals do not have the run of the house, so they are not always with us.

Thanks much for following this adventure. I will be watching it for any comments and answering any questions that are posted.