The One With Chubbs' Success

I know you all are on the edge of your seats waiting for the news, so I'll get right to it -- Chubbs passed his Delta Society test with a perfect score. He struggled early in the test with loose-leash walking, and I was just sure it was going to go downhill from there. But the evaluators loved him because of his good temperment and overlooked the pulling. When he not only tolerated the restrained hug and exuberant petting (which she thought he was going to struggle with) but wagged his tail the whole time, I think she would have overlooked anything. She wrote on his evaluation that he LOVED the restrained hug. Plus, he didn't get rattled at all by the yelling or loud noises. His temperment is perfect, though his training still needs a little work.

So we got a certificate, and Chubbs will get to wear a vest and special tag. We also got our picture taken for our ID. It's so cute. It's official now. We're members of Paws 4 Healing. They even said on the evaluation that my good handling skills would be valuable to the group, so that was nice to read after a week when I had to kick someone out of one of my classes.

So Chubbs is now approved at the highest level of the Delta Society, meaning that we can go to schools, nursing homes, children's hospitals etc. to cheer people up. I think Chubbs will be so great at this. When they asked me my goals and I told them working with children, they seemed to think this was a wonderful idea and are starting me out with children. Most have to start with senior citizens. They also have some exciting events coming up working with the Special Olympics. And I'll now be able to go to schools to do the READ program, where kids who struggle to read can read to Chubbs instead of an adult or something embarrassing. I'm really excited.

In addition, it gave me a reason to call my dad, who actually answered the phone and proceeded to have a pretty good talk with me. When he said, "Hi. How are you?" instead of saying, "Fine. How are you?" and letting him launch into some speech designed to hurt me, I launched into a story about Chubbs, giving him a chance to talk to me about something cheerful. When he started asking questions, I realized how little he knows about me, but it gave me a good chance to share so maybe he got to know me just a little bit better.

I also dremmeled Muggsy's nails this weekend, and he let me do the foot he never lets anyone touch! And when I went to give him a bath, he started to lunge into an attack but stopped himself when I said, "Hey." So I don't count that as a blowup. See? I'm proud of both my babies this week.

Continuing with my successful weekend, KU came back from a 16-point deficit to beat No. 18 Oklahoma by one point. It's the big win KU really needed to be able to establish itself as a tournament contender. I think that KU might even be ranked this week. Colorado losing put Kansas is sole possession of second place in the conference.

I'm still sick, but I have an appointment at one of the top ear clinics in the country this week. I hope that by this time next week, I'll be blogging to say that I feel well for the first time in a month. So send me good healing vibes this week.