Hi Friends –
Mom, Dad and I hopped in the truck the other day and took a trip down by the shore, but we didn’t get to go to the beach. We went outlet shopping instead. It’s time for the human puppies to go back to school soon so we went shopping to get them new clothes. New clothes are a good thing for a couple of reasons. 1. All puppies grow really fast and 2. Because humans are so bald it’s good to keep them warm. I also kinda think it’s so nobody laughs at you. I mean really it’s so much better being a dog with our own unique colors. Everyone always tells ME how handsome I am, and I wear the same thing every day.
I asked Dad why people don’t just grow more hair? It seems to be an easier solution to me. He said people don’t really know for sure, and researchers have thought about this a lot. We think it may have something to with the discovery of fire and our ability to control it reasonably well. Human genes evolved not to need so much hair about the same time in our history. Humans eating cooked food and external heat sources made for physiological changes. I say that’s great but way too complicated. Lets just go and enjoy the day. I really wish my parents weren’t such geeks. He could have just said, “I don’t know,” and moved on. I started to drift halfway through that conversation; he probably said more, but all I was thinking was, “Dad leave it, leave it Dad.” So ANYWAY! We went shopping and they bought clothes. More importantly we met a bunch of new people and most were really nice and couldn’t help but talk about me. I don’t mind that because I’m a secret service dog and the ‘ambassador of awesome.’
There are so many people who have questions about me and my family because in the area where we live people are used to seeing German Shepherds and Labs being trained as sight dogs. Fidelco is really close and they do amazing things for the sight impaired, so that at least makes service dogs a little more common but Danes aren’t, and we turn so many heads. Mom & Dad are happy about that because they are finding so many reasons to help me with this blog, not to mention the blitz on all things social media. Many of the people we meet say they didn’t know a Great Dane could be a service dog. I think that’s like saying I didn’t know a human could be a plumber. Of course we can be service dogs. I’m a big strong dog and Dad needs help balancing and getting up from a fall. Trust me, I know because after we went shopping we stopped for lunch and found a tag sale and art event in the town center, it wasn’t far from where they ate and I had a bowl of water. I walked Dad and Mom there but I was so excited I had a bit of a bounce in my step and wanted to get there faster than he wanted to go, so we worked a little on our one-step crawl. The other part that was exciting was that other dogs were there. I wanted so badly to play that Dad had to sit on the ground to be sure I didn’t pull and scare the tiny dog I saw. I got the dog pretty excited so he sat until he passed. Small dogs are interesting me. I’m sure I’ll figure it out soon. (Especially since we are going to visit Mom’s family soon and I hear her mom has 3 tiny dogs!) The bright spot of that event was that we were able to show off how we work together. Mom said people looked impressed how quickly I refocused and got back to work. I wanted to play, but there was no way I was going to leave Dad on the ground. After we finished meeting all the new people we headed back for home and ran more errands. We have a bunch to do so that we can go on our car trip to meet Mom’s pack. They live in a place called Oklahoma, we’re real excited to meet them.
I have to go “help” mom fold more laundry now. See ya!
Tagged: back to school, balance and stability, big dog, cerebral palsy, dane, disability, disability awareness, dog, dog walks, great dane, human puppies, leash, mobility, mobility dogs, New People, Oklahoma, puppy, sdp, service animals, service dane, service dog, service dog project, service dog training, shopping, weekend
Casper the Friendly Dane 
Casper, i love your telling of the days activities. You have a nice busy life & enjoy hearing about it. Love the pics on FB of you sleeping, & yesterday in the pool. Sleep well, pleasant dreams.
I think you have the pool photos confused with Perry! We live in a condo so we can’t do a little pool, but he would LOVE it.
Casper – 1) I’m very proud of you! You are really learning to focus! Good dog!! 2) No making fun of geeks. We all have our geek moments. Geeks move the world so be nice to them! 3) IT sounds like you were very patient waiting for your human puppies to shop. Gppd dog! (I’m sure you had to help Dan with that a bit!) You are learning more and more each day – keep up the good work! A+ for today’s efforts, little buddy!
oh, drat – spelling!!! It, good. (I’ll wear my glasses next time!!) xo
We have a house FULL of proud geeks. 🙂 And the shopping was easy. Because the human puppies were camping with their Dad. Mom says its easier that way.
You are a busy boy Casper and sounds like you had a fun day. Don’t worry about the human thing you will figure it out as you get older. Dogs and humans are a lot alike in some way but totally different in other days. I am sure you need to get some rest for working all day and Mom and Dad must be pretty tired so you be a good boy for the rest of the night since you have to go to work tomorrow. Have a GREAT Dane week and I am sure you will be telling us more in your blog.
Casper it sounds like you are learning very quickly and having lots of fun at the same time. It’s great that you can be an ambassador for service dogs and help people understand more about them. Have a great week!!!
Thanks, Casper. I love reading your updates and appreciate your folks’ efforts to educate everyone about Service Dogs. It’s informative and fun to read about your day. A few years ago I had cancer in my spine and needed a walker. I use a cane now on bad days so learning how Danes can work as balance dogs is of great interest to me. My own Dane has helped me so many times I’ve lost count. She’s not trained but she can help me pull myself up if I fall and she stays by my side when we walk around our neighborhood. Again, Thank you so much for writing this blog
That’s so wonderful about your Dane. They are such loyal and smart puppies!
Hi Casper:
Sounds like you had an awesome weekend; shopping, going out for lunch, meeting new people and service dogs, plus helping mom with laundry! You’re such a good pup, Casper. And, now you’ll be visiting your Nana with her 3 small pups. I’m sure you’ll get along well with them. They might be fast and running in and around your tummy and legs, so be aware. (By the way, your Dad is cute!! But, don’t tell him that I said that, it will be between you and me, okay?!) Have a wonderful week; love you, my boy! ❤