My first outing with Sharkey and CC cats!

 I went in to Best Friends today to pick Sharkey up for our first outing. I talked to his caregiver and she told me he's very dog-friendly (when we have dogs on outings they are not allowed to meet other dogs), very people friendly, and very food motivated. I decided to take him to Angel's Landing for our first outing. Angel's Landing is the only place you can really find grass the dogs can be on in the Sanctuary (all other areas are red sand/dirt). It's a really pretty area with a stream and a natural amphitheater where people can also have gatherings, cookouts, and weddings. Sharkey was great in the car. He did try to get into the front seat, but he was interested in riding shotgun and did not show any interest in climbing into my lap (luckily). Then he was content just laying down. We got to Angel's Landing and I just let him sniff around for a while. I wanted to see what he was trained in and I found his automatic sits are very advanced. He also knows down and can hold a sit-stay for quite some time. I am super impressed with Sharkey's skills! Every now and then you'll ask him to sit and he'll go straight into a down, but we'll work on that :) He is such a sweet, sweet dog.

When I took Sharkey back to his run, I asked the caregiver a little more about him. I mentioned how on point a lot of his training was and she said that he is an incredibly fast learner and it only took him two times each to learn sit and down. That is pretty amazing. They've also taught him the suggestion "go to bed" and he picked that up really quickly as well. Dogs cannot generalize (for example, a dog may be able to sit on command inside, but when asked to outside cannot). Sharkey can. His caregiver asked him to go to bed and he looked and there was another dog in his normal bed. So he went to a different bed. That is really, really incredible to me that he was able to generalize like that. She said he also has only been to Tara's Run once (which is the training area at Best Friends that has an agility course) and he caught on super fast. I am so excited for all the things we'll be able to do!

I went to the CC cats today. They are all so sweet! I worked with a woman who retired from Best Friends in February, Connie. I was so glad she was there to show me the whole process. So many of those cats really just want to socialize and I wish they would all be healthy so they can be in the regular cat runs. I really enjoyed working with the cats today and I've signed up to volunteer for a few more shifts. Like I was telling Connie, I'm only here for 5 weeks (one week is over already!) so I'm really trying to completely delve into everything I possibly can while I'm here and get the most out of this experience. The only thing I'm worried about is getting ring worm, but I've been following all of the instructions and will be on the lookout for it.

Tomorrow will be another fun day, I get to work with dogs (including Sharkey) all day!