We had bowling the evening after my last journal entry, and there is another story to tell. It was the last night of the summer league, and our opponents were very nice people. Dave began a conversation with one of the opponents following the last game, and, therefore I was standing with Showbo. Showbo was holding a plastic grocery bag of things, as I began my own conversation with one of the other opponents. I forgot about the bag in Showbo’s mouth, but she stood quietly by my side. I probably talked for about 20 minutes when someone noticed Showbo still holding the bag. Showbo was very impressive!
On Thursday we took another trip to the nail salon. Here, I used a red color for my nails, and I wanted to get Showbo’s nails to match. I kindly asked a girl who was drying her nails next to me how she was at coloring. She laughed and said not very good. I replied by saying that was ok, and would she like to venture into doing my dog’s nails. She actually did Showbo’s nails, and Showbo was very polite. The girl doing Showbo’s nails said her boyfriend would never believe this experience. Maybe she should do doggy pedicures for a living! 
Just kidding.
Once again Showbo was on her Sunday best! During the church experience I used the bathroom, again, imagine that, and I used the trash can in the kitchen for a napkin. Then, when we went to leave the building, Showbo and I began down the hallway. We first stopped at the kitchen entrance, and then the bathroom entrance, and then we finally exited through the front door. Thanks for the tour, Showbo! She thinks she is one step ahead of me, but not yet. J
We attended a social gathering at our small group leader’s house that evening. The house has a large fenced yard and a pool. I removed Showbo’s harness to play fetch with her ball, and she loved the freedom. She became bored with the whole fetch thing, and she then decided to run laps. She ran large laps, randomly grabbing sticks with her mouth. I was asked if I ever taught her not to run with things in her mouth, but hey, she is a dog! This poodle is a fast little dog, too! Another couple brought their whip-it puppies, and Showbo wanted to play with them. We both unleashed our dogs, and they had a fabulous time. They took turns chasing each other, and the puppies actually got tired first. During some of the chases, the puppies would run through some dirt and hide behind a tree. Showbo, being a proper poodle, would avoid the dirt and just wait for the puppies to rejoin her in the grass. It was adorable! Showbo slept really great that night!
Lastly, I would like to share a few adventures at my grandparent’s house during this last visit. We used Amtrak, and people, as always, were in awe about a poodle as a seeing eye dog. Ugh, she is a dual service and guide dog! Anyway, she impressed my grandparents during the whole trip, because she behaved in the house, she behaved in the restaurants, and she absolutely did not have any accidents in their house! The live-in cats, and visiting cats, almost always leave a mess behind. Just for your information, Showbo is the first dog in our family, and she is a great first dog! My grandfather is a dog lover, who also hates cats. When Showbo had some play time, she decided to chase one of the cats, and my grandpa cheered for her. It was great! Go, Showbo! I believe everyone is really looking forward to being able to touch this cute little dog, who is very faithful to me. My grandpa was also impressed when I slept through the night, and Showbo also slept! J The best comment by my grandpa came right before we left. He wanted to know if he could record Showbo barking. My grandpa wanted to play this recording when Showbo was not there, in order to scare the cats. Funny, huh?
Well, hope this was a good read for everyone, and I will talk to you later. I hope to have a number of adventures in the next journal entry, because we are leaving in a couple of days for Hilton Head, South Carolina. Talk to y’all later.