In search of a lead...

I'm cuter than the rat terrier on the book right?

I had to go and get a very specific item for Sappho's nosework trial - a 15' lead. I'm a big believer and consumer of independant small pet stores, but in a pinch I'll go to the big box pet stores. Knowing that they were likely my only hope of getting that lead in time, I loaded Cody up in the car and headed out.

Starting with a potty break before going inside.

But....it smells like I should pee here!

We always start with a several minute potty break. Stores try to clean up messes, but based on dog's behavior there are a lot of urine scents left over, so taking Cody into a pet store requires me watching him carefully read to interrupt as he lines up to mark.

It was pretty noisy on this day, but fortunately minimal kids or folks who weren't controlling their pups.

Taking it all in.

Getting started checking things out.

Visiting the fish - not very exciting.

Visiting the birds - very exciting!

Cody loves birds, as do every terrier I've met so far. Of course by love, I mean wants to kill and possibly eat them. So as not to stress the birds I kept Cody back a couple feet from the cages (you can't tell very well in the picture) to prevent him from jumping on the glass. The birds seemed content to sit there and ignore him.

Last time Cody was at the vet a few weeks ago they didn't get a solid weight on him, but it was reading 18. I wanted to get another reading with just Cody and I hoping he'd be comfortable enough to sit still for me for a minute. He did very well, and we got our new weight. He's gained a little bit of weight, but he's very lean and shouldn't lose a single bit of weight, so this tells me he's gained some muscle, which is fantastic.

Of course, while birds and weights and sniffing where all the other dogs have gone is important, there is something that tops all of those - food.

What do we have here....

No, foster mom won't let me eat rawhides.

Might there be a hole in this bag?

This looks good.

But I smell something more enticing.

Big meaty bones!!

I have lots of treats at home, and as I mentioned, I buy whatever I can from local independant pet stores that don't carry horrible food like Beneful or Purina Dog Chow. So I passed on all the treats and gave Cody some of the Ziwi Peak I had with me to reinforce positive behaviors. He didn't seem to mind not getting any of those bones, although when we were checking out he discovered one more thing of interest....

A treat buffet? Just for me??

By this point we had visited 2 different box stores and had fortunately found the 15' leash. It is big for my purposes but will work until Sappho's 1/2 inch lead comes in. In the meantime, I had to step into a store nearby that wasn't pet friendly, so I put Cody in the front seat for a couple minutes while I grabbed what I needed. Cody was tuckered from all the visiting and novelty, and within a minute of me getting back in the car he settled back into position until I had to disturb him to put him back in his crate!

Lets go home!