Darby's First Trip Alone

Yesterday I went into Chicago to see my friends for dinner.  I took Darby with me as my date.  This was his first time going on the train by himself.  He was great waiting for the train and ignored the giant crowd waiting too.  He got very unsure of himself when the train pulled up and we started walking with the crowd to the stairs of the train.  He backed up and started panicking.  I didn't have time to try and get him to come on his own and the stairs up to the train are still too steep for him to really get up them well so I just picked him up and carried up onto the train.  He then settled down and walked calmly to a seat and then slept the whole way into Chicago.

I carried him off the train and then let him walk downstairs to the street.  He tried to freak out about going down the stairs with the crowd to the street but I just kept walking and he gave up and decided he was okay. We then walked wonderfully to my friend's house.  I love his loose leash walking!  So so wonderful.

Darby then joined us for dinner at this cute corner pizza cafe.  The head person of the restaurant was unsure of Darby at first and said that dogs had to sit outside the dining area.  I explained he was a service dog in training and he would go under the table and you wouldn't know he was there.  He was totally cool with that and let us in.  We sat outside and Darby did a great go-in under the table.  My friends have never been somewhere with me with a dog and were in awe of the number of looks and comments Darby received (both good and bad).  But once Darby went in and acted like a perfect gentleman I think people really liked him.

We took the train back home and Darby did wonderfully.  When we were waiting to get off the train the little room you wait in got really crowded.  Everyone loved Darby and were making cute puppy noises at him.  He stayed in a perfect sit and just wagged his tail but did not approach anyone.  I am so very proud!