Denied

On Tuesdays and Thursdays Liam, our youngest at 4 years old, goes to a MDO program at a local church while his older sisters are in school.  It's pretty much Kindergarten Lite with a basic curriculum, play time, snack time, lunch time and rest time.  It starts an hour after and ends an hour before "real" school.  And it is a thriving program, so there are a great number of children, all under kindergarten age.

Given Maxwell's impeccable behavior the last few trips to Petsmart, (sitting on command, and then staying in a sit to greet new people) I thought my son's classmates might be the perfect next level.

It took me a few days to work my courage up to try it.  I mean, a 13.5 week old puppy and a horde of sweaty, squealing 3 & 4 year olds--what could possibly go wrong?

We pulled into the parking lot of the church, and Maxwell was pretty excited.  He was acutely aware that this was somewhere New, and could hardly wait to put nose to ground.  I got him out of the car and he did his "excited dance", prancing around and wiggling his butt faster than his tail can keep up.

It's remarkable how much this resembles the "potty dance" in toddlers, but I digress.

We struck off for the entrance with a purpose.  We were going to make people smile.

"Awwww," came the signal that we'd been spotted.  First customer in line was a tank of a 3 year old.  Belly hanging over the edge of the diaper sticking out of his waist band, he walked right up.

I had Maxwell sit, (he need a gentle tush push for his behind to actually contact the ground, but once he was there, he was money), while mom instructed the boy to be gentle and careful.  With serious eyes only a small child could muster and tongue sticking out in concentration, he very deliberately patted Maxwell on the head.  Maxwell lifted his nose, and gave the boy's forearm a lick. 

After this very sweet interaction, the little boy was done--mom mentioned as we moved on that he was "terrified" of dogs.

We then headed for the entrance.  As we neared the doors, I scooped Maxwell up and tucked him under my arm (getting harder to do now that he weighs so much) and headed for the hallway towards Liam's class.

It was then that he pounced.

This guy--he must be the facilities manager or something.  I call him the MDO bouncer (coined previous to this encounter).

"Excuse me! Sir? Sir! Sir!!," he barked.  "You can't take her in here!"

Now, I get it.  I really should have asked permission beforehand.  But honestly it didn't even cross my mind.

Dejected, we headed back out to the car.  Lucky for me it was very pleasant out, only in the low 60s.  I was able to leave my windows down 5 or 6 inches and Max had plenty of ventilation.  I dashed in and grabbed my son, praying the whole time that dog-nappers don't choose church parking lots to hang around.

So we went to Petsmart where at least we're welcome.

The employees there are starting to get to know us.  We got several, "Oh, he's getting so BIG!" comments today.

$35 worth of toys later, I think our my wounded pride was somewhat smoothed.