Well, this week was quite interesting. I had a one week training in DC for SharePoint 2010. Those of you who know me already know that I am a farm admin for SharePoint 2010, but my employer found a few slots open in an Administering SharePoint 2010 class, and sent a few of us up to DC to attend.
Since I was going to be outside my normal work environment, taking the metro everyday (which for me would be stressful), I decided it would be a good idea for me to take him with me. I packed up all my stuff and his as well, and off we went.
The first day, it was a bit rough on the metro to balance his bag and my briefcase on the escalator and then in the metro car, but since he is so small, I thought it was smarter to carry him in the bag, than to attempt to make him navigate on the escalator with the rush hour crowds, and the large number of people on the metro itself. In addition, I didn’t know exactly where I was going, so I needed to use my GPS to figure out where the building was. The increased stress messed with my blood sugar, of course, but I passed a small café, and was able to get some decaf coffee and an apple. We got to the training facility with 15 minutes to spare, and I was able to test my sugar, and we were good.
I put his bag under the desk, and class started. We were given frequent breaks, so I took advantage of those to take him down to the park that was just across the street. He was able to stretch his legs and let nature take its course during the breaks.
My boss was sitting right next to me, and didn’t even know I had Hoagie with me until we went to dinner at the Melting Pot.
“Was he with you all day?” he asked.
“Uhm, yes. Of course he was. I didn’t have time to go and get him after class and then get here to the restaurant.”
“But, I didn’t even hear him at all.”
“Well, he *is* trained. That is the point of a service dog. They are trained to serve, and in order to do their job, they have to learn to be quiet so that they can pay attention to their handler – that would be me.”
“Well, doesn’t he want to be petted and played with?”
“Yes, but he is working during the day. But, I do reach down and pet him during the day, and that also gives him a chance to sniff and taste my skin which is partly how I think he can tell what is going on with me.”
“I can’t believe he was that quiet.”
“But you know he was there, and you know he *was* that quiet.”
“Well, when do you feed him?”
“He gets fed twice a day. In the morning and in the evening, which means that he was fed before we left the hotel, and he will be fed after I go home from the restaurant.”
“Doesn’t he want some food while you are eating?”
“I don’t feed him at restaurants. I don’t want to encourage him to beg, and it is not appropriate for me to feed him in the restaurant. The restaurant is for people, not dogs. And he is still at work.”
“You are a slave driver.”
“No, I am a person who has special needs, and he is allowing me to have those needs taken care of regardless of where I am without needing a nurse to travel with me. He is much cheaper than having a dedicated nurse.”
Another co-worker asked, “Why don’t you bring him to work?”
“I could bring him to work without him disturbing anyone. My concern is that people at work would find out, and they would disturb him.” I replied.
That is really my biggest concern. After taking him this entire week to that training, I see that he is ready to go with me to work every day if I really needed to have him there. My bigger concern is that I work with some co-workers who may not be able to control themselves and may keep coming over to visit with him. That would disturb what he is there to do. He is supposed to keep an eye on my condition, retrieve my medications, and pick things up that I drop when it is difficult for me to get them.
