if you know me, you probably know my dog, chloe. all owner bias aside, chloe is one of the sweetest, most loving dogs i've ever been around. when i take her on walks passerby's can't help but smile. i've even been stopped on the street for photo opps and so on.
so after many years of thinking about it, i finally found a therapy dog organization in brooklyn and enrolled. with just 5 minutes into the evaluation, we got accelerated in the training program, skipping the first session and entering the second.
tuesday night we had our first class.
i must say, lil chlo isn't the only one being challenged here. we arrived 5 minutes late to a full, already settled in class of all kinds of brooklynites. big dogs, little dogs, hyper dogs, sleepy dogs, old owners, young owners, weirdo owners.
the set up was much like what i assume AA meetings are like. we had a seasoned volunteer open the class sharing her experiences and learnings, followed by introductions of all the classmates.
one thing this class made me realize is this. we get so caught up in our comfortable day-to-day environments, that being surrounded but different kinds of people is both exciting and nerve inducing. for the first time in a while i felt shy and reserved. next week i'll go in refreshed and ready to be part of a bigger community than my usual 20-somethings and industry folk.
side note: it really is difficult to teach an old dog new tricks. let's hope chloe still has it in her.
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