The bathroom.....again

I never realized how much our lives revolved around the bathroom! I'm not sure this is a good thing.

I have a funny/sad story about our bathroom experience at the mall today. The SSD trainer had to leave early to go to NYC with the other Team in Training. We were given the green light to continue shopping/walking at the mall. They were actually trusting us on our own!

We were in Game Stop looking at video games when nature called for Ryan. So off we go in search of a bathroom. We found one and proceeded to the "handicap" bathroom. Proper procedure for using a public bathroom in a wheelchair with a service dog is to have them walk backwards into the stall & sit between the wall and toilet. Ryan then follows in his wheelchair. The problem with the "handicap" bathroom was that the stall was so small that after he drove his chair "in", he was not able to close the door behind him. (I guess, if you use a wheelchair you don't need privacy to go to the bathroom such as a closed door. Yes, I'm being sarcastic.)

The stall looks like this - Sky is scrunched into the corner against the wall, Ryan is trying to stand at the toilet with his chair pushing at the back of his legs & the door is hanging open. I am wedged in there, too, trying to keep the door somewhat closed.

So Ryan is trying to go to the bathroom, Sky keeps resting her head on the rim of the toilet bowl (gross, I know) and then she would look up at Ryan and each time she removed her head the toilet would flush. She did this 5 or 6 times. We finally figured out she was asking "permission" to get a drink from the toilet. (The way they train the dogs to ask permission is to put their head on the object. For instance, if she wants to go up on the couch she would rest her head on the couch and not get up on it until she was given the ok.)

Ryan and I started laughing our heads off - partially because of Sky and partially because of how ridiculous the whole situation was. I'm not sure where she picked up this habit, but she will sneak drinks out of the toilet if we don't stop her.

Needless to say, we did not have a "productive" bathroom break!