Raising Robbie: Mall Crawl
By Craig Garretson, Senior Communications Officer
We recently brought Robbie to a local mall as part of a puppy club outing. The photo shows Robbie sitting inside the mall in his green Seeing Eye Puppy Raising Program vest. His tongue is out after doing several laps inside the big mall!
Robbie loved seeing all the people and stores. Seeing Eye dogs are trained to ride escalators, but they don’t do it as puppies. So we took the stairs or the elevator, which is a good learning experience as well.
The second floor of this mall has a glass wall running along the edge overlooking the first floor. The first time we walked along it, Robbie seemed a little nervous… maybe he didn’t realize the glass would keep us from falling over the side? We walked along it a couple times, and by our second trip he was sailing along without any worries. These outings really help build Robbie’s confidence and prepare him for his future life as a Seeing Eye dog.
