Thursday, October 6, 2011

One Flattened Cub Scout

Chester was invited to his first Cub Scout Meeting this week.  How thrilling is that?!  It ranks right up there with squirrels and Pup-er-onis on Chester's top ten list.  Boys and pups, a match made in heaven for sure.

In the Cub Scout Pledge these young boys salute the flag with honor, promising to obey and help others.  Those words describe these amazing Scouts, as well as Chester.  That's why Chester was invited.  woof woof & woot woot

During the meeting, I had the joy of telling Chester Tails  to Scouts and parents. I shared about where we go,  what we do, the fun we have, and the hope and encouragement we get to bring to others.  And then, Chester and I did a few demonstrations of how we HELP others   ..... which brings me to the title of this post. eh-hem.

During demonstration time ~

One Scout pretended to have a hurt leg, (let me tell you, this boy should have earned an academy award for his owie-leg performance) and desperately needed crutches to get around. Ohmy.   Chester stayed right by this young man's side with every painful step.  That went well.

Next, Chester and I demonstrated reading time. I was going to pretend to read to Chester while he lay QUIET and STILL, focused and listening. And so I sat on the floor, asking Chester to lay by my side. He nestled in next to me, then proceeded to roll onto his back,  moving back and forth and back and forth while SMILING, and wiggle wiggle wiggle, with his legs spread WIDE showing everyone everything, and making funny doggy noises.  So much for quiet reading time.

Next he demonstrated sit-ups and doggie kisses.  That went pretty smoothly.  Slobbery but smooth.

Then it was time for over and under.  A very brave Cub Scout volunteered to make a bridge, you know kneeling on all fours so Chester could crawl under, then jump over.

Under went great.  Chester army-crawled right under this little guy.  Yeah!

Over, not so great.

I commanded Chester, OVER!  Rather than leap over his Cub-Scout-Friend in a single bound, umm, he sort of used him as a spring board for 70 lbs. of flying leap, flattening the poor little guy spread eagle on the floor. Of course the entire room erupted in laughter and applause (of course ALL the parents were there too ~~ including the parents of the boy who was smushed into the carpet).

I mentioned to the hard-to-get-back-in-control group that typically this is not how it's done during therapy.... 

Because it is important for Chester to end on a positive note, NOT thinking he gets applause and laughter and reward for flattening Cub Scouts, I asked this courageous boy if he would mind letting Chester try the over-command one more time.   He gave me this you've got to be kidding look, but kindly agreed to my request (I think that is the HELP OTHERS part of the pledge). 

And so, the Brave Scout returned to the all-fours position and braced for impact, closing his eyes.  I gave Chester plenty of room to get a running start and commanded him OVER! 

The room was silent.

And OVER Chester flew, ears flapping, tail high,  not touching even a hair on the little guy's head. (Thank God!)

The Scout rose up to cheers and applause.  So did Chester.

Thankfully......no Cub Scouts were injured in this Canine Demonstration.