Whiz Kidz

Chewie thinks I am dominant. She's slightly fearful of me -- she has a stronger-than-usual desire to please, compared to other puppies.

And therefore, she doesn't yet lick me very much. Generally, she's not too much of a licker... and she hasn't touched many others here (a few times, out of vest)... so her licking prowess hasn't quite been displayed.

There's only need for her to lick me, to ramp up the Alerting. Chewie has alerted me twice -- once, to a low, and another time, to a 100 point drop in my blood sugar level, from 190 to 91, which then levelled off at 95 and stayed there (but i didn't go low -- low for most is 80 or under).

When these dogs are learning to alert, we do scent training when we get low (whether they alert us, or we discover the low ourselves, via symptoms and then a blood test). We very specifically get our scent to their noses wit face to face interaction. Then, they're supposed to lick us -- and we praise. Problem was, Chewie wasn't licking much. She'd maybe lick my hand, but not my face. The trainers thought it might be, as happens with puppies, that she saw me as such a strong Pack Leader, that she didn't think she was supposed to lick me.. and therefore did not.

But there is a remedy, and it comes in a can, and tastes great, or awful, depending on how discerning your little tasty buds, on triscuits.

It's Cheese Whiz. Or, as my canister says, Party Cheese.

When I get low, wherever i happen to be, i spread it on my chin, and lips, and do the scent exercises with Chewster. And lo! behold! she licks me, licks me madly.

I did it in the back seat of Shannon's car the other day, in the parking lot of a bowling alley (we were going bowling; i bested Obama)... and then yesterday, we did it in the detergent aisle at Walgreens. There was c whiz EVERYwhere, and i had no napkins. When i finally met my friends later, there was dried cheese whiz (even worse? perhaps) on my chin, and, oddly, part of my earlobe, someone told me in the hallway.

Whatever works! Making out with my dog in public... apparently... may just work. It's gross -- especially with the added 'kink' of processed squooshie cheese being pooted out of a metal canister -- but we are, in fact, a new couple. And new couples kiss, a lot, anywhere they can. We're in this together! We're a team! We're falling in love! (And we love cheese!)

SOTP: "New Love" - Ziggy Marley & the Melody Makers