Foffdaughter: The Vest

One of the found four-leggeds is a dog named Gibbs. He was just hanging around the farm gate, no collar, and that was that. No one responded to the 'found dog' announcements and no one was looking for him. He was estimated to be on the brink of 2 years old and in excellent health. No fleas, no mats, no injuries and only mildly underweight.

Gibbs is being trained as a service dog currently. Of course this is always subject to change if something just doesn't feel right for either one of us, but so far it has been smooth sailing and happy days for the pair. Within the past few weeks Gibbs has started to wear the vest during his exercises. Time was allotted for an adjustment period, change is scary after all, but Gibbs was golden fine. The general public is still adjusting, and I suspect this will be a permanent phase.

Some of the spoken gems thus far:
(reading aloud) "'Working dog do not pet.' Aww can I pet him?"

"Where can I get a vest like that for my dog? It is so cute."

(speaking to Gibbs in babytalk) "Oh aren't you just so handsome in your little outfit! Why are you all dressed up huh? Oh you cutie pie! What does your mommy need you to do for her?" (note: I chose not to respond to the questions directed at my dog.  It is none of my business!)

"Holy shit that is a huge dog!" (note: Gibbs is not huge.)

"Now, see, I know that when they are wearing a vest you are not supposed to touch them because they are working.  I do know that much!" (I am just staring at the speaker blankly but suspect that they are proud of their know-how or something and thought it should be shared.... ?)  "I won't bother you but I just HAD to tell you how very beautiful your dog is."  (I thank them for the compliment and move on mentally.)  "I mean!... Ohh just breathtaking!  I couldn't tell the size from across the parking lot, but I just had to tell you how pretty your dog is."  And there is some extension of their arm towards Gibbs, twitching fingers, a simple, clueless smile on their face, and I correct them- JUST like everyone else needs correcting- but never mention what a waste of oxygen the whole thing was.

Without a doubt, there will be more to add later.