Jazzy Greetings

Despite my lack of updating the blog, Jazz has been busy at work... mostly practicing his greetings.

Unlike Uncle Ross, Jazz is truly a puppy. He gets excited easily, and sometimes forgets his manners. He often fools me by his calm demeanor in the office, and I forget that he's still just a puppy :)

Early in the month, Jazz met a cute little girl in foster care, whose head is shaved and wears a scarf to cover it. We met her in the lobby, and Jazz was so happy to make a new friend. The next week, we saw her and her mother as we entered another building. The girl excitedly told her mother, "There's the puppy again!" Her mother kindly told her that she hadn't met the puppy before, and I kindly informed her mother that she had. She happily greeted Jazz, and he happily greeted her back. The following week, as we rounded the corner in the hall of the same building, I saw Jazz's head pop up and he started to lunge on the leash. I corrected him, and had him sit to calm. Around the corner I saw the girl with the scarf. Jazz had sighted her first, and he was so excited to see his friend again! After he calmed, I allowed him to say hello. He laid down on the floor next to her and enjoyed a belly rub.

On the hospital unit, Jazz has a favorite little boy he has befriended, who is just his size. They both get so excited when they see each other. The boy exclaims "Jazzy!" and Jazz attempts to bound on him with love. Of course, bounding isn't allowed, so I try hard to keep all of Jazz's feet on the ground while he greets. He's been known to pop his front feet off the ground though, just quick enough to cover the boy's face in slobbery kisses. Every greeting is an opportunity to practice "four on the floor."

This past week, Jazz and I were called to the unit to assist with a blood draw. I must admit, with all the blood draws Ross and Jazz have helped with, I'm slowly developing a desensitization to my needle phobia. If nothing else, I suppose it's therapeutically beneficial to me in that way... On Friday, we entered a small office where the boy was waiting with the phlebotomist, nurse, and manager, refusing his blood draw. As we entered the room, Jazz immediately spotted the boy, ignored all of the adults, and climbed into the boy's lap, covering his face with kisses. The blood draw was ultimately unsuccessful, but there was a brief smile on the boy's face in a moment of stress and fear.

The puppy raiser in me knows that Jazz needs to keep working on appropriate greetings, but the psychologist in me knows that sometimes there is nothing better than the pure joy between a puppy and a child. Two happy kids in different bodies :)