Brewery therapy with River

What River needs most right now are some life experiences. Tuesday morning I took him to Green Dogs to meet a vet to evaluate the situation with his feet. She thought that there's really nothing to be done, he's getting around fine, he doesn't seem to be in pain, and we just need to place him in a home that isn't looking for a jogging partner. 

He was good with being handled by the vet, but the best thing for him was just getting out for a brief car ride and meeting a few new people.

This morning I was in the kitchen, standing at the sink washing some dishes. I felt a dog nuzzle me from behind and reached back assuming it was either Maya or Serena, but it was River instead. He's getting more comfortable with me but is still doesn't like to be touched when he doesn't know it's coming. He's better if you sit down in a chair or on the floor, closer to his level. 

Wednesday late afternoon I loaded him into the van and we went to Patch for a beer. I still have to pick him up to get him into the van, but he doesn't fight me doing so. I didn't hear anything out of him on the drive, but he was anxious about it as I discovered when we arrived. He was rather wet from anxiety drooling and he had barfed. 

There weren't a lot of people there in the evening and they were mostly all gathered up by the bar and the fireplace. I sat at a table in back, where he would just observe. A couple of people came back to meet him and he was good about it, although he was still nervous about being touched. He met Gus, a dog who belongs to one of the owners, and was fine with that. I had my brewery bag with me, which is full of dog treats, but he wouldn't take any of them while we were there.

I had two beers and then we came home. He didn't barf on the drive home, probably because his stomach was empty. We just need to do a lot more outings together, to get him to trust me fully, and to trust my judgment of strangers.

He enjoyed sniffing around through the dried leaves.