And also learned where we didn’t really need her help. Like how standing on the top of Janna’s desk, in the 12 inch space between the phone and the computer was not an ideal location for anyone, not even Tennessee. Or how not every customer who crouches down is awaiting big, sloppy, ear kisses. Sure, some were but others were looking at merchandise (and got discounts to make up for the unwelcome Coonie-kisses).

It wasn’t long before Tennessee understood how many hours she worked, what her work schedule was, which parks and interesting gardens lay between work and home, that it wasn’t as scary as originally thought to walk home after dark, and that “Coonie on the loose” meant all the customers had gone for the day and that she could make her rounds to visit closing staff, displays (look with your eyes, not with your nose!), and check out the lunch room in case some one had leftovers or had dropped a morsel during the day.

Tennessee’s advanced education also began with a vengeance. Kathy-teacher every Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday from work. She started with getting through a whole City block without pulling and advanced to Transit stations, busy down town City streets, and other “out-and-about” etiquette. From this Tennessee learned that “off” is hard but learning is fulfilling. She watched the clock for Kathy’s daily arrival and gave a little stretch and sleepy groan to announce to us that Kathy had arrived, soon it’d be time to get up. And when she returned she learned it was better to go settle than it was to jump on Janna’s desk! Tennessee also earned both her Beginner and Intermediate diplomas from Dogsmart and was two classes away from completing her Recall lessons at Keam Farm sTraining Camp. To be fair, there were bumps on the way to her higher education, like lurching toward the treat table in Beginners, using her paws like a giant cat to try and scoop food while working on her leash walking. Or the time she spied the bag of balls (WOW!) about 70% into completing her Intermediate class recall. And then there was the lesson at Keam’s (aside from how good Sheep droppings taste!) ... if you leave the farm, you’d better come right back. Don’t make Dave have to come and get you! But it was worth it. With a higher education came access to four hour long urban adventures through the Green Way trails, stops at playing fields for off-leash romps (and taking squeaky toys from much slower, hopeless Pugs), mind blowing races down through the tide waters at Iona Beach and scaling the break water rocks, and successfully navigating the complex social order of crowded urban off-leash parks. Learning to be civilized also opened doors: front doors to Auntie’s house to play with all of Scotia’s (Auntie’s Sheltie) toys, basement doors to Uncle Gary’s house to ponder why that cat won’t come out of the shadows, doors to and from offices to visit with all the staff, doors to shopping centres to calmly walk down the aisles, looking with your eyes, not your nose (well ... some times with your nose), doors to Tall Friend’s car to travel to almost weekly Saturday adventures, doors to Tenny-Tuesdays all day is me day solo days at work, doors to visit Molly the nice lab-cross up the street, and doors to Sue’s house for a dinner party, no less! And very importantly, doors to the Farm where you get rewarded for making wise choices and where Tennessee mastered being a good decision maker. The last words spoken of Tennessee on what turned out to be her final visit at Keams Farm were “She was a joy to have around.”