This week on Keeping Up With King presented by Zep...
I love Atlanta United match days -- and I got to attend the team's last home match at Mercedes-Benz Stadium! I held a meet-and-greet with my friends at Zep. I had a doggone great time meeting some of my fellow 17s! Everyone was so warm and generous. They gave me lots of pats and treated me nice. And our boys played pretty well! I wish they could've scored some more goals, but those stinkers from Philadelphia are pretty good at soccer.
With my VetDogs training, I'm working on a new skill that's really important: how to get help. My trainer calls it the "alert" or "get help" command. I'm learning this because there's a chance my future owner may be a first responder or a veteran with disabilities. They might need help sometimes if we're in a dangerous situation. When I hear this command, I know to hit an emergency button to call for help. I hope it won't happen, but I feel confident that I'll know how to help my human companion if the time comes.
The way my trainer, Michelle, teaches me this command is with a CD disc. She used this method to also help me learn the push command. When my trainer says the words "alert" or "get help" that's my signal. I hit my nose up against the disc to call for help. Learning this skill will also help reinforce those "push" lessons I learned earlier this summer about how to push things closed with my nose like drawers, doors or handicap door buttons.
One of the highlights of my summer was celebrating National Dog Day! Earlier this month, the Atlanta United social team sent out a post calling for people to post a picture of their pup. My trainer showed me all the photos of the sweet fur pals out there, and now I feel like I have so many new friends! And I just know that we'll be friends fur-ever!
I'll be heading back up to New York soon, so I'm soaking in all the wonderful things I love about Georgia. The leaves and pinecones are starting to fall to the ground, giving me something new to sniff. It's been a ball enjoying fall!
Keep up with Atlanta United's VetDog, King! We're posting regular updates on King's training with his trainer, Michelle Samuels.