Progress!

After 2 1/2 months at our condo, Trooper's service-dog training is now beginning to pay dividends.

For weeks he has done well during his formal training sessions—jumping up on me and leading me to the sources of three sounds: the ring of the phone, the call of my name, a knock at the door. Now he is doing these things reliably outside the sessions, which is the entire point of having a hearing assistance dog.

That is, between the hours of 6 a.m. and 8 p.m.

If the phone rings or Debby calls my name after that witching hour, Trooper will just lift his head at his bed and cock an annoyed eye at her, as if to say what she wants is against union rules and he gets double overtime if he chooses to work. Which he doesn't. Go talk to the shop steward.

The goal is for him to understand that he's on duty 24/7.

But we're getting there.