I had a good plan, but we didn’t stick to it.  It might not have made much difference.

People don’t like surprises and dogs are autistic people, so it’s best not to spring something on them.  If the surprise is allowed to slowly dawn on them, then any response will seem performative because the event has already passed.

Everything was going fine until Archie dropped a deuce.  Sparky did the same thing at Archie’s house, so fair enough.  That threw us off our game.  Sparky didn’t come in and Sean didn’t slip out as seamlessly as I’d hoped. 

After Sean left, Archie got belligerent. 

Sparky was mortified and Indy was baffled, bordering on concerned.  Archie wouldn’t even take an offered treat.  To diffuse the situation, I took Sparky and Indy for a walk.  When those two were relaxed and comfortable, I hitched them up outside, and went in to talk to Archie.

When I was teaching at Normandy, I did a period-sub for a gym class.  One student insisted that he was allowed to leave early.  I admitted that could be true, but not for today, since I’m subbing.  The kid started getting belligerent.  He was showboating for the class.  I pulled him aside for a one-on-one.  I asked him why he was being a dick.  The kid knew that was true, and it was settled.

Archie was relaxed as I approached the patio door, but got all wee-wee’ed up when I went in.  He wouldn’t stand down, so I cornered him, and we had a little talk.  I told him to stop being a dick.  He got the message.  I let him relax for a few minutes while I went to go get the other two guys.

When I went back out, Sparky was teaching Indy how to do the Wazzzzupp! bit from those old Budweiser commercials.  If you laugh at an autistic person’s joke just once, they think it will always be funny.  Dogs and autistic people are like the British in that respect.  Sparky has ran that bit into the ground, but Indy kept messing up, so it was funny again.

I went back in, gave Archie a treat, hitched him up, and we went for a dog walk.

They all did fine.  A short leash is necessary to keep them from getting all tangled up.  As the walker, I had to be more decisive than I usually am with Sparky.