L.A., Here We Come!

On a recent hot Saturday morning, eight puppies with an excited group of puppy raisers and their families from the Puppies with a Vision puppy club of Ventura County took the stairs or elevator down into the Universal City Metro Station. Their field trip for the day was a ride on the Los Angeles Metro Rail Subway (yes, there is a subway in L.A.!!), a stroll along the downtown streets, lunch at a downtown restaurant and a return trip on the subway. This socialization experience gave the pups that live in suburban areas a chance to experience an urban environment.

On the subway portion of the trip, the puppies successfully navigated the long, steep stairways; stayed calm as the noisy, fast-moving trains pulled in and out of the station; and remained unruffled while riding in crowded train cars. After a 20-minute subway ride, the dogs were ready for the long climb upstairs to the street level of the city.

Walking along the busy downtown streets gave the dogs the opportunity to experience the faster movements and noises of the passing traffic, walking on sidewalk grates, and crossing streets with a lot of cars. They encountered both fountains and fowl (at least, pigeons) and all did fine.

They were graciously greeted at the California Pizza Kitchen restaurant with bowls of water for the pups and an entire section reserved for the group of 20 people. Once again, with all those pups in a relatively constricted area, the dogs’ behavior was excellent.

“We were so proud of our puppies and how they were able to handle the new experiences that they encountered today,” said participating puppy raiser Bonnie Sloane. “We will certainly be making this trip an annual event.”