Keeper outings- garden club

Keeper's stays are going to be wobbly for a bit, but she's loving the "find me" games out and about. Tuesday was the Garden Club flower show prep. About a dozen people roaming about. Did our first "find me" as a still in sight, but people between thing, just social pressure and tables/chairs as obstacles. She went down the center of a rectangle of tables where there was no traffic (problem solving), and then fit herself through a gap instead of bulling under chairs (nice change in body awareness, that.) Decided to build on success, set it up again, this time with me in the kitchen off the main hall so she'd have to search a bit. Did just a one note whistle to see what she'd do, and because I'd have to shout to be heard over everyone else. She heard the whistle and was up and searching with glee. Did a swing by past Mom, but found me quickly. Last setup was into a darkened hallway, usually not something she's fond of. Did great on the recall, and then led on into the dark as if she'd never had a doubt. Did it all while being aware of and not bowling over people, or being negatively stressed. We used the handicap accessible, family style bathroom. It's bigger than my bedroom. Keeper wasn't sure what to make of all that space. She sniffed the floor drain and checked the door, then settled in to her usual position on top of my feet. Never coveted a bathroom before.... And her stays aren't broken, so much as she's defaulting to following me to see if we're playing that game right now. I got to working on a design with a newer club member for several minutes. Thought to look for Keeper and she had tucked herself under the table and was watching me. Not wandering about, not in anyone's way, and I hadn't said anything to her. Did a couple more "find me" recalls at work. It was a lovely slow day while I was shelving, so we did non-fiction without a leash, and unless I told her to "wait," she was always in reach. A bit more lagging behind to give diffidence to the cart than I'd prefer, but it's been a while since we shelved much. Asked her to step forward, especially around turns to the right, and it got better. Every time we went on the straightaway without a cart she had good speed and pull into the harness. Which probably means I ran over her toes with the cart last time and didn't notice (or turned and stepped on her or something) and she blamed the cart, not my terminally klutzy proprioception. I'm really enjoying that we can work on a handful of aspects of her work without her brain folding up like an umbrella. No more one behavior until it's mastered training. Working on out of sight recalls doesn't make the retrieve fall apart, and asking for more speed and momentum pull around the cart doesn't mean she's wandering around, having her push doors and drawers closed isn't leading to random nose bumps- unless I zone out staring at the pantry cabinet. She went over and nudge-nudge-nudged the door there to see if it needed closing a last half inch or something. Great reminder that she cues off my gaze and attention a fair amount of the time. (I think I was contemplating a plot line in a book I'm reading, nothing actually related to the pantry. But I stared at it, so it must be important.) It was a good day.