Shop Till You "Drop"

As I mentioned in yesterday's post, Tenie's birthday party took place this past Saturday. Since I was the main organiser, there were a few things I needed to pick up and Dad was my willing driving victim Saturday morning.
He picked Nala and I up just after 10 and we made our way to the Dollar store where I picked up a few items, such as tiny cups and candles, for the party. We weren't long in the store and were soon off to our next stop, Food Basics. For those of you who don't know, Food Basics is a usually inexpensive grocery store. You can buy pretty much everything from there, but I tend not to get their meat. The quality is a bit questionable. We spent some time in that store, browsing for items on my list and price checking. We were still going to stop at Walmart, so I wanted to check prices before buying things.
I picked out a few things for our mini pizzas and then we headed up to Walmart. As we hopped back into the truck, Nala let out a small whine, but I thought nothing of it. She's a pretty vocal dog and I thought that perhaps she had seen another dog or was just protesting our return to the vehicle so soon.
When we got to Walmart, Dad had to circle around in order to find a parking spot. It was quite busy and eventually we had to park way at the back of the lot. There were shoppers everywhere and I took Dad's arm to be guided across the parking lot. Nala was kind of prancing at the end of her leash, but I thought that she was just excited to be out. Maybe the crowded place had her a bit over stimulated?
We headed through the automatic doors and her prancing continued and still I just assumed it was because of all of the people. We continued on into the store and she began walking even more strangely. Since I was holding her leash instead of her harness handle, it was difficult to determine what she was doing, but it felt like she was sniffing and being overly distracted. I corrected her, but she kept acting strangely. As I went to correct her again, I realised that she was hunkering down and shuffling her back paws. That's when it hit me: she had to go!
In complete panic mode, I spun around back towards the door and said more calmly than I felt, "She needs to go outside."
Dad got the hint and immediately began guiding me to the door, but Nala kept dropping her bum and trying not to walk. Having had a guide dog who used to protest pooh I was not prepared to go through that humiliation again and in an act of utter panic, I picked her up and carried all 65 LBS of her out the door.
"You will not poop in Walmart." I told her as I hefted her into my arms, her back legs dangling and my arms wrapped around her middle. All Dad could do was put his hand on my back and steer me, arms full of giant Golden dog, back to the automatic doors and out. I'm fairly sure we made quite the spectacle, blind woman hauling her guide dog fully dressed in its gear, through a store. Dad even said hi to a few other shoppers, who I presume were staring at us.
Once out the doors, I set her down and she managed to hold it until we walked a few feet to a grassy spot.
She must have been desperate because I've never had her almost go indoors before; not even when she had an upset tummy and actually was ill for about 24 hours. It's my fault because I didn't relieve her before we left the house. I had assumed she was good because she had already went just an hour before embarking on our little shopping trip.
Needless to say, next time we go out, I will make sure I give her the opportunity to go, regardless of how recently she's went. And, if she ever starts prancing strangely again, I will know what that means.
Oh, the joys of working with a new dog. At least it's always good for a laugh. :)