Training day 15

6:32 AM

Gosh it's freezing this morning. Then again, I'm always cold. I thought I might wake up sore from last night's deep  massage, but I'm surprisingly not. The guy did tell me that my back felt really offset to him though, which didn't surprise me at all, given how tense I am when I walk with Arden. It's not him, specifically, but just that it takes time to trust that a new dog won't crash you into something, or drop you off the edge of the sidewalk. Although these dogs are trained extensively, they're still young, and our relationship is still brand new. And I'm sure that goes both ways, too. I'm sure I hold the harness handle differently from the way his trainer did, and I probably follow differently as well. So poor Arden has to get used to be also!

This morning I think we're going to Fisherman's Warf, a landmark tourist destination in sanfransisco. It's generally very crowded, and teaming with tourists. There are also a lot of outdoor stalls and displays that Arden will have to be mindful of, and I don't doubt that there'll be a lot of smells, also. For now though, I'm going to get dressed and attend to this yellow animal that's in my room.

12:17 Pm

This morning, we headed out to Fisherman's Warf, as anticipated. Arden really comes to life in the big city, which is generally a good thing, given that I live downtown, myself. It was a great opportunity to basically practise everything: navigating around countless pedestrians, extremely wide street crossings, and obstacles all over the place. He also managed to do some excellent guiding while the sounds of construction drowned out any and every other noise, including my commands and praise. He handled the city like a champ. He did speed up quite a bit though, so I had to slow him down a couple times. Although I'm getting to trust him, that's a speed I'd like to reserve for when our trust is stronger still. Right now, I'd prefer his more moderate speed, because if there ever is a clearance issue or some other guiding mishap, I'll at least have time to react before potentially getting my head bopped, you know? I also got myself a sanfransisco keychain with the Golden Gate Bridge on it to take home. I debated buying some clothes, but decided against it (my fiancé would be proud!), mostly because I don't have too much extra room in my suitcase.

Although the morning went relatively well, I'm still in a bit of an irritable mood. The entire morning, I just felt like shouting "Shut up!" everywhere I went, and I had less patience than usual when being approached by a very...unique individual who insisted on blowing smoke in my and Arden's faces, while standing close enough to me to be making out.

"I'm in the biotech industry!" he bellowed. I was like sure buddy, though I'm sure you need an IQ higher than, like, four to be in that industry at all, just saying. And he wouldn't stop talking about how great Arden was, which I had to agree with. even still, the amount of attention we get from the public can also get really annoying. Sometimes, when I'm in a good mood, I'll engage with them and chat a bit, but often, I'm rushing off to school and have several things on my mind, and am just not in a place to chat about how "your dog smells my dog" for an hour.

I'm so annoyed, in fact, that I'm just going to skip lunch and spend some time here in my room. Maybe I'll listen to music or something, or maybe read a book. I'm just in one of those moods where any social interaction has the potential to reduce me to tears or send me into an anxiety attack because I just find it so exhausting. I know that I wouldn't want to be around me right now, so I suppose I'm also doing my classmates a favour :).

This afternoon, we have our progress interviews for the week. I think we'll be talking about last-minute things we'd like to work on, as well as the transition back home. after that, I think we're having a talk from a field manager about graduate services. This evening we're doing our first "night route".  I put that in quotations because we're doing it at 6:30, when it'll barely even be dusk out, so I think the "night" part of the route is a loose term. Ah well, I'm glad for all the practise we can get.

5:56 PM

Like I said earlier, I didn't end up making it to lunch. It ended up being a good decision, because I ended up listening to an audio book and falling asleep, one arm draped off the side of the bed, stroking Arden's soft yellow coat. It was one of those very relaxing naps where you don't really know exactly when you fell asleep, but wake up feeling rested. A short while after I woke up, my instructor came by to have our progress meeting. We went over to the hammocks to chat, and Arden flipped over onto his belly and received all his praise. We agreed that like we'd always suspected, Arden is a consistently good worker. This isn't to say we never have our issues, but I can generally expect really good work from him, and he absolutely delivers. We talked about any outstanding things I wanted to focus on this week, and I told her I'd like to work on controlling his speed better--there were moments at the Warf this morning where I felt he was a bit too quick for that environment, and so I'd like to just fine-tune our speed issue. Really though, I'm just being nit-picky. If someone asked me if I was ready to head home today, I'd have to say that I am. I also know that I'm one of the lucky people in class who had relatively few problems with  my dog. Honestly though, I can't really think of anyone in my class (with maybe one exception) who wouldn't be ready to head home. A lot of us are just reworking routes we found helpful, doing more work in areas we think most resemble our home environment, and are putting the final touches on our technique. Oh, speaking of which, we're heading into Berkeley tomorrow, and we're going to be trying the gentle leaders on the dogs for the route. The gentle leader more effectively controls the dog's head, and does not require as much physical strength or motion on the part of the handler. Some dogs need it occasionally, while others have it as part of their wardrobe--it completely depends on the team and their environment. I'm interested to see how Arden will react to having it on; I hope he doesn't mind it, because although I don't think it'll be a standard part of his uniform, I'd like to have it in my "toolbox" should an occasion call for it.

9:03 Pm

So here I am, on the flip side of the night route. I went out second, which actually gave the sky a bit of time to darken just enough to at least make it feel like a late evening route, if not a full on night one. Another instructor joined us for the evening, because she'll be staying over night. she actually ended up taking Melissa on her route, and when they got back to the lounge, I began to panic a little. She seemed very kind and approachable, but I'm a bit attached to the idea of going out with my own instructor. She understands what it is I need of her during routes, i.e. needing for her not to be a silent parole officer shadow figure. She's really good at chatting to me as I walk, which does a lot to ease my anxiety. Anyway, she ended up getting back to the lounge in time and was very flattered when I told her that I worried I'd have to walk with someone else. I'm glad I made her feel wanted!

The route itself went wonderfully. There were several dog distractions out in full force, so we had opportunities to practise either working past them or doing the time out. The second time out I did was actually effective, and I mentioned it to my instructor. I'm sure you guys know that I'm a bit skeptical as to the effectiveness of the time-out method in all circumstances, and I've also shared my perspective with the instructor. she brought up a really good point though. effective or not, it isn't safe to work a dog who's actively distracted. so there may be times when I can urge my dog past a distraction because I'm finding he's minimally engaged with the distraction, and I know I can refocus his attention quickly. There were times tonight, though, when it made a lot more sense to stop, regroup, and work him after waiting about ten seconds. In the "real world" i.e. when there isn't an instructor around to describe the situation to you, or give you feedback on what has your dog's attention, it makes sense to not have the dog guide you while he's distracted. So I learned something really valuable right there! So, thanks L! (you know who you are).

Speaking of dog distractions, we were coming up on this one dog on the left who was tiny and barking up a storm. Arden did try to walk past it, but stopped. I was all GDB time-outing--like you could have put me in a GDB commercial for time-outs. Then, the woman who owned the dog grabbed it, and urged it towards my dog.

"Go meet him! play with him!" she chirped, continuing to shove her dog in my dog's face. By this time, Arden was effectively choking himself because he was trying to figure out what the hell was going on.

"Can you please not thrust your dog at him?" My instructor asked the woman, "he's actually working. he's a guide dog."

"He is?!?!" the woman asked incredulously.

"Yup." my instructor replied simply.

"Well, I'm so sorry!" she turned away, shame-faced.

"Shame on you! Shame on you!" she yelled at her dog, as if it was the dog's fault it's owner carried him to my dog's face. Like, I'm not sure how much  more obvious it could be that Arden was working. he's outfitted with a very obvious harness, with signs up the wazoo that look official. Some pet-owners, eh? Oh well, like I said, it gave me a chance to practise dog distractions!

His pace was excellent tonight, and I'm hoping it stays that way. I have this fear that because it's the last week, some huge problem is going to suddenly reveal itself and I'll have to rush home all panic-stricken and confused. But Arden has been a consistently good worker, and we're getting to know one another, I think. And hope. Hope is a big part of it.

Tomorrow we head into Berkley, where we'll be taking the BART (Bay Area Rapid transit) i.e. the subway. So it'll give us a chance to practise subways as well as big cities. And in the afternoon, I get to chat to a, Arden's trainer! after that, we have our vet consults, so I'll get to learn all about his health history! There are two dogs in the class who share a father with Arden, so I tell my classmates that he's their brother from another mother! (His father, Jenkins, really gets around it seems!).

And on that note, I'm heading to bed. Goodnight!