Training day 8

6:26 AM

Man, that massage last night can only be described as epic. I was a little leery when I opened the door to find a fully sighted man on the other side of the threshold, but I was very quickly put at ease. He certainly wasn't the overly-masculine jock type, who I would have (unfairly, perhaps) thought wasn't really the "massage-giving" type, at least not the family-friendly variety! But it all went very well. It was a "real" massage, in that the whole experience was not meant to relax me and make me feel wonderful. He definitely hit on some sore or tight spots, and I almost had to grit my teeth while I let him work them out. I woke up with not a single muscle pain this morning though, so he must have done something right! It was funny, because I kept trying to initiate conversation with him, and he kept giving me short answers. I always feel as though I should chat to the people who are doing things to me (my hair, my waxing, massages) so as to make it worth their while. But he was one of those involved, relaxed types who really just let me relax and enjoy the experience. And as soon as he was done, I headed straight to bed and went to sleep. Thankfully, the night was uneventful, and now I'm going to get dressed and start this day. I'm already getting a bit nervous as to how it'll pan out, but it could be worse.

1:07 Pm

This morning, we went back to the downtown lounge and did our routes again. This time though, we stayed at our destination. Melissa and I have the same destination, so we got to hang out for a bit, gossip, all that girly stuff.

Arden did very well on the route. I'm impressed because instead of getting bored, he's only becoming more confident. Our turns are becoming a lot smoother (with a few glaring exceptions, of course), and I'm more and more confident about his obstacle clearances. He's weaving me around things beautifully, and I've been careful not to crowd his paws, because in the past, I've had a tendency to do that. My instructor's keeping an eye on it, but so far I've been a good follower (if only my parents thought so, too!). We even approached another classmate and their dog head on, and my dog didn't so much as give the other dog a passing sniff--just held his yellow head high and proud and moved on. I was actually pleasantly surprised, since dogs are a bit of a weakness for my yellow prince. Not this time, though. Not this time! And when I say weakness, it's in the context of his personality. So there isn't any dramatic lunging or flinging his weight about (he certainly doesn't act as if he's 75 pounds, or else we'd probably have issues, since I'm relatively small, and am not exactly what you'd call "athletic", sadly). Can I just take a moment to just say how much I love the relaxed atmosphere here? When we go on our routes, I don't have this crazy knot of anxiety in the pit of my stomach, frantically panicking and worrying that I'm going to somehow screw up or get lost. And my instructor chats to me while we walk, which is so much more grounding than she realizes. She doesn't interfere or swoop into save the day or anything, but I just don't feel as though I'm like, getting a visit from child and family services (is that what you Americans call it? :)).

After we got back from our routes, we went out on the patio and practised food refusal! This is probably one of the coolest things the dog does, because it's basically working against all of its (very powerful) survival instincts. I mean, it's food and it's a dog. Enough said, right? but these dogs are trained to refuse food that's offered to them by anyone other than their primary handler. So our instructor walked in front of them, offering a biscuit. My dog gave it an investigatory sniff, and then backed right off. I rewarded instantly and plentifully with kibble of my own! We then had to give them the "down" command at the same time she was offering them food. So not only did the dog have to focus on refusing the food, it had to be obeying a command as well. She held out the food to him, and he sort of leaned against my leg and melted adorably to the ground. Cue a happy dance from yours truly!

Finally, she simply dropped the food on the ground right in front of their noses while they were lying down, but he didn't so much as take a whiff. Nope, not my boy. This isn't to say that if a stranger in the future tosses a French fry at my dog he'll necessarily refuse, but hey-if I keep practising it with different people, he might just pass up that fry for me!

This afternoon, we're going to have our progress report meetings with our instructors. They're basically a chance to talk about where we've been and where we're going (how poetic!). Seriously though, that's what it is. It's an opportunity for us to give feedback on how we think we've been doing, thoughts about what it is we'd like to focus on going forward, certain settings we'd like to work in, etc. And it's also a chance for the instructor to give us some feedback on our handling technique, suggestions for improvement, stuff like that. I think we'll also be doing an ear cleaning workshop as well, which I think will hopefully be more successful than the teeth brushing one!

So, I'm trying to think of the things I'd like to work on with Arden. They are as follows:

-Dog distractions. Although they aren't bad, I'd like to work him passed the majority of dogs, and I know we'll find dogs aplenty to practise with.

-walking in pairs. Some of the people who are nearest and dearest to my heart are fellow dog handlers, and I'd like for my dog to be able to either follow or lead in a pair.

-working inside buildings, finding offices and doorways in buildings, etc. I basically live in a law school, so he'll have to be comfortable navigating the building.

-targeting things (doorways, chairs, pedestrian crossing poles, etc.)

-keeping still while I work out (I know it's hard to believe, even for me, but I do actually go to the gym slightly more often than occasionally), and I don't want him panting or screaming or carrying on while I myself am panting and carrying on, willing my stomach to flatten itself into oblivion.

-buses, and streets with several buses on them.

And I think that's basically it. Pretty much everything I just listed will be covered in class anyway, but  highlighting the things that are of the utmost importance really helps the instructors plan out your individual day. Someone who lives in a small town, for instance, might not need to work on buses or in large cities, so doing so would just waste everyone's time. I really like how much GDB tries to customize the training experience for each student.

I know I'm saying that I want to work on all of these things, but rest assured that I'm confident that my dog will be able to handle all of it. I'm incredibly impressed with how well he guides, how deliberately he works, and...oh guys, I just can't wait to get to know the rest of him, you know? It's going to be so much fun. I even let him lick my face a few times--something I never, ever let dogs do. he's owning me!

3:51 Pm

I just got back from our meeting, and it went very well. I got a chance to tell her just how happy I am to be at GDB, and how wonderful it's been to be given what we handlers refer to as a "saint" dog. Neither of us really had any real criticisms of anything: the instruction, my dog, or even me. She said that she doesn't think I give myself enough credit, and I basked in that praise. She's so naturally gifted with the dogs, and so having her tell me that she thinks I'm a good handler is definitely something I'm going to deposit in my emotional bank account for those rainy days. Like I suspected, we're already going to be working on a lot of the things I wanted to, so that'll be coming right up.

She also read me a report that had been prepared by his puppy raiser! let's see how much of it I remember:

-Arden is ok to be left home unrestrained, and has really good house behaviours (although he has been known to try and get onto the couch that their pet Chihuahua was allowed on! haha).

-He crates well, and is very calm.

-He has been to baseball games, shopping centres, college campuses, hair and nail salons, office buildings, theatres, schools, etc.

-He only barks when he's startled, and occasionally when people come to the door (which is actually a plus in my books).

-It also said that he solicits attention from strangers, which I have not seen a shred of since receiving him. I'm hoping that that's just a puppy thing he's grown out of.

-he takes a few days to settle into a new environment or routine, and does not attach to people easily.

The report was typed out on paper, so unfortunately I don't have an electronic copy of it to keep on my computer. I'm hoping that the school will perhaps include that as part of the binder we're going to get when we go home. I keep trying to get her to admit that he's basically perfect, and she agreed that he is very, very good. She frequently uses words like deliberate, reliable, consistent, and cautious to describe him. Even the class supervisor specifically said "Now Arden, that's one very good dog." You know, this must be how it feels to be a mom, because my heart swelled when I heard that and I could have burst at the seams with pride. That's my boy they're all talking about!

So yes, the meeting went well. I told the instructor how happy I am to be working with her, and how she so easily walks the line between instructor and friend. She has great feedback, and is excellent with the dogs without interfering in our handling. Overall, I've just been so pleased with having chosen to come to this school. I can only hope that this will continue. You know, I'm starting to get a little less anxious when I'm heading out on a new route, and I'm really liking how that feels.

After our meeting wound down, I cleaned Arden's ears. To absolutely noone's surprise, he stood perfectly still with his head lowered, and let me clean out both ears thoroughly before shaking his head and flapping those yellow ears all over the place. Oh, he's heaven, and I'm there with him.

9:35 Pm

I've just come back from a really relaxing dip in the hot tub with some of my classmates. Unfortunately, the bar wasn't open, so my dear friend Cab couldn't make it out tonight.

So, I'm sad to report that my auto-immune issues are cropping up a bit. Nothing has officially been diagnosed (what else is new though), but my left knee is in a lot of pain, especially when it's even slightly bent. I know I didn't "do anything to it", it just acts up from time to time, much like my other joints. I went to see the nurse on staff, who's one of the nicest people I'll ever meet in my life. she's one of those kind, motherly types who you'd feel completely comfortable disrobing in front of and tossing all dignity to the wind--she's seen it all. anyway, she took a look at my knee and said that it was swollen, so I got some validation at least (don't you hate it when you're in pain but "everything looks fine"? uggh). She gave me some naproxen (the pill was like, the size of an apple, but I managed to swallow it). Actually, she taught me a really good way to swallow huge pills. You sit up straight, tilt your head forward, and then try to swallow the pill. This will restrict your air way (not in such a way that you can't breathe though), and won't trigger your gag reflex. If it sounds like a bunch of cockamamie, just try it and report back! It really works! she also gave me an electric heating pad to wrap around my knee, so I'm going to rest with that tonight. I really, really hope I'm not any worse in the morning. Things have been going so well with Arden so far; I'd really hate for everything to get screwed up just because my stupid body can't cooperate with itself.

Tomorrow we're doing building work in the morning, and clickers in the afternoon! I'm really excited for all of it--I was getting a bit tired of the route we'd been doing, and I want to see how Arden reacts to the clicker. For those of you who don't know about clicker training, I'll likely explain more tomorrow when I'm not distracted by drooping eyelids and the knee of a 95 year old.