Day 17 - Starting to lose count
But here is what I do know….T-48 hours and I will be home!
We’re starting to say our good-byes, which are really bittersweet. The kitchen and cleaning staff feel the rhythm of class just as much as the students and instructors. The cleaning staff member responsible for my wing shared how much she’ll miss us and that this is the hardest part of the job. I think I’ll have to re-learn how to make my bed and cook a decent meal, since they have taken such good care of us. I think that is one of the key tenants of every single staff member here to make the stay enjoyable and comfortable as possible as we go through this process.
Due to the frigid temps we worked mostly indoors for our trips today. Our first trip was to the Headquarters Plaza where we worked on revolving doors and some additional targeting with the clicker. Granted revolving doors are mostly obsolete, but it is good to know how to move in very tight spaces with your dog in such a way to keep the team safe. I have just as much responsibility to keep her safe as she does for me. That is the wonderful dynamic that connects us together as a team. Mutual care, trust, and love. She is the best at targeting things like doors, chairs, stairs, and pretty much anything that can be targeted with a clicker. Of course, I won’t carry a clicker around with me each day, but it will help immensely in teaching her new concepts.
Our second trip was to the mall again. This time, I decided that I wanted to go it alone. Our instructors gave us radios again so that if we got into a pinch, they would be easily accessible to us. I didn’t really want to purchase anything, but got in some practice with placing her under counters while I made my purchase and working through a mall food court. Again, she did really well.
I received an incredible gift today from her puppy raisers. They sent a package containing puppy pictures depicting a story from Angie’s perspective about her first year with their family, the places she went, what she really enjoyed, and a beautiful portrait of her resting. Earlier in the day we did visit the Seeing Eye Cat named Mikey, which Angie had little interest in. Now that I have additional information about her, she was raised with and loved cats. Luckily, she will be going home to two cats at the neighbor’s house. I am so thankful for this kind gesture and gift from her raisers since I didn’t receive this when I got Mugs and Denver. I hope to stay in touch with them periodically through The Seeing Eye.
Finally for dinner, our night instructor gave us one last challenge by placing deli meet on the floor in various places to tempt our dogs. And of course, she handled it like a true champ. The dogs must forgo any temptation including food, other dogs, and attention from others in order to maintain their focus and responsibility as our guides. The puppy raisers and trainers place a lot of emphasis on this; so much so that if a dog exhibits too much distractibility for guidework the dogs are dropped from the program. A dog that is dropped are often suitable for other lines of work such as drug, bomb detection, assistance dogs, therapy dogs, or just the regular lovable pet.
I am so thankful for her and the people involved in caring, teaching, and training her to be an awesome guide. I have to believe that Angie is God sent, which only confirms how much God loves and provides for me in so many ways.. to show who He is in my life.
We’re starting to say our good-byes, which are really bittersweet. The kitchen and cleaning staff feel the rhythm of class just as much as the students and instructors. The cleaning staff member responsible for my wing shared how much she’ll miss us and that this is the hardest part of the job. I think I’ll have to re-learn how to make my bed and cook a decent meal, since they have taken such good care of us. I think that is one of the key tenants of every single staff member here to make the stay enjoyable and comfortable as possible as we go through this process.
Due to the frigid temps we worked mostly indoors for our trips today. Our first trip was to the Headquarters Plaza where we worked on revolving doors and some additional targeting with the clicker. Granted revolving doors are mostly obsolete, but it is good to know how to move in very tight spaces with your dog in such a way to keep the team safe. I have just as much responsibility to keep her safe as she does for me. That is the wonderful dynamic that connects us together as a team. Mutual care, trust, and love. She is the best at targeting things like doors, chairs, stairs, and pretty much anything that can be targeted with a clicker. Of course, I won’t carry a clicker around with me each day, but it will help immensely in teaching her new concepts.
Our second trip was to the mall again. This time, I decided that I wanted to go it alone. Our instructors gave us radios again so that if we got into a pinch, they would be easily accessible to us. I didn’t really want to purchase anything, but got in some practice with placing her under counters while I made my purchase and working through a mall food court. Again, she did really well.
I received an incredible gift today from her puppy raisers. They sent a package containing puppy pictures depicting a story from Angie’s perspective about her first year with their family, the places she went, what she really enjoyed, and a beautiful portrait of her resting. Earlier in the day we did visit the Seeing Eye Cat named Mikey, which Angie had little interest in. Now that I have additional information about her, she was raised with and loved cats. Luckily, she will be going home to two cats at the neighbor’s house. I am so thankful for this kind gesture and gift from her raisers since I didn’t receive this when I got Mugs and Denver. I hope to stay in touch with them periodically through The Seeing Eye.
Finally for dinner, our night instructor gave us one last challenge by placing deli meet on the floor in various places to tempt our dogs. And of course, she handled it like a true champ. The dogs must forgo any temptation including food, other dogs, and attention from others in order to maintain their focus and responsibility as our guides. The puppy raisers and trainers place a lot of emphasis on this; so much so that if a dog exhibits too much distractibility for guidework the dogs are dropped from the program. A dog that is dropped are often suitable for other lines of work such as drug, bomb detection, assistance dogs, therapy dogs, or just the regular lovable pet.
I am so thankful for her and the people involved in caring, teaching, and training her to be an awesome guide. I have to believe that Angie is God sent, which only confirms how much God loves and provides for me in so many ways.. to show who He is in my life.
Comments
Post a Comment