Let It Snow: January 23, 24, and 25

The weather has continued to challenge our training objectives; but flexibility and adventure have prevailed. Thursday morning (23^rd) took us to the downtown training center for obstacles and traffic checks. Penny and I made a right on the sidewalk in front of the training center to meet a Leader Dog van traffic check coming out of the driveway. Penny stopped on a dime allowing room for the van to pass while keeping me safe. As we continued an overhang obstacle blocked the sidewalk. This obstacle was a fake tree limb with leaves; and can be adjusted to various heights. It stood about waist high enticing Penny to stand on her hind legs and sniff the leaves. She is as curious as I am about these strange encounters. Penny then took me around it finding the sidewalk again on the other side. As we proceeded on Walnut Street heading toward 3^rd Street, another obstacle met us blocking the whole sidewalk. Penny successfully navigated it as we continued without incident. We crossed Walnut Street and made our way toward 4^th Street opposite the training center. The van met us again in the driveway of a bank and Penny calmly stopped, waiting to resume our safe travel. I must admit that my first instinct was to yell, “Asshole!” but I remembered where I was. After crossing Walnut at 4^th to return to the training center Penny led me through a couple of cones and signs without missing a beat. Penny’s work impresses me more with each subsequent venture.

The afternoon was filled with administrative tasks and a visit from Dr. Wilson, one of the Leader Dog vets. Wil and I spoke with a couple of people from the Marketing Department about our LD histories as well as our experiences training as a couple bringing successor dogs home together. Group and ID pictures were taken as individual dog photos for the end of the year LD poster. I met with staff regarding the GPS device, Kaptin Plus, provided to all students in training. Dr. Wilson examined Penny for our trip home. Penny tried to get onto the table on her own; but was not quite tall enough. I utilized my P90X muscles to lift her easily onto it. She weighed 60 pounds when issued to me; and 57.5 on the 24^th. Her target weight is 58 pounds. Of course she checked out just fine. The afternoon concluded with a meeting with Will Henry about the future of Leader Dog. The post-dinner lecture was on country travel. We will practice this as soon as the weather permits.

Penny got to meet up with her litter mate, Roxy, during our free time. Roxy will be going to Spain with her partner, Natalia. Penny and Roxy played bite the snout and had a great time. It was nice for them to be able to socialize a little bit.

Friday, the 24^th, we went to Target for our morning training. We all congregated in the Starbucks ordering hot treats. Thanks to my Evil Twin, Barbara, we are set with Starbucks gift cards. Wil and I walked through the store looking for a pin brush for Penny to no avail. Wil returned to the Starbucks while Penny and I took advantage of some extra walking time. After finding a Powerade Zero, I too returned to Starbucks for our trip back to the school.

The afternoon brought a new adventure, Lakeside Crossing Mall. Wil and I were allowed to team up and explore. Our first stop was Bath and Bodyworks. The air is so cold and dry here that I needed to find some really thick moisturizing lotion. I lucked up and found a good buy one get one deal. Because this mall has a Bose store and a couple of adult beverage providers, Wil walked into the mall without bribes or complaints buy cheap viagra uk. We wandered over to Bar Louie to see how our dogs handled laying under the table while we grabbed some boneless wings and a couple of big Blue Moons. As shown in the picture below, it was a roaring success! It was fun to have a little time to ourselves. We are looking forward to doing it again at the Village Deli when we get home. Unfortunately, we ran out of time and never made it to the Bose store.

Since we didn’t have an evening lecture, I attended services at St. Mattress of the Springs from 6:30 to 8:00. In other words, I took a nap.

Saturday, the 25^th, proved to be a day full of excitement. The morning training took us to the downtown training center. It had snowed most of Friday night; but we were actually able to walk a longer route into the neighborhood behind the center. Our instructors set up obstacles on the sidewalks of Walnut Street as described above. The route took us right from the center to 3^rd Street. Penny and I made a right at 3^rd and walked two blocks up to Oak Street. It started to snow; and I mean really snow. Everything was so white that I could not determine where the sidewalks began or ended. Penny could tell and did a fantastic job guiding me. As we walked, the snow blew in my face and crunched under my feet. It was exhilarating and I found myself proclaiming, “Woo hoo! It’s snowing!” An unplanned obstacle awaited us on Oak Street. There was a pickup truck with a trailer attached blocking the sidewalk and driveway all the way to the street. Penny stopped for me to investigate and request her to advance forward. She led me into the street at the end of the driveway, walked me around the front of the pickup truck as I told her move right and find the sidewalk. She stopped as it was not safe to re-enter the driveway due to a high snow drift. When I told her to move forward, she walked me around two parked cars on the shoulder of the road; and then took me back to the sidewalk via and empty driveway. When she is in work mode, my little ball of energy is spot on. Below is a short video of our little snow joy.

Before heading back to the school, we practice getting into and out of the front of a car with our dogs. After nineteen years with LDs, it was old hat to me and Penny nailed it like a pro.

The afternoon session took us back to Lakeside Crossing. This time, we did find the Bose store. Wil has been wanting a Bose SoundLink for a long time; and let’s just say that it is now in his room at the school. Thank goodness it can be paid for in small payments with no interest. We revisited Bar Louie only to find our classmates, B.J., Jonathan, Alex, and Jeff, enjoying brews and appetizers. We gladly joined in the fun with repeats of Blue Moons. The six dogs under the table behaved like total pros. It is awesome that as adults, we can have a little bit of fun while working with our dogs. That is the kind of experience we will have in our home environments.

The evening brought meetings with puppy raisers. I had a wonderful meeting with Dick and Peggy Wanat. I am going to make this meeting a separate post as it deserves its own spotlight.

Until next time…