Before I write about our final week of training, I want to briefly tell you a little about the home adjustment process. It takes a lot of energy when coming home with a new Leader Dog. I will go into further details in a separate post. It can be stressful for the dog and human. Remember that it takes six months to a year to become a seasoned team. I plan to share the reality of our progression to that goal of seasoned team. Penny and Chip are like night and day. Chip is docile, laid back, and goes with the flow. Penny is a bundle of energy, always ready to go, and demanding of attention. He naps on and off during the day and takes life as it comes. She stays full of life from waking until she sleeps the puppy death after ten at night. Their guide work is absolutely extraordinary!
And now… the blog journey continues!
On Sunday, January 26th, we had our second down day. This day was made for napping, doing laundry, socializing, perusing the gift shop, and most importantly, getting to see Mary again. Wil and I met Mary in 2002 after I got Titan. Mary had Titan’s breeding stock mom, Whistler. Titan was Whistler’s first Leader Dog graduate. She came to Georgia for our wedding in 2003, walking Titan down the aisle as the ring bearer. When Wil got Max in July of 2004, Titan and I stayed with Mary for a weekend full of fun and visited Wil and Max at Leader Dog. Max was also a Whistler pup born in litter number three. Even though Whistler and Titan have gone to the Rainbow Bridge and Max is in Nebraska, we are still quite close. Mary is currently raising a golden named Sunshine for Leader Dog.
Penny and Chip had some play time together. Actually, Chip gave Penny’s new Nylabone a spin; and she was not amused.
Monday, January 27th, found us back in downtown Rochester. Plans to head to Royal Oak for mobility on clear sidewalks were thwarted by the abundance of snow that turned Rochester Hills into a large parking lot with no exits clear for leaving town. Can you guess where Wil and I wanted to take our morning route? That’s right! Destination…Bean and Leaf coffee shop! There was another team of instructors working their dogs at the training center. They had set up obstacles for their morning work which added fun and extra challenges for us. Penny and Chip both worked like little champs with the obstacles, traffic, and strange dogs.
We returned to the training center for an afternoon of obedience and distraction work. The obedience routines went without a hitch. Then, out came the balls, squeakers, strange noises, and other assorted doggie no no’s. Chip remained calm and focused while Penny went ballistic. Even in her gentle leader, she was rearing up on her hind legs excitedly wanting everything that crossed her path. Randy, also known as the Leader Dog Whisperer, sat down next to where she and I were standing and covered and rubbed her nose. She immediately calmed down. He told me that what she couldn’t see (smell) wouldn’t distract her. I asked him why he held out on such an important piece of info, but he just laughed.
When we went to hang out and relax in the lounge after our busy day, Chip demonstrated to Daddy that he is really a 58 pound lap dog. He is such a cute pup!!
The bitter cold and subzero wind chills kept us in the Polk Residence on Tuesday morning, January 28th. We began our training with obedience, distraction, and recall work in the hallways. Chip performed like a champ with the obedience and distractions. I am pleased to report that Penny was calmer and much less distractible. Sue rode up and down the hall in an electric wheelchair. Phil had a half inflated basketball rolling around. There were some noisy children’s toys, crinkly plastic packing material, and a giant fluttering trash bag. I was relieved to see Penny’s improvement from one day to the next. For our recall exercise, we stood next to Sue at one end of the hall. We (one at a time, of course) put our dogs in a sit and stay. Sue took the leash as we walked about halfway down the hall reinforcing our stay command as we walked away. When we got to Phil, we stopped, turned around, and called our pups. Penny and Chip came bounding to us ignoring everything on the way. It was a great feeling to know my pup came to me without hesitation or distraction.
We continued our morning work by learning to use a revolving door with our dogs. The Polk Residence has a revolving door between two standard doors at the building’s entrance. I will not describe the experience as the video below says it all. I am a bit on the claustrophobic side; and did not want to do this exercise at first. Leader Dog’s revolving door is quite roomy; and I took the plunge. I am glad that I did.
Before lunch, Roberta from the Leader Dog Philanthropy Department came to give us a brief talk and present us with little angels that were made by a special elderly lady who loves Leader Dog and what they do. Wil and I chose our regular spot on a couch with Chip and Penny at our feet. I sure was surprised to see laid back Chip whack Penny with his front paw resulting in an all-out game of bite the snout between them. When they got pretty rowdy Roberta stepped out to get a trainer. I got up and took Penny to another spot in the room to separate them. After Chip and Penny settled down, Paul’s buddy, Miley, started showing out. Penny and Miley were the two rowdiest and goofy dogs in the class. Incidentally, Miley is Chip’s brother. The poor winter weather had the dog play pens iced and snowed in. All of the dogs had a good bit of pent up energy with no running time to release it. We all were pretty keyed up since there were only a few days left before going home.
The afternoon found us in another mall. Summerset Collection is no ordinary mall; it is the foo-foo mall! Wil and I made a visit to Starbucks for his usual coffee and my peppermint white mocha with a chocolate caramel muffin. It was the perfect place for me to have such a treat because Summerset is actually two malls connected by a long skyway that spans two parking lots. Sue came for Wil and Chip while I consumed my sinful delight. Randy took the walk with me and Penny in my attempt to work off a crumb or two of chocolate. The skyway has a two directional people mover. Penny and I left that alone. The vast third floor of this mall had expensive stores that a plain Georgia Peach like me would just assume not stick my big toe in. The area where we all waited to take our mobility turns had a programmable baby grand piano that entertained us. The dogs attracted much attention from passersby. As usual, I have never met a stranger and talked to all who spoke to me and Penny.
Wednesday, January 29th, took us back downtown to the training center. You guessed it! Wil and I went to the Bean and Leaf coffee shop. We made a pit stop at the pharmacy to grab some beer. Since Leader Dog previously had a no alcohol policy, the clerk questioned us on whether we were allowed to have it kamagra oral jelly india. We explained the not so new policy changes, made our purchase, and headed for coffee. Keep in mind that we work mobility routes with traffic, obstacles, and unplanned encounters when making our way to coffee shops and other destinations referred to in my blogging.
We made it out of Rochester Hills and headed to Royal Oak for the afternoon. Randy rode on the bus with us on the trip up. Penny completely ignored him. I took that as a very good sign that her turning over to me was at least well on the way. The hardest part of the route was getting off and back on the bus. The snow was so deep, that I sank into it like quicksand. Wil’s legs are so long that it didn’t faze him at all. Where did Wil and I work our mobility route to? That’s right! Starbucks!! We worked on crossing railroad tracks with our dogs on the way. Chip and Penny treated them as curbs; and we all handled them well. Our instructors made sure that we all met our training objectives with our dogs despite the brittle cold, ice, snow, and subzero wind chills.
Thursday, January 30, proved to be a very different and exciting day. We began the training part of our day by taking a tour of the kennel. We left our dogs on tie down in the room and took the bus over as the wind chill was below zero. The kennel facility is a whirlwind of activity. It houses Puppy Land, the vet clinic and multiple bays that can hold approximately three hundred dogs in various phases of training. The kennel will undergo a massive renovation that will improve the atmosphere for the dogs while in training. Instead of single kennel cages, dogs will reside together in small packs in much larger more spacious suites. This should reduce kennel stress for some dogs while fostering a positive community experience for all of them. Speaking of kennel stress, Sue told Wil that Chip was so depressed in his cage that they put Sasha (black lab) in with him to keep him company. Here are pictures of Wil demonstrating the difference between the old and new kennels by posing in demos set up in the banquet room of the Polk Residence. Leader Dog is currently conducting a major fund raiser in order to finance these vital changes.
The six students from Spain left for home on Wednesday making it too quiet in the building. They were a fun and friendly group. The rest of our day was spent doing laundry, packing, and hanging out with our new found friends for the last day. We had our going home touch bases with our instructors that included the signing of our Leader Dog contracts. We received our Leader Dog ID’s and going home packet. Penny’s target weight is 58 pounds while Chip’s is 60. When I went in for my chat with Randy, I shut the door and turned Penny loose. I wanted to see if she would run straight to Randy. Instead, she went running wildly around the room to see what she could get into. I retrieved her quickly and reined her in. She is a goofy golden. His remark was, “Well, that’s good for her cerebellum!” I had a good laugh out of that; and was further assured that she was turning over (sometimes goldens take a while). We had exit interviews with Leader Dog staff. I enjoyed reminiscing about how it was when I trained with Mississippi and Titan versus all of the wonderful improvements that have come along over the past nineteen years.My overall experience was a great one! Our class will definitely be remembered for braving the snowiest January ever and surviving.
Until next time…