Day Fifteen: She's Mine!
This morning, we went to the courthouse. It is a very old building with random steps and curves and bends
in the hallways. The halls are very narrow, and there are sometimes a lot of people sitting along the
walls on the floor or at tables.
Vrona has grown a little gutsy with stairs, so we were working a lot on getting her to really hold her
ground. I was not at all hard on her, because that is not what she needs, but there were a few times I
told her to keep going, because I thought she was distracted, and she was really stopping for steps. As a
result, I felt terrible, because I felt like I was forcing her into a mistake, but the reality is that
she should hold her ground, because there may be times when she insists something is not safe and I try
to push her because I don't know. This could happen if a manhole is uncovered, if I end up at a loading
dock and think we have a step ahead of us, but it really is a drop off or so many other things. I may not
know that there is construction in an area I frequent, and she will need to have the gumption to dig in
and insist we must not travel that way.
After our refresher courses on step safety, I could tell she was a little unsure and trying to be extra
cautious. I felt so sad and worried that I had broken her spirit, but my instructor assured me that her
body language didn't indicate that she was terribly stressed. I could feel her panting, though, and it
wasn't that hot. It reminded me of Dayton panting at street corners when it was freezing out. When he was
doing that, I knew he was stressed, and I think it just brought me back to him and made me realize how
much I miss him. We are now back in our room, and Vrona is sprawled out on the floor taking a nap. I have
my exit interview at 10:00, so I have about half an hour to relax before the little one and I head up for
that.
I talked with one of the supervisors about my experience here, and we got to talking about Dayton. He is actually going to see if any of the officers they work with might be able to take him and train him in police work. I don't know if it will or won't work, but the fact that they are willing to even look into it for my dog who isn't from here just warms my heart more than I can say.
After lunch, I paid the fifty dollars for my little girl, and I got my ID card. We are officially official! We then went downtown and did some wide and angled crossings that Vrona had never done before. She did a lovely job. There were several driveways we crossed which had cars pulled part of the way into the sidewalk, so she had to take me out and around them. We didn't need to go into the street, but we had to move towards the street. There was one car which started to roll as we were crossing in front of it, and she put on the gas and sped us into safety. I am very very pleased with her work.
We then stopped by the resident cat, Solo. She is retiring after this class. She is about eight years old, and she has been helping the dogs get used to cats for her entire lifetime at the Seeing Eye. She has grown tired of her job of making friends with countless canines, so she deserves to live out the rest of her life without dogs and with tons of love. From what I hear, one of the Seeing Eye staff will be taking her home. She has taken her home on weekends and holidays over the years, so Solo will be right at home. Lucky little cat! They now have a new kitten. His name is Mikey, and he is an incredibly adorable and sleepy little lump right now. Vrona just licked Solo's ears and then was more interested in checking out the rest of the office she was hanging out in.
Tonight, we had the ""Going Home" lecture. I will be posting detailed instructions on how to behave around my new little girl to help insure that we are successful as a team. Pleas please respect these rules at all times.
For now, though, I have a few classmates I am going to go spend time with. After that, it is time for sleep!
in the hallways. The halls are very narrow, and there are sometimes a lot of people sitting along the
walls on the floor or at tables.
Vrona has grown a little gutsy with stairs, so we were working a lot on getting her to really hold her
ground. I was not at all hard on her, because that is not what she needs, but there were a few times I
told her to keep going, because I thought she was distracted, and she was really stopping for steps. As a
result, I felt terrible, because I felt like I was forcing her into a mistake, but the reality is that
she should hold her ground, because there may be times when she insists something is not safe and I try
to push her because I don't know. This could happen if a manhole is uncovered, if I end up at a loading
dock and think we have a step ahead of us, but it really is a drop off or so many other things. I may not
know that there is construction in an area I frequent, and she will need to have the gumption to dig in
and insist we must not travel that way.
After our refresher courses on step safety, I could tell she was a little unsure and trying to be extra
cautious. I felt so sad and worried that I had broken her spirit, but my instructor assured me that her
body language didn't indicate that she was terribly stressed. I could feel her panting, though, and it
wasn't that hot. It reminded me of Dayton panting at street corners when it was freezing out. When he was
doing that, I knew he was stressed, and I think it just brought me back to him and made me realize how
much I miss him. We are now back in our room, and Vrona is sprawled out on the floor taking a nap. I have
my exit interview at 10:00, so I have about half an hour to relax before the little one and I head up for
that.
I talked with one of the supervisors about my experience here, and we got to talking about Dayton. He is actually going to see if any of the officers they work with might be able to take him and train him in police work. I don't know if it will or won't work, but the fact that they are willing to even look into it for my dog who isn't from here just warms my heart more than I can say.
After lunch, I paid the fifty dollars for my little girl, and I got my ID card. We are officially official! We then went downtown and did some wide and angled crossings that Vrona had never done before. She did a lovely job. There were several driveways we crossed which had cars pulled part of the way into the sidewalk, so she had to take me out and around them. We didn't need to go into the street, but we had to move towards the street. There was one car which started to roll as we were crossing in front of it, and she put on the gas and sped us into safety. I am very very pleased with her work.
We then stopped by the resident cat, Solo. She is retiring after this class. She is about eight years old, and she has been helping the dogs get used to cats for her entire lifetime at the Seeing Eye. She has grown tired of her job of making friends with countless canines, so she deserves to live out the rest of her life without dogs and with tons of love. From what I hear, one of the Seeing Eye staff will be taking her home. She has taken her home on weekends and holidays over the years, so Solo will be right at home. Lucky little cat! They now have a new kitten. His name is Mikey, and he is an incredibly adorable and sleepy little lump right now. Vrona just licked Solo's ears and then was more interested in checking out the rest of the office she was hanging out in.
Tonight, we had the ""Going Home" lecture. I will be posting detailed instructions on how to behave around my new little girl to help insure that we are successful as a team. Pleas please respect these rules at all times.
For now, though, I have a few classmates I am going to go spend time with. After that, it is time for sleep!