Day Seventeen: The End of the Beginning
Today started out as every day does at the Seeing Eye. I leapt out of bed at 5:30 and took care of my sweet girl. I did some last minute packing, went up to the common lounge, did obedience, brushed her teeth and headed in for coffee and breakfast. After breakfast, I had some sort of down time during which I did some journaling and last minute tripple checking of my room. At about 9:00, we went into town, and we took the bus from Morristown into Madison. We then did a short route and took the train back into town. Vrona did a very good job, of course! There were a few trainers with dogs in training who happened to be with us, too, so that was cool to see.
I slipped in for the last five or so minutes of coffee break, and then we had a talk from a representative for a pet insurance company. She didn't do a very good job, and she was so obviously doing the typical sales person deal where they talk about how awesome they are and then drop the pricing bomb at the end...no thanks.
At about 11:40, my instructor saved me from the lecture, and I ran Vrona out one more time before she and I headed for the airport. It was really nice to actually go to the airport with my instructor. She waited at the gate with me until my flight was ready to board. It was very nice to have some time to talk with her. She gave me a hug and I let her say goodbye to Vrona, too, of course. I managed not to cry, but I miss her, a lot!
Little Vroom was very excited in the airport in New Jersey, but I think that was more excitement about being with her trainer than anything else. She flew like she had always been doing it. She readjusted a few times, but for the most part, she was very very settled. I was able to relax and read my book, which speaks volumes for how well she did.
When we arrived in Madison, I worked her through the airport without any assistance. I know the airport well, and she did such a wonderful job. She was darting around suitcases and making the most lovely moves around obstacles. We found my luggage, and she guided me and my two rolling suitcases outside where my mom picked us up. It was so incredible to see her do her thing! She found outside with no effort at all, and she is such an enthusiastic and quality little worker.
When we got home, I unfortunately needed to run over to the store to pick up a couple of things, because I need to have things to take for lunch at work tomorrow, but my mom drove me, and Vrona worked incredibly well.
My mom had my two littlest dogs, Mazda and Sprocket, in the car in a kennel in the back seat, and when I said hi to them and they climbed onto my lap, Vrona just sniffed them a bit and then curled up and went to sleep. She has met and been very gentle with both of my cats, too. She had her dinner, and I am just working on persuading her that my driveway is an okay area to park. We can't just zip back to New Jersey, little woman. I am now going to finish doing a few things around here, and then I think I will pattern her to my bus stop so I'm not trying to do that when we are on a time schedule. Welcome to Wisconsin little girl!