Day Six: Stumpy Legs Unite!
I finally slept until my alarm went off! I think that means I am adjusting. I'm also staying up a little later which doesn't hurt. I am happy to report that though I am tired at the end of the day, I don't feel drained. It is hard to believe that I hadn't even set out on this adventure a week ago.
This morning, we did obedience. Bob asked our dogs to pop into a sit from a down and drop into a down from a sit, but Troy ignored him like a champ. Bob ran obedience from in a wheelchair which is awesome! I never know if we will be working with someone who uses a wheelchair in Custom Canines, so it was great to see that Troy thought it was no big deal. When I did a recall with Troy, Bob was on my right side in the chair. He called to Troy while he was on his way to me, but he came right to me and didn't bother to spare him a glance.
After obedience, we did a two mile walk with no sidewalks. Troy zipped right along the left side of the road as he was supposed to. Dogs are typically taught to stay left for several reasons. On a typical street, the on-coming traffic will be in the lane closest to the team. This may sound like a bad thing, but the dog can see the traffic coming, so cars aren't sneaking up from right behind the dog's left shoulder. They are taught to move out and around cars that are parked along the shoulder of the road, but they are supposed to pause and wait for permission to work past the car, because there could always be on-coming traffic, and it is important for the handler to listen to make sure it is safe. When approaching a cross street, the dog will continue to hug the shoulder of the road, so he will make a left turn onto that cross street. This insures the blind person is able to keep track of and count blocks in areas like this. So, the dog will make that left turn. When the handler feels the curve end and the road straighten back out, they should stop, take a right turn, feel with their heels to insure they are lined up, tell the dog forward, cross that street, make a right turn and let the dog once again follow the curve of the road around to the left to continue the original line of travel. This is pretty much as abstract as it sounds, and it can be quite disorienting. Troy was fabulous about his line of travel which makes me so happy! I work in an area with no sidewalks, and I like to go out walking at lunch sometimes, so I needed a dog who could do that work without a problem.
I forgot to mention that on the way to breakfast, there was another obstacle course. Troy was not impressed, and he pretty much wanted to quit and go back home. I got him through, but I was feeling discouraged, and he didn't want to do it, so it wasn't really a stellar performance. He did a better job on the way back from breakfast. He was still unimpressed, but he did creep through. I was so glad to get out and do that work with no sidewalks. It was just what we needed to sort of get in the zone and forget about the few things we were struggling with. There were no obstacles, and there were no elevation changes, so we could just find our rhythm together and take off. So, after the sidewalkless stuff, we did another obstacle course. This one was much more spread out, and I think Troy felt like it had more purpose. We were actually moving around the campus instead of just trying to get my happy butt to the table so I could eat. He did a beautiful job working around a truck parked across the whole sidewalk. He walked me up to it so I could see what was in the way, took his left turn, stopped at the curb, went out into the street and went right around the truck and got me right back to that curb to get back on the sidewalk. This thrilled me for several reasons. I was excited by how confident he was about how to handle the obstacle, and we were both so smooth together with the step down into the street and back up out of the street. We have finally figured out how much space we need to give each other. From there, we did a flight of stairs, some more obstacles, a gravel path, some steps down and a bit of zipping along just for fun. He was a little unsure about going down the steps with me, but I would rather him be a little extra careful since my last dog just launched down the stairs before I could even be entirely certain we were at the top of a flight...scary and I am glad I had ninja reflexes while working her.
After that, we did another small route on campus that involved going past the kennels. The boys both wanted to go visit the other dogs. We went up a steep hill that leads up to overlook the campus. Bob got some pictures of us with just sky behind us. I will post when I have them. Troy was awesome. This was the first time I was totally comfortable launching and taking off with him. We ended up a bit ahead of the group, and he did an incredible job. His pace and pull are just incredible. He couldn't be any better for me!
After all of that excitement, we had a very easy obstacle course to lunch...at least I think we did, but little man didn't miss a beat that time, so maybe there wasn't anything there.
Post-lunch, we headed out to the mall again. This boy was incredible! He ambles on to the escalator like it is nothing at all. I have had plenty of dogs who don't mind them, but this kid just keeps going and doesn't miss a step as he falls in next to me. Same thing with walking off. Such a lovely lovely job! He zipped and zoomed around tons of people, a food court, people eating and many things that are beyond my knowledge. We did more escalators, an elevator, steps and tight clearances. There is a little train that goes around the mall. It is complete with a noisy speaker blasting some song that says "Hurray! It's your birthday!" or something like that. Troy was fascinated by the train while we were sitting waiting for our turn, but he was awesome at dodging it when it came into our path while we were out working. He remembered where we had sat when we went on Tuesday, and he showed me the exact bench where I sat. This kid really is brilliant! When I asked him to find outside from within the bowels of the mall, he took off like a Troy rocket, and he zipped, darted left, dashed right, took a bend to the right, showed me my bench from Tuesday, tore down a hallway, zoomed around a left turn and nailed the door outside. What a champion!
We came back to campus and fed and watered the dogs. We then went downtown and worked the dogs on a night route and stopped for dinner. Troy was fantastic. And now, because this is becoming my norm, bits from today that I forgot to include above.
1. Troy likes dogs. He got distracted a couple of times today, but he gets right back on track once he realizes that won't fly.
2. He loves to be massaged and will go comatose.
3. We figured out our up and down curbs!!!
4. Troy is in the 2016 calendar.
5. Have I mentioned that he is just the dog I need? Because he is just the dog I need.
Insert obligatory statement about sleep and waking up early and long days.
This morning, we did obedience. Bob asked our dogs to pop into a sit from a down and drop into a down from a sit, but Troy ignored him like a champ. Bob ran obedience from in a wheelchair which is awesome! I never know if we will be working with someone who uses a wheelchair in Custom Canines, so it was great to see that Troy thought it was no big deal. When I did a recall with Troy, Bob was on my right side in the chair. He called to Troy while he was on his way to me, but he came right to me and didn't bother to spare him a glance.
After obedience, we did a two mile walk with no sidewalks. Troy zipped right along the left side of the road as he was supposed to. Dogs are typically taught to stay left for several reasons. On a typical street, the on-coming traffic will be in the lane closest to the team. This may sound like a bad thing, but the dog can see the traffic coming, so cars aren't sneaking up from right behind the dog's left shoulder. They are taught to move out and around cars that are parked along the shoulder of the road, but they are supposed to pause and wait for permission to work past the car, because there could always be on-coming traffic, and it is important for the handler to listen to make sure it is safe. When approaching a cross street, the dog will continue to hug the shoulder of the road, so he will make a left turn onto that cross street. This insures the blind person is able to keep track of and count blocks in areas like this. So, the dog will make that left turn. When the handler feels the curve end and the road straighten back out, they should stop, take a right turn, feel with their heels to insure they are lined up, tell the dog forward, cross that street, make a right turn and let the dog once again follow the curve of the road around to the left to continue the original line of travel. This is pretty much as abstract as it sounds, and it can be quite disorienting. Troy was fabulous about his line of travel which makes me so happy! I work in an area with no sidewalks, and I like to go out walking at lunch sometimes, so I needed a dog who could do that work without a problem.
I forgot to mention that on the way to breakfast, there was another obstacle course. Troy was not impressed, and he pretty much wanted to quit and go back home. I got him through, but I was feeling discouraged, and he didn't want to do it, so it wasn't really a stellar performance. He did a better job on the way back from breakfast. He was still unimpressed, but he did creep through. I was so glad to get out and do that work with no sidewalks. It was just what we needed to sort of get in the zone and forget about the few things we were struggling with. There were no obstacles, and there were no elevation changes, so we could just find our rhythm together and take off. So, after the sidewalkless stuff, we did another obstacle course. This one was much more spread out, and I think Troy felt like it had more purpose. We were actually moving around the campus instead of just trying to get my happy butt to the table so I could eat. He did a beautiful job working around a truck parked across the whole sidewalk. He walked me up to it so I could see what was in the way, took his left turn, stopped at the curb, went out into the street and went right around the truck and got me right back to that curb to get back on the sidewalk. This thrilled me for several reasons. I was excited by how confident he was about how to handle the obstacle, and we were both so smooth together with the step down into the street and back up out of the street. We have finally figured out how much space we need to give each other. From there, we did a flight of stairs, some more obstacles, a gravel path, some steps down and a bit of zipping along just for fun. He was a little unsure about going down the steps with me, but I would rather him be a little extra careful since my last dog just launched down the stairs before I could even be entirely certain we were at the top of a flight...scary and I am glad I had ninja reflexes while working her.
After that, we did another small route on campus that involved going past the kennels. The boys both wanted to go visit the other dogs. We went up a steep hill that leads up to overlook the campus. Bob got some pictures of us with just sky behind us. I will post when I have them. Troy was awesome. This was the first time I was totally comfortable launching and taking off with him. We ended up a bit ahead of the group, and he did an incredible job. His pace and pull are just incredible. He couldn't be any better for me!
After all of that excitement, we had a very easy obstacle course to lunch...at least I think we did, but little man didn't miss a beat that time, so maybe there wasn't anything there.
Post-lunch, we headed out to the mall again. This boy was incredible! He ambles on to the escalator like it is nothing at all. I have had plenty of dogs who don't mind them, but this kid just keeps going and doesn't miss a step as he falls in next to me. Same thing with walking off. Such a lovely lovely job! He zipped and zoomed around tons of people, a food court, people eating and many things that are beyond my knowledge. We did more escalators, an elevator, steps and tight clearances. There is a little train that goes around the mall. It is complete with a noisy speaker blasting some song that says "Hurray! It's your birthday!" or something like that. Troy was fascinated by the train while we were sitting waiting for our turn, but he was awesome at dodging it when it came into our path while we were out working. He remembered where we had sat when we went on Tuesday, and he showed me the exact bench where I sat. This kid really is brilliant! When I asked him to find outside from within the bowels of the mall, he took off like a Troy rocket, and he zipped, darted left, dashed right, took a bend to the right, showed me my bench from Tuesday, tore down a hallway, zoomed around a left turn and nailed the door outside. What a champion!
We came back to campus and fed and watered the dogs. We then went downtown and worked the dogs on a night route and stopped for dinner. Troy was fantastic. And now, because this is becoming my norm, bits from today that I forgot to include above.
1. Troy likes dogs. He got distracted a couple of times today, but he gets right back on track once he realizes that won't fly.
2. He loves to be massaged and will go comatose.
3. We figured out our up and down curbs!!!
4. Troy is in the 2016 calendar.
5. Have I mentioned that he is just the dog I need? Because he is just the dog I need.
Insert obligatory statement about sleep and waking up early and long days.