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Hi folks,

Yes, indeed, progress.

Well, not only progress...but of course, trials, too. (For instance, Karl is deciding to hold out on relieving some more...) On the other hand, of course, I'd worry if things went too smoothly right off the bat.

Yesterday the retrains got their dogs: Yellow labs Honey, Figi (like Fiji, the island) and Chet, and black lab Hathaway.

All this week, they tell me we're doing the basic route, a pretty straightforward thing. This is in part to familiarize us with it and partly to bore our dogs, so we can see what sorts of mischief they'll be up to later. Should be interesting. We had Pete O'Reilly and Kelly Martin here, as Kathy and Lynne were off today. Obedience went pretty well for us this morning, and afterwards, we went to the downtown lounge, where Karl got another grooming session. He's getting better at sitting up on the bus...he does it almost the whole way now with little reminding.

We had our first route, and Karl was again pokey and pouty for the first bit, but again he picked right up after a while, going at a good pace and again clearing all the obstacles and people. He's also running fewer curbs. His pokiness was less the morning route than previously, too.

The afternoon route was our best so far. His pokey pouty bit was only about 20 feet this time, and then he picked right up. I found out that the reason his right turns are hesitant--at least partly--had to do with me not pulling my left foot back far enough. (Oops) I also have to remember that when he moves right, I should follow--but sometimes his movements are so slight and subtle I don't notice them. He's starting to figure out i'm a little dense though, and he's getting a bit more aggressive about moving right. Another thing I have to get used to is those 100-plus-degree turns, where the dog takes you around something at a formal turn. Fast take-off, and very wide turns, much wider than I'm used to. It'll come with time, though. Again, this was his best route yet, continuing more or less on the high note we ended the morning route with.

The lecture today was about flea control and then a little about route learning and orientation. Really pretty straightforward stuff. Then we found out really exciting stuff: our dogs' vital statistics. Our largest dog in the class weight-wise is Hathaway at 78 pounds; tallest is Tanker at 25 or 25.5 inches. Karl, for those who are interested, was born on 24th September 1994. His mother is Martine and his father is Kipp. Karl is 24.5 inches tall and weighs 65 pounds. He weighed less than I thought but is also taller than I thought by a good inch.

Oh, and the last part of the route, Dan left Karl and I more or less alone to work it out, except on the right turn and when Karl wanted to left before I told him to on the last part right before the lounge. Dan has done great work with Karl, and I can tell that he's very proud of that golden every time we've finished a route. His obstacle work, as I've said, is virtually flawless so far. Karl handled the distractions of the fund-raising picnic thingy during obedience and then again working out to the bus very well...And don't tell anyone (OK, so I already told Dan and he didn't say anything...), but we're not supposed to work them inside the building yet, but when we got in a couple times, we were going so well I couldn't bear to stop Karl, so we just kept going. ...It may just have helped him a bit. Either that, or it was pointless and merely served to inflate my ego...I haven't decided which.

More tomorrow...

Hi everyone.

Yes, today was, indeed, a day of firsts. I'll get to them as they come, I suppose...

Obedience was, again, pretty good, although Karl was a bit distracted and needed correction more than he has in previous days. Of course, there was also more to distract than on previous days, as the tables and other periphernalia were being taken down from yesterday's luncheon thingy.

We of course had our work-outs, as usual. This time--both times actually--I got an "extended" basic route, which was about a block more than the regular basic route. Karl's work was excellent on both work-outs, requiring only minor correction, mostly slight corrections in direction. The first first happened at the first work-out of the day: Karl's first clearance error. This particular clearance error had to do with the back end of the bus. As usual, Karl wanted to get on the bus and go back to the lounge. We hopp-upped (or is it hopped-up?) past that, except that he didn't have enough space to clear, going back straight to the curb a bit too late, and he didn't stop either. No stop, no space, I got the bus in my right shoulder. So we got to re-work it. On that note, they don't use "no" anymore for re-working an obstacle. The new procedure is: stop, perhaps with a no and maybe a correction, depending always on situation of course; sit, tap the obstacle, say something in an even voice about being more careful, back up, re-work. The stop in itself is a correction, says Dan. It worked, anyhow.

This was a day for idiot drivers. I had one guy almost hit me, and there was nothing that Karl or Dan or I could do about it. I was into the crossing, i had the right-of-way, and a guy was in a hurry, went for a turn, and luckily, he stopped or something, but the upshot of it is that he was about 5 feet from me, coming towards me, and it sounded closer than that. I had to remind myself, "Don't push your dog...don't push your dog..." Pedestrians, too, and other cars, but that was my near miss for the day.

I then had my first "kid jump into my path because kid gets distracted by dog" thing. I think the kid was surprised that I didn't stop.

The next first was a cuddle on the floor thing, Karl's real first with me. Yes, we laid on the floor before, but this time, he had his head on my shoulder (I was lying down) between my shoulder and my neck, his front paw in the crook of one arm, and his neck resting on my other one. And he let me rub his tummy for the first time, too.

Our next first was on the way out to relieve...uh...park. (They always say relieve here.) I got to hear Karl bark, and it really surprised me. I'm used to only hearing him say, "Mm-hmm". Someone's dog barked at the guys working on the lawn with their equipment, then Karl barked, a loud, long, not-too-friendly bark. It surprised me, so my "Quiet!" was a lot louder than it ought to have been, but that was out of surprise at hearing my soft-spoken guy bark.

Next, Karl not only passed up the bus we weren't riding to the second work-out, but he passed the bus up on our way out to the curb to start the afternoon walk! Yea Karl! Again, only minor directional corrections were needed; I could direct him mostly by way of gesturing in the direction I wanted him to go. He ran a couple curbs, but not too badly, except one. And he got his first real distraction: a noisy cart, which sounded--or could sound--like a puppy crying. And then this was the first time he didn't pull on the left turn back to the lounge. The final first? He ran me into a cone on the obstacle course, which we re-worked. And bushes on the relieving circle. I figure, five days, only three clearance mistakes, who can complain?

Lecture today was about distractions, and about re-working areas (street crossings, obstacles, pedestrians). About aggressive dogs, Dan said that you shouldn't have many problems if your dog is under control. (At that point, Nureen (sp?), Kathy's Shepherd, came in--they say unscheduled--to be a dog distraction. Karl jumped up, had to be sat and downed, jumped up again, wanted to run, had to be corrected back to me, and then sat and downed again...and then he was OK. (But by then, Nureen was gone, too.) All things considered, he did pretty well. Anyway, if there is a problem, have your dog sit. And if there is a fight, let your dog go to defend itself--if not, you'd just get hurt trying to help. Let the dog defend itself and get help.

That was about the extent of it...again, a day of firsts. Good day, good workouts. More tomorrow.

Hi folks,

Well, it had to happen sometime, and I'm glad it did!

Karl has decided that being serious for five days straight...no scratch that....a week...is entirely long enough. His playful side is starting to show, as is his distractability.

Morning obedience was a bit more difficult: distractions are beginning! Karl could not ignore the bouncing ball. To his credit, he didn't go after it--he just didn't down when I told him to, or sit either. I did get his attention though...and he ignored the chocolate scone stuck right next to his nose. (Was it chocolate? I don't know...but at any rate, it was Kathy's breakfast, I think.)

Our morning route, we did doubles. Karl ran a couple curbs. More importantly, he took a corner too fast and ran me into a pole. Not hard, mind you, but noticeable. So we re-worked the pole. And he ran me into a concrete thingy. So we re-worked the concrete thingy. Then he was very cautious. I mean, pokey slow cautious--a vast improvement over tearing around the corner like a bat outa...uh...the Congress street bridge. Yeah. I didn't have to take out the leash one time. Oh, and he learned his lesson about pedestrians, too.

The afternoon route was abbreviated and different, as we had individual and class photos. I think I gave Karl more leash corrections for misbehaving during that than I have all week! I would say down, he'd go down, pop up. I'd say down again. No down. Correct. No down. Correct. Down. Up. Down command. Correct. And so on. One of my classmates said, "Why don't you let him sit?" (He was getting distracted by Dan's funny noises and ball to get the dog-for-the-picture's attention, you see.) My answer was, of course, because I wanted him to down, and I told him to down, and so I expected it. (Well, it was actually, "Because I want him down", but that was the meaning of the thing.)

The afternoon route was very easy: no lights. No corrections, either, for Karl-- except an obstacle we had to re-work. I kicked a garbage bag, which we re-worked. (Nice re-work, says Margie.)

The lecture was all about toys: which are safe, which are not. The three things that GDB offers and recommends are: Nylabones; the rubber tug rings; and Kongs. I will be getting a couple Kongs and one of everything else.

Now I said that Karl's playful nature is coming out. He got distracted. Well, after obedience, we ran down the hall a few feet, and he started jumping up in the air a little.

This evening, we've checked out toys. Karl has learned to play a game with the Kong: I throw it and tell him, "Get it!" He gets it, I say, "Bring it here." He does, and I ask him, "Show me" and he...drops it. He seems to like this game. He's not figured out tugging on the tug ring, but we'll learn...he likes to attack it though. I'll pick it up, drop it, tell him to get it, and he'll pounce on it. Then he'll hand it back to me for another one, and sometimes he'll pull with me. Not often though. He's so good...and I'm glad to see his playful side a little bit. And I'm glad to see he's testing me by goofing obstacle clearances now and again and all that...even though the misbehavior (popping up after I have him lie down and so on and not listening) is rather frustrating. We're working it out though, and he's getting better, on the whole, with listening to me and needing less correction during guide work--which is really important of course.

Hi folks,

They tell me that this means that Karl is starting to trust me, because he's starting to test me and make sure my rules are the same as the trainers'. This is a good thing, and I knew it would happen eventually, and I'm in a way, glad it's happening so soon.

Obedience was a trial! Karl is very ball-distracted. I had to correct him almost every sit and down, and we did extras. He really wanted the ball--and this time, he was trying to go for it. He in fact got it in his mouth. One thing: Dan told me not to be afraid to give him a hard correction, so I've kept this in mind for when he needed one, like in lecture when Nureen came in and he wanted to go chase her and wouldn't sit. I had to stand up to give him that correction.

Anyway, the morning route was again the extended basic route. Karl did his turns very carefully this time. I had to correct him at the beginning, because when I said "Forward" he turned around to lie under the table he got up from! Not much too noteworthy I can think of just now otherwise.

The afternoon route was another bus-to-lounge and then back to bus thing, a little longer than yesterday's. Karl, on the way there, went way left (without me noticing) and I ended up almost in someone's yard! We then later hit a barricade, which he went around yesterday. He wanted to go around it the wrong way, so an instructor straightened us out. Oh, and he got me too close to some overhead bushes. On the way back, he totally blew a small street. The curbs were flat, and the building was so close to the corner I thought it was a parking lot! Imagine my surprise when Kathy ran up behind me and said, "Hey, did you know that Karl just blew across a street?" "Uh, no, I sure didn't..." (That was intelligent, I know.) So we got to re-work that. And we got to re-work a student that Karl ran me into. Anyhow, his obstacle work is still very good. His worst thing is that he's so ball distracted. (So far, anyway.)

The afternoon lecture was on total barricades and working your dogs in buildings like stores, for instance. By the way, I was glad to note that the instructors did say that, if you are having trouble with something and it is difficult to locate something with your dog, or you want to show him something, either get sighted help or use your cane and heel the dog through that part. It's good to hear that there is plenty of room to use whatever tool seems most appropriate for a given situation.

We got toys today! Karl will, once he gets into it, jump for the tug ring. He doesn't play the normal game with it though: I drop it somewhere, he attacks it, runs around a little, drops it, I get it, he jumps for it, and sometimes we play tug during that part. His favorite is still the kong though, and the Nylabone is something he hasn't shown much interest in, even though I got one for him if he changes his mind.

Oh, and Karl is also getting more talkative. Usually he'd just say, "Mm-hmm"; today, after a few corrections and "Well, I'm trying to be good, but God I really want to see that ball...", I had him sit at the door to heel out, and he said: "Aaaawwwwwww!"

Ah, isn't it great when they learn to talk?

Oh, I forgot to mention one more teensy little milestone type thingy...... Well, OK, so the trainers haven't told us to yet, but I wanted to see if Karl would...Yes, he let me touch his back while he was layin' a railer. (I was very pleased, and Lynne, another of the trainers, you may recall, said that this means he's very comfortable with me...Heck, I guess so...I wouldn't want someone petting my back while I was going...especially someone I didn't know...)

Hi folks...

(Hang on while I go and see if Karl is OK with his nylabone...) (Well, he wasn't...he wanted to sit with me instead.)

Yes, he's testing the waters, all right. During obedience--the stakes are higher: today it was dog distractions--I had to correct him almost every sit and down again, and we did extras, again. To his credit, he did stay very well...but he didn't want to heel afterwards!

Our two groups alternated: my group did total barricades and traffic checks in the morning. So we parked the bus on a quiet street, and one at a time, we did the barricades and traffic check. The barricade was the van, parked across a driveway--sidewalk--something--and we had to go around it. Karl handled them pretty well. So did I. The traffic checks, Karl also handled well: When we got cut off at a driveway, he stopped. When the van came towards us, he stopped, then backed up. Another time, when the van sat in the crosswalk, he didn't go, and so on. We re-worked stuff in the obstacle course a couple times--he's checking out just how close we can get, I suppose!

The afternoon route, we practiced going into stores. We had to re-work a chair at a sidewalk cafe, but that's about all. Well, that and almost running a curb. Karl is getting distracted in harness now--going into the dorm for instance. On the way back from the afternoon route, he didn't want to go, but after he got going, he was fine.

The lecture was about leaving your dog alone, which we practiced a little tonight. Karl did OK. Now, until further notice, one of us leaves the dog in the room at breakfast, the other at dinner, for alone practice. Karl handled the lecture dog run-through very well today--not even getting up. (Was he asleep? I don't know.)

Karl is learning to find chairs. They're not formally taught that--a real shame-- but I'm teaching him, and I think he'll pick it up fine. He knows where my room is, and he's learning about seats. He's also learning that if he doesn't listen, he gets a correction--and some of them when he lunges for something are pretty hard. Buddy's lesson for the day: It's hard to direct a dog when: You have a bunch of stuff, including trash, in your right hand, and there is a dog across the hallway. (Oops) Karl's trick for the evening: A couple other students were coming in to get their harnesses. Karl, while we were waiting to go out and relieve, bent, presumably, to sniff. Karl got a reprimand and a light correction. (Next time, maybe not so light?) Shortly thereafter, we go out to the relieving circle, where Lynn says: "Buddy, check Karl's mouth..." Yes, Karl stole someone's Kong, apparently!...because there it was, in his mouth, and wasn't he just ever so proud of himself!

Hi everyone.

Yes, it's coming together now.

Karl again needed a lot of correction for dog distraction at obedience, but he needed a couple less than last time. I also had to give him some rather hefty corrections for not listening to "Heel" and "sit" afterwards...Otherwise, he was pretty well-behaved.

Our morning route was again the basic route, same extended one block. I got a reprimand for being "sloppy in leash corrections" (Gotta remember to take the leash out before correcting...Well it was just a little one for direction, I thought, so...(Oops)) And then, I got reminded that if Karl goes right only a little bit, rather than the full 90 degrees, to correct. (I stopped and went to try again...) It went pretty well though overall.

Now the afternoon route was one of the best we've had: Karl was focused, and fast! I'd bet this was one of the fastest we've done--and super accurate. We had a bit of trouble with the curb-to-curb left, but we got it. They said that the dogs might have trouble finding the lounge from the direction we came, but Karl didn't. After that route, we had (those who wanted one) a grounds orientation to the walking paths.

The re-trains came today, I mean the 8 in the retrain class. Looks like a nice group of folks, too.

That's about it for this time. Oh...Karl is getting a lot more playful during play time, too. We're having a great time!

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