[Week Two] [Week 4] [Contents] [Send me Email!]
Hi folks,
Things are changing a bit here. The weather has been cooler today than it has been last week, and as I mentioned, this week promises to be very busy. I forgot to mention last time that I asked the ...whatever ...department to give me Karl's puppy history. He was born second of six in his litter. I have his siblings' names here someplace, but not handy just now. At any rate, of the six, he was the only one to complete training--the others are career change dogs-- probably filling the role as a nice pet for someone.
Sunday, Karl figured out what the Nylabone is for--finally. He now chews on it some. He growled at the cleaning lady--or, more correctly I think, at the dust mop. And he barked--loud and long--at my roommate, who walked in through the dog run. Yes, quiet, unassuming, gentle Karl, says Thomas, would have scared the (product of relieving) out of him had he not known it was Karl barking.
The day today began, of course, with obedience. Difference: we worked to an area on the campus paths to do our obedience. One of the instructors took four of us, the other took the other four. They said we could do obedience with the harness on or off--I chose to do it with the harness off, as Karl seems a bit more distractable with no harness...but that might just be my perception. Thoughts, anyone? Well, he was distracted, again, but he's getting better. Kelly said that his recall was a "perfect 10", which it has not been for a couple days.
The morning route was a bus-to-lounge, with a detour through a building to play with the elevator and stairs. Karl ran the one step to the building. He did the elevator great, and the staircase, too. We rode the elevator up two floors, and then we walked down the stairs. Karl knows both. Then we walked back to the lounge, where I met some of the retrain dogs. There is, I think, a black lab or two, two goldens, and the rest yellow labs. Again, pretty good names...the ones that spring to mind are:
At any rate, we walked back to the bus then--at least, some of us. In total today, I corrected Karl for running flat curbs...well, they felt like flat curbs, but they were really approaches to regular curbs. (Not a leash correction, no, but I wanted him to re-work them. A trainer caught me before the last two though...)
The afternoon was a route from the lounge to the city hall building, where we did stairs up and elevator down this time. Again, Karl did well. He got distracted by a bird running along the ground once and ran a curb. Otherwise, his work was very steady and right-on, if a bit pokey. (Pete told me that we looked very good together and asked me if this was the only T-shirt I owned, as I have coincidentally worn it every Monday so far...coincidences--aren't they strange?) I talked to folks in the lounge, too. Not only is one of our retrains a science-fiction writer, with a trilogy on the way to publication, but another of them is an adaptive computer consultant guy...so we had fun talking in the lounge.
The 5PM lecture was a Guide Dogs history and "Special Partners" video. Not a bad video as such things go...I do like the general feel and tone of the long version much more than i do the short 5-minute version. We also talked about escalators. A bunch of people initially wanted to do them, but then we got the "This is dangerous and be very careful because it could hurt your dog if you're not careful and I don't really like dogs on escalators but..." speech, and quite a few folks changed their minds. My thinking is that everything we do with our dogs is a risk, and while certainly if there is an alternative to an escalator handy, it should be used--but sometimes there isn't, and we should know how to use them in case we have to...just be careful with them, of course.
After dinner, my group had the flea spray and ear cleaning lecture, so now Karl smells like flea spray and baby wipe...lovely. Then I had a nice talk with a Buddy-lister...hey, and another one yesterday...
Tomorrow: escalators!
Howdy.
Today was rather eventful. You know, 6:30 comes awful early, especially when you don't really want to wake up. Anyway, the 8AM obedience session was, again, on the grounds, and this time, with a dog distraction. Karl was a little better about thinking about obeying the sits and downs--especially sits--but still, not quite.
We did escalators in the morning...and the grocery store. We all went on a junk food spree at the grocery store: bags of potato chips and Fritos were floating around for a while. The escalators weren't too bad. We heel the dogs on and off, and they can come off in front of or behind you, but they heel anyway. They ride at the same level as your left foot...that is, their front feet do. Your right foot and right hand are a step or so up. (Well, a step, anyway.) Karl led me right up to them and didn't seem to mind them a lot.
The afternoon was a visit to the vet, where Karl got his rabies tag and booster shots. He also got weighed again, and I got a summary of his medical history--pretty clean. All of the dogs were. A puppyhood diarrhea, a skin condition on an elbow that cleared up quickly, something that wasn't at all harmful on the right cornea, discharge from the eyes on occasion, reaction to fleas...that's about it, really. (They warned me to keep on top of the fleas...especially living in Texas and all.) Then we went to the lounge, from where we did independent routes, under the far but watchful eyes of the trainers. Probably not too far, though! Karl kept up a pretty good pace mostly, except the bit when we passed the lounge, but I'll get to that. We sorta flubbed a right, we got into some grass, so I walked back to the corner and got re-oriented to a new sidewalk, but otherwise things went well. Then we passed the lounge on the way to the bagel store, and Karl got pouty. (I wanna go in, darn it...) He barked at the guy in the liquor store, where we stopped to ask about the bagel store. No idea why. Then he barked at someone coming out of the bagel store--twice! You can bet he got a verbal correction for the liquor store guy with a hand on his muzzle, same for the first time at the bagel store, and same with leash correction the second bark at the bagel shop. No idea again why he barked like that...but his bark still surprises me. Mild-mannered, unassuming, quiet Karl, barking like a vicious attack dog. (OK, not quite as much, but certainly as loud.)
The evening lecture was first about feeding, with a review of the subway platform technique, which we can practice at our option on Thursday morning. No subways in Austin, but I think I'll do it anyway. One never knows.
Yes, it has gone to the dogs. We had five (count 'em) separate dog distraction opportunities, not counting obedience. Dog and ball today, and totally way hyper dog at that. Karl took a while to focus, again. He's getting better though.
The morning route was San Francisco. This is where we had the first three dog distractions. It was a really pretty basic route--around a couple blocks, no big deal. Well, you know how Bill Cosby (I think) talks about the hills in San Francisco? It might well be someone else, it's been a while since I heard the cut I'm thinking of. Anyway, he talks about driving up the hills in San Francisco: the hills are so steep, that you're still going up after you get to the top of the hill. I now know what he means! Those hills feel like they're at 45-degree angles to the ground! I mean, you hiked uphill practically. I'm so glad that Austin's hills aren't that bad. Well, Austin's roads are...we felt every bump in the road, I guarantee it.
Anyway, the dog distractions. The first one, Karl did a 180 on me, I corrected, we went on, Dan told me I should be firmer with him. OK, I thought, I will. Next dog, Karl didn't react to as badly, but react he did anyway, and, as per Dan's suggestion, I was more firm. The third dog distraction was the best: Picture one of those miniature poodles in attack mode. Karl ignored it, its owner was frantically reeling it in. (Same with the second, but the second wasn't really in attack mode.) Dan suggested that, rather than trying to get around such a thing, just wait for it to be done with. Fine by me. Yes, Karl is understanding the limits now on distractions. His work with the dog distractions is better...
The afternoon route was to the 31 flavors, where the counter personnel decided that it would be much more pleasant for me to wait on them to finish their conversation than it would be to wait on me. I stood behind two separate groups of people behind two separate windows and was ignored two separate times in the space of about 3 minutes. Had I had more time, I would have alerted the fine folks there to this obvious oversight, but as I was already running late, I didn't. Right before I got there though, I met an instructor training a dog--and Karl wanted to play...He didn't want to play for very long though. Now we have, I think, reached our understanding. That makes four, right?
The fifth happened on the way back from our fruitless-and ice-creamless--trip to 31 flavors. Just a dog, which Karl paused for but went on after one hopp-up. Well, then we ran into a retrain...no one's fault, really, it's one of those things that happens: my dog stopped, his dog stopped, I told my dog to hopp-up, SMACK, not much anyone could have done about it. (Trainers' verdict too, not just my own.) I felt pretty bad about it...but it wasn't anyone's fault really.
No evening lecture this time, but yes, there was a night route. Or more correctly, a dusk route, which Karl did very well at. Only stopped for the trainers' personal dog, needed a mild correction forward, and was off. (Everyone else's dog did the same thing, though...at least Karl didn't lead me off the path, down the wrong street, or anything else...) It actually went extremely well.
Tomorrow, we go back into the city for subway platforms...
The first bit was, of course, obedience. More of the same...except this time, it was food distractions, and mostly, Karl ignored the pizza. He seemed curious about it but that was it: no wild lunges for it, nothing like that.
We went to San Francisco again, where we walked a little bit and got introduced to subway platforms and trains. No big deal, really, except it's awful hard to get my mind around it. Just knowing that the platform sticks out with no walls or doors or whatever where the trains run gives me the willies, and trust your dog or no trust your dog, I was stepping pretty lightly and carefully, I can assure you. Sort of the feeling that you have walking around on top of a high roof. The subway station didn't feel any different from, oh say, a Grayhound terminal, except noisier, more open, blah blah...I mean it wasn't anything unusual I guess, and if no one had said anything at all about the subway platform I'd not have known any different. I'm sure one gets used to this sort of thing. At any rate, the whole thing was pretty interesting...some fellow ran up to Dan and another trainer hollering about how he'd gotten reprimanded about something or another and it was their fault...don't ask me, I have no idea. We rode a couple escalators, did stairs, elevators, the whole bit. Karl decided to run some up-curbs, too.
The afternoon was more freelancing, and this time I did get my ice cream, and everyone was very nice and all that. Karl got child-distracted though: I said outside, we went to the water fountain to play with the kids. We finally did get out though, with a bit of direction. Karl seemed more focused today, too...in San Francisco, he pulled like a freight train...in San Rafael, pokey pokey... I suppose one of these times, we'll find a middle ground. OK, so I'm being a bit unfair: he's not that pokey in San Rafael...but he did pull like a freight train in San Francisco.
The evening lecture was actually a discussion with Marla, the counselor, and the retrains, about taking your dog home, introducing him to new house, new folk, new pets, how to react when this and that happen, and so on. It was really interesting, too.
I think tomorrow is sidewalkless...or country road...or some such thing.
[Actually, written 15 June 1996...but it's about 14 June]
Well, they weren't really country roads, but that's what they were called, at least the afternoon one.
Yesterday--well, that was Friday--was devoted to sidewalkless walking. It was pretty straightforward: walk along the left-hand curb, if you drift too far, halt, formal left, back to the curb. If you get to a car, the dog should stop; make a formal right and moving left around it, and continue. If the street turns a corner, the dog will follow it. Very straightforward. Karl did pretty well, too. Pulled like a freight train at first-- especially on the straight shot "country road" (actually, a regular road in the middle of nowhere), but he calmed down soon enough...more likely tired out! Obedience...I forgot...was very trying, as Karl had trouble focusing on it, what with the dog and frisbee. But Dan told me that yes, he was listening, just having trouble focusing, and that I again shouldn't be afraid to give hard corrections. It's something I'm working on-- balancing fairness with firmness and all that--but it sure isn't easy!
The lecture was about care for your dog. Keeping his feeding and watering regular, keeping him at a good weight, grooming, basically an overview of dog guide care. We were supposed to do overheads, but we ran overtime, so we may do them today. If not, probably Monday.
Yesterday afternoon, we had the gift shop and extra equipment show. They sold lots of Guide Dogs gift stuff, which I didn't buy, but I did buy two extra tie-downs, an extra leash, one of those collapsible water bowls, and a doggie raincoat. Maybe I'll get a T-shirt or two before the whole thing is over.
Howdy folks.
Well, today was pretty exciting, actually. The morning obedience went pretty well, not many distractions except the human variety...but we did stuff at a different place. Kathy told me at one point on our way there, "Buddy, right there", so I stopped to unharness Karl. She meant "Turn right there"...how funny. By the way, the trainers say that we can do obedience in harness or out, it doesn't matter really, but I prefer to take the harness off.
The morning was freelancing. A couple others and I went to Luggen's Swiss Bakery-- a fine bakery, with friendly staff and delicious pastries...and sandwiches. I spent more than I intended--I certainly didn't mean to buy a meatloaf sandwich with cheese on egg bread when I got there, but I did anyway, and it was very good. So was the brownie and the...I forgot what they were called. Oh well, they were good, too.
The afternoon was a bus to lounge...actually, a bus-to-bus-to-lounge. It was broken up into two parts, and people could do all or only half of it. I did all of it. The notable features of this walk, aside from its length, were total barricades. Here we go. Karl loved the walk. He kept a nice pace, and he worked very well and consistently. The first part of the route, we found a truck blocking the sidewalk, so we worked around it, into the street and back. The street was busy, so we spent a lot of time waiting for an opening...I can assure you I was nervous. Next, right next to that truck was another one. Same thing. Very nerve-wracking, but we did it. I mentioned that I'd have liked to go around the back, but the back was firmly parked against a garage door. (I didn't know as I didn't try, until a trainer told me.)
At the second part of the trip, first, Karl didn't like a statue and barked. I was, of course, concerned, so the trainer at the corner took us to the statue for Karl to investigate--after the corrections. (By the way, I talked to Kathy about the barking. She said it was likely due to stress, and it should calm down once Karl gets settled at home. However, I was doing the right thing to let him know that this behavior is not acceptable, and let them know when it happens again.)
The next barricade was absolutely infuriating. Not because of the barricade, but because of the people. At 4th and A, there is a coffee shop. Outside this coffee shop--or some restaurant--there are tables and chairs blocking the sidewalk, with a planter, and one must go into the street to go around. I of course didn't know this, so when Karl ran me into a plastic chair, we re-worked it. Someone told me, "Just push it out of the way!" No, I said, we would re-work it, and we did. One person was pretty cool and wished us luck. It was the others. We walked up to a table. "You can't go that way! There's a table!" "No, now your dog's head is in my lap!" "Go around...turn around and go around the planter and..." I said, "It'll be all right. We'll be fine, please let him do his job." And "We need to work through this, we'll be just fine. Please let him do his job." No such luck. I still got the advice, unsolicited advice at that. I took some of it, we got around the stuff, and by that time, I was frustrated, angry, and not thinking quite straight. (If those people had just shut up and let Karl do his job, I'm sure we'd've figured it out, but no!) Anyhow, at the last bit, I just heeled him through a narrow spot he had his nose stuck through and we went on our way. Certainly not the best solution, but it got us out. I think Karl knew I wasn't very happy, and he worked beautifully the rest of the way to the lounge. Yes, I got similar "help" with a cane, too, and it's no less infuriating now.
The evening was taken up with a short run of overhead obstacles. Lynn, one of the trainers, said I was an excellent handler (she hadn't worked with me much, but she said I was anyway.) Karl wanted to work around the first one rather than stop and show it to me after we hit the towel, so we re-worked it until he stopped at it. The others, he did just fine with and stopped right at them. He even stopped to show me the benches. I told him he was good, those were seats too, but we had to go on. He is such a good boy...Seriously, his obstacle work has always been extremely good, and he picks things up well. He has a lot of initiative, but to balance, he isn't too bull-headed about it, and I love this combination. He is a really excellent guide--I'm sure we can get this barking thing under control.
Hi folks,
Here's what happened...
I was out flea-spraying and grooming Karl, when Margie came out and said, "Hey, you have a phone call...on the pay phone. Some guy named Robert..." Now who could that be, I wondered. I was puzzled. Karl and I walked to the pay phone, which was big enough for a dog, too (!!!!). It was a fellow in California whose dog was raised by the same people as Karl was, and he called to ask if they could come visit me. Of course Karl's raisers could come, I said. The deal was, Sue, a fifteen-year-old girl who raised him, was leaving for Europe on Wednesday and she wanted to meet me--and see Karl one more time. Absolutely, I said. He said keep it under my hat, but of course, you know how these things can be...so I mentioned it to Margie, who said hey, no problem, if she can't come to graduation, don't worry about it. And hey, if the desk jockeys have a problem with it, I figure easier to ask for forgiveness than permission, right? So Nancy, Sue's mother, called. She said that she and her husband and Ryan, their son, who helped a little with Karl, would be at the graduation, but Sue--who did most of the work--would be in Europe. She told me that Sue didn't want to go at first when she foundout she'd miss Karl's graduation. I thought, that would be a shame--a real opportunity missed--but I was touched by that. So I was even more glad that she could come. They live on a wine grape farm 90 miles east of here in a town whose name I've forgotten. [That town is Lodi.]
At about 1:30, they showed up. They were very nice folks, too, and we had a great time. We talked about Karl of course, and what all of us were doing. We took pictures outside on a lawn, me and Sue, and me and Sue and mom and dad, and then all of us (Me, Sue, mom, dad, and Madelyn--older sister). Then we went to the mall for lunch.
So what did I find out about Karl?
He travels easily, they said, and likes to ride in the car. He was a very easy puppy to raise, and was very flexible and easy-going. He was also very orderly in what he liked to do and how things were done. For instance, he ate "like a typewriter", his "big secret". They told me that he would eat down to the bottom of the bowl, and then across in straight lines. They said he only would eat half, as if he were sharing with someone, leaving the other half (a perfect half a bowl), completely untouched, straight across. On this topic of sharing, he liked to share his toys. He'd play tug, but he wouldn't tug, like with me. He'd play with something for a while, give it to you, let you play for a while...and share it back and forth. I thought this was really cute. They said he liked and respected cats, too. He is not a garbage hound, and they said I wouldn't have to worry a lot about him picking up too much stuff. I said he was interested in things sometimes, but he'd sniff and then leave things alone...they said he just really wasn't interested in that sort of thing. I also found out that he was very good at not getting on the furniture. These folks did a wonderful job with him...and they say he was easy to raise.
They have raised six pups in all, three of which went on to guide dog graduations. They kept two "career changes", who Karl grew up with.
We exchanged Email addresses and phone numbers, went to see puppies in the kennels, and parted ways. I think, though, I'll be keeping in touch with these folks. They have a cousin moving to Austin... [Yes, we have kept in touch, and in fact are great friends.]
Copyright 1996-2002. Feel free to distribute this thing as much as you like so long as it's freely distributed, unaltered, (although excerpting is OK), and my name is attached. You wanna do something else with it? Send me Email. But keep your spam to yourself (as if I believe you spammers will.)