OFF TO WORK WE GO

I woke at 5:20, just before we were wakened by the trainers. Trinity seemed to have a good night. She was tail-wagging ready whenever she thought I might be ready to get up during the night though.

You need to know that the schedule here is very rigidly prescribed and with good reason. It is difficult to describe, but they have been doing it long enough that they certainly know what works. Things run very smoothly.

After they present us with the food pans, for example, and the dogs finish eating, we all give two measured cups of water and then go out to park. As we leave our rooms, we are careful to keep our distance from other teams. At the stairs, for example, one person has their dog sit at the top of the flight. The next cannot take that position until the first has reached the next landing and has their dog at sit. Once the first person starts down the second flight, the first can give the heel command to go down the first flight to the landing. Once at the relief area, the trainers are stationed to give verbal instructions so that we each can carve out a space far enough from other dogs to avoid initiation of any canine games. Then we hear various names being called: “Joleen you have a one!” Their voices ring out until all canines have done what they have come to do or until they have made it clear that it will not happen on that park time. There is also the sound of shovels as trainers scoop the solid leavings.

The same care is taken when we go to meals or out for trips. We wait until our team is called so that there are not traffic jams in the hall. The dogs have begun working in harness when in town, but not in the dorm at this time. We heal them, and we don’t use our canes.

We began working with the gentle leader when going to meals today. Trinity heals rather well with or without the Gentle Leader. My left shoulder likes this very much.

On our first walk in town, the trainer snapped a long leash to her collar much like the extra controls of a driver training car. She did well enough, though, that by this afternoon, we no longer needed it. The trainer was directly behind my right shoulder this afternoon and tapped me on the shoulder if he saw that she would not stop for the upcoming curb. She knows what to do with him, but I am much shorter and my pace is different. She needs to generalize what he has taught her to when I am holding the harness. It was a very quiet route today going up one side of Maple and back on the other.

As we sit and wait in the lounge, it is the time when we work on having our dogs lie quietly at our feet. There are different types of seating and this gives us practice for different settings.

The three lectures today were on various topics. The first was an enactment of corrections; the second centered on dog fears and how to work with them; and an this evening there was an optional lecture on clicker training.

It was another busy day. Trinity is calmer at rest this evening at her place as I write. It seems that I am adjusting to the time difference and to the humidity as well.