Day 11 - September 25

So this morning we are heading off to the mall via transit.  To get as much practice as possible, I will take the bus both ways so I can see how Gonzo acts getting on and off the bus.

We caught the bus at 9:52.  Everything went well.  Gonzo hopped on the bus and I just had to rearrange him once he sat to get him between my legs.  We wandered around the mall.  Courtney had us go up some open-backed stairs, stairs that you can see through.  This can freak out some dogs.  Gonzo did fine on that test.  Then we went to Winners.  Gonzo found Sandra and followed her to the washroom for some reason.  Then I asked him to find Courtney and he found her really quickly.  We wandered around the store and he was very cautious getting us around some pillars and did a good job not running into too many clothing racks.  It is hard because the aisles are very narrow.  Then from the very back of the store I asked him to find the way out and he had no issues getting me out of Winners.  (That would be the male dislike of shopping appearing.)  After that we headed down to the grocery store.  Bill and I bought some apples.  I feel like I’ve been eating too much junk food during our evening down time so maybe I can eat a few apples over the next couple of days instead.

Once we got out to the bus stop again, we had to wait about ten minutes.  It was so hot out in the bus loop.  Wow, this heat wave is incredible.  Hoping some of the warm sun comes back to Vancouver with me on Friday.  The bus somehow seemed to have more narrow aisles and was more crowded.  Gonzo did fine.

In the afternoon we were doing traffic checks and on-curb obstacles.  A traffic check is when we all walk down the sidewalk in front of the school and Courtney drives her car up to us very quickly just as we are crossing the driveway.  The dog is supposed to do intelligent disobedience and stop, even though we’ve given him a forward command.  It’s nerve racking because, although we hear the car coming, we have to not stop the dog early to make sure he stops.  On the first traffic check, Gonzo must have been looking around, as poodles do, because when the car came up he stopped and leaped backwards!  We went forward once she cleared the driveway, turned around and this time she did the same thing but it was on my side now.  He did a good job stopping without leaping backwards this time.  Then Courtney unexpectedly cut us off at the next driveway, turning in off of the road into the parking lot.  I wasn’t expecting that one so really did rely on the dog to stop, and he did.  Next we get to the corner of Rebecca and Wilson and find the curb, turn to the left to cross Wilson Street, and Courtney comes and does a right hand turn in front of us.  He handled that well and wouldn’t go until the car left.  Not trying to go out in front or around behind, even though I’m asking for a forward. 

We cross Wilson Street and Courtney goes around the block.  When she is in place we cross back across Wilson towards the school and Courtney comes along and blocks us so we are stuck beside her car in the middle of the road.  We wait there until she moves.  I yelled at her and said she was a horrible driver!  (I might as well practice my responses as well J)

The other thing we did both walking down to Rebecca Street and on the way back up, is put her car over the sidewalk, blocking it, so the dog is forced to go onto the street.  Gonzo took my direction onto the road, and then you ask for an over left, or over right, depending on what side the curb is on that you are trying to get back to.  This is good for things like cars on the sidewalk or construction where you are forced onto the street due to an obstacle in your way.  Gonzo handled this perfectly.  Can only imagine what the public would see if they were witnessing this drill.

At our afternoon meeting we got a serious talk about ensuring our dogs do not gain weight when they go home.  They have had such issues with their labs putting on extra weight that they are making clients sign weight management contracts.  This contract makes us responsible for keeping the dogs weight where it is at now.  If the dog gets overweight then we are answerable to the school, no matter what our vet says about our dog’s weight.  If people let their dogs get overweight and do not follow directions the dog can be removed.  First it is removed to be put on a weight loss program.  Sometimes this has taken 9 months.  That means 9 months the client is without a dog.  Lucky for me, poodles don’t usually have weight issues as long as one doesn’t over feed them and they get their exercise.

We also got very sad news delivered to us.  Duncan had been pulled out of our meeting and was being told that they were not sending him home with a dog.  They found the team had totally broken down and it would be dangerous for Duncan to go home with his dog since he wasn’t managing to control him.  Basically the dog had taken advantage of Duncan’s nice nature and was just doing what he wanted to do.  We all could see this coming, but this doesn’t diminish what it must feel like for Duncan.  Bill and I went to talk with him to see how he was doing and offer our support.  He was devastated as one would imagine.  His son was coming to get him in the early evening.

At 5:30 I met up with Bill, Sarah and Sandra to head out for my birthday meal at the Boot Pizzeria.  I did make sure to mention to everyone that this was a 1.5 km walk to get to the restaurant.  Anyway, we did walk there and did find it.  Four blind people all working together to get there in one piece.  It was a great place. I had their panzerotti and it was super yummy!!

We had a nice long walk home to help us digest our huge meal only to continue the festivities with cheese cake that Sandra had bought for us to share.  It was very nice.  Cheese cake two days in a row, I’m in paradise!

After hanging out with Gonzo and the others watching The Voice for about an hour and half, I put Gonzo back in our room, grabbed my drumsticks and headed over to the Moonshine Café for their Monday night jam.  It turned out that it was the owner’s birthday as well!  One drummer played before me and, although I thought I heard there were several drummers, once I got up to play, I played the rest of the night!  Much more fun than last week with tons of different styles of music, but I handled it all just fine.  They have another jam on Thursday night that I might take part in after our graduation ceremonies, if I feel up to it and I’m all packed.  I will be leaving at 7am on Friday morning to go to the airport for our flight home.

Overall, that was a pretty good birthday.  The only thing missing was my girlfriend, Susan, to share it with, but Gonzo and I will be home to see Susan soon.

Tomorrow we are off to Toronto for the subway experience and city streets.  I’m very much looking forward to this.  How Gonzo does with Toronto will give me an idea of what he’ll be like in Vancouver.