Day 9 - September 23

Well today is going to be a scorcher.  We are going for shorter half hour walks this morning and then in the afternoon it’s off leash recall in the school and then 15 minutes to run around in the courtyard.

Our walk was pretty much uneventful.  We weren’t in too many crowded situations, but when we encountered people Gonzo only forced a few them off the sidewalk. J Poodles are pretty pushy.  The funniest thing that happened was there was a child sitting on a patio with his family holding a grilled cheese in his hand right at Gonzo’s level.  We did veer to the sandwich but he didn’t take it or, worse, lick it.  He got a correction for that and we apologized, feeling a little embarrassed.

As for the obedience, Gonzo had no problem with recall.  Why not, I had excellent treats in my hand.  One time though, he was running towards me and something floating through the air, or his imagination, must have touched his butt.  He stopped running and curled around to see what happened and then returned to galloping towards me.  Funny poodles.  He is a sensitive one.  I felt him sort of jumping the other day.  Courtney told me it was because the end of the leash was touching his back every step or two.  I had to shorten up his leash in my harness hand so the little prince wasn’t bothered by his very own leash.

For the off leash playing in the courtyard our goal was to let them play, call them back, give them a treat, leash them up and after a short period of time have them sit, take off the collar/leash and let them go play again.  The idea to let them know that every time we call them back they aren’t necessarily going to be taken away.  Gonzo came back right away and he had been checking in with me while the dogs were playing.  A good start to off leash freedom.  I had a neat moment taking with Courtney while the dogs were playing.  Talking about buses had reminded me of something about Bogart.  Courtney was sitting beside me and I said to her, “Bogart used to have a sound that he couldn’t stand.  Hmmm, what was it?”  Courtney made the noise.  I was so surprised that she remembered such a thing about Bogart, a dog she trained 7 years ago.  I was telling her how someone was making that noise on the bus and I was recommending to them that they stop before my dog went nuts.  How enlightening to think that the trainers remember such small details about the dogs they train.  (Of course it could be that Bogart was a real handful to train, which is why he has a permanent place in her memory.) <chuckle>

Once that was done we took our tired dogs back to our rooms.  The two trainers, Courtney and Gloria, came by each person’s room to talk about how we thought things were going and how they saw things.  They are very happy with our work together.  Gloria was commenting on how happy Gonzo looks to be with me, so we think the bonding process is well under way.  On Monday we are going to the mall and people can take the bus one way and the van back or the bus both ways.  I’ve asked to take the bus both ways.  Courtney was not surprised.  We do Toronto subways on Tuesday with crowded lunch time streets, so that will be good to see how he does.  Apparently Brittany, Gonzo’s trainer, was worried about me working with Gonzo.  Courtney was saying when there is an extremely low vision client who travels in cities, and elsewhere, as much as I do, they want to be sure the dog is confident.  Courtney worked with Gonzo in Toronto and said that he did fine.  When it was really crowded he would look back for confirmation of what to do but she feels once I share my confidence with him in our travelling he will get more confident and just make those decisions.  I agree with her thoughts.  They told me that Wednesday and Thursday are client days where we will work on whatever the client wants so I will give that some thought, but probably more downtown Oakville work with obstacles and people.  On Friday we will practice airports as I fly home. J

Tonight my goal is to get my laundry done.  I am also working to get more pictures of Gonzo. My sister is a photographer and she’s coming to visit tomorrow, so I’m hoping we will get some really good shots for everyone’s enjoyment.