Another Happy Dog Day!

Wednesday May 24th – This morning we began with Susan and I giving another training presentation to the training department. They have been interested in the concept of collar response after hearing us talk about how we use it in our program and asked for a demo. We gathered in the parking lot with a reclassified dog (career change) and a new breeder to give the demo. We discussed the technique then implemented it both with and without the clicker. The dogs we used were great. The female reclassified dog was excitable, busy, and VERY smart. She picked up the idea quickly and was even better when we introduced the food and clicker. The breeder is a young (16 months) male golden who is the son of their one golden stud, Finnegan. He was very nice, confident, and energetic but willing. Both dogs were very similar to the types of dogs we train at our school. We worked the dogs for awhile then broke for a sit down discussion over coffee. Again, it was fun to be involved in the exchange of ideas and brainstorming.

When we went back to the center for lunch Sue had a care package waiting for her from her parents. In the package were a couple of things for me as well! How cool it that? Sue’s parents sent me a pretty necklace with a sandal charm to remind me of sunny California, and a big bag of sunflower seeds!!! Which, as you know from reading my blog, has been something that has been difficult for me to find here. THANK YOU SO MUCH NANCY AND TOM!!!

We spent the afternoon going to town and working dogs under blindfold again. We worked slightly longer more complex routes. The dogs worked nicely for us again, although mine was a bit dog distracted. It was weird because while I certainly know how I would handle that situation at home with dogs I have trained, I felt strangely inhibited about how I should handle this dog. Sue and I worked with Lauren again who is delightful to be around, as she is so cheerful and enthusiastic. Back at the center Mark began presenting about the application process and how they prepare clients to work with dogs. To this end they use some of the techniques developed by Helene Guerette and Carole Zabihaylo from the INLB (Institut Nazareth & Louis Braille) who are affiliated with MIRA in Canada. We ran out of time so our talk will continue tomorrow….Stay tuned.