Well, another day, another doctors' visit. Aside from the fact that I didn't plan properly so instead of meeting the other dog ahead of time, Alli met him as he ran to her outside! Well, when they tell us that these dogs are able to pull us right over.........they're right! Believe me, that won't happen again!!!!
Back to Stop & Shop! When we went to Stop & Shop the first time, as a field trip, we walked through the aisles, and practiced "down/stay" as we looked at items on both sides. We once again had the dogs do "under" a clearance table. As they go under they turn, down and stay. I think I've already said that I've already used this several times and Alli does it perfect every time........on our test, although she did go under, I forgot to lengthen the assistance leash and had to bend over to give her enough lead to do as she knew she needed to. And, since she barely had enough lead, I needed to correct her in order for her to go down. Of course, this kind of defeats the purpose of having a partner to help if you can't make it possible for her to succeed! Back to the field trip. We also had the dogs "jump" on the bench by the pharmacy, and then told them "off". All along, I've needed to try to make the corrections equal across the board. My biggest problem has been when telling All to "leave it!" and she chooses not to, or to turn her head quickly and then look back again. I tend to give the leash a tug instead of a quick hard jerk up. A throw back to training Simba, I guess. The last few days I've really been working hard on it, and it definitely shows in how Alli is responding. So, back at S&S, since I had my car I had to show that I could get Alli in and out safely. Of course, once again, I choked when I was being tested. I always have her sit and stay by my side as I open the door, lengthen the lead, and straighten the pad that she jumps on to protect the back seat. I then tell her to jump, she jumps, turns and sits, I say stay, and hook up the lead. Well, I did everything except "sit" before opening the door to put her in! Oh, well, everything went fine despite my errors, she did as she was told and we passed just fine. For the exam, we were back at Stop&Shop walking the isles. Brian, one of our trainers, walked behind us at the onset and dropped something making a loud noise. The dogs were able to be momentarily distracted but had to quickly forge ahead. All went well. We did Recall Level I again and continued our walk. Brian also put food down on the floor and we had to walk w/in a few inches of it without the dog lunging at it or trying to sneak a taste. Erin, the other trainer, asked a woman if her daughter would walk by the dogs and pat them on the head. Everyone passed and we were glad we were done. It was so great to be with a group that got along so well, the dogs too, but it was definitely time to go home. I didn't realize it, but I weighed myself at home the morning I left, and again the morning after I returned and I lost 6 lbs. over the 2 weeks I was at NEADS! The trainers will call us in 2 weeks, Erin will be calling me, to ask how we're doing, how the dogs are doing and how things are working out. Also, they will be asking about the dogs' weight, amount of food we're giving them, any new commands or behaviors they've learned and/or any questions or concerns we may have. We then need to fill out a paper w/ similar questions and mail it in both in December and January......can't remember if it's February too........and graduation is in March. Then, in one year, we will be contacted by a trainer who will also contact other teams and have us meet them at a centrally located site. It will probably be a mall or similar location. We will then be required to take the practical test again and the our dogs along w/ us must pass the test again. This is all necessary for us to remain a certified assistance dog team. I'm sure people don't realize all that must be done to be a recognized assistance dog team.
I signed up, offering to speak about NEADS if/when asked as well as go with Alli to help out others who may be looking for sponsorship. They may be asked to speak to a group and if they don't have their dog yet and the group would like to see exactly what a service dog is able to do Alli and I can go and show and explain.
I definitely count myself as blessed at this time of Thanksgiving. WOW, what an experience!
I plan on continuing this blog and I hope others will join in on the conversations. I will include links as often as I am able to help get the word out about service dogs and all the freedom and sense of power they can provide their partner!
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