I think I forgot to write yesterday. sorry. seems to be a pattern of mine in guide dog training, as the days go by and the fatigue sets in, writing eases up.

 

Yesterday was a fun day. In the morning, we went back to Portland and I worked in a mall. Great place for practicing turns and obstacle/pedestrian clearances. I had a blast. and the short walk to the mall was brilliant. No bad curb approaches, nothing. Petunia and I worked together like a smooth seasoned team. It was a total contrast tot he day before. We had a couple clearance errors in a store with aisles pressed too close together, but other than that it was perfect.

 

In the mall, I stopped a a little place called Moonstruck chocolates, an Oregon chocolate company. they actually had little Labradors made of milk chocolate. I had to buy some, and I got half a dozen. I’m sharing with my classmates. Then I stopped at a store called made in Oregon to find a charm for my bracelet. I got a rose, since that represents Oregon.

 

In the afternoon, we did several different things. I learned a little campus orientation but I know I’m never going to work that route. The daily workouts are already enough. We ended that route doing omverheads. It isn’t natural for a dog to look up, over their heads, so teaching them to handle overhead obstacles that could cause problems for their handler is a lot about patterning. Fortunately I’m short enough that I go under most overheads.

 

And after that, I finally got to do clicker with Petunia. and wow, she loved it! since she isn’t very food motivated, I didn’t expect her to be thrilled with it, but damn she had a blast. He was into it, smilling, wagging, doing play bows. It was so much fun for us both.

 

That was about it for the day. I rested all evening.

 

Today is our day off. I’m doing laundry and have company coming this afternoon. No work or anything else. and the break feels very good. Starting tomorrow, our work will be more customized to try to reflect what we have in our home enbironments.