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Day 9: Off Campus at Last!

October 29, 2009 by Renee K Walker Leave a Comment

Wow! This was a great day. We woke up at 5:30 am to find that Joe had left me a “present” at the foot of the bed. I cleaned it up and took him outside. No punishment because he may have tried to wake me up and couldn’t. Once outside I busied him and when he did “we had a big party”. The constant rain for over a day had really dampened spirits, but the dogs hated it worse. Everyone was having problems.
Well, after breakfast, we did obedience and added the come and finish to our repertoire of commands. Come is simply happily telling the dogs to come and the dogs walk forward and sit directly in front of us. Once seated, you praise and then say Finish. This means we step back with the right foot and say “Heel.” The dogs go behind us and come up beside us and sit ready for commands. Joe did this very well. We also did the sit/stay and down/stay commands leaving our dogs at the end of a long leash. The dogs are then distracted in various ways by the trainers to see if the dog breaks the command. They all did the first couple of times. The correction was a quick no! with a pull and release of the leash. Once they are back in position you praise. The order of correction is give command. If dog does not respond correctly, you give a no with correction pull of leash. Then praise when done correctly. Sit, again, is relax leash, pull, then relax again. Down is relax and then pull straight down and then relax again. Always praise when the dog gives appropriate response. I, myself, always forget to do the down correction straight down toward the ground. Hopefully, he will be ok when I finally get myself straight. 
After obedience came, a trip to the Downtown Center aka the DTC. It is the SE property in downtown Bradenton that allows them to have a main base for in town training. We stayed all day. Did neighborhood routes in the morning and afternoon. We also had lunches there, as well. There were lots of cracks in the sidewalk, bushes hanging out and over the sidewalk. Offset curbs which took us into traffic some, etc. Before working any time, you must busy and water the dog. Joe refused to poopie. I had taken him every 15 mins fore we left, but no doing. I tried to busy him before we left on the walk. He still wouldn’t go. Of course, once in harness and having to walk a good distance, He poopied in the middle of my route in harness, you know. Well, we cleaned it up and finished the route. I will have to really do the “parties” until I can get him not do it on routes and in the house.
After a hard day, we came back to the school and fed the doggies and fed ourselves. We had lecture all about safety in the neighborhood and how to act in front of the public since our correction are usually not understood. Later I talk to Scott on the X-box about issues at home. Joe and I retired to the room for shower and floor time.
Well, another day has gone and I am tired. We are going to Wal-mart tomorrow. That sounds fun. I am going to buy some doggie toys for Joe. Good night!

Filed Under: Journal Tagged With: blind, blog, deaf, deaf and blind, Deaf-Blind, DeafBlind, DeafBlind DeafBlind Hope, guide dog, guide dogs, handicap, journey, Southeastern Guide Dogs, training

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