Day 11 of GDT

Tired, so very tired today! What a week, I can't believe that I've only got 2 nights left at the hotel!

This morning took us on a walk to Radlett. Kelly drove Nicky and I along with the dogs and walked Nicky and Rita to Cafe Nero and then came back for me. The walk whilst with no crashes didn't go quite as well as normal due to either Odene being tired or due to just being cheeky. I tried positive encouragement, followed by a more firm 'get on' and even tried taking the lead and trotting alongside briefly to get Odene to go faster. Instead we just plodded along! When we finally got to the cafe, Nicky and I swapped places and Odene had a rest. I was hopeful that this may be the energy saver that we needed but alas it was also a slow return especially as it included a stretch that she had already walked along to get to the cafe, I could almost hear her thinking 'boring...'

We did have one very annoying man who came up behind us, asked Kelly if Odene was a Guide Dog (well yeah, can't you tell?) to which he then came up to stand right in front of us just as we about to set off on a 'forward' to stare down at Odene. Like, come on, don't interrupt a Guide Dog working! Kelly politely but firmly told him we were in training and to please move out of the way. It was my first real experience of how annoying some people can be. Advice, please look from a distance at a Guide Dog and admire from there and don't ever touch one without asking. After all if you are a sensible person, you wouldn't walk up to a dog and just start stroking it, you would ask if it was okay to and then hopefully you'll get told that he or she wouldn't bite!

After lunch we did some more obedience, I was pleased by this as I know Odene is brilliant at it. Except a surprise was in store, Nicky and I were asked to swap dogs! So there I was with Rita who is a much harder dog to work. She needs a much firmer handler and the 'no' needs to be rough and mean so that you only need to say it once. I found this incredibly difficult, I'm obviously no good at all at being mean! Rita also kept looking round for her Mum and obviously thinking 'who are you to tell me what to do?'. I was exhausted by the time we arrived back with Nicky. I'm so pleased I've got Odene who is a real softy in comparison and whom I don't need to be so firm with. It did at least mean that I practiced my fierce, firm voice which I think did improve slightly at least! It goes to show though that Rita has formed a real bond with Nicky and behaves much better for her and the same holds true for Odene and I.

After lunch we spent the afternoon obstacle avoiding. Trainer Mike joined Kelly and they put out lots of cones across paths to teach us how to get the dog to go into the road briefly to get round the obstacle. In real life this could be a car on the path, roadworks, a group of people, the list goes on! It was quite interesting how much the dog has to do in these situations and how much we too have to do to help out with the decision of what comes next. There is a lot of 'find the way' and 'in, in' once you've passed the obstacle. There is also a difference for when you pass an obstacle on one side of the street to the other which is to do with positioning.

Tomorrow is our last full day at the hotel and I believe we are going to try working the dogs round obstacles again. I'm now definitely looking forward to work on my usual routes and also looking forward to getting home!

Day 10 of GDT

This morning went just as well as yesterday morning with the traffic exercise. We had a lady called Helen visiting us from Hearing Dogs who wanted to check out how Guide Dogs do things. Odene again performed brilliantly but I defs don't ever want to experience her fail safe in real life!

As we're training so close to my home we went back to my house and took Odene to the front door and did the 2 trips to both of the bus stops I use. Kelly left some treats for me to give her at each of the stops to encourage her to always 'find the bus stop' when I ask her to. There is a bit of a fiddly straight line which leads to a traffic crossing which Kelly put some treats on the signal box so Odene knows to lead me straight to it for me to press the button. Lots of praise given at each destination and we got a few tail wags when she got the treats! We're going to practice this a few times so that she gets really confident on these routes as they are going to be the most common.

This all took up most of the day, it feels a bit shorter after yesterday where I did the night walk. I must admit though that I'm having another tired day so will probs be getting an early night!

Day 9 of GDT

This morning brought traffic today which actually doesn't mean a traffic load of people or heavy car traffic. In fact it was about how the dog should behave when being asked to cross a road when there is a car coming. I'll begin with explaining that we had a good discussion about why the dogs are trained to disobey your 'forward' command in these circumstances. It's a common question 'How do dogs know when to cross the roads?' when in fact they don't, it's down to you to sound out whether it's safe to cross but, and this is a biggish but, Guide Dogs are trained to have a fail safe. If you do say 'forward' and yet a car is coming the dog should disobey and remain sitting - this is for near traffic where the car is travelling on the side of the road closest to you. If you are doing far traffic you would say 'forward' and the dog would perhaps start setting off but then should stop and sit if it meets a car driving up on the other side of the road. It's up to us at that point to praise the dog for doing the right thing and to wave the driver on before setting off again.

For Odene, who is a bit of a softy this was quite hard work for her but did what she was meant to do. We had an extra set of hands helping as we needed 2 trainers watching us and looking out for traffic and a trainer who volunteered to do the driving, the driver was another trainer called Kelly. To explain about the process my trainer Kelly would signal for driver Kelly to drive towards me and at the same time tap my shoulder to queue in the 'forward' command. At which point the dog should disobey you. It was very interesting and we are doing the same again tomorrow morning to have another practice at it. Once at home we shall need to practice near traffic for which we'll get more info on during our 2 weeks at home.

This afternoon was a shorter walk than normal due to wanting to conserve our energies for the night walk. The rain started at this point and I got to use my waterproofs, I now know that Odene does not like rain! Karen came along who is Kelly and Mike's boss and is ever so nice. I actually met her before as she came along for a work meeting about the upcoming arrival of a Guide Dog and was incredibly helpful with answering their questions. So for me this was a pleasant catch up. So Kelly, Karen, Nikki and myself headed out with Odene and Rita to St Albans with the heading being Morrison's in Fleetville to sit in the cafe there. Kelly took Nikki and Rita first along with Karen where Karen and Nikki sat and had a tea with Kelly coming back for Odene and I. Once I arrived at the cafe we then swapped places with Nikki so I could grab a cuppa. It was a nice afternoon where Karen was very tea'd up and Kelly not at all! The rain had stopped by my walk as well so I was quite cheered up!

After dinner we got to do the night walk, I must admit I was a little bit nervous to begin with but by the end had relaxed into it. Kelly said that Odene was a little more distracted during the walk and that it was probably due to me being not quite so quick to tell her what to do. It could also be that it was also her first time in harness in the dark and it must have felt very different for her! It did feel quite different but actually very comfortable and apparently my positioning improved a lot tonight. What trainers look for is a partnership that is safe and effective which apparently is how we look along with being a 'tidy' partnership, I like to think that's code for looking like the most amazing partnership she has ever seen ;-) It was lovely knowing that I was trusting Odene for real and I realised just how difficult it was to tell the difference of edging into a driveway for a quick sniff and edging round an obstacle. It makes it very hard to know when to praise and when to say 'no'. One of the many lovely things about this walk is that I really got to tell just how amazing she is going to be for me once we're qualified. I would never have walked in the dark like I did tonight without her and with this being our very first night walk there are bound to be improvements as I start to learn how to feel for her mannerisms.

Day 8 of GDT

What a lovely weekend I ended up having! Day 7, Sunday, was so nice and relaxing! The only drawbacks came with the clocks changing meaning we lost an hour so my planned lie in turned out to be just at a normal wakeup time with there being a different clock time. Then for lunch for the first time since I've been here I fancied nothing on the menu so Paul and I had sandwiches. Things were made up to us though by giving us the option of a roast for dinner which we both thoroughly enjoyed.

The visit for coffee went very well with Maz and Gab. All parties behaved which includes both Odene and people! Paul was great company throughout the day and we shared lots of stories of things that the dogs had been up to already. Paul and Zeus look really good together, I'm hoping it's the same for me and Odene! Nikki came back after spending the weekend at home and met up with Rita again. It's her birthday today so we headed down the pup for a drink once training was finished.

For the training today I went out first for a harness walk around North Watford's main street. We got to stop off at a cafe where Kelly went through my PDP, Personal Development Plan. It was good to hear lots of positive things where objectives have been met along with some new ones to complete by the end of this week. Odene was well behaved as usual both in harness and at the cafe. We started again to get Odene to show me an incorrect right shoulder work but it was as if Odene knew we were testing her and she always led me away from all the things that she should. Even Kelly used herself as a human shield for us to bump into but Odene got wise to that and steered me round!

Straight after lunch we did some obedience with everyone taking part, I'm going to try not to gloat here but Odene was a real star! All the dogs did really well though and for us only after 1 week with the dogs to have to exercise the level of control that we did was actually very impressive.

This afternoon went brilliantly with Kelly taking me on my first bus trip with Odene. It was very exciting and we went on my usual bus that takes me to my St Albans office so we're already getting Odene started on my familiar routes. The weather held out although it's due to change soon! I experienced for the first time a stranger asking the normal questions of 'How old is she?' lucky that Kelly was with me as I could hardly hear the guy on the bus! So for all of you who feel the need to know - she is currently 19 months old! ;-)

I then this evening had my rents over for dinner for their first official visit and like with Maz and Gab's visit it too went very well! We chose to eat away from the hotel for the first time and went to the pub nearby leaving Odene back in the hotel room with us returning for a 2nd coffee after.

It's been a truly lovely day, Kelly and trainer Mike are making training so much fun and I feel like I'm progressing really well now - I've obviously still have got tons to learn of course and I can't wait! Tomorrow evening I get to do a night walk and I honestly never thought I'd say this but, roll on the darkness!

Day 6 of GDT

I've got Odene playing with a ball with one smallish hole right now slowly letting out some of her evening food everytime she rolls it correctly. She could be kept entertained for hours!

It was a shorter day for us today. We did our free run which Odene enjoyed big time and I must admit that I must have had a big grin just watching her! She wears a different collar for her free run that has 2 loud bells on which means I can hear where she is even if I can't always see her! The bells are loud enough that even though I'm hearing impaired I can still hear them.

We started with obedience by the park which was incredibly hard for Odene knowing that she had the park right next to her and was about to be let off the lead. I made her aware that I had some treats on me with a recall exercise whilst she was still on the lead. She did well though and eventually we did let her off. I'm not meant to recall her early into the actual walk as she was such a bundle of energy that she probably wouldn't come back to me. So about 5 minutes in I did my first recall, I was a bit of fingers and thumbs to be honest. You have to have your whistle out, lead and collar and some treats ready to give her on her return. Odene had no problems though, she returned promptly for the treats, allowed herself to be put on lead again and I heeled her for a little while before letting her off. Then I can let her off again with the recall exercise happening every now and then.

Practicing recall is good for obedience but also stops the fear of meaning that when she comes back to me we go home. The lead get's put on each time she gets recalled and it keeps her guessing when might be the last run.

Tons of fun and I'm looking forward to the time that I'm allowed to introduce her to Inca my parents dog and Bella my best friend's dog. It's so different to a normal walk in some ways and the same in others but it will be interesting for both Bella and Inca to see what Odene has to do!

After we came back we had a talk to an experienced Guide Dog owner, Jean with Bundle a black labrador cross golden retriever. She had some helpful hints and actually suggested that it may be an idea to learn braille which might be a good idea bearing in mind my eyesight condition will end up with blindness. Perhaps I'll look into it after I've finished my evening college class.

A wait till dinner now for which I will be joining just Paul as Nikki has gone home for the weekend as she had some work commitments that couldn't be avoided. After that Mike is coming to stay over and will join Paul and I for breakfast. Kelly and trainer Mike get Sunday's off for a well deserved break!

Prob's won't post tomorrow as there is no training but start back up again on Monday! I'll get a bit of a sleep in as breakfast is at 9am instead of 8am. After lunch best friend Maz and her hubby Gab will be visiting for a coffee and for their first meet of Odene!

Day 5 of GDT

I can't quite believe it's Friday already, the week is going so fast! I've been so lucky with the weather with all the walks only needing me to wear short sleeve tops. Might all change next week and I do have some waterproof trousers and jacket with me just in case. The only downside with all this sun is the glare of it. RP causes you to go blind with glare just as badly as being in the dark does, can't win can I really?! But it has meant that I've been experiencing the harness walks with very low vision which means I've been able to concentrate more on how Odene moves which is what I should be learning for the times I do actually need her to guide me in the dark/dim and glare'y times.

Kelly's trick with the use of some of Odene's feed worked like a treat (pun intended) when putting the harness on this morning. I allowed a bit more time just in case but then was early meeting Kelly for our morning walk. It went brilliantly today, I'm getting firmer when I need to be and apparently now becoming more balanced with my praise and commands. Kelly has changed the metal harness for a slightly longer one which has made a really nice difference. I'm not feeling like I need to catch up with Odene and I can just walk comfortably next to her side.

I was told ahead of time that tomorrow we get to do our first 'free run', this is where we can let the dog off lead in an enclosed area and let them release all their steam. There are lot's of recalls to be done throughout but I think we'll be given a talk about the do's and don't of that particular exercise. We are also being visited by a lady called Jean who is a very experienced Guide Dog owner so I'm trying to think of some questions to ask ready for it... any ideas?

Feeling more awake today, Odene woke me up early with lots of licking but I actually feel nice and refreshed so it must have been a better night's sleep, although seeing Mike last night might have helped too of course :-)

A 'right shoulder work' talk was given after our harness walk ready for the afternoon's one. We were taken to a busier place than where we've been previously to experience the right shoulder work in action. This translates to Odene's outer perimetre of what she will avoid hitting when out walking. Ideally as a Guide Dog she is meant to not only leave enough room just for herself to fit through a gap but a big enough room for me on the right of her to fit through too. As you can imagine, this is skilled work and the dogs are trained to scan the area ahead for things to avoid that are on the right shoulder of the person. This could be bollards, lamp posts, bins (imagine how hard this is on bin day) and of course moving objects like people who are incredibly unpredictable. Some people will jump out of the way as soon as they see a Guide Dog, others who are looking down texting on their phone might just keep on walking straight towards you. Guide Dogs are so very clever to have to avoid and deal with all this! Of course they won't get it right all the time and we may get the occasional brush on the shoulder.

So this afternoon's walk was another great walk, I think and Kelly agrees, that it's been a very long week and the dogs are a bit tired. She did however do very well, I didn't need to once correct her for not doing right shoulder work. She reacted well to posts, bins and even a young child running past. Even though she is a bit body sensitive, she isn't afraid to pull me to one side to avoid something that could hit either one of us which is something that couldn't be improved on no matter how experienced she gets. Towards the end of the walk she never stopped working but just slowed down a little and started to not follow the 'straight line principal' at curbs. Instead she would be a bit cheeky and just try to take me straight round the corner. I just give a short firm 'No' followed by a 'Straight to the curb' to which she then quickly takes me to the curb looking a bit sheepish.

For now I look forward to tomorrow where there will be no actual harness work for Odene and instead will get to enjoy a free run. It will still be work for me as it will be my first, I'm not altogether too sure on how confident I am at how much she'll want to come back when recalled after being let loose in a park!

Day 4 of Guide Dog Training

For our first harness walk today we went to the same area as yesterday and for one of the road crossings a van was parked on the corner completely on the pavement (which I've learnt is actually illegal) and Odene navigated round it like a pro. Apparently this is level 3 Guide Dog work so I was very proud and she got tons of fussing afterwards. She had to go into the actual road to navigate round and normally she would be told off for going so far into the road but in cases like cars being in the way Odene is allowed to go into the road briefly if she feels that it's safe to do so. I was well impressed!

I'm more tired today, not sure if it's a combination of lack of sleep or just so much mental energy being used up trying to remember everything. I've got hubby Mike coming over this evening which will be nice. Normally visitors are not allowed to come and see you till the Sunday but as Odene has already met Mike the trainers suggested that he could come and visit a bit sooner. I was given lots of do's and don'ts for visitors with firm instructions on what Odene should do, what I should do and what visitors should do. So if you are one of the few visiting me - be warned! :-)

The second harness walk went well as well, a different area with more distractions. We passed a park and I noticed the difference in behavior almost immediately! So many dogs running free with so many smells! Apparently there has been improvement in my firm 'no' but it's still not quite growly enough! The thought is that if you say one short firm 'no' and the bad behavior stops it's tons better than having to say it loads of times with you being unable to move forward for longer. Saves on repetition and the dog tuning out.

Had my first problem today with putting the harness on this afternoon. As previously mentioned she is very body sensitive and doesn't really like the harness going on. Even the treats weren't getting us anywhere which for a labrador is really quite amazing. I was patient however and eventually she let me put it on for which she got tons of praise. As soon as she realised we were off walkies she promptly forgot about the harness, tis so funny! As a result of the extra time it took to put the harness on however I was a little bit late meeting Kelly and Nicky. Kelly though was really pleased that I didn't rush the process and would rather me be late than make putting on the harness a bad experience.

After the walk Kelly came back to my room and I showed her what Odene was like earlier, luckily in some ways she performed the same way, walking away, looking back, sniffing the food but backing off when the harness was a bit too close. Kelly had some pretty good suggestions and we've come to the conclusion that the treats maybe aren't a tasty enough encouragement for her. The treats are one's that Odene has never had previously so it may well be the case that the treat just isn't tempting enough. Kelly tried the process again with some of Odene's evening feed which she definitely prefers and suddenly we had no problems. We're to try that next time but if that starts not working we may try something else as we don't want it to become that Odene is just being cheeky and realising that the worse she is at the process the better the treat becomes!

The veterinary talk went well and answered a few questions on who I should get in touch with in the event of any concerns or emergencies. We also today had a talk on the 'straight line principal' which is a case of basically being that we are the navigator as humans and the dog is the pilot. We keep a plot of where we need to head and give the commands, left, right etc and the dog will just keep going straight unless told otherwise, stop at curbs and avoid obstacles.

Hope you enjoy the new tweets from Odene, thought it would make a nice addition! Thinking straight to bed once Mike goes back home this evening, feeling knackered, didn't even ask what the plan was tomorrow!

Day 3 of Guide Dog Training

It was all about harness work today. I've done a walk in harness twice today, once in the morning and once in the afternoon. Odene again was excellent, I must just point out how lucky I'm being to have such a fantastic partnership so early into training. Improvements must be made by me of course, I'm apparently too nice and need to get a little bit more firmer with my 'No's!'. Again it's all to do with the intonation of my voice, it's apparently really common for women to need to be more harsh and men will need to soften their voice during praising.

Before taking out Odene I've been doing the harness walk with just Kelly. She holds the harness as if she is the dog (no she doesn't get down on all fours!) and will lead me as if she was Odene. I've been doing this from my very first visit from Guide Dogs. Lynn was first who told me all about the process of getting a Guide Dog and part of the decision of whether I was going to be interested in having a dog is taken by how well I can be lead around. There are probably more reasons for the number of 'walks without a dog' but I'm no trainer! Lynn also was great in showing me how to use the long cane with a ball on the end which I was able to use for the couple of months before I met Julie, a Guide Dog trainer who again took me out and it was with her that the decision was made for me to be put on the waiting list!

On the matching visit I then met Odene, Kelly and Mike who took me on another harness walk first of all without Odene and then one with. The biggest surprise after doing so many harness walks without the dog was the jiggle. Dogs jiggle as they walk and this movement carries all the way up the harness and no human could accurately convey this. It made it a little bit harder noticing which way Odene was pulling me but on the whole it went well or at least I believe it did as Kelly and Mike were both really complimentary which I must say made me feel really rather 'oh yeah!'.

There actually is tons more to the story of the process of being put on the waiting list but as I'm already out on training I'll return back to that story once I'm qualified and I'm doing the same things regularly.

Today was the 2nd time in harness with Odene so it was a lot of putting theory into practice and on the whole I think it went really well. Not too many distractions were to be had luckily and the movement felt really natural. Mike joined us for the 2nd harness walk today to watch and again the advice was the same, I've gotta be a bit meaner with my 'No's' but on the whole it appears to be going really well.

One other thing I got to learn today is how to groom her. Now I've groomed dogs before of course but it's not a lot like what I've done before. There are 3 items to use, a 'zoom groom', a comb and a shammy (the leather cloth you would use to buff your car after a wash'. Mike (hubby Mike) asked a joking question when I told him about the shammy, 'Have you got to use wax as well?!' and I must say that there really is a lot too the grooming malarkey but no wax luckily! I've got to check her all over first, starting with the eyes, ears, mouth then body, legs and paws. Then it's running fingers backwards through her fur followed by the zoom groom. I couldn't believe how much dead fur came off onto the floor but I guess it has been quite a few days since she's been with me now without a groom and it's meant to be done once a day. Then it's the comb which takes of the last of the dead hair, with the last thing being the slightly damp shammy. This is great, you get to start with the face as you can't groom that with any of the brushes and then take it down the rest of her body. As she is a black lab this made her super shiny. She loved the whole process and was positively crooning with all the fuss!

Next today is another talk, we get quite a few of these dotted throughout the day but they have all been really useful and both Kelly and Mike explain everything ever so clearly with examples to back instructions up. Tomorrow I get to meet Morven who is the Guide Dog's Care and Welfare Advisor who will go into a lot more detail about veterinary bits.

Having tons of fun but boy it's not a holiday for all those thinking it's a great break for me!

Odene enjoying her 'Nylabone'

Day 2 of Guide Dog Training

A slower day today although my head is still buzzing with information and commands to remember. It's funny as it's not just commands really, it's remembering the intonation of your voice, timings, footwork and even arm work! All this to remember and it's only for heelwork, the harness work with Odene hasn't been introduced to me yet and with that I get even more commands to learn. For which I believe work with the harness starts tomorrow.

I'm now allowed to wonder the corridors by myself with Odene which is pretty cool. The trainers are busier with Nicky and Paul today as they got to meet their dogs for the second time today. I briefly saw Paul with Zeus and he is a gorgeous long haired german shepherd. I at first thought he was a bit skinny but then realised I'm comparing him to Inca my parents long haired german shepherd who is defs more on the larger size bordering on fat at the mo! I have the odd half hour with Kelly and we've done more heelwork outside the hotel along with some obedience. Things like getting Odene to stay put whilst I walk away or around her.

As everything is going so very well I've been warned that it may well be a case of being a honeymoon period. Odene may start getting cheeky and seeing what she can get away with doing or I may get complacent. As with training for all types of dogs it's repetition and consistency so I can't get too relaxed and start falling into bad habits. Fingers crossed however that it is just a case of us being a match made in heaven!

I've been shown today how to put the actual guiding harness on Odene. She is really body sensitive which is unusual in Guide Dogs as they all have to be used to wearing a harness, in Odene's case she doesn't really like it and I need to make extra time to get her into it. Normally treats wouldn't be used apart from for the 'recall' command but in Odene's case I'm to encourage her to put her head through the harness with treats being the reward. Once it's on she looks a little unhappy bless her so to get her tail wagging again I give her another treat and tons of praise to get her to forget that she is wearing it. Once on for a while she does forget all about it with no more problems.

Gotta say that the food here is delish, I kinda thought I'd get to loose some weight with all the walking but instead it's probably a case of putting it on! I really must compliment the hotel on it's choice of foods and quality especially with the deserts, my biggest weakness... Good choice Guide Dogs choosing this as a location for training!

Day 1 of Guide Dog Training

It's been too long since my last post but I won't dwell on that as I've got far too much to talk about!

Since my last post I was put onto a Guide Dog waiting list and within 2 weeks of being put onto the waiting list (I'm incredibly lucky to wait only this length of time) I received a call about meeting Odene, a beautiful black labrador bitch. Our matching visit went really well and we did a short handled walk with the harness to which went better than even the trainers expected.

Once the decision had been made for me to be matched with Odene I had 3 weeks to make arrangements with work to have 4 weeks off! 2 weeks located at a training hotel and 2 weeks at home doing familiar routes. Had a bit of trouble arranging the time off as working for the NHS meant that policies had to be drawn up and staff had to be made aware of the new doggy member of staff joining us in case anyone had any allergies.

Today though is the first day of training at the hotel. I'm at the Hunton Park De Vere Hotel very close to where I live luckily. Normally I would only get to meet Odene for the second time tomorrow but due to Odene's borders being away this weekend it was offered to me that I have her over the weekend prior to training. I of course was delighted to have her so I met her again once before the weekend to run through the house rules and lead work.

The weekend was a real success, Odene settled in really well and gave us a chance to bond before official training started. The only hiccups were regarding Jammy and Jinx, our cats. Didn't really see much of them this weekend as they spent most of their time on top of one of our cupboards!

So I'm now at the hotel, as I say I've got Odene with me now even though normally I would have to wait till Day 2. We've already done some heel work, which I must just say she performed brilliantly well at, the only problems were with me forgetting what commands to say or saying the wrong ones! Kelly, my truly awesome trainer, has been brilliant along with Mike, another trainer who is also training me and the other 2 recipients of Guide Dogs. The 2 other people training with dogs during my time here are Nikki with Rita, a black labrador cross golden retriever and Paul with Zeus, a german shepherd. They both seem like really nice people although their eyesight is currently a lot worse than mine. Nicky seems fiercely independent and has had Guide Dogs before. Paul has only recently gone blind and like me is getting a Guide Dog for the first time.

There are loads more updates to give but I'll leave them for other posts! For now take a look at the picture of Odene!

Cute or what?!