Day 24, Qualification Day!

What a surprise it was when after we got back from St Albans today to be told that I was being qualified!

It was a normal route there and back with both trainer Mike and Kelly accompanying me. Odene reacted well to another dog which potentially could have gone very badly. We came back home though, I offered tea which I started making but then Mike distracted me by saying, 'Kelly has some good news for you' to which Kelly said 'yep, you're now qualified!'.

I signed the Guide Dog Ownership Agreement, handed over 50 pence as per the agreement at which point Odene became a qualified Guide Dog and I became a qualified owner! Yipee! I will be celebrating tonight but not sure in what way yet!

Kelly and Mike were really complimentary about Odene and I, saying that we didn't look like a partnership that had only been together a few weeks but instead were a partnership that had been together a lot longer. I must admit, I feel so comfortable with Odene now, I'm far less conscious of what I should be doing next and instead it is coming naturally. I've got to thank Kelly and Mike for all their superb training and of course Odene, she has been brilliant and it's thanks to her trainers, borders, puppy walkers and everyone else involved that she has turned out to be such an excellent Guide Dog.

Of course it's not all over, I'm seeing Kelly tomorrow to do our first meet with my parents dog Inca followed by visiting the vets on Friday to get her flea treatment done. It just means that in the meantime if I want to go out, nothing is stopping us!

Planning on taking it gradually and I certainly will be sensible but boy am I excited!!!

My official qualifying Guide Dog Ownership photo card and badge!

Day 23 of GDT

London! We made it there and back in one piece!

Odene as usual performed brilliantly and she didn't mind the trains at all. It was certainly my longest journey for a coffee that's for sure! Instead of sitting at every right or left turn we did turns on the move in London. It made sense being that it's a lot busier with more chance of Odene getting trodden on. It did however mean quick travelling which was quite cool.

One thing that was a really big surprise was the need to get the escalators turn off. On part of my route the only way to get to different platforms are going up or down escalators which is a big no no for Guide Dogs. We had to ask rail staff if it could be turned off before we could go on them, made me feel very important! It makes me realise though just how many steps there are to take on the underground... at least I'll become fit with Odene!

If I were to take to the trains on my own I think I'll phone ahead to tell them of my journey to warn them that I will need escalators turned off so that they can look out for me. Else there may be a lot of waiting around looking for rail staff.

Once at Moorfields Eye Hospital we met up with a lady called Barbara along with her Guide Dog who works at Moorfields. I've actually met her before on one of my previous eye sight appointments but it was nice to get to know her a bit better and is someone I can hopefully see again next time I'm up there. We took both our dogs to the spending pen which Moorfields have created specially for Guide Dogs. I'm not sure if I'm mentioned this or not in previous posts but spending equals going to the loo. At home and at both work places, I spend Odene on grass or woodchip. The spending pen at Moorfields is made out of concrete with drains incorporated. Odene went second and I wasn't too sure that she would go or not but after a bit of sniffing she went on command, 'busy busy'.

It was a shorter day for me but it certainly was tiring, Odene is once again sprawled out on the floor. Kelly shot a pic of us on the train coming home so do take a look at her in her body piece! The metal harness bar is detached on journeys by bus, train or even just if I'm going to be lying her down for a few minutes as it can get in the way of her curling up and it can get quite uncomfortable just resting on her back.

Odene on the train!

Day 22 of GDT

A brilliant day, Odene is doing so very well.

We did another Watford route to work and back followed by St Albans route this afternoon. We even fitted time in to get a coffee at Costa whilst we were in St Albans which was joined by a cheeky chocolate brownie brought from the shop next door. We also managed to miss the down pour of rain this afternoon, it was as if Odene realised it was going to rain and sped up!

I have nothing bad to say about Odene, it looks like the main thing I need to be watchful of is allowing her to move across me when avoiding something. It seems that it's the only time my remaining vision is a bit of a hindrance as I'm great at following her going left but not so good at following her right. I think I'm getting there tho! This is my last week of full time training so it can't be long till we are qualified!

Odene is zonked out right now, happily sleeping on our cold wooden floor cooling down after all her exertions of the day. Kelly commented on how happy she seems here, as if she knows that this is her permanent home now. Whenever we go out on our harness walks and we return home I say 'find home' to which she suddenly perks up and almost drags me to the front door in her excitement! Tis very cute!

Off to London tomorrow to do a trip to Moorfields Eye Hospital which is one of my regular appointment places. Trainer Mike is joining Kelly and we are meeting a lady who works there who has a Guide Dog already to break up the route a bit with a cuppa before making our way back again. I think London may be tough so wish us luck!

A zonked out Odene! This pic makes her look like she is a giant size dog!

Day 19 of GDT

What a day! It been a busy one that's for sure. Odene is wiped out!

We started with our very early journey on the bus to my St Albans office. We stayed about an hour before making a return journey by bus. We had a couple of hours back at home before doing the bus routes to my Watford office and back.

Going to Watford by bus was our first time at it and unfortunately there was a foreign market on the high street. It meant that my normal quiet walk to work was instead incredibly busy. Odene coped very well however. There are shared streets in Watford Town Centre which are streets without curbs. Obviously Odene has been trained to stop at curbs which means I don't just get taken into the road. With there being no curbs to stop at however it is up to me to say 'sit' at the right time, not hard in the daylight hours but it will be harder in the dark. Hopefully Odene will learn in time but it can't be relied on. I'm defs not a fan of shared streets thats for sure!

We then had a bit of fun and gave Odene a free run where we met up with Maz and Bella, Maz and Gab's Japanese Spitz. It went fairly well but Odene and Bella weren't automatically best friends. We're going to have another free run next week to see if they get on better next time. The meet was going much better towards the end but due to the heat we thought it best to take Odene back home as she was starting to pant a bit too excessively.

It's a break for the weekend and we start back up on Monday morning!

Day 18 of GDT

It's been a really good couple of days. Yesterday we did my St Albans route to work and back again using the bus with a nice 1/2 hour break at work. Odene performed brilliantly although it was incredibly hot and I think she was suffering from black dog syndrome with the heat getting to her. We certainly moved a lot slower than normal and it can't be put down to Odene's limp as that has completely disappeared now, woot!

Today we decided to make a trip to my Watford office. As it was another hot day so it seemed like a good idea to not make another lengthy trip to St Albans in the heat of the day. Instead we took Odene in the car along with her 3rd bed to Watford. Kelly and I went in first without Odene to check out the space that had been created in my absence. We set up the bed and filled up her water bowl and just generally warned everyone that we were bringing Odene up and to continue working as normal.

Odene we've decided is the perfect office dog. She happily sat down in her bed, took a drink and we did the trip up and down the stairs several times to get her used to where to go with her heading straight for her bed every time. She seemed to need no encouragement, instead it seems that getting to the office to have a relaxing lie down seemed encouragement enough! The only problem with the heat meant that she didn't constantly want to lie in the bed, it was too hot for her so instead laid down under the desk. Luckily I'm next to windows which we can open up with blinds to stop the heat of the sun coming in.

Tomorrow is going to be my first full on day. We're going to head to my St Albans office for my normal working hours, meaning Kelly is getting here for 7.15am! Then temperature permitting for the afternoon we're going to the Watford office again. With us ending with a well deserved free run with my best friend Maz joining us part way through with her dog Bella!