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!