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!

Day 16 of GDT

Today we took Odene on the journey to my St Albans office working in harness. As we had been cleared to work by the vets we were watchful of her limping but knowing that to harden her paw pads we should get her out and about. We saw a dog up in front and that seemed to make her forget about her poorly foot completely!

She remembered the route from when we last did it and went straight to the traffic light signal box when asked and the same for the bus stop. Here I experienced a truly silly question, 'How do Guide Dog's read the bus numbers?'. I'll start at the beginning, we arrived at the bus stop, yay lots of praise. We then took her to sit within the shelter but before quite managing to do this a fellow (who turned out to be the bus driver) tried to start making a fuss of her. This is where I had to be quite firm as Odene shouldn't react to people fussing her, unfortunately she turned towards him so I said 'no' and corrected her. Once ignoring the fellow I gave her lots of praise again, it's all about balancing the bad girl with the good girl you see. I thought my 'no' was enough to scare off the guy from speaking to me again but instead as soon as I sat Odene down he started coming towards us to give her a stroke again! Kelly acted as a human shield and was like 'seriously, you can't pet a working Guide Dog'. He still didn't really get it so Kelly started answering all his questions, to which he asked 'How do Guide Dog's read bus numbers?'. I was looking at him disbelievingly but he was adamant that they could. He had seen Guide Dogs either waiting at the bus stop, letting a bus go past if it wasn't the right one and other Guide Dogs trotting right up to the bus when it's the right one. Kelly explained rather tactfully that, no, Guide Dogs can't read numbers and that either the passenger with the Guide Dog has some remaining vision and can see the numbers, or another person waiting at the stop would have told them. I think the driver saw sense in the end and at least we came away knowing we had educated someone about Guide Dogs. I'm tempted if asked by someone again to just say 'I get her to read the timetable every night to practice'. Mike said that someone had actually said that to a reporter once and it got printed in the local newspaper... I don't really understand how anyone could've believed it but there you go!

It made me think though that it's a real shame that so many people aren't aware of what that do's and don't are with Guide Dogs and businesses aren't making more efforts in making employees aware of the Equality Act. I actually ended up writing to my local bus company late this afternoon to ask them about their views on the 'talking buses campaign' but also to ask if they gave all their drivers training on the Equality Act and what to do if a Guide Dog owner came aboard. We'll see if I get a response!

Once at work I took the harness off and got Odene settled again. Kelly and Mike left me for 15 minutes to see how she would be. I acted as I would normally in the office, got on the phone, checked some emails and opened filing cabinets. I didn't even get a lift of the head from her! Liz my St Albans work colleague was amazed at how well she behaved and to be honest so was I!

Mike returned for me as Kelly was fetching the car and I put the harness back on and we went back downstairs. Going outside towards the car I made my first boo boo of the day. I was saying 'find the car', which she did but then didn't stop at a curb. Kinda both our faults I guess but seeing as she had done so well we just let her get into the back of the car. Kelly and Mike brought me back home with news that I'd be doing it all again tomorrow but this time would be having a return journey by bus as well!

It's becoming real now, I'm not getting as many instructions from Kelly or Mike with them now just following behind me and only giving the occasional point to improve on.

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 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'