Another day bights the dust. It was a lot of fun today with Miss Bethany. We did rework a few things, but, she is very smart and really does get the reworks and wants to do the right thing so much. She is super sweet, and I know that when I return to campus and really crack the whip with people, aka, hands off when you see her harness, that a lot of people are going to be tempted. What the public needs to understand is that she is helping to keep me safe and when you distract her you are potentially harming me in the future. I do not want a guide dog that walks up to strangers or one who scrounges for food. Those are just not good traits.
I will talk with my girl Megan later and see if we can get a photo up on this blog. Just so that you all can get a sneak peak. I am love love loving the Action program, such a good choice. It would have been okay to be here for the full three weeks, but I just feel like I am getting a lot from working with Graham. Megan and Chrissy are good too, for sure, but, Graham is really amazing. I would never tell him this to his face but, somehow putting it out there for the world to read sounds like a fine proposition… Go figure.
Today I also chatted it up with my girl Woody and came to the conclusion that I am still fine renting for another couple of years… Woody just bought her first house. I also saw another fantastic person of the past. Miranda Beckmann is still here, still training dogs, still loving life, and still supervising classes.
So, each class has two lead instructors, in our case these people are Megan and Chrissie. The classes each have one class supervisor, this person for us is Dell. His job is to make sure that the class stays on track and that the trainers are following procedure to the Guiding Eyes specifications… In classes with Action Students, there is an Action instructor and in classes with special needs students there is a special needs instructor. This team of folks is joined by an IA or instructors’ assistant. The IA has the rather thankless job of making sure that all of the dogs drink, pee, and poop. Sounds magical, right? Well this is the way to work your way up to trainer status. If someone wants to train guide dogs they have to start out working the kennels and assisting the instructors. Our IA is Laura. She is young and cute. She was actually a puppy raiser and after college, and what sounded like a great trip out west, she moved down here and started to work. A side note is that she went to school in Ithaca, so we have been talking food and wine. So fun… Susan is the special needs instructor. She is so so good at what she does. Clearly, I just really like these people. Definitely not in a creeper stocker way, I just respect them and what they do.
Alright, so, back to it… We are taking some photos tomorrow at 8 am, really and truly, 8 am. I am sure that my photo is going to rival a mug shot for its beauty. So that's great, but then we are spending the day around the school doing the for mentioned country work, some targeting and whatever Graham has in store. For now I need to do some obedience with the pup. Then we need to play. She has a lot of energy. Catch you later.
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