First Guide Dog Foundation for the Blind Meeting!

Hey everyone!

Yesterday was the first of my many Guide Dog Foundation for the Blind meetings. 

Sadly I forgot to take pictures till the very end of the meeting and had no camera.

This months was held at the RDU Airport in Raleigh, North Carolina. 

There were eight dogs in all, 3 Yellow Labs, 1 Collie, and 4 Black Labs. I worked with  sweet 18-month-old Pearl. Pearl is a yellow Lab and will soon be going back to the Guide Dog Foundation for her formal training. 

I have to admit I was a bit nervous to work with her. The last time I worked with a dog I had no clue what to do. But since then I have learned some of the procedures and training techniques so I thought I had this partly under control. 

Pearl took this opportunity to test me greatly, by not doing anything I said! (but she was still a cutie :)

We started with walking around a circle of cones. The dogs were not supposed to acknowledge the orange cones, the other pups walking in the opposite direction, or the people walking around the circle trying to distract the dogs.

All in all she did great at this part. I think she sensed my tension and thought she could get away with behavior that is not acceptable. 

When asked to HALT she would, but when I asked her to SIT and then change into a DOWN and then go back into an UP-SIT (Puppy Push-ups they call it), she acted like she couldn’t hear a word I said. But in the end she finally sat for me. J

Then we did recall with 25 foot lead lines. Pearls raiser called her at the end of the leash and she was SUPPOSED to come running straight to him, but she ran right past him and started playing with the Collie, Solomon. She got it at the end though.

Then we worked on stairs. I got to walk her up the see through stairs and then back down a ramp. I gave her the SIT command (which she readily obeyed!) and waited for her raiser.

So all in all it was a good first meeting!

On another note, I received the GDF (Guide Dog Foundation) puppy raising manual last night from Christina, the Area Coordinator which I am studying any chance I get.

We are going to set up a date for the house check sometime before the next meeting and now. Then we will just wait for the puppy!!!!!!!!

 Christina said we would probably receive a puppy either January or February due to the craziness of December.