Vomit Comet

Man, that foot soak last night worked miracles on my poor feet. I wonder how long those effects will last.

It’s Portland day. The day where we cram in all the city work. Malls, escalators, food courts, farmer’s markets, you want it, they’ve got it.

We also talked about airports. I learned something new. Now they advocate that you take off the dog’s whole harness when you’re on the plane. If you leave the body on, and it bulges out, the dog could use it as a chew toy. Hmm. Who was the schmuck who taught them that lesson, I wonder?

Also, I walked through the fake TSA checkpoint and figured out why I’ve been screwing it up lately. You’re not supposed to make a loop at long leash, you’re supposed to have the leash fully extended and hold the tippy end. So that’s why I keep getting molested.

Domino fit remarkably well under the airplane seat for being a bigger dog. This won’t be so bad!

We got some good news. It sounds like all of our puppy raisers are coming. Woo! Even Nevada guy! I get to see Domino go loopy.

We drove to Portland and scooted through a farmer’s market. It wasn’t super busy yet, but it was busy enough. Then we went down some stairs and into a shopping mall. We did some escalators and we took some pictures of Domino and I on the sky bridge. Then we moseyed through the food court. Domino had his back booties and his gentle leader on and he moved through like a champ. We sat and ate our delicious bag lunches and then I went into a store called “Made in Oregon” and I bought his raiser some stuff. I hope he likes it. Then we took another escalator and left the mall. We walked to a coffee shop called Case Study Coffee and I got an iced tea. On our way there, Domino slowed down to size up some brass figures of animals in a water feature, not sure if they were going to attack. Then I swear I saw two guys getting ready to have a fight because one of them bumped the other. There had better have been some personal history there.

Oh I forgot one embarrassing incident in the mall. I went to get up and Domino got his leash hooked on the chair. So I tried to free him and down went the chair. I was out of it, and over backwards it went. Oops.

Did I mention what happened this morning? I gave the Humane Society a call to find out if I had to go there or if I could fill something out online or whatever. I told them I was blind and it’s a guide dog. They told me I had to get a doctor’s note. I tried to explain that it’s not an emotional support animal, it’s a guide dog, but they didn’t care. So I’m trying to get a doctor’s note. We’ll see.

Domino blew his first curb this morning. Those are always a bit scary.

It was time to head back to the van and head back to campus. I was so tired I was dozing off in the van as we drove. We got back and I gave him water and took him out to relieve…and relieve he did! I forgot to get him in a sit after his first load of gross poop, and he unloaded another one. And I stepped in it. Raaaaaar! I was not a happy camper, and I told them so. I told them we have to figure out a solution because when I get home, I don’t have ready access to a hose and an easy way to clean off my shoes. They said they would have the resident assistant person watch us for the next while to see if I could improve my search technique for finding the poop, but I said it was because he was pooping on the move. I actually caught him squatting, pooping, moving, squatting, pooping, moving, repeat. They said if this keeps being a problem, I could have someone come and fit him with a relieving belt. That’s a belt with a strategically placed bag on it to catch all the poop. But they didn’t want to do that now. That was for follow-up. Arg. Let’s hope that isn’t necessary.

I HAD THE CHAT ABOUT TRANSITIONING TO MY HOME AND THAT WAS PRETTY EASY. Then I fed him and tried to relieve him and nothing happened. So I went for dinner, jerk pork and loaded potatoes and corn. Then we had our chat with the alumni association lady. Not much new there. Then I came back, groomed him, and took him to the music room so he could chase a kong around. Boy did he have fun with that. That’s the most excited I’ve seen him so far. But I stopped the game when he started hacking and hacking.

At any time in the next couple of days, I could get the call from his raiser. It hasn’t happened yet. Soon, I’m sure.

We got our big zip files of what used to be in that binder they would send us home with. It looks like the vet history is in a readable format. Woo! We also got links to our exit survey. It’s getting close now. On top of that, we got a link to where our graduation will be streamed. Yes, people all over the place will be able to watch it.

I think I’m all out of steam now. Must crash so I can survive tomorrow.

Oof! That was a rough start to the morning. You know, Carin, if you stay up to 11:30 and you then take melatonin, and you want to be up by 6, maybe turn on your alarm. Good idea? Yup! After I was carried away to sleepy ville, the next sound I heard was “Hi there, it’s Nurse Debbie. It’s 7:40.” Holy shit holy shit holy shit! There was no slow, foggy wakeup. I was standing and on the move immediately, trying to figure out how many things I could do simultaneously. By some miracle, I made it to breakfast, shoveled down my toast, chugged my smoothie and was back in my room to do everything else and made it to the lecture room on time.

We had a quick chat about dealing with situations where something is blocking the sidewalk, like a delivery truck or garbage cans or whatever. Then we also talked about how our dogs will respond to cars driving at us, cutting us off, coming up behind us or blocking our passage through the street. Then it was time for the traffic route. Our supervisor did all of those things, and our dogs showed off. The instructor was right there to make sure nothing went wrong. The dog did a perfect job.

Are you sick of hearing me call him beast, pooch, or dog? So am I. And the wait is over. I will reveal his name now. Technically I said it once before, but I was sneaky about it. His name is Domino. I freaking love his name. I was joking that the slogan is “Get the door. It’s Domino’s.” I have to say “Get Domino, it’s the door.” Apparently he was raised in Nevada and has never been known to have destroyed anything in the house. He is used to the office and is gentle around kids and other animals. I think I heard that I could get a phone call tomorrow. I’m excited to meet his raiser. I hope he can make it to graduation.

Then we had a surprise freelance route. For some reason this made me more nervous than the traffic route. I don’t think I made it as far as my classmate, but I managed.

In the afternoon, we took buses and a light rail train. Domino did pretty good. The only thing he did was he did not want to stay seated on the bus. But everything else was fine. I was still faster today but we can’t figure out what my every day pace is. I don’t even notice the changes in pace. They’re a little annoyed with me that this pace wasn’t what we tried to establish on Thursday. I wasn’t trying to mislead them. It’s just that it’s hard to go full out with a dog you don’t know, even when the instructors are right there. I understand why they’re annoyed. They have had a lot of dogs come back because of pace issues so they really want to get it right. But it’s hard, at least for me, to go full on with a dog I haven’t begun to trust. Plus, to be honest, I wasn’t sure what I could handle after not having a dog and also not booting around every day. I’m still figuring it out.

Then we came back and had vet checks. The only issue Domino had was an irritated elbow from the kennels. He’s been a pretty healthy dog. They said he is on the leaner end of things at 56 lbs. I wrote his microchip number down and she says I’ll get the rest of the history in a word doc. I guess they don’t use Avid any more for microchips. It’s some kind of universal microchip now.

Then I came back here and got my year’s supply of flea, tick and heartworm stuff, the bottle of ear stuff, and a doggy tooth brush and paste set. And tags! He has his first bling! I always feel like it’s a special moment when the bling arrives.

Apparently the nurse says my feet look like they’re screaming. They kind of are, so maybe I’ll do a foot soak. I never thought I’d need one, but maybe I do. I think that’s it for tonight.

It’s Monday and time to kick some custom route, sidewalkless and night route butt! I slept until 6 and I’m ready to rock. I have shaken off the fog and it’s time to kick it. It’s also the first of May. There’s a song about that, but if I mentioned that song to my classmates I’d be cruisin’ for a code of conduct bruisin’, so I won’t.

The pooch started playing with his bone last night! A belly rub and a bone-chewing in one day! Woo!

Gotta run for breakfast.

What a day! So much to cover. There was a knock on our door and we each got a jacket with reflective strips that’s good for wearing at night. Cool! I forgot about that. Then I asked the person when we get the flea, tick and heartworm stuff because it’s the first of the month. I’m still programmed. Then we met up and had some lectures about dealing with John Q. Public and dealing with dogs. But before that, the class supervisor tried to encourage our dogs with a sausage patty. Mine looked but not really.

I finally got a proper press release from Uber about this new phone number you can call if you’re denied access to an Uber. I guess it’s a thing, just the guide dog stuff is further down the set of options.

No matter how many times I hear it, the stuff on dealing with dog attacks is always so heavy. Thankfully, I think the worst dog attack I can remember was with our friend Mylo from days gone by. Well in the moment, that giant beast flinging himself at the window of the car that was containing him was pretty terrifying.

Then we went out and worked in a neighbourhood with screwy curvy streets and looping sidewalks and school playgrounds full of screaming kids, and people walking dogs. My dog was a rock star. It felt so good.

On the way home, we talked about my dog’s tendency to walk poop. They told me next time, after he’s pooped, bring him close and have him sit so he shouldn’t be able to move around. Then pick up his poop and only then let him sniff about. Ok. We’ll try that.

I forgot to mention breakfast was a giant breakfast sandwich on a bagel. Last night’s supper was turkey meatballs on noodles in a mushroom sauce.

So it was afternoon time. We did 2 things: sidewalkless travel and going to a pet store. I always find sidewalkless travel hard. At first, so did the dog, especially at street corners where you have to do some weird stuff to cross streets, but once he remembered what to do, he was great.

Also of note: We did some Juno work, so the beast was tied down in the car. Apparently, he whined for me. Then we went to the pet store. He wore his gentle leader and did pretty well. Some mild distractions but that’s ok.

Then we came back here and talked through the user contract. We had a good conversation about the clause that says that dogs can’t gain more than 10 percent of their graduation weight. We said some dogs fill out and that expectation is unreasonable with some dogs. The supervisor was understanding.

Then I came back to feed, water and relieve my dog. I was just about to feed him when someone came by with the flea, tick and heartworm preventatives. So he got his pill right on time.

Dinner was a delicious shepherd’s pie.

Next, someone came and gave me a harness light. The cool things about this light are the battery is rechargeable and it makes beeps to let you know it’s still on and to indicate battery level. So cool! It’s so cute and compact.

Then It WAS NIGHT ROUTE time. Here’s a weird thing. I walk faster at night. I said it’s because at night I’m on a mission. Get my ass home! She said my night pace was what she had expected and she said I should try to walk that pace in the day time. Ok I’ll try.

Everyone was so happy with their night route, especially the newbie who was worried about it.

Tomorrow is a big day. The traffic route in the morning where they drive at us with their quiet cars, and then in the afternoon we get bus or train travel, and then vet checks! Then after dinner we get their tags! And I think we’ll get the word that we can reveal their name! Eeeee! It’s getting closer!

So it’s Sunday. My day off. It’s a thing. I didn’t take melatonin at the end of last night because I hoped I would only need a tweak. That was a fail. At not even 4, rise and shine! I did have to use the bathroom, but even after that, I couldn’t go back to sleep.

We have a leisurely brunch later this morning, but they sent us a breakfast snack to have in the morning. But the brunch sounds amazing. Then we relieve the pooches, and after that, we can go on an outing if we want, but we can’t bring the dog because we’re not fully graduated. So the beast will get quality time in his crate if I go out. I’m not sure if I’ll be meeting up with a friend who lives in Portland or whether a classmate and I might go to a doughnut shop. I have to remember my money. Then it’s dog and people supper and back to the grind.

There are a couple things I forgot to write down. I gave the beast who shall remain nameless for another couple days some off leash time and after sniffing around, he was quiet as a mouse. I’m used to black dogs who I can see against the white floor. Not this one. He’s invisible to me. If I stomp you, pooch, I’m sorry. And he moves so smoothly and stealthily. No clickity click at all. But he was good. I put up all the garbage cans and shut the bathroom door because the toilet has no lid, but he was good.

I found myself singing yesterday. I thought that seemed like a turning point. I took him out to groom him and put on some tunes and started to sing. I was worried I would put on an unplanned concert for my other classmates who might sit out on their patios but I don’t think I did. Then, inexplicably, while I was grooming, I started crying happy tears. I’m sure this dog thinks I’m a total basket case.

I also forgot to mention something he did after yoga on Thursday. After he went for a free run, the instructor thought he wouldn’t need water because he didn’t run, and yoga was happening soon. So I crated him. When I came back, I took him out, and he immediately got restless. I went with him and he went to the dog sink. He likes going there so I didn’t think of it. Then he meaningfully tapped the bowl. So I put water in it and he drank drank drank! He communicated and I got the message! Miracles are happening!

Did I mention that he’s starting to be frisky after eating and sometimes when I tell him he’s a really good boy? But he’s more chill than any other dog I’ve ever had.

I’m having a tired, mistake-making day. I went to dictate a message to someone and sent an audio instead. All sorts of stuff like that. Thankfully, so far, I’ve only locked myself out of my room once. Thank goodness for the people staying overnight and their cell phone you can call.

I finally asked the embarrassing question I knew I would have to ask if I got a male dog, and that is how do I rub his belly without touching his naughty parts? I had another dog chomp me for bumping them. I know these dogs have had more body handling experience and all that, but I’d really prefer to avoid hitting his private parts. They just sort of said stick to the sides and if you bump it, you bump it. Ok then.

Because I’m nutty cuckoo pants, I’m already calling pet stores about the food he’s on. It’s Eukanuba. And it’s really hard to get apparently. We’ll see what happens. Good thing I started early. But it was nice to talk to my old pet store. Also, he’s got a vet appointment set up.

Tired and very very full. You’d never know we are doing a ton of walking. One classmate and I went to the doughnut place. But this isn’t your Tim’s or your Duncan doughnuts. No no no! These are doughnut beasts. I had one and it was absolutely massive and it took forever to eat it. We had a good chat about navigating airports and the things that are helpful and not so much, among other things. We sat for an hour and it flew by. Also he paid for my doughnut and drink. If he ever comes to town, I’m taking him to Lady Glaze Doughnuts.

Then I came back here and played with the big beast for a while. He was happy to see me, nearly climbed in my lap, rolled around and let me rub his belly! Yes! A big long belly rub!

I was going to toss a kong for him in the music room, but I was feeling so very fat and sluggish. Soon, I swear!

Then I went down mistake alley. When grooming him, I dropped the toothpaste cap and he tried to eat it. I got it back and felt proud. Then I tried to do too many things and knocked a cup full of kibble all over creation. I told him to stay and he did, so I gave him a kibble party when I thought I had it all cleaned up. Then he found more anyway. Ack! Then I went outside and he pooped and I picked it up. Then he pooped and pooped and guess who stepped in it. Guess whose shoes needed another hose treatment. At least I didn’t track poop all over my room again. Twice in a week? I need to do something about catching double poops! This cannot happen!

Now, the little twit bag obsessively sniffs around the dog sink floor. I offer him water and he just sniffs. I hope I haven’t broken him already. This is the part of the song called the last week jitters. We will survive.

So tomorrow is going to be a hell of a day. I’m definitely having to tame the sleep troubles. We’re having custom routes, and then sidewalkless travel, then a night route. I’m going to try my best to go, if nothing else, to encourage the newbie to do it. And hey. More walks are good for me too.

The nurse just put my shoes in a boot dryer…Again. Must fix this double pooping problem.

So brace yourself. Tomorrow’s entry is going to be a honker! And might be delayed. Now I will do other small things before dog relieving and melatonin-induced snore festival.

First things first. Sorry to Steve for making all those typos in the last two entries. It’s hard to write anything, let alone stuff like this, when melatonin is doing what melatonin does. I also want to apologize for the flat sound of the last entry. I could barely remember the sequence of events, never mind talking about how I felt. Thankfully, today I actually had some time in the day to start writing, so if I decide I need help sleeping again, all I’ll have to do is groggily put them in Dropbox.

So today I actually slept until 6 when my alarm went off. I must have been a more active sleeper because I heard my bed buzzing. I guess it does that when it needs to adjust the firmness of the mattress or whatever.

I got up a little groggy but shook it off. The beast pooped and it wasn’t super gross so we’re probably set. Let’s hope. Then breakfast was a tater tot scramble which was eggs and veggies all scrambled up and the tater tots sort of just get swished in it so they’re still tater tot like. It was good.

We’re starting to have a joke that every time I say “There’s a song about that,” they go “Do a shot!” Hmmm. Am I getting annoying? Must contain my song references.

They gave us a tour of the campus including the trail. That thing is glorious. At some point, I do want to walk it. It’s so peaceful.

We went to the mall and zoomed around. Apparently my moving left turns need work. But they’re working on it. We first tried some Juno and talked about escalators and technique. Then we rode up and down several escalators, and pooch and I have a pretty good rhythm. I still remember how! Did I mention just how chill he was about putting boots on? I was able to booty him up when we were at the mall. The only thing I was doing wrong was when I tighten up a boot, sometimes it turns sideways. So I twist it a little too far and it fixes itself. He walked around with his back booties on with 0 fuss. Pretty great.

Then we came back and I had a bratwurst sandwich with potato salad. I also had a bowl of carrot soup.

Before I ate, we had our progress meeting and we seemed to be on track. I showed my instructor my long list of goals and she said she’d fit them in. She also told me that I am not in fact covered in dog hair, like it isn’t all over my dark jeans. I guess he doesn’t shed as much as I thought he would. Yea! I might not have to buy a new wardrobe!

I should mention I heard his first dream woofs last night, and this morning I heard a little vocalization, half way between a whine and a moan. And he’s starting to get frisky. I haven’t totally figured him out yet, but he’s starting to like me.

After lunch, they took our pictures so they can make the ID cards. Oo oo ID cards.

Then we did clicker! I have never been that good with clicker for a few reasons. First, they always wanted me to hold the clicker in my leash and harness hand. How big do you think my hands are?! Second, they always said the clicker marks the exact moment a behavior happens. Hey, jerkbag, I’m blind. There are some things where I can tell, but others I will have to verify that it is the right spot. There is no way I can be that precise. But now they give out wrist straps, and they have redefined the precise moment it happens as the precise moment you know it happens. Ok. I can live with that. We back chained Pooch to my door, which means you click them finding the door, and then click for them targeting it from further out and so on. That was fun.

And that was it for things we’re doing today formally. The rest of the night is mine! Oh the potential!

Yes. a classmate and I walked the Oregon trail. It’s a little fenced off area that goes through the campus. It’s very peaceful. We plan to walk it every evening. Then I went to do laundry and I thought I broke everything. We had gone in earlier and I had read the Braille on the buttons so I felt reasonably confident. So I toddled the little rolling basket to what I thought was the room we went to earlier. I threw my clothes in a machine and it set off. It was then that I looked at the buttons and they didn’t have the same Braille I had seen before. Oh crap. Did I go to the wrong room? So I panicked. I texted the Residence person and had her check. I had gone to the correct room. Phew!

Tomorrow is our day off. I’m not sure what I’ll be doing with it. I could be seeing a friend, but she says she might not be feeling well. Or another classmate and I could be going to a doughnut shop or a place called “The Local Cow” and then some kind of brew pub. I don’t care about craft beers but maybe they have yummy food. Whatever happens, it will be a good day.

I’m writing this after taking melatonin in an attempt to help me sleep. This might be a fail.

Today was a much better day. My dog and I rocked together as a team. Yea!

So I went to breakfast, and ran into a volunteer who won an award at a reunion I was at. I think I freaked him out because I recognized his name.

Breakfast was a frittata with a side of bacon and some fruit.

It was super hot today. The weather has been totally not rainy this class which is great, but today, the heat was nuts. So in order for us to get some routes in before it was too hot, we started off early and ran through an obstacle course. My beasty did pretty well. If there was a problem, it was kind of mine. We also went down a ton of stairs that went near the kennels. He got distracted, but I was able to manage him. Then we walked to Jazzy Bagel, and all my crossings were great. I made sure to do the same speed-up at each crossing and our line was great. At Jazzy, I sat in the sun, enjoyed an Italian soda and talked to the nurses. Then we came back to campus and had a delicious beef taco salad for lunch. Then we went out and did another route in the heat. We did super great! There was nothing crazy that happened! Then we headed back to campus and went over a whole bunch of lectures.

Just before dinner, we were going to practice putting on dog boots, but we discovered that my poor dog had very loose stools and I stepped in it and tracked it all over my room. Fail! So the resident advisor is going to be out with me while he relieves. Apparently, if he has a stressful day, this can happen. Poor guy.

After a supper of sweet and sour pork, 2 of us practiced putting on dog booties, and my dog just lay there when I put them on. They stayed on, even when the 2 dogs played together. Thankfully, all of my dog’s boots are the same size. Yea! Then the resident advisor helped me get out another mat. Combing out mats is hard. But he just laid there. After the final relieving, I went to the nurse’s office to ask about what I could do to make sure I don’t keep waking up at 4:00.

Tomorrow we’re going to a mall to do escalators among other things. And then we get to set goals for next week and learn how to get around campus. Woo! And after that, half of training is over!

So that’s today in a nutshell. And now the melatonin’s making it impossible to think so I’ll stop here.

So this is interesting. I’m writing day 5’s entry on day 6 because day 5 was a total nut house.

I think I got a second person trailing me all day and his name was Murphy. Murphy’s law was in full effect today.

First off, I took the big boy out to relieve. I should have taken note that he never pooped at the end of the day before. I grabbed a poop bag out of the dispenser and waited for the stinky present. I got it. Then he peed and I thought I was good. Then he pooped again! Dammit! Bless him, he pooped in another good spot that allowed me to hippity hop back in the room and grab my phone and call up Aira to do the poop-scoutin’ boogie. Also I was running behind because again, I needed an early bathroom break. I made it to breakfast at what I thought was a reasonable time. Then I went back to my room to relieve the pooch and relieve myself. But I was in a bit of a hurry to get to the human potty. Remember how I said I’ve been walking around with a drool rag attached to me? You guessed it! Sploosh! It took a dip! It was super well attached so I had 0 chance of getting it off quickly. It was almost class time and I was panicking. I was just about to call the residence advisor for help when the instructor came asking what was up. I showed her and she helped me take it off.

We had our lectures and that was the usual. It was all about different things to know about working in buildings. Then we went out on routes and Murphy was definitely in attendance. We screwed up crossings. We screwed up curb approaches. If I could do it wrong, I did it. If there was a drinking game where every time my instructor said “Catch up to your elbow,” which means you’re too far behind your dog, you were to do a shot, you would be failing all the field sobriety tests before the morning was out. Don’t get me wrong. This is exactly what they’re supposed to do. It helps you be a strong team. It’s just frustrating to be reminded of how sloppy your handling has gotten. Also, I keep sliding my hand too far to the right on the handle. So they stuck this bright green vet wrap to the right side of the handle to remind me not to go there. We did everything wrong. We misread each other. We ran into things. There were a million dogs out and he was distracted. Then some dumbass with a known ferocious dog came right at us. Luckily, since we shoveled kibble into his mouth, he didn’t care about the dog. We eventually decided that I was better off with a shorter handle, and my shoulders don’t dip as much when I’m not stressed. We also noticed that when I get this little trot going while crossing streets, we stay closer to each other and our alignment stays straighter. I was a bit of a wreck at Jazzy Bagels. I said I can’t afford to have him veering all over the place without knowing when it will happen. She reassured me that we could solve this.

Next we headed back to the campus and went up a different path and somehow I rolled my ankle. Ouch youch youch!

As I was getting into the building, my instructor said she noticed I’d been late a couple times to classes and meals and wondered what they could do to help me keep time better. The only things I could think of were when I puked and when I dropped my drool rag in the john. Since I had a rough morning, I exploded and said a. I hadn’t been that late and B. it was for reasons I couldn’t help. And then I burst into spasms of tears because I remember the old GDB preparations for training letter saying something like “tardiness will not be tolerated.” After I told her what happened, she apologized and said it was no big deal. I know the schedule is tight, but holy crap! I didn’t know I was that problematic when I was 1 or 2 minutes late! At least the turkey sandwich was good even though it dripped on me.

The afternoon was a little better. We practiced working in buildings like department stores. It went rather well. My dog and I cruised down a few aisles. WE’RE GETTING TO THE STAGE WHERE WE CAN REALLY SEE WHAT IS POSSIBLE.

Then we came back to campus and we had supper, spaghetti and meatballs and a delicious brownie.

After, we took the dog to the free run and play, even though all he did was keep coming back to me for kibbles. Silly guy. I really wanted to see him run.

The last thing I did was do yoga and that felt good. The pooch slept peacefully in his crate while I was gone. I fell asleep and it wasn’t even done yet. Then I went back and read a bunch of the lectures in preparation for the next day. And that was day 5. What a beast of a day. Hoping tomorrow is better.

I’m writing this at the end of the day. Tired.

My day got off to a bit of a bad start. I was in the bathroom for longer than I planned, which set everything back, and the schedule is such that once you’re behind, it creates a domino effect. So I ran around to catch up and made it to breakfast on time. Woo!

Breakfast for me was yogurt, granola and fruit.

Then we had a lecture on street crossings. Then we headed out to Gresham to do some Juno and then the route to Jazzy Bagel. That’s my destination for the next bit. We definitely did better than the first route but we both have some learning to do. I need to stop when he stops at curbs and probe with my foot immediately, not shimmy forward still thinking we’re not there yet. If we’re not there, I need to tell him to hoppup and let him do his job. We had to rework a crossing because he and I collectively screwed it up. But I guess that’s why I’m in school. I have learned that if I’m hesitating a lot, he will start showing me stuff, and if nothing else, he’ll show me the curb edge even if it’s in the middle of the block. Eek. So don’t hesitate for stupid reasons.

There were a few times we got into a good groove and man did that feel good. When he gets distracted, at least so far, he slows down. I’m not used to that.

Lunch was a Greek pita with chips. There was strawberry shortcake but I was too full so I took it to go.

The afternoon was all about reworking errors. So Juno got to be a mean mean Juno and bonk us into stuff. Juno even made me knock over one of the obstacles. Juno veered in the street, brushed me into walls, bonked me into stuff. Naughty Juno. Then I went out with the dog and he made some errors of his own. Errors aside, that route was even better than the morning route. And today, I met my class supervisor. She sort of surveys all the teams and offers suggestions. They were trying to decide which harness handle I should use because apparently, with one handle, my shoulder dips and that could be bad over time. I think we settled on the short straight handle. I think. I guess the supervisor had met Scary Jane from the Babs days. It’s a small world. Also, whenever she spoke, my dog would look at her with adoring eyes.

Then we came back and cleaned doggy teeth and ears. He doesn’t mind ear cleaning so much, and he loves the teeth stuff. Of course he did.

Then something cool happened. My instructor told me that while he was in the kennels, he made some art. Something about smearing peanut butter on a surface and then he smushed it around and the kennel staff painted a representation of the smears. Anyway, she wanted to know if I wanted the drawing. I said sure. I’ll have to get her to explain how it works again.

Supper was an onion galette, not sure of spelling, and more delicious strawberry shortcake.

Then we had a lecture about playing with our dogs and safe and unsafe toys. We got a kong, which my dog tried to attack right there. We also got a carabiner, which can be clipped to the kibble pouch and can be used to hang things on. I’ve always wanted a carabiner. I was very tired in this lecture. The lady who did that lecture has a golden for a pet. I’m going to be pick pick picking her brain. I also noticed that the mat under his ear is back already! Booooo!

After that, I flopped over. I know I was supposed to groom him, but I didn’t make it.

Tomorrow is going to be interesting. We’re going to learn about working our dogs in buildings and then, that means we can work them in the dorm! Woo! Things are going to get interesting these next few days. We’re going to get to do cool things like free run our dogs and do a campus route and stuff like that. Things are heatin’ up.

Also tomorrow night is yoga. I’m really going to enjoy going into corpse pose.

And I should really go into corpse pose by going to bed. Hahahaha.