Days 14 & 15: Evey Dog Has His Day

And yesterday was Chase’s day.  He and I graduated from the two-week training course at Guide Dogs for the Blind.  It was a whirlwind, fun day. 

A huge crowd was there because of Fun Day for the volunteer puppy raisers.  And the volunteers who raised Chase – the Bakers from Bakersfield -- were there to see who his partner was going to be. 

 

Margaret Baker presented Chase to me at the ceremony.  Earlier, they had filled me in on what Chase was like during his first year, when he lived with them.  It seems Chase loves to swim. 

 

 

I was touched by the people who showed up for my graduation -- present and former co-workers and other friends.

We stopped by a wedding on the way home.  It was outside at St. Mary’s College.  Chase was calm throughout.  He slept at my feet while I sat and talked to people.

We brought him home and reintroduced him to our poodle, Cody.  Cody was stressed at first, but eventually calmed down.  Chase was calm throughout.  He spent a peaceful night in his container. 

Today, I took Chase on a walk to the BART station so he would kind of know the route tomorrow morning.  He also took a trip to the pet supply store.  There were several dogs there, and he did fine.  But at one point, I had to point out to a guy that Chase was a working guide dog and I needed him to get his sniffing dog away from mine.

We went to KTVU and put a few things in place for tomorrow.  Then we stopped at the grocery store on the way home.  Through it all, Chase was a great guide and perfect gentleman, er dog. 

Right now, Chase is sleeping on the floor of my office, tied down to the treadmill.  In a bit, he’ll go into his crate for the night, and we’ll take a big step tomorrow in our adventure when we go to work together.