Day 2: OMD! (Oh My Dog!)

OMD!  Today was dog day (and I’m not talking about the hot weather).  We did some stuff in the morning, but my news friends would never let me live it down if I buried the lead like a woofer in the backyard with a bone.

In the early afternoon, they gave us our dogs.  Mine is Nicole.  She is a yellow lab.  Nicole weighs about 55 lbs. and will be two years old in September.  Nicole came with a harness.  I came along with Nicole when I held the harness and she led me around the campus here at Guide Dogs for the Blind.

 

It’s a pretty exciting moment when the dogs arrive.  Here’s how it went.  They gathered us together in the morning and talked about things no one really heard because our minds were on Dog Day.  Then we did a training regimen called Juno.  That’s the universal name for the imaginary dog that’s leading a person when in reality it’s a human holding the harness. 

We gave Juno commands and learned how to place our feet when we said “right” or “left” or “halt”.  We learned how to tell if the dog’s distracted or veering off course and how to correct it.  But it’s a little like learning to merengue with a mannequin.  To really do the dance, you have to have a real partner.

So one by one, the instructors brought our dogs to our rooms.  Of course, that came after they told us in a group meeting which dog we were receiving – its name, color, breed and gender.  Then we waited interminably in our rooms for our dogs to arrive.  It made me want to apologize to children everywhere for making them wait to open gifts on Christmas.

Then, Nicole arrived.  She tried to climb in my lap.  She nosed for the kibble bag on my belt.  She curled.  She wagged.  She looked at the trainer like “Okay we can leave now.”  The trainer left.  Nicole didn’t. 

So now my new dance partner and I are beginning to bond.  I have fed and watered her, and held onto her leash in the relieving area while she did nothing.  But even that will come in time, just like my ability to function with just Nicole and no instructor around.  Right now, though, my dog partner skills feel just the tiniest bit like what Nicole did not do in the relieving area.