Today began with me waking up at an ungodly hour of 4:30am. I have no clue
why my body said it was time to get up. I guess all those Tuesday and Thursdays
have me in a habit now. Ugh!
Breakfast this morning was oatmeal, bacon, and fruit. For those who can eat
eggs, you could have had that too. The food here is really good. At 8am we had
a fire drill. We all knew where to go out of the building. Then we came in and
had free time until an instructor pulled us for the Juno walk.
I think I explained the Juno walk? I’ll do it again. A Juno walk is where a
instructor, holds on to the harness, holds on to at the back strap part. And
pulls a student if there was a dog inside the harness.
I got called fairly early in the morning. So we walked around the grounds
of the campus. GDF has 10 acres. Its mostly in a residential area but very close
to the center of smithtown. When out I can hear the traffic in the distance,
atleast I think that is traffic and cars *shrug* While doing the Juno walk, my
instructor reviewed the foot and hand signals. Boy has it been a long time
since I was in training. I am so set in my ways. For those who do not know, I
am what guide dog instructors call retreads, LOL They call us that because we
are set in our ways, because we have done this before, and have to learn every
thing all over again.
I learned the “forward”, the “right”, the “left”, and the “about” commands.
I’ll do my best to explain each foot and hand signal.
The guide dog stands on the handlers left side. In order to go straight, I
would give the “forward” command. The dog would start walking. Say for example
I wanted to go “right”, I would step back with my left foot, moving my hand and
arm in front of my body from the left to right. The left command is similar but
different. In order for the dog to go left, I would say “left” command. I would
step back with my left foot, turn my body to face the dogs, and move my hand
towards the left. And the one most complicated for me, as none of the other
schools I have been to do this one. Is the “about” command. This would ask the
dog to make a 180 degree turn. I would give the “stay” command, which is a palm
out faceing the dog while saying “stay”. My hand moves from right to left
towards the dog. I would use my right hand to tap my right hip, and say “about”.
While doing this command, my left foot is forward, I think. Like I said this command
is new to me. There will be more commands to come.
After my morning walk and the Juno dog, I had some free time. I worked on a
paper for one of my classes and finished that later on in the afternoon.
Lunch was once again delicious. Turkey sandwich with a chicken soup. After
lunch we met again in the Gathering area. We were going to be given tours of
the on campus kennels. I had a bit of free time before my tour so, worked on
that paper.
There was a volunteer that walked us individually over to the Kennels. The
Kennels are a huge building that houses about 200 dogs. Dogs in different stages
of training, puppyhood, career changes, or retirement. It’s a climate controled
huge building with instructors offices, a doggie hospital, a grooming room with
bath tubs and fans, and other rooms I don’t remember. I got to pet some of the
pups in the runs. Big dogs and little dogs, labs, and one poodle, goldens, and
crosses. It was very cool. I could have spent all day in with the puppies. I
think they even have a puppy nursery for the babies.
At 4pm, we learned the name and breed of our dog. Remember I won’t give out
the name now, and most likely for a while after I get home. Only those super
close will know the name. Anyone dieing to know? Ah I didn’t think so, I guess
no one wants to know? LOL Just kidding!!!
My dog, is a female Black Lab cross. I know nothing else but that.
I will say that there are some unusual names in my class but its cool. I
hope my pup is a big dog, it would help with my balance.
After we found out what our dog names are and the breeds, we had a lecture
about communication and social media. Soon after was dinner. The chief here is
very funny. We had Gyros with a greek salad.
At 6:30pm, we were given our leashes, our collers, dog bowls, bones,
grooming brush, and whistle.
So that was my day, in a nut shell atleast.. tomorrow is going to be even
busier and longer. Tomorrow we get our dogs, and then they will be with us for
the rest of our stay here and when we go home.
If anyone has any questions, let me know, okay?
Until next time….
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