5/30/01
Today I met Winston for the second time. We had a short "meet and greet" with them when we could give them treats. For treats they just use dog food. They love it! We learned a few of the commands. We learned "come", "sit", "stay" and "heal". The other girl Courtney who is training with me can not speak. Her dog is trained with signals like sign language. We also learned about the importance of "play time". Your dog is working all day and needs atleast 20 minutes a day of playtime to release it's stress and tension.
5/31/01
Today we got to advance to the next level after reviewing everything else that we learned yesterday, which took most of the morning. We also go to take our dogs outside. The command to make them go to the bathroom is "go potty". During lunch we read through a notebook they gave us full of a lot of information, such as, caring for your dog. After lunch we went through our bucket full of supplies that they provided us with. They bucket itself will be used for water. Inside of it there were many grooming tools. A rubber brush is used first all over the dog, they love this! It feel likes a massage. After that you use a metal brush that is pretty sharp. It pulls hair out with its teeth. After we learned about these tools they took us outside to groom them for the first time. Even with bringing Winston up on the bench I couldn't reach him enough to do this myself. So they said my mom could do it. She likes that because it's time when she can talk and pet him. After we were done grooming them (and covered in dog hair! And I mean COVERED!) we went back inside for our first lession on "take"! This command gets Winston to pick up a dropped or out of reach object, when I point to it and say "Winston, take". We started with easy things and worked out way up to his bowl. This is difficult for the dogs to learn because they must pick it up by the far side and not the side closest to them. After about seven or eight tries Winston got the hang of it and brought it up to me. I then filled it and he put his front paws up on my foot rests and ate it off of my lap! It was so awesome! When he was finished he took the bowl and sat it down. We ended the day reviewing what we had learned. We also "pegged" my wheelchair so that I don't have to carry his leash, it is just attached to my chair!
6/1/01
Today was very challenging yet fun! I dressed Winston all by myself! This means putting on his harness and gentle leader. It took me about ten minutes but I did it! Again, we began by reviewing everything we have learned. Then we walked our dogs in bewtween chairs and I had to keep Winston in the "heal" position while Nancy tried to distract him. We learned about walking through doors. Sometimes you want the dog to go first and sometimes you want him to follow you. The commands are simple, "Winston go through" gets him to go through the door way, turn around and watch me, and "Winston wait" makes him let me go through the door first and follow me through. I also learned what to do if i'm ever in a tight aisle with yummy snacks close to the bottom. I have Winston "go through" so that he is facing me and then I say, "Winston back..." and have him back up the entire length! We took our dogs out a lot today and played for about 20 minutes. Before lunch we learned the "under" command which makes him go under a table or bench. This is so that the dog is not in the way. During lunch (with Winston under the table) we reviewed the "user agreement" which mostly states that we will take good care of our dogs and provide him with a good home, and good veterinary visits when needed. They also told us how much our dog eats a day. Winston eats 3 cups of Nutromax a day. We also discussed the importance of maintaining the dogs healthy weight. An obese dog will faiil immediately. After lunch we started learning how to open doors. The command for this is simply "Winston, open!" But it really means "Winstion tug, hold, give" Sometimes you still have to say "hold" and most of the time you have to say "give". After he drops the rope you say "Winston, take your leash" When he does so you say "Winston come" so that he comes around the other side of you and gives you his leash. Something you have to remember is to have the dog on the side of you that has the hinges of the door on it. We also learned how to shut doors or drawers. "Winston push" is the command to shut things. After this we reviewed pciking up objects. This time they were a little more difficult. The more difficult item was a film case. They said the reason for this is because of it's texture. On monday we get to take them home! YAY!"
6/4/01
Today we practiced over and over all of the commands we already know. Although we covered everything we spent most of our time doing doors. I do it a few times and then Courtney and SSD Willow do it a few times. At lunch we discussed everything that we will do that afternoon and we talk about bring the dogs home with us. None of my family can "bond" with Winston. This will help him and I become extremely close. They pound it into our heads that WE must take complete care of our dogs, we have full responsibility of them at all times. Although Winstona and I have not passed our final test to be certified to go into public, the trainers give me permission to bring Winston along to the Vet for our other dogs check up. This is because the Vet will be able to meet Winston.
At home on our first night we didn't encounter any big problems. Winston laid under my desk while I worked on the computer. My step dad opened the door to hand my the telephone and it really startaled Winston, he jumped at him barking and growling.
6/5/01
This morning they watched us unload out of the van, making sure that Winston stayed seated until I was out of the van and ready for him. I forgot to write yesterday that I learned all of the commands for loading and unloading. Once the ramp is in place I let go of Winston's leash and say "Winston, get in the car!" And he gets up on the ramp, I then have whoever is with tap on the seat and say, "Winston, up!" After we get settled in they ask us to go over the night step by step. We then go straight into practicing. This is our last week at the Hemlock Girl Scouts building. After this we will be practicing in malls. All we did in the morning is practice. We practiced doors,"taking", and leave it. By lunch I was ready for something new. During lunch they showed us how to clean our dogs ears. And afterwards we learned how to do elevators!
Elevators are a very important and difficult task. This is because dogs have gotten seriously injured and even killed doing it. This is what you must do, "Winston, push!" To get him to jump up and push the elevator button If the door opens to the right I have to let Winston's leash on it's long lead, and drive half way into the elevator. This blocks the door from shutting. Next I say "Winston, go through!", he walks through, turns around, looks at me, backs up into the corner and sits. Going out is the same procedure. This takes lots of time and patients. We got to go home early because we were all doing welll! Yay!
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