Day 9 – Training with Ike my new guide dog

Jan 19, 2011 | New guide dog Nama 2012-2020, Personal | 6 comments

Faster than light no left no right.

Ike lyeing on the floor with his kong just under his head.  Looking very inicent.

Wow all these days are starting to feel like one. It’s becoming hard to remember where one ends and the other begins. It’s far too easy to fall into a routine. I’m even finding it easier to fill up my evenings. Considering its six hours of doing very little, this is very disturbing. I could get use to this relaxed environment but long term; it wouldn’t suit me at all. I am happier though tonight than I was this night last week. I have accepted the situation I’m in in terms of the lack of work to do in the evenings and I’ve really got to know Ike, this loveable bundle of hair that licks everything he can. When he’s out for a nice fast walk he reminds me of something I heard ages ago in a book. Going faster than light no left no right. I.E, light is straight or something stupid like that. When he does turn left or right it’s like the universe has temporarily shifted alignment so that we’re still walking straight. Well, that’s how it feels in my head. I was use to this very quick turn when using Freddie but I’ve had seven months now of plodding along nice and slowly poking walls and people with the big stick with the dodgy shaped mushroom on the end so going at four times the speed is really more fantastic than I can explain at the moment but at the same time, It’s taking some readjustment. My poor head takes about ten seconds when we’ve turned around corners to figure out that we haven’t been turned upside down, we’re still walking on the path, and it’s just that we’ve changed direction. I love it though.

Ok. Let me go back to the subject I seem to talk about on every post. Unfortunately, it’s a serious subject and it’s one that seems to be a little more difficult to get right this time than it was with Freddie. We’re talking about poo again I’m sorry to say. He seems to be relieving himself in the morning and I was delighted that this morning he didn’t show signs of needing to go on the first walk. The problem is that at lunch, when I knew he had to go, he didn’t do it in the concrete run. He peed but there was no solid spend. Because I was very certain that he would need to go on the walk, I took him to the grass run. He relieved himself almost straight away there. Granted, he took a little longer than usual to do it and it was most likely the added stimulus of the grass that let him do it but I’d like you to help me with something. Is this the start of a problem? Don’t worry, I’m asking the trainer the same question but your perspective wouldn’t hurt either. Am I worrying over nothing? I would like him to get use to going on the concrete run all the time until he gets his routine established. When in work he will be able to do it on grass in Stephen’s green in Dublin but I know how easy it is for some dogs to revert to only wanting to use a grass run so I really wouldn’t like this to happen. Again, I may be worrying over nothing but if there is something here that I need to be cautious of I’d rather be aware of it right from the start.

Getting back to the more interesting parts of the day, the first walk this morning was similar to yesterday morning’s walk. It was back in Cork city based out of the regency hotel. Again, we briefly walked part of Patricks street but most of the walk was in and around narrow streets running around and parallel to the main street. I was actually concerned that the dog might be distracted but the dog was simply guessing where I wanted to go as he had walked these routes a lot during training. There’s nothing much else I can say about this walk. His confidence is really getting better and better. He is avoiding people and stationary objects really well and his right shoulder work is just outstanding. If you need an explanation of what right shoulder work is read my post from two days ago. I think I remember explaining what it was all about then. Ok. Just to make it easier on you. Right shoulder work is where the dog becomes aware of the handlers right side. It becomes able to judge the distance that it needs to give when passing an object on the right to ensure the handler does not hit off or brush against the object that the dog is avoiding. This is particularly hard for the dog but they get better and better as time goes on. Of course, there are situations where the user or handler may be brushed off something but on average, guide dogs handle obstacles very well. In fact, from my limited understanding of the training that these dogs under go, this forms one of the basic principles that they are taught. The other basic idea or principle is the straight line. This means that going right back to basics, one of the main things a guide dog is taught to do is walk from the up kerb of a foot path to the down curb in a straight line with the object of simply walking straight with the exception of avoiding any obstacles that are encountered on the route. I’m not the best person to explain these things. I only know what I need to in order to effectively work the dog. I leave all the training stuff up to the fantastic staff in this organization.

The second walk was much more straight forward. It was around a quieter area but it was much longer than any other we have done before. There were a lot of straight paths a lot of hills and a lot of road crossings. It was exactly the kind of walk both Ike and I really wanted today. We got to walk at a very nice pace. He got loads of praise for avoiding the many obstacles in the way and stopping very nicely at all the crossings. It was hard work for us both because for me walking at that pace in areas where there are very deep slopes at drive ways is very unnerving and I’m sure the dog could sense my apprehension but even with this, we both enjoyed the walk a lot. When I am apprehensive about what’s in front of me I tend to move a little more behind the dog. This is something I shouldn’t do because the dog will take this as a sign that it should go right or step in front of me. I’m aware of it and it’s something I’m really trying to work on but when you’re nervous with a new dog and an area that you’re not use to it is bound to be difficult to get out of these bad habits. I wrote about this kind of looming challenge in my post titled T minus two weeks and counting. I think and hope I’m getting better at correcting myself but as I get to trust Ike more I think it’s getting better naturally. I hate very wide spaces as well so we also had a moment today where my lack of confidence could have potentially caused Ike to have a problem with his confidence but when I discussed it with the trainer when we finished the walk I found that Ike was actually fine. He was just trying to figure out what way I wanted him to go because he had gone different directions during different walks at that point over the past few weeks. Again, it’s something that I didn’t really experience with Freddie or should I say more accurately, it’s something I hadn’t experienced with Freddie for a good few years because I trusted his ability to safely navigate me around the most difficult environments that we encountered.

Lastly today we did a night walk. This is the same as any other walk for me and I can confidently say that it’s not all that different for Ike either. It’s simply an opportunity to ensure that the dog is comfortable working at night. It doesn’t get too distracted by the different sights and smells and he’s not put off by the passing lights of traffic. That’s what I understood from the trainer’s explanation anyway.

Again, the night walk went very well. Ike is really starting to break left and right with a lot of comfort. He’s very happy now to break away from me when turning left and he’s finding rounded kerbs with much more ease. I am also recognising when he’s a little more uncertain so I can very quickly come in with the reassurance he needs to keep him positive and confident.

Ok. That’s the walks out of the way. I’m really happy with his work at the moment. I know that if we can keep up this standard we’ll be doing better than I ever could have anticipated.

I have some very distressing news though. This is actually almost a deal breaker for me. I was unaware that an animal could do this and I’m not happy about it at all. In fact, I will be raising it with as many members of staff that will listen tomorrow to ensure that the severity of the problem is made known and is recognised for its importance. This issue is so dangerous, it strikes panic into me when I think of the long term ramifications it will almost certainly have. Solving this will almost certainly require additional extensive retraining and on-going monitoring to ensure it remains resolved however with time I may be able to get past it once the dog never never never never even considers doing it again!

The issue is……………………… IKE IS A CHEATER!

Yes people you heard me right. He’s a dirty rotten sneaky cheater.

I don’t like that. We’re not even on speaking terms at the moment.

Today while playing we were having a great time. I’d pull it off him, he’d fight back and occasionally, he’d win… Ah, I had to let him. It’s only fair!

This little bright spark got an ingenious idea though. Instead of just using his mouth to pull the ragger off me he now uses a paw as well. This is totally unexpected and totally unfair and goes against all the rules and conventions of playing with a ragger. I am utterly unhappy with this. Twice he has beaten me now. We’re playing nicely when suddenly a paw comes up and holds my hand while he pulls out of the ragger. This all started last weekend. We were playing when he suddenly lay down while still pulling. I assumed at the time that this was just to give himself more traction so that he could pull back without the fear of slipping on the floor. As time progressed however, the paws became more utilized. First one paw would hold the ragger while he pulled then the other paw began holding my hand down. This complete lack of the observation of rules pertaining to the correct and recognised ragger related procedures is particularly concerning.

You know what is more concerning?
The fact that I’ve just written about it. Let me out of here! I think I’m losing it!

Again, thanks to Emma for the great pictures.

6 Comments

  1. Jen

    Haha Darragh, you slowly are losing it, but its keeping your readers entertained so keep it up.
    Sounds like you two are forming a nice relationship. Emma better watch out!

    Reply
  2. DigitalDarragh

    Hahaha Jen, We’re getting on well, just not that well thanks very much.

    Reply
  3. Emma jane

    Hahaha. IKE is a cheater. Lol. That’s great! I laughed so much the suspence

    Reply
  4. Christine Stanley

    Hi Darragh, Great read. Very interesting for me as a puppy walker. Spending routine always a worry for us and we start at 6 weeks old on all surfaces. But each dog is different. Good luck. Enjoying your blog and tweets.

    Reply
  5. Deirdre Murphy

    Hi Darragh…Its not your mother in law….. Every morning its the first thing I do when I get in is see how your getting on.. Good Luck with IKE and can’t wait to meet him…Have you told him about Emma yet?????

    Reply
  6. DigitalDarragh

    Emma, wait until you start playing with him. It’s going to be funny actually. He’ll pull you around like a rag doll.

    Christine, Thanks for reading. I’m very glad your enjoying the updates. I’d actually love to see a blog written over the space of a year that accounted a pups progress. It would be facinating to read about the trials that you all must undertake. I’ve said it before but I’ll say it again. The work that puppy walkers do is the foundation of the rest of the dogs life. Without you we wouldn’t have such well trained, obedient, loyal and intellegent guides. Thanks again.

    Ah deirdre my “NOT” mother in law. How are you keeping. Thanks for keeping up to date. Ike met Emma last weekend. The two of them got on like a house on fire. I’m sure you’ll like him. He doesn’t shed as much hair for a start. That’s always a posative. 🙂

    Reply

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