Dog tired.

• Firstly, you should read this so you know what these posts are all about.
• The matching visit with Mr. Banks.
• Day 1 – Training with Mr Banks, my new guide dog.
• Day 2 – Training with Mr Banks, my new guide dog
• Day 3 – Training with Mr Banks, my new guide dog.
• Day 4 – Training with Mr Banks, my new guide dog.
• Day 5 – Training with Mr Banks, my new guide dog.
• Day 6 – Training with Mr Banks, my new guide dog.
• Day 7 – Training with Mr Banks, my new guide dog.
• Day 8 – Training with Mr Banks, my new guide dog.

Poor Mr Banks. He’s really had a hard week. We’ve walked for miles around Cork city across so many different types of paths, parks, roads and shops that I don’t remember half of them. We have had some frights, victories, thrills, spills and geese. Yes. I said geese. Stupid things cause him all sorts of distractions. I actually wonder what he’d do if he caught one. I’d put money on it that he wouldn’t have a clue what to do next.

Today has been a bit too busy for play so unfortunately, if you don’t have an interest in guide dog work, you might want to skip this post. It’s full of descriptions of walks. Obedience sessions and his progress so far. So, probably of no entertainment value at all.

This morning we did the very same walk as yesterday morning. If you remember, this was a very long route that went on for just over two hours. Poor Mr Banks was starting to feel the strain of it all though so his work from my perspective only wasn’t at the same high standard it has been at consistently since the start of training. Now, as it has been pointed out, I am being too hard on him here. The rain poured down for a lot of the time, there were a lot of distractions on the path, we added some artificial distractions and obstacles and the previous day was very busy as well. That said, I know that this walk was not up to his usual standard. I didn’t correct him for it though. I filled him with praise and really focused on his emotional wellbeing. Coaxing him and really supporting his decisions when they took us along the right path. I would certainly have been right to correct his level of distraction but I decided that with the particular instructor who was on this morning’s walk it was best to do it his way. I have really enjoyed having two very different perspectives on managing dog distraction. One says to correct the distraction, one says to encourage the dog and support the dog’s emotional wellbeing. Both are equally valid points and I would really like to get to a stage of incorporating both into my working style. I am not being over confident here but I know that I am competent when it comes to the technical workings of handling a guide dog. However, my weak point is in assessing the dog’s psychological status. I find it easier to relate to Mr Banks on an emotional level than with my other dogs. Don’t read this as being clinical. I’m not talking about the bond here or the level of affection and attention he gets as an animal. I’m talking about understanding when he is distracted because he is a little tired, uncertain or just having a bad day. This kind of analysis imposes or associates human psychological characteristics on animals and this doesn’t necessarily work because the human capacity for cognition is far superior to that of an animal but the building blocks are certainly there so although the motive behind an emotional state may be very different the end result is basically the same. This is my limited understanding of it of course. I would love to learn more but at the moment, I base this conclusion on what I am slowly learning from different instructors. I would like to understand my guide dogs behaviour more because the deeper my understanding the more accurately I can implement solutions on the go.

One thing that really stands out about this morning’s walk is unfortunately negative. On the way back to the car Mr Banks was incredibly distracted and actually managed to pick up food in two places within a fifteen foot stretch of path. The main instructor supervising our training has said that this is nothing to be alarmed about and as this only started during this morning’s walk with a minor sign of it on yesterday afternoons walk it is most likely something that will dissipate quickly. However, it is definitely something I have noted and it is something that I will be more vigilant of for the next week. Mr Banks is showing signs of improved confidence to me as his handler which is amazing because I already thought he was very confident to start with. This scavenging is his way of pushing his luck. Or so it seems to the instructor anyway. This is something that’s very hard to handle. Fortunately, although my first dog Freddie showed some signs of it at the start he grew out of it. I can just hope that the same happens this time. I have no reason to think otherwise though.

One thing to add about this morning’s walk, the instructor tried a few things that were a bit strange but they served a purpose. The first thing he did was to raise awareness of moving obstacles. He would walk a bit ahead then stop suddenly. This gave the dog a fraction of a second to react. In most incidents the dog had no time to think of any solution so he just stopped. This was perfect and it allowed me to give a command to tell the dog to pick a safe route around. Of course, sometimes the dog didn’t stop at all so we walked into the instructor at speed. I’m surprised we didn’t cause an injury! Other times though Mr Banks reacted brilliantly and completely dodged the instructor. Although this was an unfair obstacle to expect the dog to work around, it was brilliant because it really helped the dog to raise his awareness of people coming toward us; people that we needed to walk around and even people stepping out of doorways. As if it was planned, near the end of the route someone wheeled a buggy out of a shop door. Instantly Mr Banks stopped and resumed when he had determined a safe way around. Of course it wasn’t planned but it may as well have been because it was a perfect example to me of how well the exercise used by the instructor worked. When the instructor explained the situation with the buggy to me I think I could detect a lot of satisfaction in his voice. I challenged him during yesterday morning’s walk because I felt that at the time it was placing an unfair burden on the dog because I thought there was no way that the dog could react in time. Plus, if truth be told, I don’t enjoy walking into people so I was a little frustrated as well. I am delighted to be proven wrong though and again, I’m really aware how lucky I am to have worked with two instructors with different approaches to guide dog training.

Another thing that the instructor from this morning’s walk did that was quite unfair was to pick up on things that were distracting the dog and make them even more distracting. For example, the instructor told me that Mr Banks was distracted by a plastic bag that was blowing around. So, then before I knew it, the instructor was dragging it around in front of the dog with his feet. ON top of this, at the time when I was finding it more difficult to handle the dog in an area full of food distractions on the ground, the instructor started kicking around an empty can to add even more distractions for the dog. It made my job incredibly difficult but it was a good learning process as well.

Although the instructor for this afternoons walk wasn’t aware that Mr Banks was quite tired, he picked a brilliant route for us. It was perfect actually. Just around a shopping centre. In and out of different shops, up and down stairs, in and out of lifts, through a super market and around counters with food at easy reach. It was challenging for Mr Banks but it wasn’t as mentally taxing. Also, it was in out of the rain so it meant we didn’t get wet again. Mr Banks showed some signs of distraction but this time I reinforced the correction and within moments he was back to his normal self again. See what I mean? In the rain, I understood that he needed support to understand that it was all right but in a shopping centre where the environment is reasonably normal to him, the distraction was nothing more than him pushing his luck in which case, firmly telling him to get on with it was the right course of action. Mr Banks really loves to please so as soon has he refocuses his attention on the task at hand it’s vital to immediately praise him for it. If the praise is delivered on queue he will completely lose interest in the distraction.

What impressed me about the second walk is his self-control when walking around the super market. I deliberately worked him around the fridges, the cooked meats and the butcher counters and he was absolutely fine at all times. He never broke his pace and he didn’t pull at all. I could feel him occasionally looking over but that’s completely understandable. The other thing that I was impressed with was his ability to find doors. Quick commands gave him the general direction and he took the initiative himself after this. When we exited the shop, he continued on his straight line again to our destination. This is a very valuable skill for a dog to have.

Without doubt though, the highlight of our day was going to an Irish traditional music session. Mr Banks was with me of course and he guided me around like a pro! Although when he was introduced to live music he was a bit giddy at the start he relaxed within moments when we got to the session and he showed absolutely no interest in any of it. IN fact, to make the night even better again, I asked a random musician that I had never met before to show me where the toilets were. Like always in these situations, I was on auto pilot and without thinking I instructed the dog to follow. This is a habit left over from my days of working with Freddie. He was so good at this I just expect all dogs to be able to do it. Mr Banks seems to do it just as effortlessly as Freddie. I hate taking peoples elbows so a dog who can take the initiative and follow this comfortably is really nice. We found the steps and although he was following someone he still used the right approach. Just spectacular. That’s all I can really say about him tonight.

That’s all there is for today folks. Thanks for all the comments. Keep them coming. I think I might be as tired as the dog now and staying up to write this post hasn’t really helped.

Don’t stop until you drop.

• Firstly, you should read this so you know what these posts are all about.
• The matching visit with Mr. Banks.
• Day 1 – Training with Mr Banks, my new guide dog.
• Day 2 – Training with Mr Banks, my new guide dog
• Day 3 – Training with Mr Banks, my new guide dog.
• Day 4 – Training with Mr Banks, my new guide dog.
• Day 5 – Training with Mr Banks, my new guide dog.
• Day 6 – Training with Mr Banks, my new guide dog.

That was the theme for today. We did a huge amount of work. Through it all, Mr Banks behaved brilliantly! The more time that goes on the more I am convinced this is the right match for me. The dog just seems to take so much in his stride! It’s really very reassuring.

We started this morning by walking around Cork city. Don’t ask me to remember all of the street names; I just wouldn’t have a clue. I know that at one stage, we walked down an island with a road on our left and right, we walked around some very busy streets and some streets that had a lot of obstacles and distractions. We also had some tricky crossings to navigate around because we were in town during the busy delivery time so it was great practise but although it was hard, it was a million times easier than trying to do it with a cane. We also went around a shopping centre, up a lift, or as the Americans call it, an elevator then we walked down the stairs from the fifth floor. I hate stairs when getting use to a new dog but it’s important to do them during the training. I offered to walk up them tomorrow but the instructor has decided that it’s fine. There’s no need to put him through that. It’s himself he’s thinking about. Not the dog! Ha-ha. I think that to ensure the dog has had an all-round experience of going up and down a lot of stairs it’s only right! I’m quite happy going up stairs. I hate going down stairs that are unfamiliar to me. Don’t get me wrong, I’ll just get on with it but I certainly don’t enjoy the walk as much as when just traversing normal environments.

The second route was around Ballincollig, a small town in Cork near the training centre. We combined three routes that we did last week. We started in an estate, walked the opposite way around the back streets, through the shopping centre, out through the Dunnes car park exit, back on to the main street and back to the car again. I absolutely loved this walk. It probably took us about twenty five minutes but the instructor gave me the directions when still in the car so it allowed me to proceed with it as if it was an area I knew really well. For the most part, I was very confident with these areas. I’ve been walking them a lot over the past week and a huge amount of time hasn’t passed since the last time I was around this part of the country so there was nothing new to cover. The route couldn’t have gone any better. I really enjoyed his ability to take the initiative but I was able to control his anticipation reasonably easily. That’s really important. You want the dog to be able to take initiative in finding the way around obstacles but you don’t want him or her to take the initiative too much because they can become over forceful in the tension they provide on the harness. Today for example, Mr Banks knew we were going toward the shopping centre and because he really wants to please, he got very happy at the prospect of finding the door. I hadn’t told him yet but he was already veering us to it. It’s very important that he only finds this land mark when I give the instruction as some days we might pass by it for example. It also settles the dog down in the case of Mr Banks so that when I give the command to find it he does so at the same consistent speed.

In the afternoon we worked on some traffic control. This is where the dog is trained to selectively and intelligently disobey a command if it recognises imminent danger such as an obstruction blocking the way or a vehicle approaching. Contrary to popular misconception, a guide dog does not provide a signal to the handler to indicate that it is safe to cross. The responsibility to determine this is on the handler. It is very important that the handler does not step off a curb without being absolutely sure that it is safe to do so. I can’t stress highly enough that my explanation of near and far traffic training is given for informational purposes only. If you would like more information on this please contact Guide Dogs for the Blind of Ireland by E-mail or by phone at 0214878200 or if your outside Ireland, your local guide dog training school. I am by no means an expert. In fact, compared to the instructors, I know absolutely nothing. This exercise today was really useful for me actually. It highlighted a bad habit that I’ve developed over the years of working with guide dogs. I need to be more aware of this and try to fix it before I return home.

The last walk of the day was in the country. Again, don’t ask me where we were. We were very high above the constant din of the city though and it was really relaxing to be surrounded by the countryside for a few minutes. Country walks are not something that I’ve done since working with my first dog Freddie but I use to really enjoy them. There’s a lovely road near the college in Dundalk that goes on for miles that I use to walk down every Sunday morning. Freddie, my first dog was a horrible animal for constantly pulling left so for the first mile this wasn’t relaxing at all but Mr Banks is very happy to walk tight in on the right so it should be very enjoyable. I hadn’t thought of country walks until quite late in the training last week so I was really surprised that it went so well today. Mr Banks was not trained with this kind of walk in mind so I had no cause to expect that he’d work as well as he did. There were no signs of distractions, his pace was very relaxed and steady and when dogs approached him he continued walking without giving them a second glance. Of course, like an edition, I chanced going out without a coat because it hadn’t rained in days but I should have known. The one time I tried it, it lashed on me for almost the entire walk. I wouldn’t mind but I have a lot of rain gear with me so that when we get a bad day I am prepared for it. It’s just typical that I misjudged it.

While not working, we’ve spent the day playing and doing obedience. I’m continuing to try to vary his obedience sessions. He’s too quick for me. He is really distracted by a room at first but then after a few minutes he is completely focused on me. But, at this early stage I want him to be distracted because it’s at these times when his attention is everywhere but where it should be that I need to reassert control over the situation. For this reason, I’ve been bringing the dog to areas full of distractions and interesting cents. Today we did several obedience sessions outside, we did them in the dining area, upstairs in one of the lounges, in the main corridor and in a car park. Each session lasts no more than five minutes to keep things interesting. Once his attention is on me for three or four minutes I stop and he is rewarded by a nice long play session. This approach seems to be working really well. Reasserting control and breaking the distraction is becoming much easier as time goes on. I am going to discuss this with the instructor tomorrow. If it wouldn’t do any harm, I’d like to do some really straight forward obedience while in harness. For example, just sitting and standing when there’s a lot going on around him. Because Mr Banks is by nature very interested in everything, breaking his attention so that he focuses on my commands is something that in my mind is very important. I need to get this right now. In fact, now that we have covered off all the technical parts of the training, I want to spend as much time as possible building this skill up.

The amount of playing we’ve done today is great. Because he’s worked hard and he’s done such a great job I’ve felt almost duty bound to give him a lot of attention. He’s a really playful dog so I think I’ll need to set aside a little more time than I’ve had to in the past to ensure that he is given adequate opportunity to play.

Grooming Mr Banks is incredibly easy. He sheds a lot of hair but he seems to almost fall asleep on the grooming table. Once he I being brushed with a little more roughness than I’d expect that he’d like he is so relaxed it’s very funny! I was told this by someone in kennels who saw me doing it too gently. I don’t mean that I’m being rough of course. I just mean that I’m a little more forceful than I expected would be tolerable to him.

While I write this he’s in his bed, fast asleep, snoring his little head off. He sounds like an old man when he sleeps. I’m hoping he settles in well when we go home because I don’t think he’ll be sleeping up stairs. I’d like him to be comfortable a little bit further away.

Just to mention some of the crucial things, he is eating and relieving himself perfectly without exception at the moment. Touch wood, I hope this improves but I have no reason to think it wouldn’t. I’m just mentioning it because it was such a major issue in a previous life that it is something I can’t help be aware of.

Easy does it.

• Firstly, you should read this so you know what these posts are all about.
• The matching visit with Mr. Banks.
• Day 1 – Training with Mr Banks, my new guide dog.
• Day 2 – Training with Mr Banks, my new guide dog
• Day 3 – Training with Mr Banks, my new guide dog.
• Day 4 – Training with Mr Banks, my new guide dog.

Today was unexpected. I thought it was going to drag on but it seems to have gone just as quickly as every day before it since Tuesday. Coming from a person who is normally so practical when it comes to guide dogs I am very surprised to be writing that when I’m around Mr Banks I find that I’m never wanting for something to do. I’m constantly playing with him, walking around the centre, doing obedience, practising recall, grooming, or just having a chat with him. I find that his personality makes him very accessible from the perspective of someone who ordinarily finds it difficult to read the body language of a dog. He knows what he wants and he’s not shy about showing me. For example, when he’s finished relieving himself, he will make this very clear by sitting right in front of me. If I’m too preoccupied or too stupid to notice he wines, just for a split second to grab my attention.

We were meant to walk around Cork city again this morning but from reading the report of the last time I trained with a guide dog, a route stood out that might be a nice challenge. It’s up a road called Patricks hill. It has a lot of steps in random places and quite a lot of distractions for Mr Banks to work through. I had thought this was going to be difficult for him and it would be a good exercise to learn from. What I didn’t foresee was the only thing I’d learn from it was that Mr Banks is seriously exceptional. He governed the pace showing more caution than I ever thought possible from him. It’s not like he wasn’t confident, far from it actually. The confidence oozed from him. Caution is where if he thinks I might hit something he’ll slow the pace to show me that it’s possible and in situations where it’s inevitable that I’ll hit something then he stops at the object first. Of course, he has stopped at obstacles consistently during the training. I am finding it hard to explain for some reason. Today was different. He was really taking care through the tricky parts of the route. It was like he understood that the path was difficult for me and he was giving me extra time to get my footing in places. The instructor agreed that even though our walks have been consistently good and the progression is moving in the right direction all the time, today was our best walk by a long shot. I’m really glad he agreed because I was amazed at this new found concern that Mr Banks was showing for my safety. Sorry, I’m explaining this all wrong. Of course he is always concerned for my safety as defined by his training and today was no different. His training kicked in and he knew that the environment was complicated and challenging. What was different was the intensity of his concentration and his very focused attention to detail. I’m really sorry you weren’t there to observe this first hand because I am really not doing it enough justice.

After the walk we returned to the centre for a quick coffee before bringing Mr Banks on a free run. This is where guide dogs have the freedom to revert to acting like a normal dog. They blow off steam, ignore almost all commands and have some fun. As you might expect, with the work load we have been throwing at him over the past five days this was a welcome break. Think about it! He has a new handler, he’s been working for about three hours a day between obedience and walking, he’s living in a centre that up to now has been a place that he only saw during training sessions with the early training unit and later, the advanced instructor. So much has happened in this poor dog’s life in the past week, it’s incredible that he hasn’t completely fallen to mush! I admire him a lot actually. I don’t want to jinx it but he amazes me in the way that he seems to be taking everything in his stride. I secretly hope that maybe my handling of the situation has something to do with it but I suspect it’s all up to Mr Banks and the excellent preparation work done by his instructor. I suppose it’s not such a secret any more really.

After the free run we returned to the training centre. I braced myself for an afternoon of boredom but it never materialized. I towelled off the dog to dry his coat after his free run, played with him for a long time then did some easy obedience work to firm up on a few things. I took an hour to listen to some more of the hunger games book then I decided to pay a visit to the sand run. This is beside the kennels used for young dogs in training. It gives them regular opportunities to get out and play in a safe environment. I knew that with having less work to do this afternoon he would have some energy to burn off. I was right. He had great fun exploring on his own for a while ten when he presented me with a very disfigured and chewed up Cong I played with him for a good ten minutes. This was an interesting game. I’d throw it for him; he’d run off, get it, drop it again, run back over to me and wait for me to tell him to go get the toy again. When he went to retrieve the toy he’d sprint over to me but stop about five feet away. He’d throw down the toy but when I went to pick it up he’d bark loudly. I know to ignore his barks now. He is only playing and being vocal so it didn’t bother me. Still, it kept me very amused. I’d love to know what was going through his head. Because we’re not working at all tomorrow I’m going to try to escape the training centre for a few hours. This will give me some time to recharge, play some music, relax and enjoy some normality for a short while. However, I’m very aware that it will result in much less activity for Mr Banks compared to the past few days. This will possibly be good for him actually however to try to compensate a little, I intend to use the sand run again in the afternoon. I’ll also allow a lot more play sessions in the morning. Mr Banks has a lot of energy so it’s probably in my best interest to ensure he’s satisfied before I leave him alone for a few hours. Who knows what he’d get his teeth on while I’m not here! So far, although he likes to pick up everything he can get access to, he hasn’t actually chewed anything yet but I’m quite sure that unfortunately, it’s likely only a matter of time. Mostly he’s just happy to walk around with things in his mouth. I’ve left a bone and a Cong out for him and to my relief; he tends to go for one of these objects before looking for something of mine. To be safe, I intend to leave an item of clothing in the room in easy reach. I have a pair of jeans that I don’t intend to wear much anymore so it won’t be the end of the world if he rips them. I really don’t think he will though.

That’s all I have to write tonight. I have tried to keep this one short. If their all five page posts you’ll get sick of reading my ramblings. Thanks to everyone who has sent text messages, Emails and comments. I appreciate every single one of them. Although, I am terrible for not responding to text messages at the moment. I must fix this failure very soon.

Paws for thought.

• Firstly, you should read this so you know what these posts are all about.
• The matching visit with Mr. Banks.
• Day 1 – Training with Mr Banks, my new guide dog.
• Day 2 – Training with Mr Banks, my new guide dog
• Day 3 – Training with Mr Banks, my new guide dog.

Paws for thought is an excellent blog run by a lovely lady who is going out with an absolute nut job who is also a very good friend of mine Nicky Kealy. But pausing for thought was the last thing on the mind of Mr Banks today as we navigated through the busiest environment that we are likely to encounter during our training. Pausing for thought seems to be the last thing this dog would ever consider doing. No matter what the obstruction Mr Banks quickly makes up his mind and just goes for it. Sometimes he’s wrong but more than not he’s absolutely spot on. Even though he has got it wrong a few times he corrects himself very quickly and continues on without a second thought. I love this confidence in him. It’s just so nice to put the direction we take completely in his hand. ….. em…. I mean paws. Speaking of things that I love about this dog, he reminds me of my first dog Freddie quite a lot. When he’s just chilling out, if I get up to walk across the room for some reason his tail starts pounding off the floor. I might not be going anywhere nears him but he’s just happy if I say hello. The main objective of the training is to build up the bond between guide dog and handler. I certainly think it’s starting off well. It’s strange but I actually enjoy being around him. Every dog of course has a limitation. For Mr Banks this limitation is distractions. If I don’t stay on top of these when we’re out he can get a bit carried away but once I keep them in check he’s absolutely fine. The important thing is actually that he accepts the encouragement and the positive reinforcement and recovers from any corrective action within seconds. Now that I’m becoming more aware of his limitation and his many strengths I’m very relieved. Now I know what I have to work with I can relax a lot more. Now, of course, I will acknowledge that we’re only four days in now and although I think I might have assessed his character well I have no doubt that something else will come up either temporarily while he continues to test my limits or permanently as a result of my handling style. So, I can’t be complacent.

The first walk today was a mammoth task. We started in the train station, boarded a train, walked through a very busy carriage while people were still taking their seats, back onto the platform again and out of the station. This was an important training exercise. It let me assess how Mr Banks handles trains. He found the door with a minimum of direction and he handled the horrible platform in Cork station with ease. Working through the station presented him with hundreds of potential distractions but he remained focused on the target without needing additional prompting above the standard reassurance that he was doing a good job. I know that I might be over doing it with the reassurance while he’s working but my reasoning is that if he can remain focused on me he’s less likely to get distracted. Like always, this level of verbal prompting can decrease gradually over the next six to twelve months.

After the train station we walked up to Patricks street. His work around this area was absolutely brilliant. I thought I knew the route quite well but I nearly made a minor mistake before the instructor prompted me to turn instead of crossing. I usually cross before the bridge leading onto Patricks street because there’s an ATM on the right side of the road that is nice and easy to find. I do that so regularly I almost went that direction without thinking about it. In fairness, that just shows how much I was at ease with walking around with Mr Banks. Actually speaking of blunders and my own stupidity, at one stage while crossing at a point that had no audible signal, the instructor told me that we had a green man. I don’t know why but I always forget what colours signify when pedestrians can go and when traffic can go. In my defence, when do I need to know this? I felt like a right idiot though. I won’t forget that again in a hurry. Green means pedestrians can go! Green! Green! Green! Green! Green! I know. I know. I’m stupid.

When we got to Patricks street we took the first door into one of the shopping centres on that street. In here we walked through Debenhams and took the exit back onto Patricks Street again. We walked through that shop during the matching visit but todays walk was like working with an entirely different dog. He dictated the pace during the entire time. He slowed right down and took a lot of care with every turn. When I gave the instruction to find the way he listened immediately and took the initiative without hesitation when he felt it was necessary. I obviously had absolutely no idea where we were going but at certain points he knew so it was nice to feel him working through familiar territory. After we walked all the way down Patricks street we walked through more busy streets that I can’t remember the name of before stopping in a quick coffee. I really appreciate the regular stops for coffee that we are taking. It is allowing Mr Banks to become really comfortable with my style of handling in social environments. This is very important to me because I really enjoy meeting with people regularly after work. It’s nice to be confident that Mr Banks will behave perfectly in this kind of environment and it will be nothing new for him. After the coffee we walked over to the bus station. The name of Oliver Plunk it street has come to mind. I can’t remember if that was before the coffee or after it. He worked very well through it regardless. There was one point where he jumped out of his skin. We passed a fast food outlet and as we approached the door someone came out with a trolley laden with old uncooked met. I have to admit the smell was quite overwhelming but for some reason, with the smell, the sight of the trolley coming toward him and the speed at which we were moving startled him badly and he jumped back quite quickly and forcefully. I have to admit, this temporarily alarmed both me and the instructor because neither of us knew right away what had caused this sudden change in behaviour. Once the man had passed us though Mr Banks continued on his way. What I found really important was the recovery. I have experienced situations like this that would have caused a dog to become nervous and highly sensitive. It was a huge relief that within seconds Mr Banks had completely recovered his composure and behaved as if nothing had happened. At the bus station the first door he found was actually locked. This wasn’t his fault of course. Again, what impressed me about this was that when I stepped back and asked him to find the door again he did a proper left turn around me and found the next door down. Again, I have experienced situations where needing to find another door would have seriously temporarily knocked another dogs confidence. I’m not necessarily comparing guide dogs; I am however acknowledging how very fortunate I am with Mr Banks.

After the bus station we walked down by the river with the water on our left past Jurys hotel. We crossed the bridge in front of the main door and took a left. The last time I was around that area was November 2011 so I was relieved to find that they had fixed the path since then. I was prepared for the worst when I crossed the road. The last time I walked around there I nearly fell when I misjudged a step while using the cane. Today with Mr Banks the area was simple to navigate around. We took the first right and walked to the end of the road. We weren’t aligned with the crossing that I was familiar with so because I was aware of the environment I chose to do another formal left turn where the dog does a 270 degree turn in front of you. This aligned us with the road on our left where I could cross, turn right, walk down a few steps and take the more straight forward crossing to the path leading to the train station. Unfortunately while going to the train station I misjudged where I needed to turn right but it was Freddie who use to make that judgement call so I’ll just chalk that one down to experience. For Mr Banks. There are no land marks that I can pick up to indicate when to cross. The rest of the walk was very straight forward.

The next walk today was through a route in Ballincollig, a town near the training centre for Irish guide dogs. We had done this route before but I wanted to give it another go because I wasn’t particularly happy with the way Mr Banks handled parts and I knew that I could have given him better commands during parts as well. Fortunately with some more experience since the last time we did this walk the route was almost absolutely perfect today. Now, there was one part that I wasn’t happy with but this was related to a lot of distractions in the environment. It was something I was prepared for so I think I handled it as well as it could have been handled. Again, I made another stupid mistake on this route. I thought we should cross when I should have turned left but I’ve done so many routes in the past four days that I just remembered it incorrectly. Let me quickly clarify though that I absolutely love the format of this class. It couldn’t be more suitable. I just need to concentrate a little more. We took a few back streets then an alley way back to the main street. On the main street we walked through a shopping centre back into the car park for Dunnes. There is nothing to say about this really, He performed excellently. There are parts where he tried to anticipate where we were going based on routes that we had done earlier in the week but I was able to pick this up very quickly and redirect him from the point he was focused on. It’s quite interesting actually. Once the redirection is successful and he is aware that he must look for a new target he is very quick to assess the situation to determine the most likely object to find.

We finished quite early today and I think we were both quite tired after focusing on the mornings work. For the first time in quite a while I sat and listened to eight chapters of a book. I’m listening to book one of the hunger games at the moment. Emma read them a few weeks ago and seemed to be completely engrossed so I thought I should see what all the fuss was about. So far, I’m not disappointed. The rest of the day has been taken up by frequent play sessions. Some more obedience and a lot of general activity with Mr Banks. I haven’t really written about the obedience work that I’ve been regularly doing. I keep each session to about ten to fifteen minutes. I do one in the morning and one at night at minimum. However, I’ve found that he is taking them in his stride now. Before, distractions in the environment were the major factor that was keeping him from paying attention but because he is now settled into the environment of the training centre he is less interested in the environment and more interested in me. Although that is great, it’s not what I want at the moment. So, I’ve started doing the obedience work in different rooms. For example, I have been doing them in the down stairs lounge. It’s not used at this time of day but there are a lot of new smells and things to look around so it was a good place to use. Now, I’m also using the upstairs lounge. Again, it’s great because it’s a new place that he hasn’t been too much so all the smells are interesting. It takes that little bit more for him to remember that he needs to focus on the commands I’m giving him. Again though he has handled this change well. I wanted to give him a bigger challenge so when everyone had left the dining area this evening I did some more work with him. It’s important that it’s a big game of course. He’s more likely to listen if the obedience sessions are less work and more playful so I am very sure to keep them lively and interesting. For example, I start off with a lot of sit, down, stay, wait and come commands. This gets him focused and prepares him for what’s to come. Then I unclip the lead and walk away. A little further each time. He must sit by my side on my command. This reinforces recall. After doing this successfully a few times I let him wander off. He inevitably finds something to sniff. Then when I think he’s distracted I call him back. Of course, at this early stage I can’t expect him to acknowledge this very reliably so I also make some noise to draw attention to myself. This is where things are really starting to improve and it’s where I need to work most. At the end of the day, Mr Banks is a dog and he will do doggy things like get carried away while sniffing something. That’s absolutely fine once he remembers that I’m the boss and when I call him I mean business. It’s not easy but we’re slowly but surely increasing our success rate with this approach. I’m sure it wouldn’t be something that the instructors advise but it’s a good game for Mr Banks and it’s teaching him that the faster he comes back, the longer we play and the more praise he gets. It’s actually getting to the stage that when I let him off the lead he doesn’t want to go sniffing. He wants to stay by my side instead because of the praise he gets. I tried this yesterday morning as an experiment but I didn’t expect the exercise to be retained so well. In fact, I didn’t expect him to retain this at all. However, now, when he’s off the lead he’s very observant of what I’m doing. I’m very impressed at this. One other exercise that I started right from day one might seem very simple but it’s effective. When we get to the dining area I go make myself a coffee. This involves first finding a seat, putting Mr Banks under it and remaining there for a few seconds. Then I get up, tell the dog to stay and go make the coffee. When I get back I expect him to remain lying down until I put the coffee on the table and take my seat again. This takes some work on my part. I don’t want to over stimulate the dog when I return but I need to consistently give him the command to remain waiting. It’s important that he doesn’t jump up when I’m near because he could inadvertently knock the cup out of my hand or cause it to spill. Only when I am seated again does he get the praise that he loves so much. Again, of course it goes without saying that this praise is only provided when he remains under my chair. At the first sign that he wants to get up the praise stops.

To finish this post let me tell you of something that’s a bit strange. I usually write this when I’m taking it easy between ten and eleven at night. I usually go to a different room in the centre to do this because it’s nice to get out. At half ten Mr Banks becomes restless. He stands there right beside my laptop and if I don’t acknowledge him he wines. It’s not intrusive; it’s just his way of letting me know that he’d like some attention when I have a moment. For some reason though, late at night this is quite persistent. Even when I tell him to lie down he only does so for a second before getting up again. Stupidly last night I thought that he may be needed to relieve himself so I stopped what I was doing. Tonight he thought he’d get his own way again so he started at exactly the same time. Dogs are funny animals. They pick up things that we never consider. It’s possible that a motor starts or stops somewhere or a radiator is turned off. It can be any kind of queue but he associates this with the sign that it’s now time to move. It’s possible that without knowing it, for the first two nights I was finished at the same time that this queue was sensed by him so now he has picked it up as a sign. It’s something he’ll get out of very quickly when he notices that I don’t pander to his insistence. For the moment, it’s very entertaining. Mr Banks has a voice and he’s not afraid to use it. He has different wines, moans and groans depending on what he’s trying to communicate. He’s barked at me once and this was because I was ignoring his moan because I thought he needed some more time to make sure he didn’t need to relieve himself. It was his way of giving out to me a little. Of course, I couldn’t let him away with that. At this early stage he could take the idea that he can get away with things by barking or moaning too much so although I think it’s very funny, I’ve unfortunately had to either ignore it or tell him to stop. I don’t think it will become a problem though. Hopefully he can remain like this. I actually find it very useful. There’s hardly any need to read body language with Mr Banks. He’s more than happy to make his mood known with the right grunt!

These blog posts are very long! I’m very sorry. It must be really hard to read so much. I start them every night by thinking, we’ve done nothing today but then they just keep going on and on and on.

Roam wasn’t built in a day.

• Firstly, you should read this so you know what these posts are all about.
• The matching visit with Mr. Banks.

I’ve been noticing a major increase in traffic to this site over the past two days. It’s making me a little apprehensive so will you all just go away please? Ha! I know a lot of you are looking forward to these posts so I’ll try to make them worth your while. In all seriousness though, I have to say a very sincere thank you to all my regular readers of this website. Your support in comments, email and messages on both Facebook and Twitter has been very appreciated. You are the reason why I am writing an account like this again.

They say Roam wasn’t built in a day but are they really sure? With the day I’ve just had, I’m not entirely sure that it isn’t possible to build an entire city in a day because the dog that is lying beside me at the moment is so nice and chilled out I couldn’t see it getting any better! How could we build on what already seems to be perfection. Isn’t that brilliant? No. Not that it seems to be perfection, the fact that I’m this comfortable around a dog after only meeting him properly twelve hours ago. Imagine what we’ll be like in twelve months? I’ve had to remind myself that it’s only our first day together. That’s because he has completely exceeded my expectations. In and out of Harness. I’m seriously impressed with him. The fantastic thing really is that this is only the first of many many days where we can get to know each other better.

I was dreading the introduction this morning. I was afraid he wouldn’t get on with me, he’d be too attached to the instructor, he’d be too giddy, too mouthy or even just too lazy! I really didn’t know what to expect. I admit, I’m not a dog person. I need to consciously be aware of my interaction with dogs. I like dogs, don’t get me wrong, I also love having a guide dog. But, compared to “dog people”, it doesn’t come as naturally to me. So, I was just a bit nervous about the whole thing. Mr Banks as he will be referred to on this blog and all other online social mediums was as cool as anything. He walked into the room, had a sniff of the ground, the chair, the bed, the wall, the air, the toilet, the shower and everything else he could possibly reach then he decided that I was far more interesting than all that stuff so he decided to do circles around me. He seems to love getting his ears, chest, back and just above his tail rubbed. Oh. He doesn’t pass up a good chin rub either. Once you keep doing that, he does a figure of eight constantly to make sure you give all the important parts the right amount of attention. He’s quite helpful really. So, after the initial excitement he had another quick exploratory sniff of the room. I’m not sure where he found it but he started teasing me with something in his mouth. He’d walk up to me, and touch me with his head but he wouldn’t actually show me what was in his mouth. After some playing, I found out it was a door stop. He thought that was a brilliant game but when I finally extracted it, I took out a more suitable toy. I had taken a new ragger with me for him because this is the toy I’m most comfortable with. It is a rope with a not on each end. Working from left to right, it’s frayed on the end, then there’s a not, then it’s a twisted rope, a knot again and the other end is frayed as well. It’s great though. The dog holds onto the twisted rope in the middle and the human holds onto the two frayed parts. This gives plenty of grips for both dog and human. The one who pulls it out of the grip of the other wins. It’s that simple really. However, it can be a battle at times before someone finally gives up. I have to admit, I under estimated Mr Banks the first few times. I didn’t think he’d be that strong, sneaky or resourceful. He plays, relaxes then whips it out of my hand. Or, he plays for a while, lies down then roles over and uses his paws to try to push my hand away. I’m wise to him now. I know his tricks so his days of winning are over! Some dogs can’t be left alone with a ragger and I think Mr Banks might be one of them. They tend to chew the rope if their board. It’s a real pity because the ragger is such a nice toy for them to play with. I’m very glad I took one with me. Having the confidence to play with Mr Banks right from the start has made the day go much faster I think. I think he might be aware on some level that it doesn’t have to be all work and no play as well.

Ok. The play is great fun with Mr Banks but let me tell you about the really brilliant part. We did three walks today! Yeah! Three! I can’t believe my luck. They were three nice long walks as well. They weren’t technically perfect then again, there’s no way anyone could expect them to be perfect, but they were relaxed, enjoyable, effortless and completely void of any stress. I think I can say the same for Mr Banks as well. His body language felt great through the harness. We walked through some very quiet residential areas and a small town. There were a few points I was a little concerned about during the matching visit but it seems like these have been almost completely taken care of. It is actually like walking a completely different dog to the one I met a month ago. I even said this to his instructor. I think it’s important to reiterate that by the time perspective guide dogs start class with a handler, a lot of work has been done by puppy walkers, the early training unit and the advanced instructors to get them to this level. So, for this reason, I would encourage you to use the donate button that I’ve placed on the right of this site. Sorry to talk about fund raising but seriously folks, this charity deserves it. Without them I’d be looking at more time using a cane. You can’t begin to understand how much having a guide dog improves my quality of life. Anyway, getting back to the work, as I said, it wasn’t perfect. He made a few mistakes and so did I. For example, I need to remember to step back when doing the continental heal, I need to be more aware of when he’s becoming distracted, I need to improve my body position when he’s approaching a curb and I’m sure there are a lot of other things I need to be aware of as well. The great thing is, this is only the first day and things will improve gradually with time. Now, to be clear, there are going to be days that go badly. There are days when I’m going to want to give the whole thing up. There are going to be days where he doesn’t work well at all. But, that’s all part of it. What I’m talking about is the overall training process. Oh, although I’ve mentioned this before in other blog posts, I should also reiterate that what works for one guide dog partnership will not necessarily work for another. I will try to reframe from talking about specific solutions that I will use while training with Mr Banks however, if one slips out that you think might be useful to you, please consult with your guide dog mobility instructor before taking any action and also give me a good slap on the wrists for being so stupid as well.

Mr Banks is certainly a cheeky fecker. 50% of the time when I tell him to do something he doesn’t do it. 25% of the time it’s simply because he doesn’t want to and the other 25% is probably because he’s still getting use to me but I’m quite quickly learning that he has his own mind. If he’s intently sniffing the door handle and you tell him to leave it alone he will possibly completely ignore you because, let’s face it, the door handle is much more interesting than a human. I don’t actually mind a bit of give and take. I know that given time his obedience will improve but I’m not pushing it just yet. I want him to relax first. Of course, it’s important to be consistent so maybe I’m making a mistake but without going into details, in the unlikely event the outcome a year ago was my fault, I don’t want to make the same mistake twice. If there’s any chance that I could have caused sensitivity in the past, I want to be quite certain that I don’t do it again. If that means working a little harder to attain the required level of obedience while keeping Mr Banks completely chilled out then I’m absolutely fine with that. For the next five weeks, Mr Banks is my one and only priority in this world. Absolutely nothing else matters. I’m really trying not to make any comparisons between other experiences and the new relationship that I’m building with Mr Banks so please feel free to virtually hit me with a big stick if you find that I’m doing that too much.

So, let me finish this very long blog post up with a few things that I really like about Mr Banks at the moment:

• He’s very interested in everything that goes on around him.
• When I get up to do something he takes an interest in me instantly. So much so, if I do something that he thinks might result in a quick rub, he comes over to stick his nose in. I like this interaction. Mainly because I know where I stand with him. If he wants me he comes over. If he doesn’t want me, he lies in the middle of the floor.
• He’s very vocal and creative while playing. I really like that he can completely relax. That’s very important.
• My god when he is let out to pee he does it within seconds! He’s incredible!
• The person holding the food bole is god. This is nice. He really seems to love his food.
• While working, if he’s walking around people or avoiding an obstacle his pace is really comfortable. He slows when he needs me to get that little bit closer to him but if my normal distance is fine he just fly’s right on through. I learned that today when I stupidly didn’t pay enough attention and I rubbed off a bush. That’s damn good for a first day when the worst I’ve done is rub off a bush though!
• He already knows where the toys are kept and when I walk past that door he is very interested in every single action. I expect he’ll learn that I enjoy winding him up just a little before too long.

Some things I’m not so sure of yet.

• The dog bed is evil and must be eaten at all costs. Either that or, the bed is the most delicious thing in the world and must therefore be eaten at all costs. Either way, his bed gets eaten quite a lot. I’ve given him a Cong to chew now so maybe he’ll get his teeth into that instead.
• If something is on the floor, it is logically his to do with what he pleases. Usually this means he’ll carry it around to show it to the world but I suspect if I wasn’t there to extract it, it would get eaten. This is a minor concern. Not because I can’t manage it but more because it means that he’s going to have less freedom if it continues. That’s a pity.

So, there you have it. My first day with Mr Banks. It’s almost over and you know what? I’m kind of glad! I didn’t expect it but I’m actually tired!

Bring on tomorrow. I can’t wait to see what happens.