So far so good.

• 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.
• Day 9 – Training with Mr Banks, my new guide dog.
• Day 10 – Training with Mr Banks, my new guide dog.
• Day 1 and 2 of aftercare – Training with Mr Banks my new guide dog.
• Day 3 of aftercare – Training with Mr Banks my new guide dog.
• Day 4 and 5 of aftercare – Training with Mr Banks my new guide dog.

I am really trying not to say that things are going brilliantly because the day I do that I know something will go wrong but at this stage, what I will say is, “so far so good”. It was a running joke between the instructor and I actually. Every bit of positive feedback he’d give was supplemented by “to date”. It was the same as what I’m doing now. Things are going well but this is still the start of this partnership. I am still open to the possibility that something might crop up that must be worked around.

This week his spending routine seems to have become much more established. Once in the morning and once late at night. This is brilliant because I was a little concerned about this for a day or two. Not because anything happened but because I was a little on edge after some previous experiences. To be completely honest, I’m still living in constant dread that it will happen again but I know logically that what happened before wasn’t my fault and the situation is completely different this time so I have no grounds to base my irrational worries on. The illogical part of my head can’t help worrying though. Nama is putting my mind at ease with each day though. He gets up in the morning, jumps around the place like a mad thing, plays for a while, relieves himself, plays for another few minutes then it’s straight to work. To the train or bus, into Dublin, to the office and then a sleep. During Lunch he easily negotiates the route to Stephen’s green, relieves himself again then it’s back to the office for another sleep before it’s time to go home. Now, as things get a bit busier we’ll spend more time out of the office in other buildings however for the moment I’m keeping things a little more straight forward. When our evening routine hasn’t been set yet though. I don’t want to overdo it yet but I’m looking forward to getting out of here at night. With the time of year it is I’m not particularly bothered by being stuck in the house though so it’s a nice time to have a new dog. He’s spending a lot of time playing and generally getting lodes of contact with me. He runs around the front garden a bit, plays with the Cong or ragger and tries to eat my clothes. Yes. You read that right. He is a really mouthy dog. It only seems to be with me though. He grabs onto my clothes when he’s playing. I don’t know how he manages it but he never actually grabs my hands or arms intentionally and if for some reason he misses his target he lets go astonishingly quickly. It’s just all part of the way he plays. Absolutely everything here at the moment is fair game. If it’s left down and he can pick it up then it’s likely that he’ll run off with it. He doesn’t chew anything but he likes to bring things around with him. Fortunately I’ve been able to restrict his carrying to a bone or his Cong because that could get very irritating but in the morning when he’s really giddy he can run off with some socks quite easily. It’s very funny really. You get clothes out to get dressed and within seconds they’ve been pinched and you can hear him out on the landing wagging his tail. As soon as I walk over he drops them. It’s just a silly way of getting attention. I know that he’ll stop it shortly when he realises it doesn’t go his way. It’s very funny but although I know he’s just playing he needs to know what’s acceptable.

There’s just one minor problem with his work but I’ll get this sorted over the next few days. When we go to the park during lunch he doesn’t want to return to the office afterword. The instructor thought this was that the path at the top of Dawson Street was too busy and narrow and he was getting a little uncertain but I’m not so sure any more. Think of this. We go out of the park and turn right. The crossing is on our left. Although he has now found this crossing at least eight times now, he never does it the first time. When he eventually finds it we cross over and then we need to take a kind of left turn down Dawson Street. No. He wants to turn right. I’ve tried talking to him, giving him very specific directions, going forward toward his head to strengthen the direction that he should go in, I’ve sat him down for a quick chat and I’ve even tried a gentle correction. No. He just doesn’t want to go that way. He will do it eventually but it’s easy to pick up the signs that he would rather be somewhere else. Same when we try to turn right onto Molesworth Street. We go straight to the crossing then do a right turn. No. He wants to go back up Dawson Street! So, we do a formal left turn and that gives him no choice. He has to go that way. Again, for the first few steps he doesn’t want to be there at all. Then we need to cross Molesworth Street to south Fredrick Street. Do you think he’ll go to the curb right away? Not on your life! We walk a good twenty steps more than we actually need to before he’ll finally find the curb. This is just silly! We find the curb and instead of going down south Fredrick Street he wants to continue down Molesworth Street. We finally get to the office and he finds the steps as if it was his idea to go this way all along. The tail is wagging as he installs himself under the floating window desk, the walk is confident and the tension through the harness is fantastic. Now, I’m imposing human emotions and psychology onto a dog and I am aware that there are a number of factors on this route that may also contribute to the exhibited behaviour. At the crossing outside Stephens green there are a lot of leaves. These may be putting him off. At the top of Dawson Street there are a lot of restaurants, people eating and people walking in every direction. At the Dawson Street side of Molesworth Street there are also a lot of leaves on the ground and finally, crossing MolesWorth Street, cars seem to be parking on a bad area of the foot path. However, all of these obstructions and distractions should be easy enough for him to handle as after all, he navigates them all with ease going the other direction. There are a few things I’m going to do to try to resolve this. I’ll give him a treat of food when we get to the mention house on Dawson Street. This should help give some encouragement for that area. I know he’s driven by food and he’s probably trying not to be distracted by the restaurants that we’re passing so this will give him something to work toward. Finally, when we get into work after lunch I’m going to get a few of the dog lovers to make a fuss of him. This added reward when he gets back to the office will be a huge source of positivity for him because although I am and will be the main source of attention, he loves to walk around to talk to other people when I provide permission.

He’s great while in the office. He hardly moves at all. If I get up to talk to someone he follows me around but that’s absolutely fine. In meetings he has to learn that he needs to stay down but with some more experience he’ll pick up on this. I was a bit concerned at what his behaviour would be like while in the office because he’s always such an interactive dog that likes so much attention. I was afraid that he’d continue to demand that attention while in the office. I’m really happy to see that he associates the office as a social environment where he must behave accordingly.

He’s still my little shadow while at home. As soon as I get up from a chair he’s up beside me waiting to go. Even if it’s just out to the kitchen, bathroom, or to the washing machine he wants to be involved with everything! Again, when in a new environment this is quite normal and I will start to control it a little as time goes on if it doesn’t subside naturally. At least now, he lets me close the door to the bathroom without crying! That’s a nice start anyway.

I didn’t name him!

• 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.
• Day 9 – Training with Mr Banks, my new guide dog.
• Day 10 – Training with Mr Banks, my new guide dog.
• Day 1 and 2 of aftercare – Training with Mr Banks my new guide dog.
• Day 3 of aftercare – Training with Mr Banks my new guide dog.

It’s really funny. I encounter someone, they ask the “what’s your dog called?” I answer “Nama” and a pause follows. After a moment they laugh, grunt or exclaim a few common responses such as: “Oh that’s a. nice name”, “There’s no need to be funny”, “and you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to” or “No way! Who thought that was a good idea!” Some people just can’t stop laughing! A few of the more serious people I’ve met while out and about just shrug it off by saying something like “it’s just a name”. Some people who I didn’t even know were reading this blog have met me on the street and asked how Mr Banks is getting on.

However, can I just ask people to remember that Nama is a guide dog and therefore it is very important that you do not talk to or touch him while he is in harness? I cannot stress this enough. Please do not distract him because I will have to firmly tell you to stop. There are no exceptions. It is imperative that especially at this early stage he is aware that while in harness his only priority is work. To explain this further, take for example a normal Monday afternoon. Joe stops me on the street to say hello. He touches Nama in passing. ON Tuesday we pass by Joe again but this time we have to keep going because we have somewhere to be. However, because Joe has touched Nama the previous day the dog now anticipates this contact again so eagerly tries to go over to him. During this split second that he is distracted he misses a pole that is on the outside of the path and I walk straight into it. This has put me in a very dangerous position. Fine, this time it was just a pole, but what if he missed the edge of a path, or what if it was a whole for road works. This doesn’t just apply to Nama. It is true for all guide dogs be them just out of training or with years of experience. I am not over dramatizing this. I have had this problem before and I know how much it puts the dog off his work. Guide dogs are very aware of their responsibilities in their own way. They work because they love to please their handler. When they lose attention they can become quite uneasy and sensitive. This can have a lasting effect on their quality of their work. So, please let me say again, it is not acceptable to touch a working guide dog even if he is just standing around. Not because I’m rude or being difficult but because it can have a very negative impact on my safety.

I’m sorry for not writing on Monday or Tuesday as promised but they were both very difficult days and I had a lot of work to do. I think I got more out of the after care than the den days spent in Cork. This is no reflection on the instructor or the centre. I found that because I know the area really well I was able to determine when Nama was distracted, uneasy, bold or sensitive. This gave me a better idea of what my reaction should be. I learned that nine times out of ten, Nama is actually a little distracted. Now, this distraction can be displacement, blatant curiosity or sensitivity but except in situations where he is sensitive most incidents call for a firm verbal command to “get on with it” to regain his focus again. For sensitivity a little game helps or in some situations actually stopping to give him a bit of a rub is what he needs. However, most times at the moment he’s just seeing how far he can push me so the slightest flick of the handle tells him I am actually seriously telling him to get on with it. Because of my huge work load I need a very strong, assertive and confident dog. This results in a certain amount of independence and at times cheek. Sometimes it’s just him being playful though because if he could, he’d play from morning to night.

On Monday we travelled to Dublin at around 10AM. The idea was that we would make the trip at a time that wasn’t particularly busy. Everything went quite well. The walk to the train station was uneventful and the routes around Dublin were fine as well. There was quite a lot of distraction to contend with but he did quite well for his first time in the big smoke. Unfortunately I can’t give you all the details of where we went but he visited several server rooms, went through four different complicated buildings and was introduced to my office. I think we may have hit a limit of what he could handle for a while because we had been working for about four hours straight but after a quick rest in my office where he got to blow off some steam he was able to recover again to continue for another while to make it home. Because he had done so much work that day we decided that it wouldn’t be a good idea to work him anymore that day so the rest of the night was spent relaxing and playing.

ON Tuesday we hit a major hurdle on the way to the train station in Drogheda but the less said about that the better. Let’s just hope that it is something that has or is in the process of sorting it’s self out. When we got to Dublin the distraction levels were even higher at the start. I even said to the instructor that it was like walking around with a tourist. Every so often he’d slow right down to look around. However, we had a very frank and interesting conversation and I got some great tips out of it. See, the thing is, I don’t know anything about guide dogs really when it comes right down to it. I only have a limited amount of experience. The only people who know how to judge the right response for a dog is really the instructor. The handler hasn’t a clue for at least the first six months. This is because from my experience anyway, the handler is only getting used to how the dog reacts in different situations. However, on Tuesday morning, thanks to the instructor I found that I wasn’t handling a lot of his behaviour correctly at all. I was trying to be too supportive instead of correcting his distractions. Since I’ve reversed my handling approach a bit things have been working a lot better. On Tuesday afternoon the quality of his work improved even more and it became a pleasure to walk around with him again. We got back to Drogheda early that afternoon and after a break of a few hours we decided to walk toward town. However, on the way, I thought that things were going so well it wouldn’t do any harm to add a bit on to the route to call into my parents’ house. I’m really glad that I did this because he worked brilliantly. The extra time to stretch his legs seems to have refocused him and even on the way back home that evening he was really attentive to my verbal commands.

ON Tuesday we said good bye to the instructor when we got back from Dublin. That was the official end of our after care and the overall training process. Nama is now qualified and settling in well. The instructor will still be in contact with us regularly at the start of this new partnership but this is to ensure we don’t encounter any problems and if we do it have someone at the end of a phone to help if needed.

ON Wednesday I had planned to go back to Dublin but something else took priority and it didn’t end until the middle of the afternoon so there was no time. However, although it’s a bit too early to tell, it would appear that yesterday’s rest day may have allowed Nama to get over whatever it was that was bothering him on Tuesday morning. I don’t want to get into any more than that just now.

Today we were back on the road again. To give Nama a realistic idea of the routine, we stayed in the office for the morning. I actually managed to get in a half day at work! Because Nama is such a playful dog I really didn’t think he was going to sit still but I was pleasantly surprised. He didn’t cause any bother at all! He quietly stayed in his bed and when I moved away from my desk he was beside me like the four legged shadow I’ve learned to expect. He was much happier walking around Dublin today. I think yesterday helped a lot but because the routes were more realistic and there was time for him to rest between each one he wasn’t constantly on the go so each one was fresh.

I love feeling his confidence and until now I thought he was incredibly confident and it just couldn’t get better but it’s amazing how his body language changes when he’s done a route a few times. He’s ordinarily quite assertive but when he’s done a route a few times he’s really cool. No. I don’t mean cool as in great. I mean it’s all done in his stride. It’s like he’s plodding along at the speed of a nice trot enjoying moving around obstacles and getting the praise for stopping at crossings etc. For example, while passing the mansion house on Dawson Street today he was weaving in and out to avoid a few things near restaurants. Suddenly we slowed down and his tail began wagging like crazy. It wasn’t sensitivity, it was excitement! He was just showing me that he was really happy that he was finding the crossing. He gets so giddy when he’s right. It’s very nice actually.

When we got back to Drogheda this afternoon we stopped off at one of my favourite coffee shops in Drogheda. Esquires. The coffee there isn’t as nice as the Runner bean on Nassau Street in Dublin but the staff is really nice and I love the building it’s in. It’s a converted bank on West Street. Nama is just mad for food so when I sit down somewhere the first few minutes are spent trying to distract him from eating off the floor. Even if there are only a few crumbs around him he’ll still try to lick them up. This is causing a real problem but it’s something that should slowly dissipate over the upcoming months.

That brings us nicely to now. Since he’s been home he’s done a few crazy laps of the front garden, played until my arms were about to drop off, had a snooze and tried to eat my shoes.

This is my last post about my training with Nama AKA Mr Banks my new guide dog. The next weeks and months are going to be entertaining, difficult and interesting. I really can’t wait. Already he’s doing better than I could have hoped for. I would love to walk for hours with him but I’m very cautious about over doing it. I really can’t wait until that time when we can just go for it and walk where ever we want. On a day like today where we have no responsibilities or commitments it would be fantastic.

Thanks for reading and to those of you who commented, I really appreciate it.

The calm before the storm.

• 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.
• Day 9 – Training with Mr Banks, my new guide dog.
• Day 10 – Training with Mr Banks, my new guide dog.
• Day 1 and 2 of aftercare – Training with Mr Banks my new guide dog.

Myself and Nama AKA Mr Banks have had a quieter day than usual today. Our instructor had a much deserved day off so our priority was getting him settled into the house, playing a lot and doing some obedience work to remind him that although this is a new environment, I’m still the boss.

Before I go on any further, we have noticed that he just loves slippers. I blame his puppy walker. They must have given him one to play with when he was younger. I’m messing of course. Dogs can tend to think the strangest things are toys. Oh, that brings me onto something that happens occasionally while working. If I shake the lead in my right hand a little to get his attention when he’s distracted by something he thinks I’m playing with him. So much with Nama is just a big game. I like this about him though.

Nama has followed me around the house like my little shadow. I knew this would happen but I thought it would disapate slightly by this stage. He insists on following me around and when I tell him to stay in one place he completely ignores me or when he actually listens and doesn’t move, he cries when I’m in a different room. This is just a little bit of sensitivity, curiosity and separation anxiety. It’s nothing to worry about and in fact shows that the bond is coming along nicely.

We did the same two routes that we worked on on Friday and Saturday. Although Nama was quite distracted at the start and the tention on the harness is quite strong the walks were absolutely fine. Even enjoyable for the most part. The tention through the harness is tiring though. It will improve over the next while but because everything here is new to him it’s all really interesting and excighting. As he becomes more familiar with this area he will settle down a lot. The two routes we did are down to the local coffee shop Esquires and the longer and more complex route to the train station.

Tomorrow will be much more interesting for Nama. We meet the instructor in the morning and we go to Dublin by Train. We visit my office then we cover a few of the routes through the different buildings that I am responsible for. After this we will go to stephens green to let the dog relieve himself before returning to Drogheda by train again. I’ll let you know how it all goes tomorrow evening.

Failte abhaile!

• 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.
• Day 9 – Training with Mr Banks, my new guide dog.
• Day 10 – Training with Mr Banks, my new guide dog.

Today is the day that I’ve been looking forward to. The first real opportunity to introduce my new guide dog to my home environment without an instructor following behind offering support. But, I’ve jumped too far ahead. Let me go back a bit too yesterday. Before that though, let me tell you a little bit about my new guide dogs name and why I didn’t want to make it public until now.

People who know me or who read this website may know that things with my previous guide dog didn’t go well. For a number of reasons the dog was returned to Irish guide dogs to be retrained with another person after just nine months of working with me. This is mainly because the dog could not adapt to the high work load that I needed it him to handle. However, let me point out at this stage that the dog is now with someone else and with the different routine has exceled.

Because things went so badly with the last time I entered into the process of training with a new guide dog I decided that in case it didn’t work out this time I should be a little more careful. I used the name Mr Banks as a private joke.

I am delighted with our progress so far. I never expected the training to go so well. So, because I am very confident that this new partnership will last the distance, I am very happy to tell you the name of my new guide dog.

Are you ready?

His name is…………………………………

Nama

If you’re from Ireland, you’ll recognise this name. It stands for the National Asset Management Agency. I’m not going to explain what this is on this blog. Guide dog pups are named by the association. Each litter has a letter of the alphabet. This litter was the letter N. Of course, when so many litters are born so frequently it is hard to find new names that haven’t been used recently. It is unusual to give a dog a topical name. In other words, they usually try to stay away from names or words that are relevant to a particular fad because they would become irrelevant very quickly. So, it’s unusual that a name such as Nama would be picked but. Although it’s a bit strange, it’s grown on me.
On the other side of things, Nama is Hindu for Name and the word Namakaran is the Hindu christening ceremony. Or, so I’ve been told by a friend who really likes the name.

So there you go. Nama. AKA Mr Banks is my new guide dog and he is getting on really well. At this moment while I write this blog post he’s snoring in his bed in the living room of our house. The television is on in the background and he’s very content.

Sorry I didn’t write yesterday but the day passed by very quickly and really, my priority was making sure Nama was settled into the house properly. We played a lot, did some obedience, allowed him to relieve himself in the designated place and of course, he also had the opportunity to meet Emma for the very first time. I’m hoping she’ll write a guest post very soon to tell you of some of the things she’s noticed.

In terms of Nama’s working life, the after care has been great. Yesterday the only route we did was to get the ball rolling. We walked from the house to a coffee shop in the middle of town called Esquires. This is a nice route because it passes a number of places that we will need to visit over the next few weeks and unlike the routes we did in Cork, it has a specific start and end.

Today we did the route to the train station and back. This was a much more difficult and extended route for the dog to sink his teeth into. The instructor was with us again so I got some great pointers on managing his enthusiasm and excitement. When the instructor went off we did the route to the coffee shop once more just to see what would happen. I enjoyed the freedom so much you just wouldn’t believe it! I could do that route to the coffee shop with both my hands tied behind my back but with a dog it’s just so effortless. Avoiding people and obstructions, walking straight through a staggered crossing, finding alley ways and then finding the door to the shop is just exceptionally easy with a guide dog. There’s just simply no stress in it. I had forgotten the pleasure of just walking down a road. I can’t wait until the next time I leave the house. It will be tomorrow morning I think but there will be no frustration, no dread, and no indecision while walking like there was when I was using the cane. I know some cane users are perfectly happy with this mobility aid and I’d never try to convince them that my preference is better. Different things work for different people. For me though, nothing beats handing the responsibility of navigating around an obstacle to a trained, responsive and cautious guide dog.

Nama and I aren’t quite at 100 per cent efficiency just yet. This level of work will be attained over the next six to twelve months but what’s important is that it will happen and already we are at an adequate level to be very mobile and independent.

Fortunately, there’s not a hell of a lot to write about as far as the work is concerned. Nothing has really gone wrong so far so it makes for slightly shorter blog posts.

All I can say at the moment is Failte abhaile Nama.

Cap and gown.

• 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.
• Day 9 – Training with Mr Banks, my new guide dog.

Mr Banks has now graduated and is now an official guide dog with me as his recognised handler. As a friend of mine use to say, he got his cap and gown today. So, tomorrow when I’m at home, I will tell you his real name. I know. I can feel your anticipation from here.

Right! On to the good stuff. I was wondering why Mr Banks was so obsessed about my bed last night and this morning. I had a bit of a chat explaining that it was not his bed and I’d appreciate it a lot if he would leave it alone. However, this morning when he persisted I decided to go look for myself. When I pushed the bed out of the way I found his bone right under it. The poor fella. I was kind of wondering why he hadn’t presented me with his bone for two days. Now I know I suppose! He was thrilled when he got it back. Running around the room and dropping it at my feet to get me to throw it for him. I’ve tried explaining to him that this isn’t a toy and I don’t want to throw it for him because it’s slimy and horrible and I have no intention of touching it any more than I absolutely have to. I don’t think he’s listening though.

Our first and only walk was quite interesting. We got a bus from the training centre into town, walked from the grand parade into Patricks street, Through the English market, down Washington Street, and eventually back to the bus station where we got a bus to return to the centre. Mr Banks was in a very trying mood today. His level of distraction has increased quite a lot since Tuesday but I’m quite confident that with the instructors help we’ll get this to return to normal quite quickly. For the moment though, he’s driving me a little crazy when he sets his mind on picking up something from the ground. For example, we were sitting at the bus station and although there was nothing on the ground he was absolutely determined to disobey me to sniff it anyway. It’s a blatant challenge to my authority however it is to be expected in a dog of this nature. With confidence comes a personality that can quite easily challenge authority. It’s fine. I can deal with it. I just want the support of the instructor at this early stage to ensure I don’t overdo the correction.

While on the busses he was absolutely fine. Of course, he is still getting used to the way I get him under seats in busses but he’ll get there soon enough.

When we returned to the centre we had to attend the usual presentations about dog care, vet visits and weight management. Unfortunately the number of situations where dogs gain too much weight while working has increased beyond acceptable levels so it’s very important that this is highlighted to all perspective guide dog owners so that the right care is taken to ensure that the dogs health is well managed.

After the presentation I met with the client services manager for an assessment meeting. This is where the service users provide feedback on their time at the centre. My rating of their service was consistently excellent. I simply couldn’t have asked them to do anything else. The way this course was delivered, the helpfulness of the house staff, the advice given by other instructors and the flexibility of all staff was just first class. I must say, it is very easy to see why Irish guide dogs for the Blind in Ireland are ranked among the best guide dog schools in the world. Again, I would ask that you use the donate button on the right of each page to help out this very worthwhile charity.

I’m sorry but that’s all for tonight. I’m packed and ready to go home but although today hasn’t been a particularly busy day, I must admit I’m actually quite tired. Because a lot could potentially happen tomorrow as a result of bringing the dog to a completely new environment, I want to be alert.

Between Tomorrow and Tuesday the 23rd of October I will blog every day to tell you of the trials, tribulations and successes of the settling in process. From then, we’ll see how it goes.

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.