Day 2

 Day 2 started with a nose nuzzling my hand. My alarm hadn't gone off yet, so I assumed the boy needed to go out. Why else would he wake me at 4 am? We went to the door, I got out the harness and when I went to put it on, he shied away from it. His trainer had mentioned that he was a little body sensitive and that trait is not uncommon in German Shepherds. With some verbal coaxing and treats I was able to get the harness over his head and take him outside to potty. When we came back in I sat down and tried putting the harness on and taking it off a few more times. Guide dog training is all about repetition, so I figured he has to get used to the feeling of this thing sooner rather than later. He wasn't getting any more comfortable with it after our little practice session and that's when my thoughts took a dark turn. Is this partnership going to last? Will we even complete training? I can't work a dog who doesn't like wearing a harness. He can't go to work without his uniform. How did he even pass training? I knew this was too good to be true. My mood got lower as I tossed a toy around with him, trying to keep up a happy exterior front so he wouldn't pick up on my anxious thoughts. I went back to bed around 5:15 and slept for a couple more hours. 

Before his trainer arrived later that morning, I reached out to my guide dog handlers Facebook group for help. I asked if any of their dogs didn't like putting on the harness and if so, did they work through it as a team or did the partnership not work out? The trainer came shortly thereafter and I brought up my concerns about his harness sensitivity. She said that the one part of the process he disliked was the harness going over his head, once he has it on, he is comfortable and ready to get to work. In her words the strap passing over his had was "his one vice" and we discussed a few ways to make him see that putting the harness on is a good experience and something to get excited about. My anxiety was eased a bit so we made our plans for the day. 

One thing that is very different about home training is that it's very self directed; at least it is with my trainer. I pick the routes I want to do and the skills I want the dog to work on and she says "Great, let's go!" At the residential training program, the instructors choose the routes most of the time and you work on certain skills on certain days. It's much more structured, again great for first timers but a bit tedious for experienced guide dog handlers.

We started our training session by taking a bus for a few avenues. The boy did very well; he sat calmly and didn't get distracted by other passengers coming on and off. He tried to lay down a few times but I had him sit right back up and used his food rewards. Originally I thought we wouldn't be able to take public transportation at all during training, but Guiding Eyes' policy now states that the instructor can use public transportation, but they can't return to the GEB campus until 7 days later. My instructor will be training with me here in the city until October 4th, so that means if we use the buses and subways the first few days of training then we will meet the policy guidelines. 

Having completed that part of the route successfully, we then headed to the Union Square farmers market and man was it crowded! Definitely a challenging training opportunity for the dog; there were oblivious people everywhere not looking where they were going, many pet dogs (who actually behaved surprisingly well), tables full of produce, many different smells in the air...basically a multitude of obstacles and distractions to work through. He did get us through the crowd, but there were things both of us needed to work on, so I decided we should go around the block and do it again. Before we did, we switched up the environment and went into Whole Foods across the street to work on indoor navigation. It was also a good chance to use an escalator for the first time with him. Dogs in training work hard on getting comfortable with escalators and handlers also need to learn how to direct the dog in a specific way because these moving stairs can be dangerous for the dog's feet if not ridden properly. He was a champ - did great with the escalators, small aisles and didn't try to grab a snack from anywhere. We did an obedience routine on a quiet street and then did our second loop of the farmers market. Our performance definitely improved this time around; I was better about keeping my dog arm in the proper position and not having it too far out ahead of me and he kept a straighter course while weaving through shoppers. The trainer and I both agreed that it was the biggest crowd we had both seen in months and I joked that there were more people at that farmers market than there are in Times Square during this strange pandemic time.

We made two more stops on our walk back home, the first was my favorite Italian bakery and the second was Trader Joe's because I needed to pick up a few things. Just because you are training with a new guide dog doesn't mean you don't have errands. When we got home I asked the trainer for feedback and it was very positive. She said we were doing exceptionally well for only our second day in training and that the boy was very responsive to my handling. We both agreed that he does love to work and that the harness issue does not indicate that he doesn't enjoy his job. I will try the things she suggested in regard to slipping it over his head and hopefully with time and practice he will tolerate it better. 

Once I checked my phone, I saw that my question to the FB group had gotten many more responses than I expected. It turns out that we are not the only team dealing with head harness sensitivity and many other handlers assured me that this was not a deal breaker. What a relief! 

Later that evening we had a very nice dinner out with family and watched  the first half of one of my favorite movies, LOTR Return of the King. The boy happily devoured another frozen Kong and the day ended a lot better than it began.