Day 4

 His name is Eagle. 

I got the green light from Guiding Eyes to share his name on social media, so I will call him by his name on the blog going forward. Just letting you know, if I start using eagle emojis or make an exceptional amount of eagle puns, I haven't suddenly turned into a Murica nut, I''m just referencing this handsome man.

(Photo description: Eagle sits in harness and looks at the camera with his tongue hanging out happily)

Day 4 started at 5 am; still a bit early for me but I will do anything to make sure Eagle is comfortable. I had a couple routes planned that would really test out his guiding in subway stations, including finding multiple sets of stairs which I use frequently when transferring from one subway line to another. The next challenge for him was his longest subway ride to date, a long trip up from 14th st to 200th st on the A train. All of the typical loud NYC subway noises did not faze him in the slightest, in fact he napped most of the way up. Noise sensitivity is something to watch out for in a new guide dog, so I was pleased that he paid the noises no mind at all.

We exited the subway station and walked over to my friend's house to show Eagle how to get to the building. On the way over, he did a good job by not getting distracted by an off leash dog on the corner. We met up with my friend and took a walk in the park across the street from her house. It was a nice quiet walk in "the woods" until I rolled my ankle on an uneven piece of pavement. Nobody's fault, there were leaves covering the dangerous spot so nobody saw it. It hurt but I was glad that my knee didn't hit the ground this time, it still hasn't fully recovered from my fall about a month ago. On the way back down the hill I had to remind Eagle to take it slow. We exited the park, got some pizza and then picked up a package from Sarah's house.

We took the 1 train back downtown and got off at 66th st. I figured as long as we were passing the Upper West Side anyway, we could swing by another friend's house to introduce her to the new puppy. My friend also has a guide dog and it would be a good chance to see how Eagle would react to meeting a friendly dog in a controlled environment. The two dogs did great, they were happy to meet one another but there wasn't a frenzy. We headed home after that, back on the subway and then a bus. Eagle was exhausted by this point, he could barely sit up and I could tell he needed a nap. People I had talked to about German Shepherds always said they required a ton of exercise and were hard to tire out. I would consider this a moderate day exercise wise, so it was good to know that I could tire out a Shepherd just doing my normal everyday activities. Guiding in the city works their brains as well as their bodies. Throughout training, we had been walking between 4-6 miles per day and it has been great for both myself and the dog physically and mentally.