Grocery Store Zen

Friday was a long day. Wish I could say Bingo was a good boy, but he was too much of a pill most of the day to qualify for that status. He was testing me all day long. Fred had hernia surgery on Thursday, so Bingo didn't get much exercise Thursday. So on Friday, he was raring to go.

We go to convo late because I had to do so many turnarounds and go the other ways. Then we had to leave convo early because he was doing the biting thing and I couldn't do a loud NO correction. When I took him over to busy, he went puppy crazy on the leash. So I thought a bit of tough love walking would do him good. We are in the process of building a new quad and there is this section of sidewalks that intersect at all different angles, perfect for puppies who are recalcitrant. So I marched his little uncooperative butt over there and we started to walk.

Forward. Sit. Down. Forward. Right about. Right right. Forward. Left left. Right about. Forward. Right right. Forward. Left left. Right about. Sit. Down. Stay. Forward.

Did I mention it was raining on Friday? Did I mention that I chose to wear a long skirt that brushed the ground (Friday is uniform day, AKA dress really nicely) and heels? So I am doing all this and the bottom 3-4 inches of my skirt is sopping wet, not to mention the nice heels that are flapping loosely off my feet. But I persisted. Because at the end of it, Bingo was tired and finally walking right beside me. This lasted until lunch.

After school I took the little demon to the grocery store for more practice. I grabbed a basket and we blew in like we owned the place. I love Publix because they never hassle you. They are very friendly and understanding. At least the ones we have been in are. Anyway, we went up and down the aisles practicing our turns. I made him sit before things I was considering buying. When he started to sniff at bread I would tell him NO and then I would stop and make him sit by the bread. He did and he sat there without sniffing it. He was so good. We went by the seafood counter and he went to sniff it. So I stopped and made him sit. he stopped sniffing and just sat and looked at me. I waited a good minute, then we walked on. All the time, people were passing and smiling. Moms were pointing and telling kids that the puppy was learning how to be good. I was in the zone and Bingo was being a good boy.

Bingo is at a teenager stage where he is testing limits and doing crazy things. With Fred not able to walk a dog for several weeks, it is all on me to keep him in line. It's quite a lot of pressure, but I know that we can do it.

Pack Leader

Well, I've begun using my new found pack leader skills (essentially a loud NO and a firm whatever the correction is) and it seems to be working. Last night Bingo started in with some biting and I tried out the loud NO and the biting correction Chuck told me to use, which startled the snot out of Bingo. He sat real close to me the rest of the night and never made a move to bite again. This morning he tried a tentative bite and I did the correction again. I'm hoping by the time we get back to school on Wed. that the biting phase will have been dealt with. If not, I have some students who will gladly work with me on testing Bingo to get over this little phase. We'll have him bite free by the end of the week.

Next, I am going to work on stairs. Debbie and Chuck explained in more detail about why the puppy raisers are supposed to make the dogs sit before and after they go through them and at the top/bottom of stairs. I had thought it was because the blind person needed to find the threshold of doorways for themselves. The stairway sitting seemed obvious. They explained it was a control issue. They don't want the dog speeding through the door or leaping down the stairs. They also said it was important for it not to become an automatic thing. If I ever arrive at a door and Bingo sits without my telling him to sit then I should turn around and go someplace else and come back. The dog doesn't make the decisions. The handler does.

Monday is our 18th wedding anniversary. So we went today to the Vinoy in St. Pete for brunch to celebrate with a friend and we took Bingo and I tried out my new tools for being in charge.

Brunch was very tasty and pretty stress free. At first, Bingo seemed to want to start on a gum exploration of the underside of the table, but a firm NO put him off that idea. We settle him down and it only took a few more firm downs to get him to stay there.

Of course we could do nothing about the crazy family at the table near us who let their baby crawl LOOSE ON THE FLOOR without ANY SUPERVISION and the baby made it all the way to our table. Bingo was wagging his tail and would have gotten up, but I had a hand on his back pressing him down. Seriously. Are people insane? What sort of parent lets their baby crawl around loose on the carpet of a public restaurant 15-20 feet away from them and toward a strange dog? A dog that is on eye level? That's a parent who deserves to have their child taken by child protective services for child endangerment. Not because the dog is a danger, but because their parents are so stupid. They never got up to get the child. Eventually, the child crawled back to them, on its own. They never moved from their seats or their plates of food. Greedy, stupid people.

We worked on stairs and Bingo did very well. We also worked on the stand command in the public restroom. He was very good. He was tired and happy to go home at the end of the brunch.

Mea Culpa

Today we had our monthly big area meeting at the St. Pete Pier. On our way down we met up with John and Bagheera (his well trained and very well behaved dog). We took the trolley down to the pier where our meeting was to start. Bingo doesn't seem to mind public transportation at all. Neither the trip on the trolley bothered him a bit.

These meetings are always part obedience and part informational. Today, for me anyway, it was a bit more informative because it was information that I could relate directly to how I was training Bingo or how I was training Bingo incorrectly.

Normally, at school, when Bingo pulls I will say, "No Pull." I learned that the command is NO. Simply No. For all things bad. Just No. Don't have a conversation. Don't discuss it with him. NO.

I also learned that I correct before he has a chance to do the action. I also realized that his "teething" is actually biting and it is my fault for not stopping it. I learned how to stop the biting. I learned that when he pulls I am to change direction, and to do it again and again and again until he is so confused that he finally looks to me for an indication of which direction we are going to go. "Ah, perhaps this person on the other end of the leash knows something. Let's look to her and see." See photo above of me changing direction on him.

I learned that at five months that he's still young enough that I haven't ruined him, that I can still undo all the things that I have unknowingly instilled in him. I learned all these things, so while I started and went through most of the meeting completely filled with a sense of failure, I left it with a very small, tiny seed of hope. One tiny seed that I might be able to grow into the owner that Bingo needs me to be in order for him to be the guide dog I know he can be.

Bingo, as you can see, is filled with hope.

A Contest of Wills

For weeks Willow and Bingo have been playing with a big red rubber bone, and they both are tired of it.

So when Bingo found an old Kong toy under the couch this afternoon, one that had been lost for several weeks, he was thrilled, and he ran through the house like he had won the lottery. Bingo did his best to tease Willow with the Kong, and she fell for the bait, chasing him around the house like a jealous kid.

Then she picked up the big red bone, confident that the young and impulsive Bingo would fall for the trick and chase after her.

Instead, the two dogs faced off, nose to nose a few inches apart, each with a toy and engaged now in a test of wills, a game of chicken that went on for at least 5 minutes.

The loser would drop her toy first and look away ashamed. The winner would sit down on his blanket and enjoy his victory.

Bingo Gets a Bath

By Fred
This weekend we took advantage of the perfect weather to work on the Stand/Stay command and to get a little wet. I'd never used Stand/Stay before we got Bingo, but we've learned that it's important for those times when a blind person wouldn't want their dog to sit on the floor, like in a public restroom. It's also very useful at bath time.

Here's Bingo, suffering through a bath and some taunting by Cheryl.

Also this weekend I repaired the fence to make sure it was puppy-proof. So far, we've kept Bingo on a leash in the back yard, but we decided it was time for him to be free and explore. With the bath over, imagine his surprise when his best friend, Willow, shows up to give him his first tour of the yard.

This also gave us a chance to work on some long-distance "Come" commands. Bingo went back and forth between me and Cheryl, sometimes running at full speed and unable to stop. Oh, well.

Bingo and His Pep Rally Bling

The headband fit loosely and provided him with a little school spirit bling. 8-) He also had a cute little Go Bucs ribbon that I pinned on his coat just for the pep rally. He wasn't into the pom poms. He tried to bite those.

Bingo and the Bagpipers

We had our first pep rally on Friday and I was a little worried about Bingo's reaction to the Pipe and Drum Corps. I had been told by a former student who plays with a pipe and drum band at his college in Canada that the pipes drive dogs wild. So I wasn't quite sure what to expect. The music the cheerleaders danced to didn't create any reaction, nor did the cheering itself.

In fact, he mostly chilled out and looked like this:

His fan club was in attendance, two the world language teachers, one of the English teachers and a religion teacher all stayed with us to watch the pep rally.

Bingo really excelled today. He showed no reaction to 1400 screaming, cheering children. He showed no reaction to cheerleading booty/dance music. He showed no reaction to a very loud pipe and drum corps, which included an electric guitar solo and a loud drumming segment. All in all, I would say he did a damn fine job.