Driven to Distraction

After the interesting experience at Waltz Fish Shak (illiterate restaurateurs), we headed over to the Lion's club for the first of our four official obedience classes with the SEGD trainer Jennifer (who was wonderful!). When we got there, we were happy to see that Bingo's brother Jim (with Kerry) was there and so was Blossom (with Caroline). As expected, as soon as he caught sight of the other dogs, crazy Bingo appeared. Jennifer was on top of it.

She gently told us that our goal for the class was to find the distance at which we could work with Bingo and he would listen to us with a slack leash but that he would also be aware of the other dogs. If we were giving him more then 2-3 corrections, we were to move back farther. If he did great, move closer. And keep doing that until we gradually got him to move into the circle of acceptance (although she didn't call it the circle of acceptance. I just made that up. 8-).

"Try not to think of it as banishment," she said, but it was still a bit hard to take (see circle of acceptance comment above ;-). Especially as there were several puppies all being nice and sitting in the circle. But there is no whining in obedience class, so we moved to the outer limits. Fortunately, some other puppies joined us in the outer ring.

[Photo of Cheryl standing against the back wall facing the camera with Bingo sitting beside her watching the obedience class.]

It was a surreal experience. There we were, in the back, watching a placid group of puppies walking in a circle, sitting and being nice, while Bingo and I played surreptitious guerrilla obedience training:

"Bingo, Sit. Good Boy." Gentle pat on the head. (We also learned that he gets WAY TOO excited and we have to be very calm when we give praise. So, make that zen surreptitious guerrilla obedience training.)

Sneak a look at the puppies.

Check Bingo. Is the leash slack? Is he watching? Inch forward.

"Bingo, Sit. Good boy." Pat, pat.

Check out the puppies. Is the leash slack; is he watching them? Inch forward.

Crap! Correction. Correction. Inch backward. Try again.

[ Photo of the back of Cheryl and Bingo. Bingo is now in a down stay and they are both about 10 feet closer to the obedience class. ]

We did guerrilla obedience training all night, slowly sneaking up to the main circle of acceptance puppies until we were about 10 feet away. Jennifer said he did a great job.

[Photo of Fred's legs walking towards camera and Bingo in a down stay facing the obedience class. Bingo is now about 10 feet away from the class! ]

This video actually shows success. Bingo is the closest he got to the other dogs all night. He maintained a down stay, was in full view of the other puppies and was watching them but there is a slack leash and he is making the decision not to be a butthead. Next week, we will try for 5 feet, but this process can't be rushed, so we'll see what he can do.

Don't Eat at Waltz Fish Shak

I was a bit paranoid about arriving at our obedience class late, so I wanted to leave super early and have dinner nearby. I asked Fred to check out Urban Spoon and find us a new spot to have dinner. He picked Waltz Fish Shak (although he didn't tell me that they can't spell, and I should have suspected something was up with the crazy spelling) at John's Pass.

We walked in and sat in the front porch area (we were the only ones there) and put Bingo down under the table, when the waitress comes running out of the bar area.

"We don't allow dogs here," she said making fluttering motions at Bingo, who is doing some rooting around under the table.

I make a small, and I'm sure unnoticed (ha!) correction and say, "He's not a dog. He's a service animal. He's a guide dog in training." I yank him out a little bit so she can see the blue coat and his sweet face (I mean really, who can resist that face, even when it is rooting around under the chair for a crumb?). No softening in her hard eyes.

"Anyone can say they have a service dog. People try that all the time."

"Really? Do they have a card to verify that their dog is a service animal?" I whipped out Bingo's card with his ID number. This is when it starts to get nuts.

"Anyone can make that. If you have the internet, anyone can make that. I got shut down by the health department on New Year's Eve because some guy came in here with a dog wearing a coat like that and he had a card like yours and it was fake. The fine is $1,000. Are you going to pay the fine? Are you going to split the $1,000 with me if the health inspector comes in here and shuts me down?"

"Why of course I will," I say patting her arm. "He's a real service dog, so you won't get shut down. There won't be a fine. But if there is, we'll split it with you and we'll get SEGD to file a complaint."

Stupid me, (if you don't know, I am the most gullible person EVER, just ask about the one-legged duck story) I'm really upset about someone impersonating a guide dog and a puppy raiser. Wow, I'm thinking, I need to get on the phone to SEGD and explain about how people are impersonating us. Who knew? This is OUTRAGEOUS!Fred meanwhile has completely checked out and is checking his iPhone for the weather report.

Finally, she condescends to let us stay and brings us drinks and then she disappears. She NEVER comes back, effectively denying us service but in a very cagey, passive aggressive way. Fred later told me that she was a big fat liar. That there was no way she could have know that someone's card was fake and she made all of that up, but he thought it was sweet I was so nice to her.

So I'm torn. I want to have a big meeting with all the SEGD puppies at Walts Fish Shak just to see her in apoplexy. But I also have taken deep pleasure in posting negative reviews in Urban Spoon and Yelp. Help me out. Don't go there and tell your friends not to go there and post it on your blogs not to go there and tweet about not going there! Waltz Fish Shak: Unfriendly to Guide Dogs in Training.

3/16/2010 update: I've deleted the Yelp and Urbanspoon negative reviews so that if there is a way for Waltz to come to a better understanding about guidedogs, I don't want my reviews to stand in the way.

Serious Bingo Poses for the Camera

By Fred
On his recent visit my nephew took several pictures of Bingo, and here is my favorite. It shows Bingo, the puppy, trying on the demeanor of his future serious self, like a young boy putting aside his silliness for a few seconds and puffing up like an adult for the camera.

[ A photo just of Bingo's face, with sad eyes, droopy ears and a serious look ]

Here's another handsome photo of Bingo being a very good boy. Tonight we're taking him to a training class. We'll see if this Bingo comes with us.

[ A photo of Bingo with head tilted up at an angle and looking into the camera. ]

Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Bingo

It happened again. We went to the meeting and out came crazy Mr. Bingo. Chuck told us that the number one reason that a puppy will fail is that they can't overcome their distractions (distraction to other dogs, cats, squirrels, etc.). Bingo was super distracted. But, seriously, he was much better than the last meeting.

[photo of Bingo in a sit looking away from me and at other dogs]

[photo of Bingo in a sit, head twisted around, still looking away from me]

Well, he was better than the last meeting. Not much better. You can see from the photos above that he isn't paying any attention to me. 8-) Other dogs are a major distractor for him. MAJOR DISTRACTOR. Don said that he didn't know of anything to do to get them over it. I do know that with one other dog, he will calm down as evidenced by the time we went to lunch with another service dog and he did just fine. They both ignored each other.

In some ways these monthly meetings make me sad because Bingo can be so good and there is little evidence of it whenever there is another dog around. Just ask the Newman's whenever they bring their dog Milly to school. Mr. Bingo goes nuts for her.

Our obedience classes didn't start this week. Our trainer was sick. They start next week. Perhaps she will have some suggestions for keeping Mr. Bingo inside and letting sweet Bingo stay outside.

If you haven't contributed to Bingo's Sit Stay Give Campaign, please consider it. We are also selling raffle tickets ($5 a ticket or 5 for $20 with a chance to win $10,000!). Let me know what you want!)

Bingo and the Fine Arts

By Fred
This week our nephew, an aspiring writer and photographer, came to visit so I took him to see the photography collection at the St. Pete Museum of Fine Arts, and he took pictures below.

Of course we were curious to see how Bingo would like the collection. Most Labrador Retrievers have a taste for the old-school northern Europeans--Rembrandt and Vermeer, but Bingo is still a puppy. Who knows what he might like?

[photo of Bingo admiring a painting]

The photographs didn't seem to interest Bingo at all--they were too small and too high on the wall. He was equally bored with European paintings, even the one that showed a group of young women and their dogs lounging on blankets with baskets of food. I kept pointing out the basket of food but he just didn't care.

It was not until we reached the 20th century art that he started to take notice, possibly because several of these were at his eye level. In the photo above we are discussing the use of color and contrast within a collection of dissimilar geometric shapes (and what appeared to be a lizard sitting on a rock).

[photo of Bingo with a big yawn]

But in the end, his reaction to modern art was pretty clear, and I confess to having the same feelings. Oh well, it must be an acquired taste. Then we moved on to the Greek pottery. Also yawn.

Then we reached the room with sculptures, and Bingo really got excited. In particular, this ancient Mayan stone carving of the turtle god Ak seemed almost alive, daring Bingo to cross the line (notice the tight leash). Luckily I was watching him just before he lunged or we would have a big bill to pay.

[photo of Bingo stalking a small stone sculpture with a funny face]

The museum people were very friendly to Bingo (little did they know), so I recommend a visit with your puppy.

Bingolocks and the Two Arizona Bears (Ruby and Romo)

Bingo discovered that Grandma and Grandpa's house was a great place to stay, however, there were these two other granddogs who kept showing up and who refused to play with him. Very rude. Ruby, a red bone hound, and Romo, a ridgeless Rhodesian ridgeback (don't ask), are the older dogs of my brother and sister in law. They are used to ruling the roost and were quite surprised to arrive and find an interloper sleeping on their beds. Sort of like the bears coming home and finding Goldilocks sleeping on their bed.

However, in our case, Bingolocks did not run screaming from the house but rather leaped from the bed and jumped on Ruby and Romo and demanding to be played with. This resulted in much shouting and leaping about which caused Grandma to become irritated resulting in Ruby and Romo being put outside and Bingolocks staring at them and wondering why they won't just play.

The following two photos show Bingo sitting facing away from the camera looking out a sliding glass door at Ruby and Romo.

Those Powdery White Sandy Beaches

Before we left on our holiday we went to Frenchy's Rockaway on Clearwater Beach for a last look at the beach before jetting off to the desert where there was a sand of different sort. While we were having lunch we realized that Bingo had never experience the beach! So, after having lunch (I highly recommend the fish tacos and grouper sandwich, one or the other, not both at the same time 8-) we took him out onto the sand.

Photo of Fred and Bingo on the beach with Frenchy's in the background. Bingo has a white muzzle.

You might wonder why Bingo has a white muzzle. That's because silly dog that he is, he saw the sand and thought, "Oh! Edible!" and bit the beach.

Close up of Bingo and his sand covered muzzle. One bite was enough. We left right after that shot.