Day 6: South Street,Clicker and Crates

Its 8 pm and I am wicked tired,very long day!  I still,am not sleeping well.  Last night I got to bed at a decent time,11 but woke  up a few times ,the final time being 4;30.   and was ready by 5.

Before Breakfast I did, checked tweets,mail and did obedience withJoyce.

 Breakfast was good: had  the hot plate,fried eggs,hashbrowns,raisin bran muffin and fresh fruit.  Of course had a few cups of coffee .  they also had their usual alternative,cereal and  yogurt/granola combo.

 Today we began the south street route and it is a bit further from campus. so,they took some of us in the shuttle whie some  stayed behind.

I was on the second group,at 8;45 this morning and did not get back till the 11 a.m Park .

While  waiting to go on my morning   trip,I lollygagged in my room a  little,played on the computer. Then,I went and groomed Joyce.  I was hanging out with Ree and Kim in the grooming room.

When,we arrived to the  lounge,Leeann and Ken were still on the route,so I sat in the lounge.

I was  very pleasantly surprised to see Pete langue. He retired a year  or so ago.  We chatted about  old times and got a little caught up on what was happening in our lives. He is doing very well,volunteers once a month here.

 Since our group is small and we are all average to fast walkers,we have gone mostly in singles,not pairs. 

I am glad I did some  additional stretching before breakfast as well as shook my knees, and legs before  proceeding out the door for the trip. I can walk much better,faster and not  so stiff. I don't look like a gimp:) lol

Kristin's gnomonics help me beautifully( Dad Called My Mother James and,My Mother Can't Drive,all  street names and it enables me to remember the street names which ones have a light,are a t intersection and where I have to make a left  turn or continue crossing.

I believe,it was Deheart street, where it was wide,where the obstacles were .  For the most part Joyce walked me around them beautifully.

She did however, walked me into the flag and we reworked  it and, she never did that again.we overshot a couple curbs but,they're redo's and,same thing,no tripping over the curbs.  We had some minor hiccups,on the route in the  afternoon but really,  the guide work is  improving,falling into place. its not flawless,we are still making mistakes but that is going to happen.  its better that it happens here in class then when we get home. But, it will happen at home but hopefully,nothing major and  after corrections,won't be an issue.

 

lunch they  had either a salad with tuna or the tuna  sandwich which  I had. It was on a pita bread.   I had chips and pickle with it. I had the blueberry pie and coffee,not fresh fruit

Since I was on the third trip  in the afternoon,went back to my room and took a short nap.

In the afternoon,I twisted my ankle and  she didn't clear me from a pole and my right hand  hit it. it hurt  for a little bit but is fine.

she had me backtrack,and we  redid the area by that  pole,and little Joycie,cleared me through it.:)

I had a few traffic checks this morning and those Kristin said we did great.

First, we had a easy one where I just had to stop but later,Tom Pender gave me one where I had to suddenly stop and I couldn't continue on.  He  acted like he was turning around,not paying attention and was backing into me,the car just kept rolling towards me,three times.  that one,made me nervous.  But, Kristin said,it was beautiful! Crazy tom! :) lol

 I  continued to noticed  when we feed the dogs that Joyce's finicky like A Shepard and rather play then eat. Maybe, this is not her normal behavior? Could be because she's still sick? BTW,she seems to be feeling a bit better,not coughing as much and Kristin says  her face looks happier.

I had asked Kristin about crating. So, she  brought me a crate. Joyceisnot a fan of it,so it will take time.  ..

Right after  we returned from our trip,Lucas stopped me and  I went to do some clicker with him.

This time,we used the  doorknob as our target. 

We placed the bell  on the door. When  Joyce's nose touched the bell,I clicked the clicker immediately followed by a piece of kibble.

We repeated this a few times. She  found this loads of fun and wanted to continue the game.

We then, changed things.  Lucas removed the stimulus,the bell from the door and we were standing across the room.

He had me give the forward command,as if for example I was searching for a traffic pole or something,and  once,we hit the target,the doorknob,I clicked and rewarded.  She did pretty good.

Lucas said she  was right on target a lot of the time but not as close as she should be on some,sowed need some more work!

By then it was dinnertime and ,I just  went from the lounge next to the dining room to our table.

Dinner was good.  The  hot  plate was Vegetable lasagna,(  doesn't taste much different then meat lasagna,at least to me,lol)  french bread and missippi mud pie. I had everything except the pie. I also had a side garden salad and some fresh fruit instead. 

Before the evening lecture,I chatted with Darrell. He is doing fine,working on two stories for class as well as  working on issues with Safeway's  accessible web site.

Tonight Shannon  conducted the  meeting . The Topic was on social behavior,how important that our dogs are well behaved in social situations. She also gave us red cons for our pups. Joyce likes her bone more I think,then the cong.

Also tonight,while composing this post,my  classmate/neighbor,Leeann, invited me and some others for some wine and good conversation  upstairs in the common lounge.  I decided not to go tonight,after I post this,I want to shower and get to bed. I will take her and or others upon the offer another night though. 

Its now after 9 so I should  wrap this up soon and get it sent to the blog. 

Tomorrow in addition to doing the South Route twice,we will have a lecture on Dogs Senses.  This one is always very interesting!Weekend is  almost here,amazing!

Take care and see you  all on Day 7.have a good night.