It sure rained a lot in October, but we made the best of it and still managed to do some hikes with both 2 legged and 4 legged friends. We took a walk partway around Kalamalka Lake, a beautiful marl lake in Vernon. The next day we walked in Salmon Arm by Shuswap Lake, where we met a school group from North Canoe Elementary and spoke to the teacher about PADS. My favourite and most challenging hike was in Armstrong with 4 geocaching friends, where we climbed to the tops of both Mounts Rose and Swanson, overlooking the Spallumcheen Valley. It hailed at the top of Mount Swanson but blew over quickly, and returned to sunny skies again. Finna is a champ on all my hiking adventures where she’s both on and off leash, practising excellent recall. If another dog is with us, she romps and plays courteously with them.
We started a new gig at the Shuswap Spinners and Weavers Guild where I go once a week to work on weaving some tea towels on a large loom. Finna must settle for long periods of time, on her mat, practising duration and waiting patiently while I weave. There’s an after-school daycare in the building so she hears and sees the kids in the hallway. I brought her over to them one day so she could meet them, and we told them all about PADS.
We returned to the One-to-One reading program with the kids at a local elementary school. She loves to greet the kids when we arrive and stays calm as some of them come over to say hi and pet her. The kids love to read with her.
Finna attended three PADS puppy classes this month, where we practised all our usual dog distraction and duration drills. One week, we practised people greetings where the trainer walked up to each dog, and if the dog did not move, it got a reward. Finna was a champ at this. Trever, the new PADS CEO, visited us during puppy class, and all the pups were on their best behaviour for him and Jane as we had a group class, sat through a presentation and had lunch.
One day after puppy class, I had a flat tire and went to Kal Tire to get it fixed. I was very nervous while waiting for the diagnosis from the technician and Finna got caught up in my emotions and jumped up beside me in my chair to comfort me.
We did our civic duty and went to vote at the BC Provincial Elections. There was a statue of a dog outside the door, Finna was curious about it and tried her best to imitate it.
Other outings were Monte Creek Winery on the way home from Kamloops, our monthly chiropractic visit/Costco shopping to Kelowna with grandson Heath, various restaurants, and of course, the grocery store. She’s very good on leash when we are out and about. She walks about calmly and sits nicely when people want to greet her or ask us questions.
Finna ended the month with her GDBART (Guide Dog Behavioral Response Assessment Test), where the room is set up in a way that the dog has exposure to various stimuli, novel objects and body handling. And 6 days later, Finna was spayed. She sported a pink onesie during her spay recovery and donned a witch’s hat for Halloween, but had to stay tethered and calm when the kids arrived due to her delicate situation.
We shall see what Finna’s future holds for her. Will it be as a service dog or a pet dog?
P.S. Finna has been released from PADS and is currently up for adoption.
Submitted by: Chris Buitinga
