Winter just isn’t letting go this month. We get some snow; it melts a bit and then we have more snow again! We’ve made the best of it by exploring the many hiking trails around us. Sometimes they are icy and I have to wear my cleats, but nothing seems to faze Birdie. And her recall is amazing.
We started the month by joining our One-to-One reading buddies for a school outing at Larch Hills Nordic where we all went snowshoeing with the teacher, thirteen Grades 2 and 3 students, and a couple of other chaperones. Once off leash on the snowshoe trails, Birdie had so much fun running up and down beside the row of kids, keeping them in line. The kids loved having her there and she was well-behaved, not to knock anyone over. Regular One to One reading was attended three times this month. Birdie enjoys reading with the kids. She settles nicely for the three half-hour sessions and gets the occasional treat for good behaviour. She also does well walking with a loose leash through the hallways full of kids. It’s all a wonderful exposure for her.
Club 55 bowling continued for three sessions this month. She now knows the drill, settles nicely and watches me make a fool of myself while I bowl. People generally stay clear of her for they recognize the cape and don’t bother her.
We worked on body handling and her nail trims with our trainer for one week. She doesn’t particularly like nail trims but tolerates them. Then one day I brushed her and acquired a big ball of dog fur!
We only attended one in-person PADS puppy class this month. While lined up against a wall, the pups worked on their sit, down and stay cues while us raisers moved further away from them while they maintained their positions. Then they practised walking past the trainer’s stuffed dog, which really was not a problem, it didn’t even smell like a dog! Then we practised long leash recalls and Birdie was doing well UNTIL PADS raiser Carol showed up at class. We all laughed as Birdie recalled directly to Carol and not to me!
We went on numerous hikes around town with ourselves and with various new acquaintances and their dogs. Since there are no PADS dogs in the Salmon Arm/Shuswap area, I have been meeting new people with dogs to walk with. Sometimes it does not work out well if there are intact or altered male dogs in the mix. All they want to do is hump Birdie and even though we redirect the male or leash him up, it does not make an enjoyable walk for them or us. After we picked up PADS Athena one day, we had an enjoyable walk in Vernon along the Cypress Trail with Carol and PADS Tetris. All girls!
And lastly, at the end of the month, we picked up PADS Athena and with raiser Carol we went on an epic ONE-day journey to Burnaby and back for Birdie’s GDBarts (Guide Dog Behavioral Response Assessment Test). The trainer was happy with Birdie’s responses, and she scored very well on the test. It was nice to have a tour of the PADS campus, see the six pups currently in Advanced Training and chat with the various staff and trainers. We also said our goodbyes to PADS Athena who was staying behind to become a breeder for PADS. Maybe Birdie will be following Athena someday in that role as well.
Submitted by: Chris Buitinga
