Lessons

This morning Monte traded in his turquoise vest for a guide dog harness. His first lesson was getting acquainted with the harness; no pulling allowed yet. In the house he was conscious of the new apparatus, reacting similarly to the Elizabethan collar. But out on the streets, he completely forgot about the new attire and focused on his walk - he loves to walk.



Lesson two was going to be demonstrating how to teach Monte to Get Dressed - place his head through the harness. It was a short lesson because all of us puppy raisers have taught our puppies to Get Dressed using their vests. Right?



The third lesson was unscheduled. On his training walk, Monte was threatened by an aggressive ankle biter, but did not respond in kind and remained calm. This is very good, however, a little surprising because his energy usually mirrors the dogs and people he meets; he may have been in shock.



While Monte upgraded to a leather harness, we were seemingly demoted to Puppy Sitters. Apparently this is the term used to describe those of us who board a dog while he is being evaluated or in training. I suppose this shouldn't bother me as long as the professional guide dog trainer doesn't mind being referred to as our Dog Walker.