Guiding Eyes  Day 16  Monday  10th

 Today was Ride-the-Bus route. We trained with Pippi on Saturday to target the bus stop pole. Now we would see if she remembered. Bless her little heart, she did. Caught the next bus and found a seat in front. The rule is 'keep dogs sitting up if the ride is short. Tuck the tail under and block the backside with your foot. Be sure you know where your dog's head is located. Bus floors have tempting tidbits or there may be a child with candy sitting next to you. The woman to my right had a bag of groceries and Pippi turned her way, sniffing for aromatic destinations. I needed to cup her chin so I had control over that quick little snout. I joked with the woman that if she had any groceries she wanted to get rid of, Pip would gladly help out! We just rode two stops then walked back. I think our routes are a mile to 1.5 miles each X two routes per day= approximately 10 miles on the streets + stairs up and down (2 sets) daily to dining room for meals + the 18 steps (stairs) I do each night to reach the computer lab = a boatload of walking!

Afternoon walk took me to CVS to pick up items for myself and a fellow student. Going through stores now will be like attempting to cross a mine field. Little sniffer-girl is eye level with many products that look tempting, like candy and gum at the counter or someone's hand basket with stuff (and stuff is edible, right?), or even floor sniffing and slurping up morsels of things I don't want to think about. Each time head went down to sniff meant a leash correction. There must have been 10 and I think we were only in the store 10 minutes!

Lecture tonight dealt with training on a train platform tomorrow to keep both Pippi and me safe. It will be practice for Wednesday when we take a train into the Big Apple. No time for sightseeing, no time for shopping, just a 50 block walk Grand Central Station to out lunch spot. Those who train-ride in, take the van back. Those who van-ride in, take the train back.

One sad note... one of our classmates opted to leave his dog and return home. This would have been his 7th guide dog. He was finding the changes in the training program too stressful. He had soime health issues, difficulty dealing with change, and a robust dog. We were told at lunch that he had left but he sent his thanks to all of us. He was a combination of an old curmudgin and Dustin Hoffman's character in Rain Man. He was articulate and funny (mostly without intent but definitely with metaphors and similes!) and we all miss him.