Guiding Eyes  Day 19  Thurs  13th

If today is Day 19 of training, it means I've just about made it! Day 21 is graduation and Sunday morning Pippi and I fly back to Atlanta. It will be a new life for both of us; a companion, partner, and dependent for me hopefullyfor a long time, and for Miss Pipsqueak a new state, an unfamiliar environment where she only knows me, a 3 week mom. The , the depth of this relationship, physically and emotionally is, in the immortal words of Buzz Lightyear "To infinity and beyond!"

[Loving that my sweet pea is sitting in front of my chair at the computer with her chin on my knee just starring at me. I know this because I looked down and saw her looking up- no peripheral vision left down low.]

Today was a short walk around Mt. Kisco, a cute little town. We used Starbucks as our base. Everyone got a drink (thank you GEB for treating us) and one or two at a time, we went on our walk. Imagine walking into your local Starbucks and seeing 8 guide dogs sprawled out chillin' around the chairs and couches. Quite a sight, huh. Folks kept coming up to ask about them and some reached out to pet them- which we quickly but kindly informed them not to do since they were all in harness =ing work. Much easier than the wheelchair-bound man at Target earlier in the week who keep trying to hand me a peanut butter cookie for Pippi.

Also spoke with the school rep for vet supplies and received some free and purchased others. GEB offers all graduates a $200 stipend, yearly, for annual exam, heartworm meds, and tick/flea/mosquito med. If you keep your dog within 3 lbs. of target weight and send in documentation by July 1st, you get another $100 per year. Nice incentive to keep doggie healthy.

After lunch, we headed to PetSmart to be Obedience training in the distraction capital of the pet world. And the CEO of GEB  ("call me Tom and this is my guide Gus") came along.  with us!

 We were told that that our dog would need to be under control and heeling nicely during a walk around the store before we could purchase anything.! We did our Obedience lesson and walked around with other people and their pet dogs shopping. Just in case that wasn't enough distraction, each instructor carried a squeaky toy and randomly squeaky-squeakied it. When not touring the store, we sat on benches in front of the vet clinic in the store, right next to the scale to weigh dogs. A woman came in being dragged, literally, by two dogs, one being an overweight yellow lab. He was repeatedly making a sound that might have been the noise for coughing up a rubber ball. He had a choke collar with spikes on it and he lunged at our resting dogs a couple times. Of course, the woman had no control and didn't do a thing. Pippi and one other dog jumped up from a prone position to standing and it took a lot of calm talk and a few cookies to regain composure. These dogs are NOT trained, nor expected, to be protective of their handler. But I gotta say, push comes to shove, Pip might have my back :-)

The toothbrushing kit I got from vet services at school has poultry flavored paste.Can I just say,  Bleech!
So my small purchase at PetSmart was a tube of doggie toothpaste with a minty fresh taste. Listen, I'm being very tolerant of those doggie kisses on the face but I'd rather be slurped by mint than chicken!

Tomorrow we learn how to get in and out of a car (not van) with your dog. We are also practicing, again....wait for it......yeah, teeth brushing, pill jamming, and ear cleaning. Oh my poor fingers.

Alterative link for watching graduation, which lasts 60-90 minutes:
www.YouTube.com/GuidingEyesGuideDogs