Around and Around She Goes...

This afternoon's lesson revolved around...revolving doors!  (I’m sorry—these cheesy openers are practically writing themselves!) Revolving doors can be quite scary for dog guides because they sense that a door is literally chasing them and may 'nip' at their heels if they don't move fast enough. Doors ought not to move, in doggy logic.  They are among the objects labeled “things that do not chase me”.  They don’t like revolving doors because that door is coming right behind them, oh scary!!!

The trick is, just like with escalators, to keep the dog moving. Work the dog up to the door, then switch the leash to the right hand and drop the handle. Heel Juno into the revolving door and keep Juno's head right by the forward entrance. Keep the dog moving along the outer perimeter of the door chamber while the door goes around, and when you hit the opening again the dog will dive out, indicating that it's clear to go. Then switch the leash back to the left hand and pick up the harness.

I have discovered that Prada is a competitive worker. She does not like working behind other dogs and will pull my arm out of its socket just to get in front of the other team.  She's one of those drivers on the highway that will speed up to pass you, then get in your lane and settle to a reasonable or even slower pace.  We're working on different techniques to get her pace under control when there are other dogs in front of her. Fortunately that won't be much of an issue at home or school because there are no other teams around those places, but while I'm here it's a bit of a pain.  (This is still the case—even with groups of humans, no dogs, she still wants to be in front.  Fortunately we walk faster than all my friends so we don’t slow them down, but we are in constant danger of leaving them in the dust!)

In somewhat depressing news (again, sorry for the downer), all the retrains departed for their respective homes. They only stay for three weeks, then go home and do a couple of days of home training. We rookies hang around until next Thursday. Out of our full 24-person class only 8 of us remain. Quiet building....all the retrains were so much fun to talk to and they had great stories and insights for us n00bs.  A lot of them would give advice and sort of mentor us in areas we struggled in.  I love how supportive our group was to each other and it's sad to see them go, but I'm excited for them to get started with their new dogs.  Good luck to Don, Bonna, Jen, Jan, Ken, Pete, Deborah, and all the others!

(Prada and I encounter revolving doors on a semi-regular basis, as the Portland Airport--which i fancy my 'home port' still--has an unusually large one.  A handful of people and suitcases can fit in it comfortably.  It's slightly less intimidating than the usual small ones, and we work it often enough.  Also, Prada is still competitive in her work, but not quite as much as she used to.  Mellowing out in her old age, I suppose.  'bout time!)