Random Musings

This may or may not turn into another blog entry, i don't know yet. I'm just going to go through some of the emotional history behind me and Prada to keep myself occupied for the next 45 minutes or so while I wait for the plane to take off.  (Apparently it did turn into a blog entry.  This was written while sitting on the tarmac at Newark, ready to fly home to Oregon.)

When I first met Prada back in March I thought she was the most beautiful dog in the world (I still do J ). I loved working with her and I could tell she loved working in general. She had an energy and a curious intelligence about her that resonated with my own outlook on life. I never thought I'd get her, though. She was already older than most dog guides are when they're first assigned because at one point TSE had too many qualified puppies for the number of trainers, so they had to ask the puppy raisers to hang onto their puppies for an extra six months or so (and I’m sure the raisers didn’t mind J ).  Prada is about two and a half years old; while most dog guides are matched by the time they're almost 2 years, many at 18 months.




When Bryan handed me her leash that Monday afternoon, May 26th, I wanted to scream and cry and laugh and yell all at once, I was so excited and surprised.  I expect I would've been for any dog, but the fact that I knew Prada already and had allowed myself to get a little attached to her made it that much more exciting. She was excited, having never been in The House (the main school building) before, and getting to meet a new--wait, do I know you?--person.




Prada is exceptionally social for a shepherd. They say this is better than being more aloof and suspicious.  Anti-social traits like that can lead to growling at people and overprotectiveness, and that's just plain dangerous.  But we'll definitely have to find a balance, and I'll always have to pay attention to where her head moves through the harness when we're around people to make sure she's not visiting while on the clock.




After our official introduction I heeled her back to my room and just sat on the floor with her for a while, petting and rubbing her belly and trying to calm her down as she suddenly realized that Shannon wasn't there anymore. She cried for a little bit and I felt her loss, but I wanted her to transfer that same devotion she had for Shannon to me.  So when she cried I tried to redirect that loss to comfort, but not enough to train her that crying is ok on a regular basis. She settled in for a while but I don't think she ever had that sudden turnover that most shepherds experience. Because it took me so long to earn her respect and find her play-style we didn't really developed an emotional connection till about the end of the second week.  




I admit to being jealous of Prada’s continued attachment to Shannon, but not too much.  And I was patient, I knew I had to wait for her and someday it would happen. Shannon did nothing to encourage Prada's continued devotion, shepherds are just very loyal. Last night Shannon came in to say goodbye to me and I let her and Prada say their goodbyes because I knew they would never see each other again and one or two minutes of exuberant petting and prancing wouldn't ruin her relationship with me. It was a beautiful thing, watching Prada's entire body fling itself into excited energy when Shannon finally acknowledged her presence, after so long a period of indifference. Prada threw herself at Shannon's legs demanding to be scratched and played with and Shannon readily obliged. I can't wait to see her do that with me someday. Shannon tells me that that was a fraction of what will be between us someday.

(It’s hard to look back at how anxious I was for Prada’s love.  Now, she throws a tantrum if she’s sitting next to me but someone else happens to hold the leash!  Some shepherds have a light-switch moment in which they decide to pick a new object of affection.  But occasionally there are Pradas that take a long time to finally settle in, and the process is gradual.  Almost unnoticeable.  I think I felt a lot of pressure to see her transfer immediately because I could see some of the more dramatic transfers that took place in other teams in my class, like Ken and Havana.  Havana was unmistakably Ken’s from about the second week on.  She wanted nothing to do with him for two weeks, then all of a sudden made that decision and wouldn’t even look at another human or dog in the room.  I wanted that to be me and Prada, but we’re different.  We have a softer, more layered relationship.  She loves everyone around me, but she loves me best, and I know that now.  And that relationship continues to evolve and strengthen as time goes on.  We’ve been together almost five years now, almost half of her working life, and I know that I’ll have to say goodbye to her before I turn 30.  They say losing the first dog guide is the hardest.  Some people I know took more than a year off between dogs to mourn.  I’m tearing up even thinking about this, which is uncharacteristic for me lol.  I didn’t even cry watching Braveheart.  But we have about five years left together, and I’m going to start that off right now with a walk out in the sunshine around our neighborhood.)

How is Prada? She is wonderfully well. Our playtime now consists of chasing each other around the couches in the living room, play-fighting in the same room or out in the yard on our new flexi-lead, and playing with the kong toy. If I play dead she circles me, then picks up my hand in her mouth, lays down and holds it in her paws like a bone, washes it thoroughly with her tongue, and then chew lightly on my hand (she isn’t fooled, she wants me to wake up and play again!).  Anytime we end up sitting somewhere for a while she'll lay down and rest her head on my foot, or sit on my foot, or encircle said foot in her paws and rest her head on it. She is quite possessive of my feet. She continues to want attention as soon as I get up, then proceeds to breakfast, parking and then playtime.




We've both gotten bored with the long, straight, country roads where I live so I've started volunteering to accompany Mom or my sister or father on any errands they have to do so I can get her out. My parents have been more than accommodating to our higher exercise needs, I am very grateful for that. Today we went to the pet store to pick up some doggy stuff; more park bags, a flexi lead, doggy dental wipes (think wet wipes with doggy toothpaste on them to wipe teeth and gums). These aren't absolutely necessary for dog health but they're generally recommended and I'd like Prada to be able to work for as long as she can.
 

(Where my parents live in Oregon there are no sidewalks, and it’s 3 miles to the nearest bus stop into town, so if you don’t drive you’re pretty much stuck.  That last summer I lived at home was a tough one to have Prada during, we had to get very creative to get out and get exercise.  Now I live in a little township inside of Huntsville with lots of sidewalks and crosswalks and walking trails around, so when it’s not Antarctica or Jupiter outside, we get out and walk quite a bit.  The yards back in Oregon are unfenced, as well, so I had to keep her on leash outside to make sure she wouldn’t run out into the road.  The yards are set away from the road by a couple of alrge fields and a hill, but for that first summer I was pretty paranoid.  Now when we go home for a visit she’s allowed to wander outside off-leash if I’m outside, and she rarely goes past the hill toward the road.  I don’t have a good place to play outside with her here in Alabama, though.  That’s the #1 criteria for my next home, I think.  A fenced or fence-able yard.)

Overall we're doing well as a team. Her work continues to build my travel confidence and she makes me laugh one way or another almost every day, between crossing her paws when she lays down, holding on to my foot, or being startled by a chipmunk. Prada saw her first deer the other day from inside our car. She'd been laying down on the back seat with me but when the deer crossed the road in front of us she shot upright and followed the odd creature with her head, ears askew as she tried to identify the strangeling.  It’s also convenient to have a German shepherd in the back seat when walking or driving pass panhandler corners, we’ve discovered.