June 2, 2005 - 12:12 AM
It has been a long but wonderful day.
Nick arrived here for the first time at 9:00am. We headed to the Bremerton waterfront & parked the van in a parking garage. The first thing was to try a new harness handle, a shorter one. The previous 2 days, I had been having trouble keeping good pressure with the harness as Geneva pulls. Well, the shorter handle has done the trick. So with that problem solved, we walked along the boardwalk a while, encountering one doggy distraction which had Geneva responding to a swift leash correction by me. We then found a Starbucks and each got a coffee to go for the ride to Seattle. Heading to the ferry, Geneva moved nicely with the crowd onto the boat. It's an hour long ride from Bremerton to Seattle, so Nick and I drank our coffees, visited and joked around and I just sat in awe of Geneva and how well she settled in for the ride.
As we disembarked on the Seattle side, Geneva followed the crowd nicely off the ferry and around the terminal building until I knew where I was. Nick then said I could call the shots, so off we went.
We walked over the overpass, crossed 1st and headed up a steep hill to 2nd. We then turned left, doing a curb to curb, and crossed Marion, then walked 3 blocks crossing Madison, Spring and Senika. We then turned left and walked down the hil along Senika to 1st, crossed and turned left heading south, crossing Senika, Spring, Madison, Marion & Columbia. Once to Cherry, we made a slight turn to the right and headed down to Yestler, crossing and going to Washington and then turning right. We then worked along a gravel walkway and crossed railroad tracks. We found our way to Columbia and walked up to 1st, turned right and went into Quiznoes which is at the corner of 1st & Marion. We got our lunch to go for the ride back on the ferry. This was a route with lots of street crossings, noisy activity along the way with construction and mainenance going on, and lots of people. She did her share of sniffing, but most of it wasn't caught by me it was so quick. But I did have to correct her a couple of times with a "hop up" command. She really like the smell of pillars and poles. She also encountered one doggy distraction, but again it was nothing we couldn't handle and a quick leash correction got us back on our way. I was especially impressed on how well Geneva was able to work passed the louder noises.
Back at the terminal, Geneva worked us back onto the ferry with ease and once we found a table to sit at, she was under it and zonked out quickly. Nick and I at our lunch, talked some more and although we stepped outside for a little fresh air, we were only out there for a few minutes as the wind gave me a chilll.
Once back in Bremerton, I stopped and did obedience with Geneva on the boardwalk with people and birds as a distraction, but she did super.
I got back home at 2:45, exhausted. Geneva was too, because when I went in the room to take a nap, she was already curled up on her bed sacked out. We both slept for about 2 hours.
I took a shower after dinner to get refreshed and revigorated, ready for our night route.
Nick arrived at 8:30 and stayed a while visiting with Lyle. They were telling dog stories and bad jokes, something Lyle does well. grin
Nick and I took off about 9:00pm and worked about 7 minutes from my house. We walked along Wheaton Way between Sylvan Way and Hollis. We started on the west side of Wheaton and once to Hollis walked back on the east side to Sylvan. Along this route, we had many little streets and driveways to cross. With the exception of cutting short a couple of up curbs, Geneva did outstanding! There is definitely a different feel when walking at night, and it was good for Geneva and I to get this exposure.
It is amazing to me how Geneva has made herself at home here. She now has complete run of the house and is doing well with this freedom. Of course I'll still put her on tie down at night, but this afternoon she stayed on her bed just fine without it.
It's very cute when anyone comes to visit, she runs to get her natural bone to show the visitor. It's like a little kid needing to show off their favorite toy. smile
Well, I'm very tired and Nick will be here again at 9:00am. So I better bring this to a close.
Thanks to all of you who have emailed me and who continue to pray for Geneva and I. You are all appreciated.
Hugs & wags,
Cindy & Geneva
