June 1, 2005 - 10:30 PM
Oh my gosh. Where to begin.
I'll start with last night. Geneva went on to her bed very well and I put her on tie down. She seemed very comfortable on her new bed and relaxed right in. I left the room for about 10 minutes to make Lyle's lunch and she never whined or made a sound, which was a bonus for me. She settled down for the night once I laid down in bed and didn't make a sound until Lyle's alarm went off at 4:30am. But I just had to cuddle her for a few minutes and she was back snoozing and we both slept until 7:00.
She ate her morning meal at about 7:30 without hesitation and just seemed to be right at home. Amelia went and bought me a latte before heading to school, which I sure appreciated. I was very anxious for our day to begin.
Oh yes, last evening and then first thing this morning, I did obedience with Geneva and she made it through flawlessly. She especially does well on the recall command of "come." It doesn't matter what she's doing or where she's at, if I call her, she comes a-running.
Now back to my morning. Nick was running a little late and so Pat got here first at about 9:15. Geneva was so happy to see him, her whole being was bouncy and she was talking up a storm. Pat has been her main trainer for quite a while. He took over for another trainer who had been in a fender bender with Geneva in the car and this is why they had her stay on a little longer through training to make sure there were no adverse effects of the accident. Anyway, it's obvious that my girl loves Pat and she was showing him just how much.
I then did obedience with her while Pat stood within her sight. She performed like a pro, and when I gave her the "stay" and then "heel" commands, she came toward me, thought about walking to Pat, but thought better of it and turned and got in position to my left. Then I had Pat give her some attention and a few minutes in, I gave her the "come" command, and she broke from him and came right to me. What an awesome feeling that was! I know it impressed Pat too.
Once Nick got here, we headed to his van and drove to a residential area with sidewalks, not an easy place to find around here. Anyway, the magnetic signs reading "GDB Traffic Training" were placed on the sides of Nick's van and Geneva and I were off to be tested. That's right, we had traffic checks our second day together. The first one happened at a crossing and Nick driving on the parallel street toward us turned in front of us while in the middle of our crossing. Geneva stopped as soon as she saw him turning. We then had 2 more checks at the next 2 crossings with Nick cutting us off from different directions. The heart stopper was when we were walking on the sidewalk and Nick came at us making us back up. He'd stop and then start up again, pushing us back about to 10 feet. Geneva stayed in tune with what she needed to do, and at one point, she backed up so fast, the harness handle just about came straight up. It was incredible! The final check was a total barricade, where the van was parked across the sidewalk and we had to work into the street to go around it. Yes, she got a little stressed out over this exercise. I mean, I knew it was a set up, but she didn't. But she worked beautifully for me the whole time and I was ever so proud of her.
We then went to the Mall and walked around outside a bit and then inside. We went to JC Penney's and did escalators, which went smoothes as silk. She is a natural on them. On our way back through the Mall, I stopped at a kiosk that does engraving on dog tags and bought Geneva a pink heart with her name and our phone number on it.
We got back to the house at about noon. After taking Geneva out to relieve, I asked Pat to hold onto her while I took Arabelle out. When I got back in the house, Geneva was so happy to see me, she left Pat and came running to me. I think that sealed the deal. Pat gave Geneva her 2 toys, fitted her with her Gentle Leader, and gave me a few other little things like a measuring cup for her food and a hand cloth. We talked a little bit more about Geneva, my most favorite subject of late, and Pat tried to joke that he'd be taking Geneva back with him, but I knew there wasn't a chance of that. I learned from him that her puppy-raiser lives near the San Rafael campus, and he believes he/she is a staff person at GDB. I'm sure I'll learn more on that in the next week or so. Pat left here a little after 1:00, and Nick and I headed for Lin's Teriyaki for lunch. While there, Geneva laid down where I told her and never budged. We talked about the schedule for tomorrow and Friday, talked about other things and just had a nice visit.
From there we went to Pet Co. There were definite distractions in that store and she got corrected for sniffing. But her big distraction was the display of Gerbles, mice and other rodents who were playing in their wheels and such. I think she thought they were there for her entertainment, and I had to remind her otherwise. When we got to the back of the store, I had Nick grab, and subsequently carry, a 20lb bag of dog food for my girl.
We were back home by 3:00 and Geneva has had run of the house ever since. She loves chewing on a bone and her playfulness with us is usually running around us and going between our legs. Her tail is always up and wagging and she just seems so darn happy. The nice thing is that when I'm sitting at the desk, at dinner or watching TV, she finds a spot and settles right down.
These have been two very exhausting days, and I'm very tired, but so is Geneva. But what a blessing this time has been, and I really think we're both feeling good about this partnership.
Hugs & wags,
Cindy & Geneva
