Parka Pooh in Gresham

Good morning everyone,

Richard, or should I say Dad, really got to know me on Monday. One was a group shot, which is not available to us yet. We receive that at graduation.

In the evening, we took our ID pictures that Dad will carry around with him to prove that we are a team. Ooooh, I like the sound of that.

The web cam movie was taken last night by Erin, who has been blind from birth with LCA. She is our resident dorm mom during the week. She is a college graduate with a degree in English. She has a guide dog named Fellita, a yellow lab, and we get along real great.

Dad asked Erin to take a picture of us and she said that she had a web cam program on her notebook computer. She uses Jaws on her computer and it talks to her while she manipulates the keyboard.

I could not understand a word it was saying, but she found the program and tried it out. It worked! He could see her picture on the computer screen.

Erin turned the computer toward Dad and I, and he lined it up to take the video you see below in our blog.

Ain't I cute? Everyone says that I have a really cute face and you should see me wag my tail. It's a full body wag with my whole back end shaking my bootie!

Dad really likes my "chipmunk love squat" which I will just have to show you some time. I love the way Dad rubs just under my ears on both sides and then strokes my chest area.

We rode the bus to Gresham yesterday and coach Jaymin worked with us in the morning. Jaymin was my training coach and did a great job of preparing me for my new partner. I'm ready for any challenge!

We worked on heeling first. Dad just could not get me to work beside him in the heel mode. With Jaymin's help, Dad had me walking in stride in about five minutes. I'm a quick learner!

Then we did some guide work. I'm a fast walker, pretty much out pacing Dad. Dad kept giving me the "steady" command to slow me down. Jaymin showed him a technique to give a slight tug at take-off and to say, "Steady," and that really showed me what he wanted. Now, we're in step with each other.

In the afternoon, the three two-weekers, Sid, Asia and Dad, went with Jaymin to the downtown lounge in Gresham to do individual routes. Jaymin coached Dad to use a soft voice, use more commands when distracted rather than using the leash and improve his stance with his left foot forward.

Jaymin commented how quickly Dad incorporated all that she asked in just that one route. She was amazed and pleased at how well we did. Of course!

We also changed from the XL handle to just a long handle and Dad liked it a lot better. He stepped on my right rear paw a couple of times, but he felt that he was a little off balance when he did that early in the route. Dad incorporated the steady command several times to get our pace in sync and we were really rocking along by the end of the route.

It started to rain as we left the lounge. This was the first rain we've seen since Dad has been here. Dad got a massage later and the masseuse said that it is now the rainy season for eight more months. Ugh! She is ready to head back to eastern Oregon where she grew up.

Dad had something interesting for dinner called Quinoa (pronounced keen-whaw) which is a high protein grain that had egg plant Parmesan gravy over the top of it. He liked it but he especially liked the peach pie he had for dessert!

We head to Portland today to work the Lloyd neighborhood. There will probably be lots of distractions, so it will provide some new challenges for our team. But Parka Pooh is up to the challenge.

By the way, that picture of Cuzzie is so cute. Three rowdy girls already at home. Hang on ladies, here's comes rowdy girl number four! It sounds like that we are going to have a great time together. Love to all of you!

Hey, Sis, how do I get Dad to give me a little bit more kibble? Be sure to clue me in. I hear you are REALLY good at it, especially with Grandma.

It's about time for Dad to feed me my breakfast. I eat three cups per day of lamb and rice Science Diet. Yuuuuuum!

The Zane Train is still alive and well, it just has a new "classy chassis."

Love to all form Sweet P!

Parka Pooh