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I will no longer be updating Iron Guide (see below). Instead, I am now writing at my new, personal blog. Though that will be about some of the newer things I'm doing in life, if you want to see updates about Louie, Lester, and now Dusky, add me on Facebook -- there's enough ridiculously cute pictures to go around.
Monday, July 16, 2007
Shows Great Potential
I post a lot of funny little Lester escapades: some just funny, others a little crazy, occasionally downright disgusting, and often not very guide-dog-like. But, even though little Lester supplies me with lots of amusing blog material, in reality, Lester is starting to grow up and show his potential as a proper working dog. I really realized how far Lester has come while writing last month's report:
Outside of dog distractability, Lester is doing very well while on duty. He's been keeping very long hours with me at work, taking the bus across town for meetings, working from cafes, going into loud, heavy crowds, attending parties with food and other toys strewn over the place, and generally being an example of good working dog behavior. One particular time a couple weeks ago at a friend's July 4th party comes to mind: in a small apartment filled with more than twenty people, I had to leave him in a down-stay for about half an hour while I was in another room. When I came back, Lester was in same spot, awake, worried, and scanning the room for me, but still exactly where I had left him. Considering all the people, everyone's general excitement and interest in Lester, the food on the tables and crumbs falling to the floor, the fireworks, and the loud music that was very, very impressive. All in all, I think that when we solve this dog distraction problem, Lester will be a very strong working guide.
He may not be the perfect-4.0, student-government-president, soccer-team-captain student that Louie was, but he's still a very promising young puppy. Lester is averaging something more like a B- and might be more interested in the ladies than making the debate team, but he's got his moments of brilliance. He's getting A-pluses in some things... it's just that he's getting Ds in others. You know how all good Indian boys are supposed to grow up to be doctors, i-bankers, or engineers? Kaushal and Karan were teasing me that, you know, not everyone has to become -- the guide dog equivalent of -- a doctor. Maybe we should look into some kind of other career for Lester? Acting, perhaps? "Kushal, you're just perpetuating the stereotype."
=P
Lester has a lot of potential. While on duty in restaurants, at work, in the car, on the bus, wherever, he's practically a model of good behavior. You forget that he's even there! (As it turns out, that's actually my test to know when we've properly trained these boys. If they're so well behaved that no one else at, say, a restaurant or movie theater even knows he's there, well, that's about all we can ask for.) He knows all his commands, usually listens on the first time, walks alongside me without pulling, checks back up on me every few seconds, ignores everything from flying leaves to backfiring pickups to heavy traffic... the problem is that, at home, sometimes he tries to race through the house and, elsewhere, is very interested in other dogs. We just need to iron those issues out.
You know, come to think of it, that's exactly how they referred to me back in school: "shows great potential". Oh, the memories. :) "Needs to turn in his homework in on time." "Needs to sleep less in class." "Needs to follow directions."
But, I turned out OK. Here's hoping the same for Lester. Permalink | Written at 9:16 AM | Post a comment | 1 comments | Trackbacks
