Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Training Day 20 and 21

So I'm combining the past two training sessions because it's just easier to write one long post rather than two shorter ones. Yesterday I was asked to be a guest speaker at a University class for Special Ed Teachers. So naturally I wanted to bring Bailey. I thought it would be a good experience for Bailey especially since most of his SD career will be accompanying me to Grad School. So I picked up Bailey and went to the University. I wanted to get there early so I could walk him around the campus for a little while. I wanted to do this for two reasons; 1st I wanted to kind of tire him out before he had to sit in the classroom for an hour. And 2nd I wanted to expose him to all the crazy stuff on a college campus. He did great! He really enjoyed rolling around on the grass. We spent a good hour just chilling in the grass and walking around the campus.
   When we got inside the classroom he passed out next to me. He slept for about fifteen minutes. Then the students gathered around me and Bailey so that they could see how I communicate with my letter board. Bailey was pretty good but did try to get some pats on the head. It was very tempting, from his perspective everybody was watching him but nobody was petting him. He was easily re-directed to stop looking for pats And after everyone sat back down he just crashed out. At one point during the question and answer session I was having a spell of bad cramps and Bailey came up to me and started licking my hand until the cramps had subsided. I was really amazed!
   So after I did my spiel  I took Bailey out to the Van to get some food and water.  He's a funny eater ( this was the first time I fed him since usually he's eaten breakfast/lunch before I see him). He takes a bite of food and then drinks a sip of water. For every bite! I was cracking up. After he ate, I took him back to the lawn area to see if he needed to get busy. He peed quickly especially for being in a new place.
   Then my Physical Therapist (the Professor of the class) and I went out to dinner. When we sat down at the table I put Bailey's mat on the floor next to my chair and he laid down quickly. He stayed there on the mat the entire time only getting up once and then laying back down quickly. ( We were in the restaurant about an hour and a half). I was very impressed. Waiters and customers walked by constantly and he chose to ignore them.
After dinner I took him back to my Trainer's house and left for the night.
    Today he was understandably, kind of tired out. We tried to do light switch training and he wasn't having it. So we did an auto-sit session and then I wanted to see if he needed to go pee. So I put him on the long leash and he peed immediately. I think it's time for Bailey to get a hair cut because every time he pees his hair gets in the way and he gets it all over himself. Lovely! So when we got back inside I only had a chance to do literally one bell ring before he passed out.
   So knowing that today was not the best day for training  I decided to have a little fun time. I took Bailey in the side yard to play with his buddies and his brother, who returned from vacation just a few days ago. Bailey and his brother are so cute together. Since they are the same age they have a similar way of playing. Here's a video of them playing. I left after that.

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