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Day 15 - September 29

Flying home!  So today we leave the safety and comfort of the school and head home to see how things are really going to go.  For Bill and I, this means getting onto an airplane and flying back to Vancouver. I was up at 6 am to grab a shower and make sure everything was packed.  At 6:30 Courtney called to make sure I was awake and offered to do a room check for me.  I knew I needed her help to find Gonzo’s ball and she also found a t-shirt I had thrown on my bed and forgotten about.  Courtney offered to take my suitcase on the elevator.  A very welcome offer.  I headed downstairs for the last time.  Gloria was there and offered to take Zeigler and Gonzo out to the courtyard for a run.  That way they will burn off some energy and relieve themselves as well.  No dog can run without getting rid of everything that is inside of them.  We had a little snack with Betty who was catching a morning train home as well. At the airport Courtney stayed with the van while Gloria helped us
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Day 14 - September 28

Well, here we are, unbelievably it’s the last day of my shortened two week program.  It feels like I’ve been here forever and only just got here. This morning we had our dogs weighed and my little fellow only weighs 46 pounds.  However, Courtney has no problems if he gets into the low 50 lb area.  Next we signed our contracts.  All sounding very daunting but whatever.  Courtney read through the dog guide contract and weight management contracts so we could never argue we hadn’t read them.  Once those were signed and appropriately initialed we were an official team. After that we were basically done for the morning.   We had now officially graduated and could take the dogs out on a walk by ourselves if we wanted.  We decided to go for a group walk.  They nicely waited for me while I went to do my photo shoot with Pet Value.  Pet Value sponsors several graduating teams and takes photos to put in one of their monthly magazines.  I guess they own stores out west like the Tisol and B
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Day 13 - September 27

Today turned out to be a slow day.  We met in the office at 9 am and through the questions being asked we ended up having our going home talk.  This is where we are given tips on flying with our dogs, like to stop food approximately 12 hours before flying and water 6 hours.  Always to get the dog out for a run if it is possible.  This goes for any trip that you might be going on where you can’t control when the dog can relieve itself, like train trips, bus trips or even long car trips.  Courtney clipped the nails of any of the dogs that need it, like Gonzo.  We talked about getting food at home.  In the west we don’t have Purina products, so Bill and I will have to switch our dogs over to a new food with a similar protein content.  She talked to us about keeping our dog on a leash for at least the first day after we get home.  Also, to relieve it before you take it into the house or apartment.  If you have a house, you are to always leave through the same door, usually the back door,
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Day 12 - September 26

Oh boy, today we’re off to Toronto.  See what this dog is made of when thrown in the big city.  See what I’m made of too.  In the end there are only four of us gong, Bill, Sarah, Sandra and myself with Courtney and Gloria as our trainers.  We piled in the van at 9:30am and headed into the big smoke.  After parking the van we relieved our dogs in a little park. “Harness up the dogs and let’s get heading out,” said Courtney.  Off we go with Gonzo in the lead, of course.  He zigged and zagged, sometimes to get around people or things and sometimes because he is a poodle.  After a few blocks I offered for the others to go ahead so we weren’t hogging the front role.  However, the next thing I knew the sidewalk had got a little wider and I heard Bill on my left and then Sarah as my dog blew past them to get back in the front again.  A born leader. J We then turned right off the sidewalk to go into the subway station.  He found the door just fine.  I remember doing this route with B
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Day 11 - September 25

So this morning we are heading off to the mall via transit.  To get as much practice as possible, I will take the bus both ways so I can see how Gonzo acts getting on and off the bus. We caught the bus at 9:52.  Everything went well.  Gonzo hopped on the bus and I just had to rearrange him once he sat to get him between my legs.  We wandered around the mall.  Courtney had us go up some open-backed stairs, stairs that you can see through.  This can freak out some dogs.  Gonzo did fine on that test.  Then we went to Winners.  Gonzo found Sandra and followed her to the washroom for some reason.  Then I asked him to find Courtney and he found her really quickly.  We wandered around the store and he was very cautious getting us around some pillars and did a good job not running into too many clothing racks.  It is hard because the aisles are very narrow.  Then from the very back of the store I asked him to find the way out and he had no issues getting me out of Winners.  (That would be
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Day 10 - September 24

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Today is Sunday and that means no training.  Should be a nice relaxing day.  I had some family visiting me.  Carrol, Michael, Jennifer, Madisun, Kamryn and Oliver showed up around 12:45 pm.  They were as enthusiastic about meeting Gonzo as seeing me again.  Gonzo was living it up as the centre of attention getting his picture taken with everyone.  We put Gonzo back in the room and headed down to the lake.  Lake Ontario is about 10 blocks away.  It was incredible how hot it was even down by the water.  We hung out for about two hours before heading back to the school for a nice surprise—Carrol had brought my favourite, cheese cake, for my birthday tomorrow.  Yummy!  So we all enjoyed a piece of it and then they had to get back on the road to London.  (Okay, I admit it, I ruined my supper by having two pieces of cheese cake!) I enjoyed a relaxing night was well watching football.  Sadly my Seattle Seahawks lost again.  Will have to get home and dig out my good luck #25 Sherman
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Day 9 - September 23

Well today is going to be a scorcher.  We are going for shorter half hour walks this morning and then in the afternoon it’s off leash recall in the school and then 15 minutes to run around in the courtyard. Our walk was pretty much uneventful.  We weren’t in too many crowded situations, but when we encountered people Gonzo only forced a few them off the sidewalk. J Poodles are pretty pushy.  The funniest thing that happened was there was a child sitting on a patio with his family holding a grilled cheese in his hand right at Gonzo’s level.  We did veer to the sandwich but he didn’t take it or, worse, lick it.  He got a correction for that and we apologized, feeling a little embarrassed. As for the obedience, Gonzo had no problem with recall.  Why not, I had excellent treats in my hand.  One time though, he was running towards me and something floating through the air, or his imagination, must have touched his butt.  He stopped running and curled around to see what happened an
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