[nagdu] shorelining

[Mardi Hadfield]

Hi every one,  Nala naturally walks to the left. I use the term, step left
and step right, when I want my dogs to keep left or right. I am teaching
Shaman, the left turn and right turn now and I am finding that he does ok
with right, but I have to push him to the left to get him to turn that
way.Even with the clicker, he still has not gotten it yet. I think maybe he
just doesn't like going left. He has been learning every thing else I have
taught him, quite fast,but not turning left. I am always worried that I will
run over his toes with the wheelchair.I need more hands. I really have my
hands full with the clicker, the treats, the wheelchair controls and the
cane and the dog.I will be glad when Nick has a break from school,so he can
help me.I had planned to have a dog already trained before he went back to
school,but it did not work out that way.After having to career change
Wanagi, because of her hip injury, and then not being able to find another
dog right away, well I have had to do most of Shaman's training on my own so
far. I will definitely need Nick's help when it comes time to train Shaman
on the bus lifts and avoiding stairs. I can do the elevator work my self. He
is doing very well in traffic now and is better about distractions,although
loose dogs are still a problem. He is beginning to get it about stopping at
curbs and drive ways, and the other day,there was some garbage on the road
in our path and he went around it on his own.  I used to travel against
traffic when not using side walks, but was told by a cop that I needed to go
with the traffic like bicyclists,as my chair was considered a vehicle. There
are a lot of sidewalks that I don't use as there are no curb cuts to get on
them or get off. There are also some that are so uneven that I prefer to use
the street rather than jar my spine every 2 minutes.Also there are some
sidewalks that end abruptly with a drop off. Arizona has no common sense
when it comes to building sidewalks. One of these drop off sidewalks is at a
bus stop,so I avoid using that bus stop.I have on occasion ,gotten stuck in
gravel as the county prefers to use gravel instead of sidewalks. I have also
gotten stuck in mud. It is a lot easier to just use the side of the street
to travel on.  I find that I don't get lost as often as I used to when I had
more vision,if that makes any sense. Nala knows her way around pretty well
and the only time I tend to loose by bearings is when I have to go some
where I am unfamiliar with. If I have gone some where at least twice and
said the name of the place,Nala knows where we are going and will take me
right up to the door.Some times when we are passing a bus stop, she tries to
stop there. I have to tell her that we are not stopping there today. Some
times if we are going on a familiar rout, she thinks we  are going going a
certain way and tries to turn down a street that we are not going on.Again I
have to tell her that we are not going that way today. She is definitely a
thinking dog.I keep telling her that I am giving the directions here,not
her. One time ,early in her career, I was coming home from a friends new
apartment,and it was really dark and I turned down the wrong road and lost
my bearings. I stopped and tried to figure out where I was. I told Nala to
find home and she took me home. I just hope that Shaman can be  as good a
guide as Nala is.  Have a great day,   Mardi and Nala,semi-retired and
Shaman, gdit