[nagdu] Monty's graduation

[Toni Whaley]

Julie,

Congratulations. It's always great when you reach your goal.

Toni 

-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
Of Julie J
Sent: Friday, November 06, 2009 12:45 PM
To: NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users
Cc: gdsdtrainingonly at yahoogroups.com; bviclickertraining at yahoogroups.com
Subject: [nagdu] Monty's graduation

Hello all!

I wanted to write to update everyone on our progress.  As most of you know I
have owner trained Monty.  Owner training is a gamble and I had no
guarantees of ending up with a working guide at the end of it.  it is what I
love though, and for now that is reason enough for me to owner train my
guides.  

I got Monty August 14 of last year.  I have worked with him almost every day
for the past 15 months on everything he would need to know to work as a
guide dog.   Most owner trainers, and programs for that matter, move a lot
faster through guide dog training than I do.   That is for several reasons,
my preference to go slowly, Monty's age, his slow maturation and my new job
taking up more of my time.

On October 7 he started going to work with me.  I considered this past month
to be a parallel to what most of you experience when you go to a guide
program.  The dog is fully trained, but there is still a lot to be worked
out.  My experience with Monty has been similar, I think.

He is working out splendidly!  I really couldn't be happier with his work.
He has settled in nicely to my work environment.  I work in the courthouse
in the criminal justice section, so sometimes things can be a tad out of the
ordinary. *smile*  He is learningwhere the various offices are that I most
often visit and is showing those to me reliably.  He is quiet and well
mannered, for the most part.  He still likes to visit with people who come
into my office but we are working on it and is most definitely not out of
control.

His outdoor work is absolutely wonderful.  this morning he saved me from a
rather spectacular fall on the very slick brick street.  He slowed down and
pulled lightly after that and showed extra caution, but was not upset or
flustered by my lack of gracefulness.  

Although I have still not totally finished up his traffic training, he shows
more traffic awareness than any other dog I have ever had.  He is very aware
of traffic and acts accordingly even though his training in this department
isn't complete.  I think when I do finally finish up his traffic training it
will be more for my peace of mind than his education.  

He remembers every place we have ever been and points them all out to me.
He does this with a pause and a look back at me as if to ask, "Are we going
this way today?"  He's happy to follow whatever direction I give him.   He's
also showing aptitude at reversing routs although I haven't explored the
depth of his skill in this area.

This weekend has a lot of things to celebrate.  I am going to graduate Monty
to full guide dog status.  There are a few things we still need to work on,
but he is doing all of the core behaviors a guide dog needs to be able to do
and he is doing them reliably.   This weekend is also 5 years since I got
Belle and 4 years since I started working with her as a fully trained guide
dog.   Also to my and my vet's best guess Monty is now two years old.  So
I'll dub the first weekend in November as his "official" birthday.  

It has been too long since I've had a fully trained guide at my side.  The
past month has reminded me why the 14 before that were all worth it.   I
know most of you will probably think that is a crazy long amount of time and
work to have no guarantee of ending up with a working guide.  that's okay,
maybe you're right.  For me, though, it is the scenery on the road less
traveled that brings me joy.  

Thanks for reading!
Julie 
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