[nagdu] Aiken update...

[Jen&Nixon]

When was the last time I bragged about *MY* boy? A very long time LOL!
 
This winter has made walking pretty much impossible, as the weather
precipitation has been a yo-yo! One day it would be snowing and melting,
next it would be freezing rain, and melting again... We've had two weeks
ago, a cold snap for a week, (-30C); otherwise, it has been warm, then
freeze, etc. It has made our sidewalks a miserable mess to walk on! I've
been mainly working indoors or doing very short walks.... today, I went for
a longer walk not anticipating that it would be a *VERY* muddy walk! I am
glad I wore my waterproof pants!
 
I always relieve Aiken before each route, as he will relieve number
en-route, which is a no-no in my book (especially when crossing
intersections, and we've been very lucky curbing this problem since going
through only a once-a-day feeding so he would do number 2 in the mornings).
 
Each mud puddle he would point them out to me, as they were near the ends of
each curb! Previously times, he would attempt to walk through it and make me
get all soaking wet, not any more!!! He stopped at every intersection, and
if I slipped he would look back and wait until I regained my footing.
 
I shouldn't have done this route today, but I am pet sitting next week and
wanted to drop off my rent check today and plus, it is that time of year
that Tim Hortons runs their month-long "Roll Up The Rim To Win", and in
previous years, one time I won *FIVE* free cups of "coffee" (I drink tea!).
That was ridiculous, and made my family members darned jealous!
 
Aiken got his treat stopping by the pharmacy to see his friend, Christine,
who he actually *HUGS* (leans against her real hard, his way of hugging)...
ahhh, goldens! He is now curled up on my couch sleeping, watching me work at
the computer!
 
The other day I was with a friend going to Timmies with her, and Aiken was a
bit hesitant, but boy did he show off fantastic skills, including, for the
first time since training, a completely blocked sidewalk, someone needs to
go back to Driver's school, and Aiken stopped and he always curls in front
of me to keep me from moving forward, then we picked up and he picked up the
line of travel going around the large truck back onto the sidewalk... he is
doing absolutely *FANTASTIC*. Hard to believe, almost two years since I've
trained with him.
 
Oddly enough, my landlord said, "He's certainly maturing a great deal... I
see him maturing so much." I was a bit cross-eyed, since he's always been so
well-behaved, but she always compliments how well-behaved he is LOL! She
loves Aiken so much. Aiken is certainly becoming quite popular just as Nixon
was (lots of folks still miss the mellow yellow fellow! Follow-up in
subsequent e-mail about him shortly).
 
Ah, what a novel, but he's certainly a great guide dog and does phenomenal
work, and does so well, even the one time, I was crossing the drive-thru
parking to get to the other side where the sidewalk continues, someone had
an unleashed dog (oddly at the time a friend saw me and text me a few days
later to tell me that idiot dog was still there; but I've heard that fellow
was a problem and police were required to assist in removing him etc)... his
dog was not under control and practically went straight to Aiken's face.
Aiken just stood there, and I couldn't do anything about it, as it wasn't
Aiken's fault that he couldn't move! Poor Aiken... as he normally is never
dog distracted, but the other dog was completely blocking his path. I yelled
at the idiot, "Put your dog on a leash!" LOL We do have strict bylaws in our
town LOL! Yep, I can be a bitch when folks don't follow rules!!!!
 
Anyhow, there's a long-winded update on how well we are doing as a team!
 
Jen McEachen and Aiken
Pampered Critters Pet and House Sitting Services
Prince George, BC
pamperedcritters at gmail.com / www.pamperedcritters.ca
<http://www.pamperedcritters.ca/>  
"Like" us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/pamperedcritters