[nagdu] New Member Introduction

[S L Johnson]

Hello:

I just joined the list earlier this week.  Although I've responded to a few
posts, I hadn't yet introduced myself.  My name is Sandra Johnson.  I became
a member of the Indianapolis chapter in October and attended my first state
convention two weeks later.  I've been a guide dog user for almost 40 years.
I am currently working Pilot Dog Eva, a golden who celebrated her 2nd
birthday on February 8th.  I met Eva on April 14th 2014.  Yes, if you do the
math, my little girl was only 14 months old when I got her.  Although she
was very young, we breezed through our 10 days of training as if we had been
together for years.  When I brought her home, she adjusted with ease as if
she had lived here all her life.  Eva is an excellent guide who is very
confident and eager to learn new things.  Pilot does not teach the dogs to
find or to follow.  I use those commands a lot so I taught her.  She got the
concepts immediately and will now locate seats, stairs, elevators etc...
Follow was no problem.  When my sister met us at bus, I pointed to her and
told Eva to follow and she followed my sister to the car as if she'd been
trained to do this.  When I want her to follow someone, I point to them and
then give Eva the follow command and off she goes happily wagging her tail
with glee to be showing off her skills.    She amazes me when I am shopping
with my parents.  If I lose track of one of them, I ask Eva to find mom or
dad and she immediately takes me to them.  Then when we leave the store, she
will find my dad's car in the parking lot before they find it.  Our only
working problem is a bit too much sniffing and wanting to play with people.
I tell her that her curiosity is getting her in trouble.  She still has a
few puppy habits such as trying to chew my hands, tugging on my sleeves,
jumping on me and people who come to see us.  We're working on this and I am
sure as she matures, these behaviors will gradually disappear.  In my short
time on this list I have enjoyed taking part in the discussions and hearing
about you and your dogs.  Hopefully I'll get to meet some of you at
convention this summer.    

Sandra and Eva