[nagdu] one week update

[Hannah Chadwick]

Kerri,
Congrats on your new partner. I had a poodle from Pilot a while back so I
totally understand what you're talking about. They are super stubborn, and
think they know it all, lol.
My only suggestion is that if you're traveling a lot and are constantly on
the go, you may want to consider only letting her go on concrete. I love to
travel and I'm super close to San Franciso, but it's also hard to find grass
in large cities sometimes. When I had my dog, she never ever went on
concrete after I introduced grass to her. So that was definitely a huge
challenge for me. she held out for a couple of days one time because it was
raining and I didn't want to take her in the muddy grass.
That's my two cents. Feel free to write me offlist if you have questions.
Best, Hannah

-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Kerri Stovall via
nagdu
Sent: Thursday, April 30, 2015 8:04 PM
To: the National Association of Guide Dog Users NAGDU Mailing List
Subject: [nagdu] one week update

Hey listers,
This is my one week update! lol
Sadie is doing remarkably well settling in, although I'm having to watch her
barking and growling at who knows what. I have no idea if I'll be able to
totally nip this behavior, since it seems to be a poodle trait, according to
other poodlers out there. But, other than that, and the occasional new dog
kind of misbehaving, like getting up to see what's going on, everything's
going amazingly well. Now, I don't know if this is a novel idea that I came
up with, or if someone before me has done this, but a few weeks ago, right
before I got the call from Pilot, I had decided to buy a diaper genie, and
use it to lock in odors from poop bags. Instead of running the poop bag up
to the very front of our trailer park, and we're in the back by the way, I
thought it would be easier and less of a hassle to just get one of those and
fill it with poop bags and take it out a couple times a week if necessary.
To me, baby diapers are just as smelly, and this contraption was invented
and designed !lock in offensive odors while indoors in a nursery, so why
wouldn't it work for dog poo too? So I thought I'd give that a good old
fashioned shot. And, lo and behold, the night I put it together, she went
poo for me, and gave me the perfect first opportunity to try it out, which
was tonight. So, I'll have to let yall know how the diaper genie elite does
keeping odors from smelling up the place. It kinda grossed me out just a
little thinking of leaving poop inside, because my hubby and I are clean
freaks when it comes to scents in our home, but I thought, well, it's kind
of the point of the genie to be kept inside. lol Anyway, another behavior
I'm not used to but quickly getting there, is that she is very finicky and
picky about when and where she will relieve herself. I took her out all
throughout the day, first in my backyard before work, then 3 times at work
throughout the day, including lunchtime, and then after work at home in back
again, and she never one time acted the least bit interested or like she was
uncomfortable with the need to relieve in any fashion, but when I got a
hunch to try the front lawn, by gosh she just squatted within 15 to 20
seconds of me getting her to the grass. lol. Granted, when I first received
her in class, she hated the relieving area which was all concrete, but after
a 3 day wait, she went finally, so maybe it's just her getting used to the
routine of things or the environment, or it just may be another poodle
trait. I'm not certain yet, because my golden and my lab before this one,
never had that issue whatsoever, so this new breed is completely foreign to
me, and it's taking some learning. Also, I had her groomed before leaving
Ohio, and I wish in a way I'd left her fur longer than I did, because all of
a sudden, she doesn't want her warm belly touching anything cold, so she's a
little more disobedient by being resistent to stay in the down position, but
she has learned to lie down on one hip or the other, so her belly's not
directly touching the floor. She's a little slow to go down on carpets, but
absolutely resists it on tile, linoleum, the bus, etc. So I've taken to
carrying a thin bath towel with me in my bag, and that seems to help. So,
come June when it's time to bathe her, I may not clip her just yet and let
her grow out a little. My idea was to get her back to Texas with short fur
so she wouldn't burn up in this dry heat, because it can get in the 100's,
but didn't expect them to clip her almost bare. But I'll leave her longer
from this point on.
Well, I'll stop my novel now, lol. But if anyone has anything they want to
add, or any suggestions, thoughts, tips, or opinions on what I've discussed,
I'd love to hear them.
Talk to yall people soon.
Kerri and Lady Sadie


Sent from my iPhone
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