[nagdu] My new boy!

[Ioana Gandrabur]

Hi all,

I have a moment in this crazy schedule so I thought I'd tell you a bit about my new dog and first impressions of training here.

His name is Loyal and he's a 75 pound black lab 25 inches tall at the shoulders. About the same as my first guide. In fact my sister saw a picture and she things she might confuse them often. Should be fun for me to try and make sure who's in harness when I come home.

We are still learning to communicate but I feel he is very willing to please and support can get him a long way. In fact I do believe that most errors are happening because of miscommunication. He's 18 months old so that also makes a difference. And when he knows what to do he's very precise. 
Great fast pace and lighter pull than Adrian. All in all I am very happy. Kind of on the lookout to see when he'll beginn to test me.
Other than work he's a big Teddy bear. I have to refrain from patting him in official settings because he'll flop for a belly rub harness and all. Very cute but not quite what is appropriate at times. Also  he wines something awful when I prepare food. One should think his heart is braking in despair at my slowness. I am ignoring him for now but if it gets worse I'll try to get him to stop by interrrupting the preparations as long as he is crying. I think it would be too cruel though so if he does not wine when on the job I might let it pass. we'll see how things go.

The 2 week program feels good so far. Small classes are nice and we progress fast from one route to an other. I will however only know if two weeks are enough when I see how I feel at the end.


That's it from GDB training marathon!

All the best to you and your puppies,

Ioana and Loyal