DAY SIX...

Thanks for the comments!!!!

Saturday was a low-key day in regards to training. (Luckily!)  I think everyone was tired, including the trainers.:)

Saturday, we had a lot of practice time.  They also had a professional photographer come in to take some pictures.  Of course C wasn't cooperating again, so I'm not sure how many pictures she got of us.  She did get one of me and the dog that I know of. 

The trainers split us up into groups.  They rotated us in going to the "play yard" to show us the rules.  While they were rotating us through, they also had us practice the retrieve commands ("get" and "give").  We also did some practice outside walking with C using his leash which is attached to the dog's vest.  They were also teaching us at the same time how to "shadow" commands with C giving commands also.  Basically the child is supposed to say the command, i.e. sit, fetch, etc and you say the command right after him so the dog learns to listen to the child.  I talked to one of the trainers about which "signs" to use with C so he can say the commands also.  She showed me the signs that they teach the hearing students.  We are going to use some of them and some will be ASL signs.

One of the commands that they trainers had us practice was "speak".  It took a bit of time to get C's dog to speak--but when it finally did, C started to say "woof"!!  Neither DH nor I have heard C say "woof" before.  I need to ask my other kids if they have heard him say it.  If this is the first time that C has said "woof" then I am super excited to hear a new word from C.  This is one of the reasons we wanted the dog, to see if it could help C become more verbal.

We went on a field trip to Lowe's also.  This was one of C's was most difficult times during the day.  At first, he didn't want to get out of the car, so I called his bluff.  DH and Nanny S stayed outside the car with the dog, and I got back in the car with C.  I started the car and put it in drive.  I didn't go anywhere, but the minute C saw that I was ready to leave, he decided he wanted to stay with dad, and was willing to get out of the car.

We practiced walking around the store.  The trainer would have us practice dealing with different scenarios.  Interacting with friendly public (who wanted to pet the dog, etc), walking with a shopping cart, noisy cart coming near the dog, etc.  We also practiced putting the dog "under" a table.

We had two lectures yesterday.  One was with just the skilled companion teams.  The trainer talked about how it was ok to drop commands that we would never use in our personal situation.  The other lecture was about following a daily routine: feeding and toileting at consistent times, exercising every day, practicing commands a bit each day, and grooming the dog everyday.

Then we went on a walk, so we could practice dealing with other dogs out walking.  We had our play yard time after the walk.  Our dog was more interested in eating the leaves then playing fetch.  I got to learn how to PRY it's mouth open to get the leaf out.  Fun, fun, fun!! (Yuck!)

We finished early, at 3 pm.  We had talked about going to the beach, but ended up walking down to the park instead.  C and his dad had a good rousing game of TAG while the dog and I took pictures.:)

I didn't post yesterday because we spent about 2 hours trying to figure out how to get a medical release form sent to our kids' sitters.  Their cousins have strep.  Our kids are starting to get sick too.  And since I had neglected to sign a release before we left, we had to do that last night.  The last report I've gotten is that so far our kids are just semi-sick.  None of them have had fevers, etc; just sore throats.  I might call their pediatrician's office tomorrow to see if they should be tested for strep anyway.

I have been informed that I messed up yesterday.:0  So, I'm going to close the poll tomorrow and let you know which dog C has been assigned.  I won't give the name, just the gender and color.   Maybe I'll go look at the poll and see if anyone has changed their vote!