Two guides and a pup in training!

Today Reyna, Wendy, Glenda and I went up to Napa to spend the day with Dianne and “Hibiscus”. We went out to lunch at the Firewood cafe. It was a great little place that we had not discovered before. We had a nice time visiting together, and Reyna had fun hanging out with real guide dogs. All of the dogs did beautifully. I was especially proud of Reyna for being just as well behaved as Wendy and Hibiscus. Even though Reyna had a higher energy level because she still has a lot of puppy in her, I really couldn’t of asked for better behavior.

I came across a few occasions when I needed to put Reyna in a “down-stay”. One of the times was when I took this photo. She did a great job and she maintained her stay until I returned to her and released her.

After lunch, we walked a new route with Dianne. I did my best to describe the route and help her and Hibiscus become orientated to the new area. It sure made me realize just how difficult it is to get around without vision. It was also challenging because Wendy and Hibiscus have very different paces. Hibiscus goes very slow because Dianne has balance issues, and Wendy is more like a race car driver. Wendy would come up from behind and try to “pass” on the left. Glenda did a great job with slowing her down.

The roads were really uneven, and several of the sidewalks were also uneven creating a several tripping hazards. This made me very nervous. The dogs did a good job at stopping and showing these dangers to Glenda and Dianne. No one fell, so it was all good. There was also an overhead obstacle that both of the dogs missed. Glenda reworked it, and Wendy did well on the rework. Hibiscus had a big smile on her face while she was working the new route. I have never in my life seen a dog who is so concerned and careful with her handler than Hibiscus. This dog is truly amazing. She literally watches every single step Dianne take to make sure she doesn’t fall. She is so amazing to watch.

After we did the route, Dianne treated us to a drink at Starbuck’s and the dogs enjoyed sharing a cup of ice. We had another nice visit, and the dogs took a little rest. We dropped Dianne off at her house and then we headed back to Glenda’s. When we got there, we let Wendy and Reyna play together for a while. These to dogs just love to be together. And they are so good to each other. Glenda’s house is one of Reyna’s favorite places in the world. When it was time to leave, Reyna put on the breaks and tried to stay with Glenda. Reyna absolutely hates leaving Glenda and Wendy. She wouldn’t even get into the car. She wanted to stay with Glenda. She keep running back to Glenda. Poor thing, she never wants to go home when we visit Glenda and Wendy. With some convincing, I was able to get Reyna to get into the car. She pouted all the way home. It is so hard to end a good day, so I completely understood how Reyna felt. She is now asleep on her tie down. She sure wore herself out today hanging with the big dogs!