jprindle

Cranberry's vacation

Thu, 23 Jul 2009 00:22:12 GMT

Cranberry and I just returned from a camping trip and we <loved> it!! My husband and I camp in a self contained travel trailer. We went to Riverfront State Park, which is near Spokane, Washington. Many members of Jack's family joined us, so that made it extra special. The Columbia River has a dam on it a few miles downstream of this campground so there was a beautiful lake right close to where we camped. Also, the trailer sites had water, electricity and sewer hook-ups, so it was almost as nice as home. Unfortunately, our air conditioner wasn't working and the temps were 95 to 100 degrees!

Cranberry didn't have to work while we were on vacation. I let her have a little time off, too, as the ground around the campground was all fairly smooth and grassy. We could walk down a hill and be right at lakeside so, with what vision I have, it was pretty easy to find the lake. I took Cranberry to the lake to swim every day. There was a great place for her to swim, away from the designated people swimming area and away from people using boats. She love retrieving a bumper from the lake and since she stays very close to me, I could throw it into the lake, tell Cranberry to 'fetch' and she would swim right out, pick up the bumper and bring it right back to me. Cranberry would do this over and over and beg for more when it was time to leave. Cranberry loved her vacation.

So, when I got back home, I had Cranberry work around a one mile course through our neighborhood and she didn't miss a beat! I was so proud of her.

What a great dog I have!

raining chips

Thu, 18 Jun 2009 00:07:16 GMT

I was so proud of Cranberry, the chow hound, today. Today was our last day of school and the entire staff of our school went out for lunch at a Mexican restaurant. We were just sitting down at the end of a long table where Cranberry could be comfortable on the floor. She was just getting comfortable when the waitress came by carrying about six baskets of corn chips. I'm not sure how it happened but all of a sudden, the chips came raining down around and on top of Cranberry and another teacher. Cranberry didn't move and everyone thought she was so cute with all of these chips all over her. The waitress was very sorry and started picking up as many of the chips that she could. Then, she got out the vacuum. Cranberry isn't too fond of vacuums, so she moved a bit when it came close, but settled right down when the waitress was done.

I was so proud of Cranberry and for her maintaining her manners with all these chips around her. She did sniff at one chip, but didn't try to eat any. And with the vacuum, well, she just moved so the waitress could get every crumb! What a good dog she is!

Cranberry locked in 5/4/09

Mon, 15 Jun 2009 03:37:16 GMT

Cranberry and I had quite an adventure this afternoon. We had just arrived
home from my job in our access van. Cranberry loves to sit between the two
front seats when I'm in the front seat so that's where she was when I got
out of the van, ready to open the side door to let her out. Somehow, the
automatic lock button got pushed and Cranberry and all my school stuff got
locked in the van!! My beautiful Cranberry was stuck in the van and neither
the driver or I could open the door.

The driver was able to get the rear door of the van opened. However, the
wheelchair lift took up almost the entire opening. The driver tried to
hand-manipulate the lift to get it down but it didn't work.

The space between the lift and the wall of the van was big enough for
Cranberry to squeeze through if she could manage to get turned around with
her harness on and step across the mechanism holding the ramp in place. So
I called her from the open back end of the van and she managed to get her
harness stuck between the seats. She couldn't go anywhere!

By this time I was starting to panic. Not only was I concerned about
Cranberry's predicament, I knew she had to go potty (as is her usual
routine) and I didn't know how long she could wait. The driver called the
base and was told that someone would be out immediately.

I knew nothing would happen for at least an hour as that is how long it
would take to get anyone out here. And that's in <good> traffic conditions.
The traffic around here is terrible. There wasn't much anyone could do but
wait. I had to go inside my house to get dinner started and Jack had a
commitment this evening and we were pressed for time.

As I prepared dinner, I kept going out to see if any progress was being made
to release Cranberry from her predicament. After about an hour, the driver
asked me if I had a wire hanger he could have. He worked, trying to lift
the door handle, hit the 'unlock' button or get the keys out of the
ignition. Finally, he was able to get the door open and I was able to get
Cranberry. She was so happy to get out of prison!! I don't know how the
driver was finally able to get the door open, but I was awfully happy to
have my girl back. She had been stuck in the van for almost 90 minutes!!
And she didn't complain a bit!

When the driver was getting ready to leave, I told him to blame the locked
door on me. I was feeling around for the door handle and could have hit
that 'lock' button very easily. I certainly didn't want the driver to be
penalized for getting locked out of the van.... And Cranberry getting
locked in!!

Well, that's the most exciting thing that has happened to us in the last few
days! I could do with a little less excitement..............

Trip to Alaska July 12-19

Fri, 12 Jun 2009 19:14:09 GMT

I am home from my cruise to Alaska with wonderful memories. Cranberry did pretty well, even though all our training to do her business on a puppy pad failed. We still did OK. More about this later.

This cruise involved 24 members of my family, including my parents (who are in their 80's), my brother and sisters and our spouses, our children and <their> spouses and my parents great grandchildren. The cruise was a memorial cruise. My favorite uncle passed away about 18 months ago. We found out that he had quite a bit of money saved and also, his property was worth a great deal. My mother was his only relative, so got his entire estate. There was enough money for each of my mom's heirs to have quite a bit as well as for all of us to go on this cruise.

Our cruiser was pretty small -- holding only 225 people. There was only about 125 on board for this cruise, We saw some amazing things -- lots of animals in the wild and beautiful scenery. We got within 1/3 of a mile of the Sawyer Glacier and it seemed so strange to be cruising with ice burgs floating by.

We visited several small towns. Our cruise started in Juneau, went to Haines, Skagway, Sitka, Petersburg and Wrangell, then back to Juneau. Each town had it's own special attractions and we were able to visit a raptor center, rode the Skagway railroad, which gold miners rode in the early 1900's, and went on a wildlife safari, as well as explored each town. We saw such interesting buildings, both built by native Alaskans as well as people coming in from all over the world. We ate fantastic food (and yes, I gained a few poinds), an adequate state room and unbelievable views just outside out window and deck. It was truly awe inspiring.  People saw many different kinds of birds including Bald Eagles, Golden Eagles and puffins. Also, some of the animals people saw included bears, moose, Humpback whales, Orca whales, Stellers seals and sea otters. I had to take it from other people that these animals were in view as the only animal I saw that I could really identify the species of was the Bald Eagle. I could actually see its white head, dark body and yellow beak. All of the other animals, I could sometimes see as a silhouette. It was really exciting to see the silhouette of a whale, visible for only a fleeting moment, then was gone,  I wished I could have seen them better, It was really fabulous to have a naturalist on board with us to tell us what we were seeing and describe the flora and fauna we were observing, On our last full day; our crew picked up another naturalist that worked for the forest service who was an expert geologist and could tell us all we wanted to now about glaciers and the mountains. An interesting side note that he told us about was that just the day before, a pleasure craft was going too fast through the fjord and hit an ice burg, There was a MAYDAY call because the ice berg gashed a hole in the hull of he boat. The passengers on the boat were rescued and the boat was towed to shore. Hearing this story brought visions of the 'Tiatanic' to my mind!!

Cranberry did remarkedly well. Her work was almost flawless and passengers and crew were very respectful of my 'no petting' rule. On the last evening of our cruise, one of the waiters was standing next to the entrance of the dining room and said that he has been hoping, all week, to pet Cranberry. I said I would take her harness off so he could pet her. When I said this, he opened the curtain to the dining room and yelled to the other crew members, who were sitting at a table having a meeting, that 'the harness is off. We can pet Cranberry!!' Everyone jumped up and surrounded Cranberry and petted her. Berry just loved it and rolled over on her back for a 10-handed belly scratch!! The crew had been so wonderful that I thought they deserved a chance to interact with Cranberry and Cranberry deserved a chance for some pets from everyone else.

As far as Cranberry's relieving, things worked out OK, just not as I had expected, On Sunday morning, July 13th, I took Cranberry and her piddle pads out on the deck. Unfortunately, she had diarrhea and it didn't hit the pad.  I used several pads to clean up and then scrubbed the deck with liquid cleaner that I carry. (I got reprimanded for using liquid cleaner as it is very important to not soil the pristine environment, which the cleaner does,  I apologized and was forgiven, then told to let the crew know where clean-up was needed and it would be cleaned with special bio-degradable cleaner.) Then I took Berry to the bow of the boat, where I was told to relieve Cranberry. She peed and peed and peed (NOT on the pad) and I cleaned up what I could with the pads. That was the last time Berry did her business on the boat for several days. She held everything until we got off the boat and boy!! was she glad to get on terra firma.  One day, Cranberry didn't get off until about 3:00PM. I was worried about the last two full days of the cruise, On Thursday, I was able to relieve Cranberry about 5:00 PM, but on Friday, we didn't get off the boat all day!! I took Cranberry to her relieving place many times during the day, but she refused to do anything. I'm sure she was thinking that we would be getting off at any moment. In fact, I was so worried about Cranberry having an accident that I didn't even take her to the captain's cocktail party or final dinner,  Of course, everyone wanted to know where she was and why she wasn't with me!! Cranberry spent about 2 hours in the bathroom in our cabin.

As soon as the final dinner was finished, I raced up to my room and got Cranberry and took her out to her special place, By now, it was cold and almost raining, The boat was throwing water up over the bow...just what I wanted to relieve Cranberry in --- NOT!!  I knew we wouldn't be docking until 5:00 in the morning and I didn't want to worry about Cranberry all night, nor did I want to get up at 5:00 to take her out. I pleaded with Cranberry, teased her by trying to get her to play, but nothing worked. Then, just before I was about to give up, she stopped, hunched her back and pooped!!  I don't think I was ever go happy to see a dog poop!! I praised Cranberry then cleaned everything up. I encouraged Cranberry to pee and after a couple of minutes, she peed -- and peed -- and peed and it seemed like she peed gallons!! While I cleaned up, I praised Cranberry over and over again and she was so pleased with herself. It was then that I went inside and met up with the waiter who wanted to pet Cranberry. You can see that I was most pleased with this pup, which was one of the reasons I said 'yes' to the petting.

We arrived home last night, July 19th and spent today trying to catch up and read e-mails.

Wed, 13 Aug 2008 18:09:03 GMT

I am home from my cruise to Alaska with wonderful memories. Cranberry did pretty well, even though all our training to do business on a puppy pad failed. We still did OK. More about this later.

This cruise involved 24 members of my family, including my parents (who are in their 80's), my brother and sisters and our spouses, our children and <their> spouses and my parents great grandchildren. This cruise was a memorial cruise. My favorite uncle passed away about 18 months ago. We found out that he had quite a bit of money saved and also, his property was worth a great deal. My mother was his only relative, so got his entire estate. There was enough money for each of my mom's heirs to have quite a bit as well as for all of us to go on this cruise.

Our cruiser was pretty small -- holding only 225 guests. There was only about 125 on board for this cruise. We saw some amazing things -- lots of animals in the wild and beautiful scenery. We got within 1/3 of a mile of the Sawyer Glacier and it seemed so strange to be cruising with ice burgs floating by

We visited several small towns. Our cruise started in Juneau, went to Haines, Skagway,Sitka, Petersburg and Wrangell, then back to Juneau. Each town had it's own special attraction and we were able to visit a raptor center, rode the Skagway railroad which gold miners rode in the early 1900's and went on a wildlife safari as well as explored each town. We saw such interesting buildings, both build by native Alaskans as well as people coming in from all over the world. We had fantastic food (and yes, I gained a few pounds), an adequate state room and unbelievable views just outside our window and deck. It was truly awe inspiring. People saw many different kinds of birds including Bale Eagles, Golden Eagles and puffins. Also, some of the mammals people saw included bears, moose, Humpback whales, Orca whales, Stellers seals and sea otters. I had to take it from other people that these animals were in view as the only animal I saw that I could really identify the species of was the Bald Eagle. I could actually see its white head, dark body and yellow beak. All the other animals, I could sometimes see a silhouette. It was really exciting to see the silhouette of a whale, but it was visible for only a fleeting moment, then was gone. I wished I could have seen them better. It was really fabulous to have a naturalist on board with us to tell us what we were seeing and describe the flora and fauna we were observing. On our last full day, our crew picked up another naturalist that worked for the forest service who was an expert geologist and could tell us all we wanted to know about glaciers and the mountains. An interesting side note that he told us about was that just the day before, a pleasure craft was going too fast through the fjord and hit an ice burg. There was a MAYDAY call because the iceberg gashed a hole in the hull of the boat. The passengers on the boat were rescued and the boat was towed to shore. Hearing this story brought visions of the Titanic to my mind!!

Cranberry did remarkably well. Her work was almost flawless and passengers and crew were very respectful of my 'no petting in harness' rule. On the last evening of our cruise, one of the waiters was standing next to the entrance of the dining room and said that he had been hoping all week to pet Cranberry. I said I would take her harness off so he could pet her. When I said this, he opened the curtain to the dining room and yelled to the other crew members, who were sitting at a table having a meeting, that 'the harness is off. We can pet Cranberry!!'. Everyone jumped up and quickly surrounded Cranberry and petted her. Berry just loved it and rolled over on her back for a 10-handed belly scratch!! The crew had been so wonderful that I though they deserved a chance to interact with Cranberry and Cranberry deserved a chance for some pets from everyone else.

As far as Cranberry's relieving, things worked out OK, just not as I had expected. On Sunday morning, July 13th, I took Cranberry and her piddle pads out on the deck. Unfortunately, she had diarrhea and it didn't hit the pad. I used several pads to clean up and then scrubbed the deck with liquid cleaner that I carry. (I got reprimanded for using liquid cleaner as it is very important not to soil the pristine environment, which the cleaner does. I apologized and was forgiven, then told to let the crew know where clean-up was needed and it would be cleaned with special bio-degradable cleaner.) Then, I took Berry to the bow of the boat, where I was told to relieve Cranberry. She peed and peed and peed (NOT on the pad) and I cleaned up what I could with the pads. That was the last time Berry did her business on the boat for several days. She held everything until we got off the boat -- and boy! was she glad to get on terra firma. On day, Cranberry didn't get off until about 3:00 PM!! I was worried about the last two full days of the cruise. On Thursday, I was able to relieve Cranberry about 5:00 PM, but on Friday, we didn't get off the boat all day!! I took Cranberry to her relieving place many times during the day but she refused to do anything. I'm sure she was thinking that we would be getting off at any moment. In fact, I was so worried about Cranberry having an accident that I didn't even take her to the Captain's cocktail party or final dinner. (Of course, everyone wanted to know where she was and why she wasn't with me!!) Cranberry spent about 2 hours in the bathroom in our cabin.

As soon as the final dinner was finished, I raced up to my room and got Cranberry and took her out to her special place. By now, it was cold and almost raining. The boat was throwing water up over the bow... just what I wanted to relieve Cranberry in NOT!! I knew we wouldn't be docking until 5:00 in the morning and I didn't want to worry about Cranberry all night nor did I want to get up at 5:00 to take her out. I pleaded with Cranberry, teased her by trying to get her to play, but nothing worked. Then, just before I was about to give up, she stopped, hunched her back and pooped! I don't think I was ever so happy to see a dog poop!! I praised Cranberry then cleaned everything up. I encouraged Berry to pee and after a couple of minutes, she peed -- and it seemed like she peed gallons!! While I cleaned up, I praised Cranberry over and over again and she was so pleased with herself. It was then that I went inside and met up with the waiter who wanted to pet Cranberry. You can see that I was most pleased with this pup, which was one of the reasons I said 'yes' to the petting.

We arrived home last night (July 19,2008) and spent today trying to catch up and read e-mail. Looking back, our cruise was one of the most enjoyable vacations I have ever had. Everything worked out perfectly (almost) and I was with the people who I care about the most

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 18:34:10 GMT

I must brag on my Cranberry. Yesterday (Saturday) Cranberry and I went to the Petapalooza. It was a big function for dogs and their owners. There were lots of trade booths selling doggie supplies and assorted things. There were demonstrations of all kinds of service dogs and other working dogs, plus performance dogs like police, herding and agility. There was also a run/walk with your dog to start off the festivities. It was quite an event.

Cranberry and I were there with the puppy raising group in the next town. They were recruiting new raisers and selling dog toys and other things as a club fund raiser and asked if Cranberry and I would like to join them. How could we refuse?!?

There were hundreds of dogs there, most not too well behaved. However, I must admit that with all those dogs, I didn't hear a single squabble. Anyway, Cranberry handled herself like the pro that she is. She guided me throughout the day with hardly a sniff at another dog. She gave me a lot of space as we walked past other dogs and ignored dogs who came up to sniff at her. Somehow, she knew the dogs that were in our 'booth' were her friends and she would let the pups kiss her and lick her face. I had a great chance to talk to people who were interested in raising and members of the puppy raising club.

Tue, 22 Apr 2008 04:23:03 GMT

Today is Saturday, April 19, 2008. Jack, Cranberry and I have recently returned home from a 9 day trip to New York, Washington DC and Williamsburg, Virginia. This was Cranbery's first opportunity to fly, stay in a hotel and be away from home for more than a week. She did wonderfully and I want to tel you about our adventures.

On Saturday, April 5, 2008, Jack, Cranberry and I got up very early to make our 8:30 AM flight out of Sea-Tac airport near Seattle, Washington. After checking our luggage in, we got in line to go through security. Cranberry and I had no problems. I left her on a 'sit-stay' on one side of the metal detecter and walked through, myself. I 'beeped'. Then, I called Cranberry through and she 'beeped' too. We were both 'wanded'' and when everything had cleared, we made our way toward our gate.

Jack and I had our hands full with Cranberry and our carry on luggage. Jack had his trumpet as his carry-on and I had our lap top, as well as my back pack as my 'purse', which was filled with things for Berry and necessities for me. Of couarse, I had Cranberry and she did a marvelous job guiding me out to the gate.

Jack talked to the gate agent about us traveling with a Guide Dog and asked for extra room, if possible. We were told that they would do the best they could and left it at that. We also asked to pre-board, which we did. By the time the plane was loaded, we had an extra seat between us that was the only empty seat on the plane. Thank you American Airlines!!

Cranberry was wonderful for the entire trip. She lay, spralled out on the floor in front of the vacant seat. Jack and I appreciated the extra room as well.

The trip was uneventful and Berry barely noted when we landed at JFK in New York, over five hours since we took off. We waited until most of the plane was unloaded before collecting our carry on items and deboarding. I was a bit concerned about Cranberry walking a considerable distance through the terminal as it had been 8 hours since she last pottied and it was past her usual relieving time. I could tell, just by Cranberry's guiding and gait, that she had to 'go' bad and yes, she stopped and pooped in the terminal. Jack and I immediatly cleaned up after her and hardly anyone noticed. We hurried to pick up our luggage (three pieces) and out to pick up our rental car. Cranberry relieved again in the parking lot, a much better place.

Before our trip started, Jack purchased a Tom-Tom, a small GPS unit. He programmed the unit with the address for our hotel and our Tommy gave us excellent directions for the hotel, about 30 minutes from our son, Aaron, and daughter-in-law, Levava's, apartment in Port Jefferson, Long Island, New York. We arrived at the hotel and went to check in. Unfortunately, although we had reserved a non-smoking room, none were available. The room that had been assigned to us was so horribly full of smoke, we just couldn't stay there. Jack got on the phone and talked to Levana about finding another hotel or place we could stay. Levana came through with a bed and breakfast for us and it was right in Port Jefferson, only a few blocks from Aaron and Levana's apartment.

We arrived at the bed and breakfast, The Ransom Inn, about 8:30 PM after traveling all day. We were exhausted and a little stressed, especially after the experience at the hotel. The proprietor of the B&B was delighted to welcome all of us -- Cranberry included, for the night. She had 4 other dogs of her own, all Cavalier King Charles Spaniels. Once the other pups met Cranberry, all was well with humans and dogs.

Jack and I fell into bed and slept soundly.

Sunday, April 6, 2008

The next day, we awoke and, after relieving Cranberry in the large, fenced yard, sat down to a wonderful breakfast. We spent most of the day with Aaron.

Maybe, before I go on, I should mention that one of the reasons we went to NY was that my daughter-in-law, Levana was finishing up her Doctor's degree in Clarinet Performance from Stoney Brook (State University of New York, Stoney Brook). Her last requirement was her Doctorial Recital, which we were most anxious to hear. Lavana was concerned that family visiting could distract her from her practice and preparation. Also, we knew that she was counting on Aaron to help her out and give her support. We didn't want to interfere with her needs in any way.

So, on Sunday, April 6, we were told that Levana needed to practice in their apartment. We decided to go out and Aaron was able to go with us. After a short drive, we stopped at the beach near Port Jefferson. It is on the Long Island Sound and this particular day, it was very cold and windy. This was just what Aaron wanted as he had brought his manueverable kite and wanted to fly it. The conditions were perfect for kite flying, but not too good for standing around!! Cranberry and I watched for a while, then went back to the car to watch from there!! Although it was not particularily warm, at least we were out of the wind. After both Aaron and Jack were done flying the kite, we headed back into town for a bite to eat and to go back to Aaron and Levana's apartment.

I should mention a bit about Aaron and Levana's apartment. It is a large studio apartment with a separate 'office' and bathroom on the second floor of a building built in the 1840's. It has three small windows on one end of the main room that overlook one of the commercial streets in a quaint tourist-y town. The neighborhood has many restaurants and shopw within walking distance and is only a few blocks from the ferry to Connecticut and the beach. There used to be an antique and rare book store underneath the apartment, but that was recently sold and now there is a branch of the public library housed in the building. To get to the apartment, one must climb a long narrow staircase, so leg muscles strengthened as we went up and down many times! Aaron and Levana are in the 'front' apartment and a couple of other music students live in the back .This is a good place for Aaron and Levana to live. They have been close to Levana's college and classes and her work location. Aaron has a bit of a drive to his work site. He's a band teacher in Port Washington, a little more than an hour's drive away.

So. back to our day! Since Levana had gone back up to the university after she finished practicing, we spent some time in the apartment, just relaxing and taking it easy. By dinner time, Levana had returned and we enjoyed walking to one of the little restaurants for dinner.

After dinner and a little more time in Aaron and Levana's apartment, Jack, Cranberry and I left to go back to the B&B we stayed in last night. We said 'good bye' to the 'kids' as we were headed for Washington DC in the morning.

More to come........

June 24, 2007

Mon, 25 Jun 2007 04:45:32 GMT

Hi Friends,

It has been several weeks since I have updated my journal. I thought I should let you know that Cranberry and I have been doing very well. She is an excellent Guide Dog and has pretty good house manners. We are becoming a closer team and learning how to really 'read' each other.

Last weekend, Cranberry and I went to the Oregon Guide Dog Users' Spring Romp. It is a weekend-long 'convention' of dog guide users, puppy raisers and friends. I have gone several times as a puppy raiser and have taken several of my puppies. This year, I was experiencing it as a dog guide user for the first time.

The Romp is held at Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Oregon. We stay in a student dorm and have meals in the dining hall. There is a lounge in the dorm we can meet in that includes a small kitchen. Across the street where the dining hall is, there is also a large meeting room with an entry and foyer just outside of it. The dining room is at the other end of the foyer, just a few steps away. It works well for our needs.

Cranberry did so well at the Romp. After just a couple of times finding our dorm room, she could locate our door with me saying 'find our room'. Cranberry got along fine with my room mate and her dog. My room mate has been a friend for many years. She has also been a dog guide user for a long time.

I took a mesh crate for Cranberry to sleep in. The one that I have is really the one I use for Brassy who is considerably smaller. It was a tight squeeze for Cranberry and when she moved around, she would bump out the sides and top of the crate. However, she was able to get cofortable enough to sleep and she didn't chew on the mesh, something I was a bit concerned about.

During out meetings and workshops, Cranberry was very good about laying under the table. When it was time to leave, she was up and ready. I was so proud of Berry's good behavior.

One really exciting thing about the Romp is that Cranberry took the Canine Good Citizen test and passed!! I was very proud of her, but certainly not surprised! My friend, Lynn, was the evaluator. I have evaluated the CGC tests at the Romp for the last several years and encouraged Lynn to get her CGC Evaluator certification. I was really happy last year when she could evaluate my pup. Then, I was able to evaluate hers and those two were the only ones who did not pass!! This year, Lynn evaluated all the pups and I kind of watch and encouraged. She did a great job. I think only one of the dogs did not pass.

Cranberry and I are finishing up our last couple of days at school on Monday and Tuesday. Monday is the last day for the kids and it is only half a day for them. The rest of the day is for cleaning up and for me, I'm getting ready to change rooms. Cranberry just lays in the corner. I leave her on a tie down to keep her from wandering around or visiting my neighbor, but she doesn't seem to mind.

The other day, another teacher and I took a small group of kids to a local drive-in for ice cream. These kids had 'earned' the outing by behaving appropriately, doing their homework and working hard. The other teacher took the lead and I brought up the read with Cranberry for the short walk to the drive-in. The kids all had their ice cream then went over to a play ground until it was time for the kids to return to school. Cranberry was so good the whole time. And, the kids were good about ignoring Cranberry so she could do her job. I was proud of all of them!!

Well, it's getting late and I have to get up and go to school tomorrow, unlike my husband, who was done with school in his district last Monday!! I will add more to my journal at another time.

Janine and Cranberry

Sun, 20 May 2007 03:57:20 GMT

Hi everyone,

Today, my puppy raising club hosted an open house/reception/party in honor of my graduation with Cranberry and invited everyone for a chance to meet her. It was a wonderful occasion!! Raisers and leaders (from as far back as 1985), 4-H friends, dog obedience 'family', kennel club friends, church family members, colleagues from school, neighbors, relatives and GDB staff were invited. I think there were about 200 people in attendance. Of course, Berry was the star of the show, but following closely in second place was the Puppy Truck! There must have been about 10 to 15 puppies distributed to raisers in both western and eastern Washington. My club, alone, got three!!

The event started at 1:00 at the church where my club meets and where I attend church. I arrived right at 1:00 and was greeted by a few people outside in the parking lot and as I made my way inside, I discovered there were many people, all wanting to congratulate me and see Berry. I had decided that I would deal with the petting issue the same way we had done it at graduation two weeks ago at GDB. So I really didn't work Cranberry at all and allowed people to pet her. (I think she thought all rules were thrown out for the day as she wanted to look for crumbs on the floor, for which she got corrected!)

A reception line was set up with Berry, my husband, Jack, and me. Everyone (almost) lined up to see us and I think I hugged almost all of the guests. Berry got lots of pats, but some people (especially puppy raiser families) said a quick 'hello' and then left her alone. A number of people wanted to see Berry work, but I explained that with all the puppies in attendance, and all the other distractions, it just wasn't a good place to try to have her do much.

About 1:45, I was 'upstaged' by the Puppy Truck. Who can compete with a truck load of darling lab pups and anxious raisers? Of course, when there is a puppy delivery, there is also puppy turn ins, so not everyone was happy to see the truck. There were a number of teary-eyed raisers.

As I said, there were about 10-15 pups distributed to raisers. I missed the presentation of the first few pups, as when the truck arrived, I was still talking to some of my friends. It was funny, as there was a mass exodus from our meeting area to the parking lot outside when it was announced that the puppy truck arrived. When I made it outside, I was invited to present pups to the raisers. I really don't remember the pups' names, but they were all black or yellow labs and all recipients had big grins on their faces!!

Maybe I should back track a minute here. Last Wednesday, I was contacted by Debbie Hibbord from GDB. She wanted some pictures of me for an upcoming event and she specifically said what she would appreciate having some pictures of me presenting a pup to a youth raiser, a picture of me working Cranberry and a head shot of both Berry and me. Also on Thursday, I got an e-mail from my dog trainer friend and she said that she had contacted a writer from the Seattle Times and he was interested in doing an article about me. I had an almost 2 hour telephone interview a couple of days ago, so if you get the Seattle Times, next Sunday, there is suppose to be an article about me.

There were cameras flashing like crazy when all these pups were being presented and one of the photographers was the father of a club leader who is a professional photographer. He was taking lots of pictures, so after the last pup was presented, I had one of 'my' kids, whose family had been presented with an adorable yellow lab (named Anders) pose for pictures to send to GDB. Hopefully, there will be lots of good ones to choose from.

After the photo session, I made my way back into the building. The receiving line wasn't set back up as folks were lining up to get refreshments. I greeted people at their tables and just walked around to visit with all of the guests. Also, during this session, more photos were taken for Debbie at GDB and just for all of us to enjoy. (Thanks Derrick!!)

One of the really nice touches at the reception was a PowerPoint slide show, showing photos taken during years past. This was very popular among past puppy raisers, active from about 1985-1998. I had provided many of the photos, but there were others that I had never seen, so I enjoyed it too.

About 3:00, the crowd had dwindled, but I was still chatting with those still present. I was thoroughly enjoying visiting and catching up with people I hadn't seen in years and I didn't want the afternoon to end! And I still needed the photographer to get one more picture, a shot of me working Cranberry. However, by 3:30, my club started cleaning up the social hall of the church and it was obvious that things were coming to a close. Jack and I loaded up our van with balloons, cards, tokens of congrats, some left over cake, beautiful flowers and, of course, Cranberry. The party was over and it was time to go home. Berry and I were exhausted!!

However, there's more!! After the party, Jack, my mom and dad, son, Doug and his wife, Leena (who is due to have a baby in a week) and grand daughter, Ellie all met at a local restaurant. Jack had to 'eat and run' as he was scheduled to play in an orchestra concert, but the rest of us ate dinner and chatted until Ellie was showing she wasn't going to last much longer. Doug and Leena brought me home and Berry and I both collapsed into an exhausted, but very happy, heap.

The memories that I have of today's celebration will last for the rest of my life. I so appreciate all those who were able to attend my celebration and also for those that couldn't attend, but thought about me today. I want to thank you all from the bottom of my heart. I certainly have been blessed with very special friends. Thank you for your affection and support. I love you all!!

Janine and Cranberry

Fri, 11 May 2007 06:21:39 GMT

Hi friends,

This will be the last update for my experience at Guide Dogs for the Blind in Oregon, training with my Guide Dog. However, I <do> hope to post from time to time with adventures that Berry and I share or cute stories. Also, my puppy-raising club is hosting a reception, to celebrate my graduation with Berry, my 25 plus years of being a 4-H leader and 23 years of leading a Guide Dog raising club. I’ll certainly want to include that in my journal.

OK, back to my last day at GDB. The talking alarm clock went off, announcing it was five forty-five, for the last time for class OR 135. I got up, showered and dressed before feeding, watering and relieving Berry. After breakfast, I packed up most of my things and waited for Jack to show up. Jack made it by 9:45. Among other things, he brought three notebooks that he had put together about my experience at GDB. They included all the entries I had written for my journal (except for the last two days), printed out in large print (and edited) with pictures inserted into the front and back covers. The picture on the front cover was of my first walk with Berry and showed us at the bagel place (where else?). On the back cover is a picture of Berry and me taken from the back, walking in down town Portland. I wanted to give each of my raisers a notebook filled with my adventures with Cranberry. Hopefully, they’ll include these last entries and some pictures that we will print out and send to them. I am keeping one of these notebooks for myself and will also put a copy of the program from graduation and other mementos that I will be collecting, including items from my reception.

Jack helped me finish packing while I changed into my outfit that I chose to wear for graduation. Lunch was served at 11:00, (an hour and a half early to accommodate graduation) and we wouldn’t have time to change afterwards.

All of us students were very excited and nervous about graduation We knew that the raisers would be on campus at 11:45 and come to the dorm about noon to meet us, in person. One by one, the trainers came to our rooms to tell us that our raisers were waiting and finally, it was my turn. Keith came to get me and Jack followed, with camera ready. Keith escorted me to meet my raisers, Chris and Sharie and Sharie’s husband, Douglas. Cranberry was so excited to see her raisers and I handed over the leash to them so they could bask in the excitement and I would not have to insist on perfect behavior.

Chris, Sharie and Douglas were so happy to see Cranberry. They were amazed at how much Berry had matured since they had turned her in at 12 months. They were also very proud of Cranberry for completing her training, then continuing her training with me. We had a great time talking and sharing stories. I gave both families the notebook with the copies of my journal. Neither of the women had read my journal so they will have some new things to read about. I also gave both families one of my favorite puppy raiser books, "Through Otis’ Eyes".

Chris and Sharie had gifts for Berry and me. Berry received a big Galileo bone and a Kong and I received a small photo album with the cutest baby pictures ever!! I was so happy to have the photos and so thankful that I was able to meet Berry’s raisers.

I received another gift that surprised me. The woman who I presented Farina to sent me a beautiful rose corsage. (Farina, a female shepherd raised by me, graduated last February.) I had Chris help me put the corsage on and the bright red and soft pink roses looked stunning on my turquoise silky blouse. Thanks so much, Patty!! I could feel your presence and love at graduation.

Before the actual graduation started, there was the photo session of the raisers, grad and dog, well documented by Jack and Douglas (and GDB’s photographer). Then, a few moments to take Cranberry to relieve before I handed her leash over to Chris and Sharie. They took my girl over to the auditorium’s ‘waiting room’ where they would wait for their turn to present Cranberry to me.

The rest of the students and I were escorted to the auditorium and seated on the left side, in the same place where we had rehearsed. Somehow, I ended up in the wrong seat (although it was the seat I was told to sit in). When I got up to move, I saw my 2 ½ year old granddaughter, Ellie, coming up to me with her arms stretched out. I had to reach down, pick her up and give her a big hug. I saw my family sitting close by and gave them a big grin. I was very excited!!

I finally got seated in my correct seat, as did the rest of the students, and the ceremony began. There was a short and emotional slide show, then Keith started out with an overview of our class training and recognition of those raisers who raised dogs that were career change. These are the dogs that didn’t make it as guides, but whose raisers devoted the same love and attention of those who did. After the overview, the presentation of the dogs started.

Usually, the dogs are presented alphabetically, according to the last name of the student. However, one of the students had sprained her ankle a couple of days earlier and she was first and received her dog from a wheel chair. The rest of the students were presented in order. For those that have never been to a graduation at GDB, the student is escorted up onto the stage from the left. (For this graduation, it was Carolyn who did the escorting.) The raiser with the dog comes up from the right and all meet in the middle. At our graduation, Claire announced the student’s name and told what dog they were receiving. Then, the name of the raiser(s) were announced, at which time, the leash was passed from the raiser to the student. Both the student and the raiser(s) were allowed some time to say a few words. Often, this was very emotional and I doubt if anyone in the audience had dry eyes (including me!!). When it was my turn to receive my dog, I could tell that there was my cheering section off in the corner! I had to really concentrate on keeping myself pulled together and thankfully, I was able to do so.

After I finished saying how happy I was to have so many friends and family in attendance and thanking the instructors and staff at GDB, I said a special ‘Thank You’ to my raisers. I mentioned that I knew what they had gone through in raising Cranberry and how much I appreciated the sacrifice they made. (For those that don’t know, my family and I have raised 30 pups for GDB and 2 pups for Summit Assistance Dogs.) Both Chris and Sharie said a few words, but I just don’t remember what they said. I was just too emotional. (I’ll look forward to watching the tape of the graduation and <really> listening to what was said.). After Chris and Sharie were done, I turned to hug them both and realized that Michele, my puppy raising advisor (or Community Field Rep), was on stage. She had a check to present, on behalf of all the leaders in my area, to pay for my harness, I knew they were going to do this and I felt deeply honored.

Trying to hold back tears, I hugged Michele, then Becky escorted me to my seat. Chris and Sharie took their place behind me. Again, I hardly remember what else happened during the rest of the graduation – it was all a whirl.

Following the presentation of the dogs, there was a short demonstration of guide work. Becky handled the dog, a yellow lab whose name was Treese.

Then it was over!! I made my way off the stage with my raisers. Once on the floor, I could hardly move as many, many friends and family were making their way over to me to congratulate me and meet Cranberry. My family was there: my husband, Jack, my parents, two sisters and brothers-in-law, my son and daughter-in law and granddaughter. Several puppy club leaders and past leaders were also there: Cheryl, Melissa, Lorne & Cheryl, Nancy & Lelly, John and Sheryl, Nancy & Mark, Bernie & Mary, Jack & Diane, Carol & Dave, Char & Nelson, Suzi, Julie, Meagan & Kristin, Gary and, of course, Michele. (If there were others who I have missed, please accept my apologies……..) There were also my pastor, Fred and his wife, Judy, colleagues from school, Dennise and Cherie, a very special past 4-H member, Christine and her family and many, many other friends. Thank you all so much for your show of support and love.

My raisers spoke briefly with me, then headed out to the restaurant where we were meeting some guests for dinner. I knew I’d catch up with them at a later time.

I finally made my way out of the visitor’s center and back to the dorm, with my family and a few friends following. They were interested in seeing my room, where I had lived for the last month. Also, my sister, who was heading back home, wanted to see Berry work just a bit. (We were told not to work our dogs on this day, but in the parking lot behind the dorm, it was quiet with few people, so we gave a quick demo.) My sister also has limited vision.

Finally, I was able to say good bye to my dear roommate, Geri. She is a very special lady and I’ll always hold her closely in my heart. The people started to clear out of my room, Jack and I packed up my last items and we made it out to the front parking lot. As we waited for my parents to prepare to leave, Michele drove by, stopped her car and came over to our car to say a special congrats and good bye. Thanks, Michele……..

By this time, it was about 4:30 and Jack and I hurried into Gresham where we were celebrating with a dinner at a local restaurant with family and friends. I had reserved the chairs next tome for my puppy raisers and across from me sat my e-mail friend, Becky from Texas. I felt really honored to have Becky in attendance. Along with Becky, Mary Alice, Nancy and Mark, my Dogbark friends, were there. Also, sitting across from me was Joanne, a new friend from the GDB puppy raiser list, and longtime friend, Debbie. . Joanne had her small pup on her lap, who slept through the entire dinner. Char and Nelson, raisers from my home area, were at the end of the table, near my parents and Doug, Leena and Ellie sat on the other end. I think that was all there was.

We ate and chatted until about 6:30, then all headed on our way. I spent several minutes saying a special good bye and again, thanking my raisers for the gift that I received. I’m hoping that they will remain long time friends.

I had decided, that since Becky had come such a long way to come to my graduation, that I should stay in town overnight, so we could get to know each other a bit better. I checked in to the hotel next to the restaurant where my parents, one sister and brother-in-law, Mary Alice and Becky were staying. Nancy and Mark were staying close by so after all were checked in, we met in the lobby of the hotel and chatted for a long time. We thought about getting together for breakfast or brunch the next day, but instead, decided to eat at the hotel and go to Multinomah Falls the next morning. It was pretty late by the time we all said good night and headed off to our rooms.

What a wonderful, memorable day it was!! I enjoyed seeing so many of the special people that have been apart of my puppy raising journey and on into my journey as a Guide Dog user. I hope everyone enjoyed the day as much as I did.

It is now quite late and I have stayed up way past my bedtime finishing up the last day’s journal page for my experience at Guide Dogs for the Blind. As I said earlier, I hope you will check my journal from time to time to see what Berry and I are up to.

So, from Berry and me, we wish you the best.

And now, to satisfy a curiosity, if you don’t mind, would you let me know who you are (first name only is fine) and where you call home. I’m interested in finding out how far my journal has ‘traveled’ around the world. It has been open to all and I hope you enjoyed it.

Janine and Cranberry

Wed, 09 May 2007 06:05:11 GMT

Hi friends,

It is Tuesday, May 8th and I have been home from Guide Dogs for the Blind for a couple of days, now and I thought it would be good if I could update my journal before I start to forget some of the details of my training. I am also able to use my home computer, which is better than my old laptop.

I’ll go back to last Friday and bring you up to date for May 4^th. Even though it was the day before graduation, we still had a lecture at 8:00 AM. However, the students started talking before the instructors had a chance to talk. All of us had gotten together and purchased gift cards for our instructors. We wanted to present them before graduation and while all of us were present. Our instructors seemed pleased with the gift cards and thanked us for the gift. Following the presentation of the gift cards, the lecture proceeded. The lecture was about working our dog in our home area and now that I’m home and have worked my dog a bit in town, I have a couple of questions that I wished I would have asked…… (mostly, how does one push a shopping cart and work a dog at the same time!!)

After the lecture, we boarded the busses for our last outing. We went to the Clackamas Town Square mall for our last freelance work. I was so tired that I slept most of the way to the mall. When we arrived, Keith said I could ‘do my own thing’ and didn’t have to wait for an instructor to follow me around. I just had to let Keith know where I thought I‘d like to go. I thought I would first ride the escalator up to the second floor and go to the Hallmark shop to get some tissue paper for the gifts I had for my raisers. I knew I had two different people as raisers, so I need to have something for both of them. I also knew that my husband, Jack was going to edit my journal pages, print them out and put them in a three-ring binder. He was also going to enlarge some photos to put on the front and back cover. I wanted some paper to wrap them up with. While I was in the store, I saw an adorable little yellow lab clock with a wagging tail for a pendulum. I decided to buy one to take to school, as I knew my students would really think it was cute. While I was in the store, several of my classmates came in the store with Keith and I showed them my clock and a couple of other items that they might be interested in. They were still shopping when I left the store.

I spent the rest of the time walking up and down the mall and just looking around. It was really fun to be able to window shop and let Cranberry watch where we were going. When I finally made it back to the seating area where we met earlier in the week, it was time to load the busses and head back to campus.

Our ‘after lunch lecture’ was going through a notebook that was given us by GDB. The notebook included sections for five topics: 1. For Your Immediate Use, 2. Health and Care for Your Dog, 3. Useful Tools Once You Return Home, 4. Reference Information and 5. Packet with Cassettes and Cards. There was a lot of useful information to absorb and I’m glad it is written down (in large print for me) for future reference. This information was also available on computer disk and in a Braille packet.

After the lecture, we practiced for graduation. We will be sitting on the left side of auditorium and I will be in the very middle of the second row. Students are presented with their dogs alphabetically and with my last name, I'm dead center!! The practice didn't last very longand when we were done with the practice, we were given time to start packing our bags and get ready to go home. At 4:00, there was a question and answer period, answering questions about clicker training. I didn’t attend as I have used clicker training with my pet dog and had taken a 10-week class on this method of training. Then, following dinner, I stayed close to my phone waiting for a call from my raisers. By 8:00, I still hadn’t heard from either family, but I <did> hear that they were coming to graduation. I was getting concerned that I might not hear from anyone, so I decided to call both families, myself. I was so glad I called!! I talked to both raisers and was thrilled to have a chance to chat before actually meeting them on graduation day. I think both Chris and Sharie, from Portland, were glad I called, too. (Note to raisers: Call your dog’s partner if you have a chance on the Wednesday before graduation. We were all sticking pretty close to our phones waiting and hoping for that call!!)

By the time I finished talking to Chris and Sharie, it was pretty late and my laptop was giving me more problems than ever. That’s when I decided I’d just wait until I got home to finish this up. Hope no one minds…..

It is now pretty late on Tuesday evening, so I will sign off now and write about my graduation in the next couple of days.

Janine and Cranberry

Sat, 05 May 2007 03:57:47 GMT

Hi friends,

I will not be updating my journal tonight. This computer is barely working and I don't want to risk loosing hours of work. Thanks for your best wishes for my graduation. I will update on my home computer when I can, hopefully within the week.

Janine and Cranberry

Fri, 04 May 2007 06:48:21 GMT

Hi All,

Well, we are down to our last couple of days of Guide Dog training. We have had another day of new things to learn and information about our pups.

The morning started out a little shaky. My roommate had another little episode with her heart racing madly again. I ran to look for the nurse but couldn’t find her, so found the Resident Assistance, who immediately called the nurse. The nurse came running and took over the care of my roommate. After resting most of the day, my roommate is now feeling pretty good.

This morning, we started out with a lecture on traveling with our pups. Traveling by car, bus (transit and Greyhound), train and planes were discussed. Since the afternoon’s plans were to go to the airport, most of the discussion centered around going through airport security. Then, following the discussion, we loaded up the busses and headed to the airport.

When we got to the airport, we were all seated in an eating area, fairly close to the security area. We were divided into two groups and my group waited while the other group went first. I chatted with the other students while I waited. When it was our turn, we were given information on what the TSA can and can not do. One of the major rules is that the TSE people are not to take the leash from a service dog handler. We were also told to communicate our needs and wishes to the person assigned to assist us.

The person who assisted me was very nice and helpful. She offered me her right elbow and when I explained that I really needed her <left> elbow to accommodate Berry on my left side, she apologized and gave me her left. I wanted to leave Berry on a sit-stay on one side of the metal detector, then call her through. I figured we would both set off the alarm, which we did. We were both ‘wanded’, then allowed to proceed. After everyone made it through security, we met in a group with the TSA supervisor. We all learned a lot.

After lunch, we had a get together and were given information about our dog’s puppy hood that the raiser had submitted (note puppy raisers: It was the ‘Fun Things about my Puppy’ form) and also a copy of the report our advisors submit. We found out a bit about our pup’s history and had some chuckles about their fun times.

Then, it was off to a strip mall to do more free lance work. I went to two stores and ended up getting a new toy for Brassy. When we returned from the mall, e heard a speaker from graduate services. We are so fortunate that GDB has such a complete follow-up policy and will take care of the grad and the dog for the life of the team.

After dinner, students had a chance to participate in a workshop about loading and seating in an airplane. Berry and I practiced in the plane seats that are located in the conference room. We were able to get Berry in a small enough ‘ball’ that she would fit under the seat in front of us. Good for Miss Cranberry!!

Following our last relieving for pups, I had the opportunity to go out with Becky for a night route around campus. One of my visual difficulties is that I don’t see well in the dark and I really wanted to do a route when it was darker than it was during our night walks. So, this evening, about 8:45, I had a perfect opportunity. I even wore my dark glasses to make it seem <really> dark.

Berry and I took off along the sidewalk next to the back of the dorm, with Becky following us. We followed the walkway to the service road that runs between the Oregon Trail and the buildings. I could see very little. Basically, I could see the street lights and that was about it. We turned left on the road and followed it down to the bottom of the hill. Berry showed me the barrier at the bottom of the hill, where we turned left and walked along the sidewalk next to the parking area for vans and trucks. She carefully slowed down so I could get past the trucks that were parked a little over the sidewalk, then did a smart stop at the end of the sidewalk at the curb. We turned left and headed up the hill. Berry stopped for a couple of people pushing carts out of a building and to the sidewalk, then continued up the hill. Back on the main part of campus, she marched me right up to the picture windows on the Visitors’ Center. Then, we did the whole route in reverse. Berry was almost flawless. Except for slightly running me off the side of the path when we walked by those parked trucks again, she was perfect. All I had to do for the re-work of that slight imperfection was to tell Berry ‘careful’ and point out the edge of the sidewalk. We re-worked it and it was perfect!! Berry and I continued up the service road. She showed me the barrier at the top of the road where we turned to the right and followed the sidewalk to the door.

When I reached the door, this feeling of complete trust of this dog came over me. I thought I had trusted her, but I could always turn my head and see why she stopped or slowed down. Tonight I couldn’t do that and she showed me I could trust her. This dog is really amazing!!

It’s late and I must go to bed. However, I’m not tired. I’m still experiencing an adrenaline rush!

Janine and the awesome Berry

Thu, 03 May 2007 04:41:57 GMT

Hi family and friends,

Today has been a day of hurry up and wait, especially during the afternoon. After breakfast, we listened to a lecture on working your dog in snow and extreme heat. Again, there was not too much new for me, but it was interesting to actually see some of the different kinds of boots that can be used to protect our dog’s feet from ice, snow and hot pavement.

After the lecture, we loaded up the busses for, what we were told, more freelance work. This time, I was in the second group, so had some time to wait and decide on a route to take. Since Berry had been walking so slowly on our recent trips down Main Street, I decided to try something else that might be more interesting for her. I decided to turn right going out of the lounge instead of the usual left. I would walk up Fourth until the next street, Hood, cross Fourth then turn left on Fourth. This route would take me back in front of the lounge but on the opposite side of the street. Then, I would continue up to Main, cross Main and walk up the opposite side of that street than what I usually do. When I explained this to the instructor, she was reluctant to let me go this way. I didn’t have any idea why and asked her to explain. To which she responded, (in a friendly way) ‘Don’t ask. If I tell you, I’ll have to kill you!’ I thought that was a very strange response, but I took her recommendation and headed down Fourth towards Main. Just as I approached Main, a car came speeding out of the parking lot and Berry did a nice traffic check (although I made a mistake…). I looked up at the car and saw the sign on the side of the car ‘Guide Dogs for the Blind Traffic Training’. It was a set-up!!

The rest of the route went fine and I <did> do some areas where I hadn’t been before with Berry. I was coming down Fifth when I could hear someone walking behind me, talking on a phone. I kind of assumed it was a GDB trainer, so just ignored it and continued on my way, but making.sure my technique was proper. A minute or two later, I stopped to ‘break’ Berry off. I looked at that person following me as she passed, and she was wearing <very> strange clothes for a trainer – a weird hat, non-matching skirt and top. I thought maybe these trainers are going to really great lengths to disguise themselves. Then, I realized this person wasn’t a trainer after all – just some kind of strange lady on the street. I told the trainers this and they had a good laugh.

After lunch, we had a bit of a different schedule and did not go out into the field. Each student had to do three different things: (1) Have a conference with the vet about our dog and get the dog’s medical history, (2) Practice an on-campus route that included four overhead clearance obstacles, and (3) have an exit interview.

I first had my vet conference. I learned that Berry had lost 2 pounds in the last 3 weeks. (I wonder if <I> have done as well!!) I also found out about her other little problems she had along the way. Nothing was significant. She did, however, have a couple of little red bumps on her tummy, much like pimples. Next came the exit interview. I was interviewed by a senior staff member who didn’t have anything to do with this current class. I gave the staff, dogs and the entire program very high ‘marks’ and positive comments. Last, I had my overhead clearance walk. This proved to be interesting route, due, in part, to rainy, wet weather we have had today.

A short course was set up along a paved trail through the woods. Throughout the course, there were PVC barriers that the dog could go under, but the person could not without running into something. Some of the barriers were about chest high. Others were much higher but had things like towels, hanging from them. At our first barrier, which was just a cross bar about 5 feet high, Barry made a beautiful stop and showed me what was in our path. Once I indicated I knew what was ahead, we proceeded. The next barrier was high with towels hanging from it. She ran me into the towels but after reworking this, Berry did just fine. The third barrier was a high, single bar about my head height. Again, Berry worked it well and we went on to the fourth. This barrier had towels and Berry did great! It was decided that I would do the route again, but this time in reverse order. Things were going well until we got to the high, single bar barrier. I could tell that Berry was not going to stop, so, with my right hand held up to protect my face, I prepared to run into the bar. Just as I hit the bar, I slipped on the wet pavement and fell down on my butt. The entire barrier crashing apart and fell down on Berry and me. Berry leapt ahead, but came right back to me. I pulled myself to my feet while the trainer came running to my side. Luckily, I wasn’t hurt. Only my pride was bruised. I bet I’ll have a big black and blue mark in the next few days

The rest of the afternoon was spent waiting for the vet to finish with the student conferences. She then talked to all of us about proper vaccinations and our flea and heartworm medications. After dinner, Kim Samco, the coounselor, talked about what to expect when we get home with our new guides. She talked about introducing our guides to family, co-workers, family pets and friends. Then there was a question and answer session.

After our last relieving session, all of us waited by our phones to get that long awaited call from our raisers. We are excited to get this phone call, so I have been waiting for my call as I write this journal entry. It is now after 9:00 and I am thinking my raiser won’t be calling tonight. Maybe tomorrow………

Good night to all….

Janine and Berry

Wed, 02 May 2007 05:41:14 GMT

Hi Friends,

I am starting to receive some responses to our dinner Saturday afternoon. If you haven’t responded and want to attend, please let Jack or me know (

Today has been an especially busy day with three outings – our usual morning route, our afternoon route and a night route. We were tired after this afternoon, but this evening….exhausted!!

This morning, after our usual morning routine, we climbed aboard the busses and headed to the Laurelhurst neighborhood for routes that included more and different kinds of distractions. I am discovering that I can sleep on the bus, so have taken advantage of our longer trips and slept. It sort of makes up for some of the lost sleep I have been experiencing over the last few days.

The bus parked on one of the neighborhood streets and today, I sat in the bus for a while, waiting for my turn. When Berry and I finally had a chance to work, we found ourselves walking through a Portland neighborhood with stunning, old houses with immaculately kept gardens. It was such fun just looking at these houses and enjoying the huge, brightly colored rhododendrons. I couldn’t sight see too long as Berry and I had work to do. We started up, going past the busses and toward a large park. I chose this route because I was told there were a lot of distractions – squirrels, dogs, cats and ducks in the park. We walked along side the park for several blocks, then entered the park. We had experienced a couple of dog distractions, which Berry did well with, but none of the other animals. Once in the park, we followed a graveled trail running basically parallel to the road we had just come up. After following the trail for about four or five blocks, we took a side trail that branched back out to the road. There were a number of smells that Berry was distracted by, but one of the worst ones was a rather large rock that she sniffed at, then ran me over. Had I not actually looked down and seen the rock, I would have probably fallen over it. Well, after all, she still is a dog!!

Berry and I worked our way back to the bus. I was a bit disappointed as we had not seen a single duck or cat and the only squirrels were playing on the fence in the yard next to the parked bus. The dogs that we saw, and there were only a couple of them, were not too distracting to Berry. She slowed down and tried her best to avoid them.

When all the students had a chance to work in the neighborhood and/or park, we headed back to campus. After lunch, we were out again, in another Portland neighborhood called Fairview. This is a planned community with all different kinds of dwellings, a small business district and a larger department store on the outskirts. It was interesting, as the community is new and all the houses, apartments, etc are beautifully landscaped with lush green grass and colorful flowers. Next to this community is a lovely park with a paved trail through it. Each had to choose what environment he or she wanted to work in –residential, the park or the department store. I chose the park and Berry and I worked along another beautiful trail, complete with wooden bridges over a creek. The trail wandered around the park and eventually ended at the department store. We walked past the department store and onto one of the roads in the community and, taking the long route, we made our way back to the bus. It was a nice walk and Berry was anxious to go.

After dinner, we had out second night walk. I was much more relaxed for this one than I was last time we did this. I was one of the first to go out and it was still pretty light. I was really hoping to get in more <really> dark walks, but this didn’t happen for this walk. I left the lounge and headed left, up Fourth St. I crossed Roberts and on Main St., I made a left and headed up towards Third. After crossing Third, I made a left turn after crossing Second, down to Roberts to Fourth, then a right and another right into the lounge. It was pretty easy, especially with as much light as there was.

I decided that I should ask Keith if I could go on a short walk when it was darker. He said I could, so after the last student had left the lounge, I walked a short 6-block route to Third and Main and back. It was just wanted because there were very few lights along Fourth. Berry did well, except for one turn, and I was proud of her.

We didn’t get back to campus until 9:45 and as I write this entry in my journal, I feel very sleepy and am yawning. Cranberry has already gone to bed and I can hear her snoring! I think I will follow suit.

If you haven’t responded to our dinner invitation, please remember to do so. We are looking forward to having lots of fun after graduation.

Good night,

Janine and Cranberry

janineprindle@comcast.net or jackprindle@comcast.net)

Tue, 01 May 2007 06:21:32 GMT


	This is better....... Now, for an announcement: All my family, friends and supporters who are attending graduation are invited to a no-host dinner after graduation at Heidi’s Restaurant in Gresham from 3:00 – 5:30 p.m. Come when you can! Dinner will be $14.00 which includes gratuity (payable in cash or check written to: Jack Prindle) The menu will be a choice of: (1) Baked chicken with apple stuffing, (2) Swiss Steak, or (3) Chef salad. Included in the price are drinks and dessert (strawberry parfait). It’s a pretty good and complete dinner for a very reasonable prince. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE let either Jack or me know if you are coming and what you would like to order. We have to let the restaurant know how many people are attending and what we would like to eat. E-mail your name and menu choice to: jackprindle@comcast.net O janineprindle@comcast.net Address of Heidi’s is 1230 NE Cleveland, right off Burnside and next door to the Pony Soldier In

Tue, 01 May 2007 05:30:15 GMT

One week to go, friends!!

I’m getting excited about the fact that there is only one week before graduation. The time has flown by when I think of my training here, but I really miss my husband and home (and Brassy and friends, and school colleagues and students and…….) and in that respect, these last three weeks have been long. However, I am seeing the light at the end of the tunnel as we begin our last week of training. I have made some dear, new friends and will consider this month of training one of the highlights of my life. It’s been awesome.

Now, for an announcement:

All my family, friends and supporters who are attending graduation are invited to a no-host dinner after graduation at Heidi’s Restaurant in Gresham from 3:00 – 5:30 p.m. Come when you can! Dinner will be $14.00 which includes gratuity (payable in cash or check written to: Jack Prindle) The menu will be a choice of: (1) Baked chicken with apple stuffing, (2) Swiss Steak, or (3) Chef salad. Included in the price are drinks and dessert (strawberry parfait). It’s a pretty good and complete dinner for a very reasonable prince.

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE let either Jack or me know if you are coming and what you would like to order. We have to let the restaurant know how many people are attending and what we would like to eat.

E-mail your name and menu choice to:

Address of Heidi’s is 1230 NE Cleveland, right off Burnside and next door to the Pony Soldier Inn.

Now for the news of the day.

The morning started out in the usual fashion with the alarm blaring at 5:45, shhowering, dressing and caring for the dogs. After breakfast, it was a meeting in the conference room for a lecture on problem solving in the field. It was given by Melinda Carlson and it was really great to see her. One of the things she talked about was street crossing with ‘islands’ in the middle. It was suggested that the dog be taught the route with a sighted assistant so the dog really understands what it is suppose to do. Melinda also talked about and showed us some new electronic gadgets to help a blind person find objects. This would be especially helpful if one didn’t have a sighted person to help you find a crossing button pole or hallway.

Following the lecture, we loaded the busses and went to downtown Gresham to practice ‘island’ crossing. (And, of course, we were all hoping that the island would be in the South Pacific!!) The busses were not parked at the lounge, but at a different location about 10 blocks east, on Division. I was again, one of the first students to go on my really. We traveled down the street about 4 or 5 blocks and Berry was working nicely. When we got to the unusual crossing, I found it was more like an ‘X’ rather than a ‘t’. When I got to the curb, I had to make a left turn, but instead of a 90-degree turn, it was about a 150-degree turn. Berry handled it well. Then I walked with the trainer to the ‘island’ and then to the far curb, feeding Berry dog kibble at each curb. After walking back to the original curb, I let Berry try the crossing with me. She did quite well on most of the crossing, with just a slight error at the island.

A funny thing happened when Berry and I arrived back at the busses. Claire told me to turn right and go to the bus. We had come on our usual bus, Bus 1, but Claire thought I had come on two. She was yelling across the parking lot that I had missed my turn to the bus when I hadn’t. I told Claire that I had told Berry to take me to Bus 1 and Claire said that Berry was smarter than she (Claire) was. Of course, I <know> my girl is smart!!

After lunch, there was a lecture on a Guide Dog is still really a dog. We were told about some of the ‘doggie’ things our guides might do when we get them home. There was really nothing new for me, but it was interesting anyway. After the lecture, it was back to Gresham for another freelance route. This time, I decided to go somewhere new, so left the lounge and turned left at Roberts Street and went down to Second, where I turned right. When I reached Main St, I made a left and went about half a block to a little place called ‘The Mystic Pony’. It was sort of an interesting place and had quite a lot of unusual things. I didn’t buy anything and left after only a few minutes. I left, following my usual route down Main St. however, just as I was getting ready to cross Third, Berry started holding up one of her back legs and hobbling around. Claire had seen Berry start to hobble and came running up to us as I stopped walking and we both looked at the bottom of Berry’s foot. There was nothing that either of us could see, except what was left of the wart on the bottom of her foot. We set Berry’s foot down and it was as if nothing had happened. I teased Claire and said that Berry had seen her on the street and faked an injury so she (Claire) would come and give her (Berry) some attention!!

We finished out route to the lounge without incident and when we arrived back at the lounge, discovered we still had 10 minutes left on our freelance time. So again, we left the lounge and, instead of turning left at the corner, we turned right and crossed Fourth. Berry and I walked a long block to Hood Street, and crossed Fourth again and headed back to the lounge. This time, we were right on time to finish our up.

After we had left the lounge and returned to campus, it was time to take care of our dogs and eat dinner. Following dinner, Geri had a guest – the woman who had adopted her last Guide Dog, Rozzie, when she retired. Geri was very happy to see Rozzie, a petite little yellow lab and Geri’s friend was happy to meet her new pup, as well as Berry. When Geri and her friend left to say ‘good bye’, I had a surprise visitor – Melinda Carlson. She came to my room just to say ‘hi’ and chat for a few minutes. I teased Melinda and told her that she was responsible for me being here at GDB. Melinda asked me if it was worth is and when I said ‘yes’, she said she would take the blame!! Melinda was the first person who told me I was eligible to receive a Guide Dog because of my lack of peripheral vision. (Melinda, if you are reading this, I want to say ‘Thanks!!’.

I have been working on today’s journal entry as I do some laundry. While working, another student was taken to the ER with chest pains. The ambulance came out but by all accounts, she was doing well and was going to the ER as only a precaution.

I should bring you up on my roommate. Geri is feeling OK this evening. This morning, she was still having some side effects of the medications she had been given in the hospital, so she didn’t go on our morning outing. By this afternoon, she was feeling well enough to do the freelance route.

I think this brings you up to date with what’s going on here. Please let either Jack or me know if you will be joining us for dinner.

Janine and Cranberry

janineprindle@comcast.netjackprindle@comcast.net

Mon, 30 Apr 2007 05:24:18 GMT

Hi everyone,

Today has been an eventful day, even though it was Sunday and we didn’t work our dogs.

Last night, the GDB nurse took my roommate to the ER because of some problem with her heart. I was very worried about her and woke up several times during the night. When I found she was still away at 4:30 am, I figured she had been admitted to the hospital. Then I was really worried and tossed and turned the rest of the night. I got up at 6:30am to feed and relieve Berry, then went back to bed until about 8:30. After showering and dressing, I went to brunch about 10:30. I was sitting and eating, chatting with a classmate when Jack came in. I was so glad to see him and I excused myself from the table and went with Jack

Jack was able to download the photos I had taken during the last two weeks. He will get them ready for viewing and I will post a link so anyone can view them. Most of them show Berry and me working.

Following that, Jack and I took a walk so he could see Berry working. The last time he was here, I wasn’t able to take Berry out of the building without an instructor. Jack and I walked the ‘Oregon Trail and enjoyed our walk in the warm sunshine

After relieving time, Jack and I, along with three of my classmates, left campus for the afternoon. My three classmates were let off at Fred Meyer's to do some shopping. Jack and I continued into Gresham and stopped at a restaurant for lunch. After lunch, Jack decided that he wanted to see the GDB lounge and all the places that we have been working in downtown Gresham. We parked in front of the lounge, on 4^th, then walked up Roberts to Powell. Because I had written about the bagel shop so many times, he wanted to see Jazzy Bagel. We went inside and ordered ice cream and sat at one of the tables to eat. Next, we walked down Main St and I showed Jack the toy store where I had shopped and pointed out some other places. It was a lovely walk and now he has a better understanding of what I write about

When Jack and I returned to Fred Meyer’s to pick up my.class mates, I decided to see if I could find a nicer pair of shoes for graduation. I found a pair! We picked up my classmates, plus all their purchases, then headed back to campus. Shortly after dropping everyone off, Jack had to leave.

By this time, it was pretty close to feeding and relieving time. Pups were tended to then we ate dinner. There were a lot of people absent from dinner as many had guests and went out tonight.

After dinner, Rita, the weekend instructor and Mary, the nurse, showed us a lot of things from the gift shop and specialty items for graduates. I ordered a raincoat for Berry and got a couple of other things. Just as we were finishing up the gift shop meeting, Geri and her daughter arrived back at the dorm. Boy!! Was I happy to see her. I thought she looked tired, but happy to be back. Her dog, was ecstatic!! That made Geri feel good. I had to laugh at Geri because, as they left last night, Geri was saying ‘I’m not going home without my dog!!!’

Things have settled down now as we get ready for bed and prepare for another working day.

Jack called and said he posted some more photos of Berry and me working. If you don’t have the link, it is:

janineprindle.myphotoalbum.com

Go to GDB photos, week 1, 2 or 3 and enjoy. More news tomorrow.

Janine and Cranberry

Sun, 29 Apr 2007 06:15:11 GMT

Hello everyone,

Today has been another day of learning and fun. We did some interesting things with our pups and saw some new sights as well.

I woke up this morning with sore muscles in my thighs. I think all the up and down yesterday on the stairs caused the sore muscles. Before my class started here at GDB, I had been walking quite a bit, so the walking hasn’t bothered me. However, even with stairs in my house, I must not have worked those muscles enough.

After taking care of our dogs and having breakfast, we had a lecture on dealing with the public and our dog. We were given good ideas on what to say and places to go to if we have people wanting to interfere with our dog’s work or access problems.

Following the lecture, we all boarded the busses and went to the Hawthorne district of Portland. We were given three options of where we wanted to go; residential areas to work on cat, dog and squirrel distractions as well as lots of vegetation, inside a large department store or Hawthorne Avenue (or Street. I can’t remember which one) to work on people, dog and craft vendors’ distractions on a busy Saturday morning. I chose Hawthorne Avenue, hoping I might get a glimpse of my friend while working in the area. The busses had parked in the residential area, in front of some magnificent older homes. Berry and I were first with the weekend trainer, Rita. We headed up the street and Berry was quite interested in sniffing at all the vegetation. After a pop on the leash and some obedience, she was a little more focused. We didn’t come across any other neighborhood distractions and Berry worked well. The excitement of being in a new place quickened her pace and we were really going along. After a few blocks, we made a left turn, went for a couple more blocks then found ourselves on Hawthorne. As we walked down Hawthorne, we came across many distractions, most of which Berry handled beautifully. There were lots of people, many carrying bundles, pushing strollers or walking dogs. In the four blocks we walked, we came across three dogs tied to parking meters, one of which could stretch his leash clear across the sidewalk. Berry handled the dog distractions pretty well. She stopped and I slowly worked her past the dogs. When she was passed, we stopped and I gave her lots of praise and a little playtime. I can tell she’s not too fond of working past dogs. The dog whose leash stretched across the sidewalk made Berry come to a complete halt. Even with encouragement, she could not (or wouldn’t) find a way around. Finally, Rita called the leashed dog away from the building. With his leash was no longer across the sidewalk, Berry and I could pass. We finished our walk along Hawthorne and headed back to the bus. This was certainly an interesting outing and lots of fun, too!

After everyone had returned to the busses, we headed back to campus for lunch and to find out a little more about what was happening in the afternoon.

The afternoon’s route was optional, but most of us elected to go because it was back to Clakamas Town Square. A lot of the students wanted to do a little shopping, but I wanted to work my dog in the mall again. Because four of the class members didn’t want to go to the mall, we took only one bus.

Again, I was first to go on the route. As Berry and I were making our way down the mall, I heard a child scream. Rita said that a little boy didn’t see us coming and when he suddenly turned around, he saw a 60 pound Labrador right in his face, nose to nose. Berry continued on as if nothing had happened and I followed. I think Rita stopped and apologized for us scaring the little boy, but I couldn’t tell for sure. We continued down the mall, which was pretty crowded, and Berry wove in and out through the crowd. After a few minutes, we went into a department store and rode the escalators. Berry did great and I was feeling like I was getting the timing a little better when I got off the escalator. After working the mall for about 45 minutes, we returned to the waiting area until it was time to leave.

We had no workshops or lectures after dinner this evening, so it was great to be able to have a little time off. I called my parents and had a nice chat with them. At 8:30, it was time to relieve our pups for the last time of the day, so Cranberry and I were waiting in line at the door and my roommate got in line behind me. We were talking when all of a sudden, my roommate passed out. She was standing in a corner, so she just slid to the floor and sat there for a few seconds, I started yelling to get the (GDB) nurse, but she was at the ER with another student who had become sick. My roommate kept insisting that she was OK. Since one of the other (visually impaired) students is a nurse, she took charge and told someone to get a chair that was on wheels and she (the VI nurse) would check my room mate’s blood pressure and heart rate and make sure everything was OK.

This happened during the time we were to be relieving our dogs. After the excitement settled down, we continued with the relieving. Several students offered to relieve my roommate’s dog and the dog belonging to the student at the ER. Every dog got taken care of.

My roommate was brought back to our room and put in bed. The GDB nurse was in phone contact with both Rita and my roommate. A few minutes later, the GDB nurse came into our room to take over.

It is now about 10:30 and the GDB nurse has decided to take my roommate to the ER, just to make sure she is OK. Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers .

Good night…..

Janine and Berry

Sat, 28 Apr 2007 05:17:13 GMT

Hi Friends,

It has been another interesting day in the lives of Janine and Cranberry. After our usual morning routine, we boarded the busses and headed for down town Portland again. Today was another beautiful sunny day and most of us brought only light jackets or sweatshirts. The pups also seemed excited to get out, too.

Our busses were parked in the exact same places, next to the park, as they were yesterday. Once again, I was first to go out with the trainer, only this time, the trainer was Becky. We headed to the federal building and worked on stairs. The federal building has several stories, all connected by large, marble staircases.. Going up was prettty routine, but Berry wanted to get a bit too far ahead of me – easy to do when she’s above me. I was able to keep Berry in place by pulling back slightly on the harness handle. The down staircase was a little more tricky – plus the fact that one would fall much further <down> the stairs than up. I was told to use the handrail on the right when going down the stairs. So, when Berry takes me to the left side of the staircase, I dropped the harness handle and heeled her to the right side. Then, I could hold on the rail with my right side and work Berry on my left side. That worked great! I wanted to continue working on a few more flights of ‘down’ stairs, so needed to go up so we could practice. The trainer suggested we practice riding the elevator up several floors and come down the stairs. The elevator was no problem for Cranberry or me. Descending the stairs got better with each flight of stairs we went down and by the time we reached to bottom floor, we were doing quite well.

The next thing Berry and I did was go to another building to practice more escalator riding. The escalator was narrower than the ones we worked a couple of days ago. However, we climbed right on and did them well, so only rode them up and down once. Then it was off to the Bank of America building to practice going through a revolving door. It seemed ironic to me that my hometown of Enumclaw, Washinugton has no escalators, one elevator (that I know of),, but it <does> have a revolving door in the main branch of our bank. One doesn’t <have> to use that door to enter or leave the bank, but I thought it would be useful to know how to use it anyway. So with my trainer standing close by, I moved Berry to my right side, entered the pie-shaped section of the door and pushed us through. It worked great, so Berry and I did a couple more revolutions and called it good.

Next, we moved outside and worked through a construction zone. The first thing was a little bridge-like device that went over some very rough asphalt. Th ‘bridge’ was very narrow and about 10 feet long. Berry showed me the up ramp to the bridge and stopped. After telling her to ‘forward’, we crossed it with no problems. We continued up the street and experienced a lot of noise and large machinery, but Berry worked everything carefully. She was completely solid, even when a jack hammer started up right next to her. What a good girl she was!!

By the time we hit the construction zone, Berry and I had been out with the trainer for about 45 minutes. It was a great workout, but it was someone else’s turn so we returned to where the busses were parked. Like yesterday, I sat on a park bench, in the sun, until everyone was done. I chatted with a number of other people who were enjoying the sun with me until it was time to go.

After lunch, we listened to a lecture on what to do if we encountered dogs while out on the street working ours dogs. Loose or uncontrolled dogs are a major problem for Guide Dog users, no matter how friendly they are. Keith gave us a lot of good suggestions on dealing with them, but still, we all hoped that wedon’t have to put theory into practice.. Following the lecture, it was back on the bus so we could do another freelance route in Gresham.

I was in the first group of students selected to do my freelance route. I had decided to go back to the toy store and do a little shopping if it was open. Just as I was preparing to leave, one of the trainers came to me and said that my friend, Debbie, was outside and wanting to say ‘hi’. I was so happy as I knew she was unable to come for graduation. (It just won’t be the same without her.) Out on the street, I chatted briefly with Debbie and told her I was headed for the toy store and when I was through, we could meet at the bagel shop and chat for a few minutes. Debbie reached the toy store first and we both went in. I was able to buy what I needed, but I won’t say what it was as to not spoil the surprise! Then we headed to the bagel shop, found a booth amd sat down. After a moment or two, another student – Dick, the two week student, came in. Since he was all by himself, Debbie and I asked him to join us. The three of us chatted unil it was time for me to leave. I headed back to the lounge and had no problems. I didn’t get lost this time!!

After everyone had returned from their freelancing routes, we boarded the busses and headed back to campus. Following our dog care session and dinner, there was another short workshop on flea prevention and applying Frontline. I had been doing this for years and didn’t need to spend much time reviewing.

After our last relieving time this evening, the students met for a short meeting to decide on a gift for our instructors. We didn’t get much accomplished as we couldn’t make any decisions. Eventually we decided to send a few people shopping and let them decide.

Well, I’m finishing this update a little early and am going to be able to post it and get to bed a bit early. Good thing as we still have to get up early on Saturday to go to classes and work our dogs.

So, Berry and I will say good night to everyone.

Janine and Berry

Fri, 27 Apr 2007 05:36:03 GMT

Hi everyone,

Another day of interesting experiences with my pup is now almost over as I write this entry into my journal. The day's activities started off with a bus ride into downtown Portland. We left campus about 8:30 (no lecture or workshop this morning) and arrived across from the federal building about 9:30. One of the instructors had arrived ahead of time and reserved parking for the busses right on the street next to a beautiful park.

Claire and I took off in beautiful sunshine for several blocks where Berry had to work in the presence of a lot of heavy traffic. She did very well and didn’t let anything distract her. She made beautiful curb approaches, street crossings and we had a really great workout. Finally, we went into a big department store and practiced lots of escalator riding and maneuvering around obstacles. We even practiced finding and going into the restroom. After working our way out of the store, we walked back up to where the busses were parked and since there were a number of benches in the sun, we elected to sit and wait there rather than on the bus. As I sat and waited, several other students joined me and we just chatted and watch the goings on around the park. It was very pleasant.

When all students had completed the route through downtown Portland, we boarded up the busses and headed back to campus. We were a little late in getting back, so had to hurry to relieve and water the dogs before lunch. After lunch, it was time for taking photos that will be used on our ID cards. I changed into the clothes that I will wear for graduation.

After photos, we got on the busses again for a neighborhood walk. We were told to expect lots of ordinary neighborhood distractions – dogs, cats, kids, squirrels, etc. This time, Cindy was my instructor. We started off down the street, crossing properly with Berry confident and moving along quickly, just the way I like. Before long, another team started coming toward us. It just so happened to be Claire and the student she was working with at that time. It was difficult for Berry to focus on our path with Claire, her favorite trainer, going past. I had to give her extra encouragement to keep her going. We continued on our way and a couple of blocks later, two large dogs came barking and charging the fence from the yard they were in. Berry was very cautious and eventually came to a complete stop. Again, with encouragement, she passed the dogs at which point, I ‘broke’ her off and played with her. Eventually, we made it back to the bus. Because it was such a beautiful day, many of the students were sitting on the lawn when I got back to the bus. I joined them and we were chatting when we noticed that several carloads of young men drove into. the parking lot and 30 to 40 people jumped out. At first we thought they were meeting to play basketball, but then realized that that many people were far too many for a basketball game. Immediately it was obvious that a fight would break out, and in a matter of seconds, Keith, our training supervisor, and also a very large man, and GDB’s nurse were running to the location of the fight, yelling that they were calling the police. I’m not sure what happened, but almost as quickly as it had begun, about 15 of the young men piled into two cars and zoomed out of the parking lot with doors open and bodies half in the cars. License. numbers were jotted down and when the police arrived, information was given to them. Keith and Terese, the nurse, offered first aid to the injured. Apparently there were two weapons, a wooden, short baseball bat (the kind given as souvenirs) and a hammer. After the excitement settled down, we had to wait for one last team and trainer that were still out before we could go back to campus. It was all more excitement than we wanted.

After dinner, we all got together for a clicker-training workshop. A number of students said they just didn’t know how this would benefit them, but by the end of the workshop, everyone agreed it was a valuable tool. We were all given a little clicker and taught how to use it to ‘mark’ desired behaviors. By the end of the session, our dogs were all finding empty chairs for us. It was really eye opening and everyone was ‘sold’.

Well, this just about wraps up a very exciting day. It’s time to be hopping into bed for one yellow pup and me!! Good Night everyone.

Janine and Cranberry

Thu, 26 Apr 2007 06:11:35 GMT

Hi Friends,

Today I’m starting my journal at 1:45 pm. We have a bit of time off this afternoon as we will be doing night walks this evening and may not have time to write then. I am really looking forward to the night walks as that is when I have the most difficult time getting around. Hopefully, Berry will be as good and consistant in the dark as she is in the day.

This morning after breakfast, we loaded the busses first thing with no lecture or obedience pracctice. We headed for the town of Vancouver, Washington, just across the Columbia River from Portland, Oregon. The drive takes about a half an hour from the GDB campus. We parked a short distance away from the freeway exit, behind a bank. The traffic was much heavier and included truck traffic with all its noise.

For once, I wasn’t in the first group to go out, but instead, the last. When it was my turn, I was partnered with Anne and the two of us took turns being in the lead. Berry was really good and worked at an excellent speed, stopped at the up and down curbs and ignored most distractions. The only problem we encountered was, what looked like, cat food on the sidewalk. (Maybe someone feeding a homeless cat or just some spilled food.) A couple of blocks further on, Ann dropped some kibble while rewarding her dog and when Berry and I passed the distraction, she ignored it. Berry also wanted to say ‘hi’ to a small child and another of our canine classmates, but with a quick ‘hup up’, we moved on with no problems.

From what I could tell, there was no particular route we were taking in Vancouver. It seemed to me that there was mostly random street crossing and walking in different directions. However, our instructor must have had an idea of where we were going as when I had become totally disoriented, she said we would turn the corner and find the bus. So I made the corner and half way up the block was the bus!! It was a nice walk and had gotten even better as the weather warmed.

After lunch, we had two lectures. The first was on keeping our dogs flea free, something I already knew about. I haven’t seen a flea on my dogs for years and haven’t treated my house or yard for fleas in years. Thank goodness for Frontline and Advantage!

The next workshop, which was optional, was on T Touch. This is kind of like I had also done before, but I enjoyed doing it with Cranberrry. However, after a few minutes, Cranberry was in a rather playful mood and didn’t want to cooperate. It was just too close to dinner!! I tried it again later in the evening and had more success.

After the workshop, the trainer, Claire, came by to get Berry. Berry had been coughing a bit since I got her. However, I hadn’t noticed the coughing during the last couple of days and I had kind of forgotten about it. Still, Claire thought Berry should see Dr. Patty, so off she went to visit the vet. A while later, when Cranberry came back, Claire said that the vet repoirted that Berry was just fine, but that she had a wart on one of her feel. Claire didn’t sound concerned, but when one of my club pups had a wart in her mouth, we had to isolate the pup and not have it around the other puppies. I mentioned this to Claire, who still wasn’t concerned, so I figured it was a different kind of wart. Claire assured me that this wart would go away on it’s own. More later.............

It is now after 10:00 pm and I am finishing up this journal entry with a description of our night route we did this evening. We left campus about 7:30 and headed for the lounge. It was not totally dark yet, so those people twho are totally blind did the first routes as things look about the same to them, day or night. And because I have pretty good residual vision and very poor night vision, I was most anxious to work my dog at night and when it was the darkest. I was the last student to work my dog tonight. From the lounge, we did our usual route the bagel shop. We did really well and I was proud of how both Cranberry and I did. It was more difficult without the day light, but I was able to follow Brtty and had to really give her my trust. We made it to the bagel shop with only a brief distraction of some kids on the sidewalk, then proceeded past the shop and came back to the lounge using a different route. For some reason, Berry was somewhat distracted by smells along the return trip. Maybe she thinks because I can’t see well at night, she could get away with a little mischief. After a couple of corrections, we were on our way back to the lounge . After the little sniffing incident, we had no more problems.

After I got back to the lounge, I felt a real sense of relief. I had done one of the things I was really concerned with when it came to using a Guide Dog – working in the dark. It felt almost as exciting as when I did my first night walk with a cane and realzed I <could> safely walk in the dark.

Well, it’s getting late and we have another busy day scheduled for tomorrow.. I will write more then.

Janine and Cranberry

Wed, 25 Apr 2007 05:07:59 GMT

Hello friends,

After a beautiful day yesterday, we had a few sprinkles this morning but it was just cool and cloudy for the rest of the day. I showered and dressed and groomed Berry so she and I would look our best in our class picture. I went to breakfast, but left Berry in my room as now she spends my breakfast time on tie down alone in our room (on a training collar, no less). After breakfast, the whole group of us met in the auditorium for our picture. I was located pretty close to the center next to the owners of two lovely black labs. The picture didn’t take long and while we were still in the auditorium, we had a lecture and workshop on riding escalators, a tricky maneuver for a Guide Dog team. Then we practiced escalator riding with special emphasis on boarding and exiting them. Since there are no escalators on the GDB campus, we did a lot of practicing on the stairs.

Following a short break, we boarded the busses for a trip to the Clakamas Town Center, a large mall. It was a little further bus ride than normal and the trip took us through the actual town of Boring, Oregon. There wasn’t much to see – just a gas station, two taverns and a post office, according to the instructor who was driving the bus. When we arrived at the mall, we had to dodge some construction work, but eventually, the bus let us off outside one of the doors and we made our way to a seating area where we waited for our turn to try out a real escalator. The mall is two stories and has a number of escalators going up and down, so each of the 3 trainers and one supervisor was able to work one-on-one with students. I was one of the first students to go.

When I approached the escalator, Berry showed me the starting ‘plate’. I felt for the handrail to make sure I was at the ‘up’ escalator. I was, so I put my foot out to locate the starting point. When I had located that, I gave Berry the ‘let’s go’ command and stepped on. Berry came right with me. Then I had to put my leash in the proper place to keep Berry from going up or down and position my feet and hands so I could tell when the escalator leveled out. When I could feel this, I gave Berry an excited ‘go!’ command so she would run a few steps off the escalator to clear the exit plate. Berry did very well, so we tried the ‘down’ escalator with basically the same technique and the same results. It is very important that the procedure is done correctly so that the dog doesn’t get her foot or nail stuck in the ‘teeth’ at the ends of the escalator. Cranberry’s main problem wasn’t in riding the escalator, but came when we were walking from the ‘up’ escalator to the ‘down’, when she brushed me against some handbags on a rack. We re-worked that a couple of times. However, when we went by that rack a second time, she again, brushed me up against them. After a little correction, she gave me better clearance and when we repeated it for the third time, she stopped and showed me the bags. I praised Berry and we went up and down the escalator one more time.

There was a bit of a wait while everyone had their chance to work the escalators before we returned to campus. After lunch, we were off on another adventure. This time, there were 4 trainers plus the supervisor and the nurse who went with us. We were divided into 6 groups of two each (well….. One group had 3….). In our small groups, we took off for the transit center to catch the bus. It is only a few blocks from the lounge and it didn’t take long to get there. We got on a transit bus and road for what seemed like, half an hour. We went around lots of turns, which made me loose my orientation, but I was confident that the trainer knew where she was going. It was a good experience for the dogs as the bus was crowded, there were a number of small children and the bus turned the corners rather quickly. We finally came to another transit center and I was certain we had gone all the way to Portland, but we were still in Gresham, maybe about 4 miles from where we got on the bus. We walked another couple of blocks to the Max train station at 188^th and Burnside, waited a few minutes then climbed on the train. The train was also quite full and we had to stand. There was a lot of slowing down and speeding up and we had to hold on to the rails or risk falling. The dogs took everything in stride and did quite well. I think our Max train ride lasted about 10 minutes. When we finally got off the Max train, it was just another few blocks to walk back to the lounge.

Instead of riding the bus back to campus, we took one of the vans. One of the teams was going to be late in getting back to the lounge and, since we didn’t want to wait for them, we left without them and they came back to campus in the bus.

Our pups were hungry and tired when we arrived back on campus. We fed the pups, then sat down to a delicious turkey dinner. During dinner, we had a special guest at our table; Marlaina. She was to be our after-dinner speaker on donations, fund raising and bequeaths. Her presentation included humorous jokes and stories and she really got us laughing with her imitation of Edith Bunker!! I had met Marlaina before on a number of occasions and she is a good friend of my friend, Kelli, so it was good to see Marlaina again.

It is now close to 10:00. Jack will be calling and I want to have this entry done before he calls. So, I will sign off now.

Janine and Cranberry

Tue, 24 Apr 2007 04:07:56 GMT

Hi from Sunny Oregon,

It has been a beautiful day in the Portland, Oregon area and Berry and I had some fun while learning mew things today.

The day started out with the usual lecture time and today’s lecture was about caring for dogs general health and cleaning ears. The instructors recommend that we get someone with good vision to cut our dogs’ nails, but, since my central vision is still fairly good, I will be doing Berry’s nails myself. Also, the instructors talked about recognizing when a dog is sick (high temps and unusual behavior) and even spoke about digestive problems, possible causes and things to try before calling the vet. I already knew most of what was being taught, but it was good refresher and review.

Following the lecture, it was time to board the bus to head for Gresham. Again, we were going to work on freelancing. I decided to head for the toy store to look for something for my grand daughter. I knew the way and I wouldn’t have to worry about getting lost. So after telling the instructors where I wanted to go and reviewing the directions with them, I headed off. On the way, I met a trainer with a shepherd that was raised by a friend of mine and she and Berry touched noses briefly just as we passed. I heard the trainer say the dog’s name so I was certain who the dog was. I found the toy store with no problems but it was closed. (Sorry, Ellie) Since the bagel shop is close to the toy store, I went over to the bagel shop and sat with a classmate for a few minutes until it was time to head back to the lounge. This time, I found the lounge with no trouble. However, just before reaching the lounge, I tripped on something on the sidewalk. It could have been a little tuft of grass growing out of the crack or something like that. I didn’t fall completely to the ground, but just the act of stumbling made Berry so much more cautious with me. It will be interesting if she is cautious at this spot in the sidewalk next time I do this route.

Back at the lounge, I chatted with Dick, the new guy who is here for only 2 weeks. I had to laugh when he said he used to work for the Department of Motor Vehicles and his first dog’s name was Trucker!

The afternoon lecture was on communicating with your dog using phrases such as ‘find a chair’, or ‘find the bus’ or other phrases where you want the dog to generalize one of many choices using clicker training. We will be learning more about the actual clicker training in a few days, but the instructors wanted us to think about what we would like to individually train our dogs to do. I think I’ll try ‘find what I dropped’ (maybe I’ll say ‘fetch’) and see if Barry can pick that up.

The outing for this afternoon was really fun and especially enjoyable because it was sunny and warm. We went to Red Sunset Park. It was a beautiful little park with a paved trail around a small pond. The weather was gorgeous and we all walked the trail in shirtsleeves. Students started off in 5-minute intervals and when it was my turn, Berry started off at quite a fast pace. She was very excited!! Our first distraction was a little dog, but Berry passed it with only a glance (Good girl, Berry!!). We didn’t have another distraction until we were about half way around the pond. Berry’s main trainer was standing by the path watching the students and Berry knew just who that was! We passed her with just a little ‘hup up’. Next came another trainer feeding bread crumbs to the ducks. The ducks were smart and stayed in the pond and Berry ignored all of it. We proceeded around the pond and there was another distraction; an instructor with her own dog, a young sheltie. They were playing with toys and that was a little more difficult to ignore, but Berry was on the ball and pretty much ignored the sheltie puppy, too. Then over a bridge and past the playground with only a couple of kids and we were back at the start. I did this loop two more times with only one added distraction – two people jogging on the path with two large, rather unruly dogs. The dogs were kept away from Berry and she worked like a pro. I was so proud of her!!

After everyone had a chance to rest, we piled on the bus and headed back to campus. Everyone on our bus was tired that most of us napped for the 15 minute ride back to the dorm.

There was a short workshop after dinner on cleaning our dog’s ears. This was talked about earlier today and after dinner, we all got a chance to try it out. This was nothing new for me and it didn’t take long for me to finish with Berry’s ears, especially since her ears were very nice looking to begin with.

Jeri, one of the students in class, was so nice this evening. She had quite a large bouquet of carnations and she went room to room, giving everyone a carnation. She said that by sharing them, everyone could enjoy them instead of just her. I thought that was so thoughtful. There are some really nice people in this class.

Well, it is almost time to take our dogs out for the last time of the day. Jack will call about 9:45 and then I hope to be going to bed shortly after that.

Good night everyone,

Janine and Cranberry

Mon, 23 Apr 2007 04:23:09 GMT

Hi everyone,

This journal entry will be rather short today because we didn’t work our dogs nor have any lectures. It was nice to have a day of catching up and visiting friends. And I was really ready to relax a bit.

Today is Sunday and we have had a quiet day at the Oregon Campus of Guide Dog Dogs for the Blind. I got up early to take care of Berry then went back to bed until 8:00. Boy! It felt good to sleep in a bit and I think that Cranberry enjoy it just as much as I did. When we finally <did> get up and dressed, it was time to start getting ready to have guests, my friends, Kelli and Don. They were coming to turn in their Guide Dog Pup for his formal training. I brushed Berry and cleaned her teeth then had a good play session with her.

Just before brunch, all the three- and four-week students met in the conference room to meet the newest member of our class, Dick, a two-week student. Dick is from Nebraska and he was matched with a beautiful black lab named Carlitos. With the arrival of Dick, our class is full (overfull??!!) with 4 men and 7 women.

At 10:00, brunch was served in the dining room. There were many choices to select from, but I only had a glass of juice and a tiny bit of eggs as I was going out to lunch with Don and Kelli.

Don and Kelli arrived about 1:15 and after a quick relieving session with Berry, they got to meet my sweet pup. Berry was an immediate hit and she greeted them politely, but was most interested in seeing who they brought with them, Moby, a black cross to turn in, and Jenkins, a 4 month old yellow lab.

We left Berry in my room and the three of us and two pups headed for a place to find a quick lunch. After eating and a little shopping at two different places, we returned to campus. It was time for Don and Kelli to return their beautiful pup. While they did that, I went and got Berry. Then we all took a walk along GDB’s Oregon Trail and up through campus. Too soon, it was time for Don and Kelli to leave, this time, with only one pup in tow instead of two. We are all wishing Moby the best and know he will make Don and Kelli proud.

After Don and Kelli left, I returned to my room and spent a little time reading and answering a few of my e-mails. One message was from Jack and he posted some photos of me and a couple of my classmates. I will include the link at the bottom of this message if you’d like to see them. The photo of the man at the computer is my husband!! Dinner was at its usual time and since then, I have been working on this journal entry and playing more with Berry. She’s all tuckered out and sleeping. I think I’ll follow suit.

Click on this link:

Then, click on

GDB Training - Week 1

An early good night to everyone,

Janine and Cranberry

http://janineprindle.myphotoalbum.com