Today Kathie and I meet our personal match: my left knee pain. It kept me awake last night and made me walk oddly this morning. On the way out to the relief area, I heard someone say that it would be rainy all day. I replied, “Pfui.” That is a habit I should break… Kathie turned and looked at me as if to question what she had done wrong. It’s not so good to start the morning off thinking you are doing everything wrong, even when you’re a guide dog–especially when you didn’t do anything wrong. I apologized to Kathie and gave her an extra “good girl,” and we went outside. She really was a good girl outside.
I’m trying new strategies to combat the knee pain; and we’ll see how it goes on our trip this morning. The nurses here are very kind and helpful; and their support means a lot to me.
We were pampered over the weekend with chocolate goodness made by the instructors. For any fellow graduates who are reading, Lee Johnson made milkshakes, and Jan made her crowd pleaser. The crowd pleaser has Oreos and crushed pecans, ice cream and hot fudge. Jan makes her own hot fudge, and it is gooey, chocolatey goodness fit for immersing yourself in. Lee and Jan kept commenting that they didn’t hear much talking, then remarking, “Oh, there is crowd pleaser.” These social gatherings are important training opportunities for the dogs to learn to behave in settings where there is food without tables. Yes, Kathie let me have my chocolate.
