I’ve mentioned previously that one of the significant problems I had with Sadie shortly after class finished last year was that she would stick on a particular route, with me initially not being able to get her moving at all and then with the input of my trainer tempting her along with the reward of cheese before things deteriorated with her behaviour and we jointly decided to pare Sadie’s workload back to allow her time to find her feet as a working guide dog.  We deliberately avoided this route during early refresher training but one of my more recent posts detailed that Sadie was starting to stick on the alternative route we found back to my workplace from the shopping centre.  My trainer had specifically asked me to avoid both sticking points until she had time to do some focussed training with us.

When I met my trainer on the day we planned to tackle the lesser of Sadie’s sticking points, after a discussion and for a variety of reasons we decided we would instead tackle Sadie’s sticking head on and attempt the worst return route that day.  For me this would be a litmus test of just how confident I now was in handling Sadie’s behaviour and her stubbornness in particular.  If I had been asked to do this, even with my trainer present, last year or earlier this year prior to refresher training it would have reduced me to a doubt filled wreck….but that day I relished the challenge!

We walked our usual route to the shopping centre with no issues whatsoever, taking time to give Sadie some work within Sainsburys to reinforce to her that there was a destination she liked on this route but that she would have to leave the shops using the route I decided rather than one of her choice, and at a time of my choosing.  I noticed as we were walking back out of the shopping centre Sadie was giving me definite indications of other shops I use so acknowledged her indications to me but encouraged her on past them.  During refresher training we have purposively been giving Sadie more responsibility than during initial class as I have a greater reliance on Sadie keeping me safe than I did when I worked with Waffle, and as my vision will continue to deteriorate its important that Sadie uses all the skills she has been trained to use and be confident doing so so we don’t find ourselves in a short space of time in the situation where my sight has all but gone (or indeed completely gone) and Sadie is unable to accept a sudden and increased level of responsibility and workload during her working years.  Therefore I’m continuing to openly encourage Sadie to locate things for me whether I need them that day or not.  And its been a joy to know that Sadie is flourishing with the increased level of responsibility and workload; my trainer reminds me frequently of how bright a dog Sadie is and that she needs to make use of her intelligence so she enjoys her working life (she still gets oodles of down time and play time too of course).

After leaving the shopping centre completely we reached the point where Sadie wants to cross a road but I need her to turn right.  This is where she has spectacularly stuck previously.  I allowed her to enthusiastically find the kerb as if to cross the road (simply giving her the “straight on”command) and praising her when she sat at the pavement.  I then told her “right” and she initially turned and then thought better of it.  Three times she tried to take me to the kerb edge and three times I corrected her (calm, even tone saying “no”) and told her “straight on”.  After she did move straight on the third time she stopped completely and I asked my trainer for help.  Going back to the basics of foot position one (both my feet together standing at Sadie’s shoulders) and then back to foot position two (I step back to Sadie’s hip, my left foot a step forward of my right foot, my weight on the my back foot) and telling Sadie “forward” got her to move a minuscule amount.  My trainer told me to do the same again, but if Sadie failed to continue moving forward adjust my tone to a more corrective one, take the lead in my right hand, give Sadie a harness flick and if need be a lead flick thereafter all the while telling Sadie “straight on”.  This worked although Sadie walked very, very slowly forward and kept this up for about 50 yards. With no fuss, and with Sadie still moving forward, I put the lead back in my left hand and reverting back to my encouraging voice and command to “hop up” she rocketed off having got over her initial huff at not being allowed to cross the road.  Success! And not a piece of cheese in sight.

I gave Sadie lots of praise when we reached the next down kerb as a way of rewarding her good behaviour and hopefully reinforcing the need to guide me to this kerb point in her mind.  (As an aside, a dog’s working memory lasts approx 30 seconds so this is the best window of opportunity to praise or correct a behaviour before you risk correcting or praising a different one from that which you intended….at the kerb point upper most in Sadie’s mind was her good guiding and not her stubbornness further back).  The next section of the route passed unremarkably and then we came upon the wobbly manhole cover that Sadie had taken a dislike to last year.  She walked over it and I praised her…and then she stopped completely.  I knew she was demanding a treat which she would have been given last year, but the new rule in place is no treats for Sadie doing things other than locating a door or a pole or button for me…so no treats were forthcoming…and Sadie sat down on the pavement in protest.  For a fraction of a second I considered asking my trainer for help but decided I did know what to do (or at least try) so gave Sadie a harness flick and told her “forward”, which she did albeit in a major huff.  I got Sadie to “hop up” again but only for a few short steps for the next two sections of the route, it almost feeling like Sadie would remember she was supposed to be in a huff with me so would revert back to slow walking.    Ever heard of the terrible twos in a child’s developmental stage?!

Before Sadie and I parted company with my trainer that day, we agreed to meet again the next day repeating the same route to reinforce to Sadie she needs to do what I ask of her and not what she likes to do….what on earth is over that road crossing that Sadie is so intent on getting to?

The next day we walked the same route to and from the shopping centre (going to M&S this time to continue mixing up destinations for Sadie’s interest and hopefully motivation to keep working).  Sadie once again approached the down kerb of the crossing she wanted to make enthusiastically and once again I told her “right”.  No movement from Miss Pops. Harness flick from me and “right” with a reluctant right turn by Sadie.  We walked a few steps on and my trainer asked me to stop, get Sadie to take us back to the crossing and repeat the right turn.  At the third time of going back and forward Sadie was starting to lose her reluctance to make the right turn (yay!) but she was also starting to predict that we would turn back so my trainer said to continue straight on to the next down kerb.  I did something in that moment that I shouldn’t have done, but I really couldn’t stop myself from doing.  I put my hand on Sadie’s head and gave her a wee pat.  My trainer rightly picked up that I was giving Sadie mixed messages and that I need to always be consistent with Sadie; voice must match command, tone of voice must match Sadie’s behaviour.  Anyone who knows me knows how much of a stickler for consistency I always am.  So why did I pat Sadie on the head on that particular part of the route when her behaviour didn’t warrant it?  Because in that moment I made my peace with Sadie being a stubborn wee bum, because I wanted to let Sadie know that no matter how often she strops or how badly I still adore her, that no matter how slowly she walks or how big a huff she is in, I love her to bits.  There are moments in developing partnerships that stand out in cementing your working relationship with your dog.  That moment when I put my hand on Sadie’s head was one of them for us.  At the very end of the walk I told my trainer that if an occasional battle with Sadie is part of having her in my life, I embrace it wholeheartedly.  Sadie can be a pickle, she is a conundrum to the most experienced of guide dog trainers and she’s an enigma to us all. But she’s my pickle, my wee conundrum and my much loved enigma. I’m way beyond attached to Sadie to ever want to part with her (that’s why when she was back with Guide Dogs for her assessment I said I’d have her back in a heartbeat).  Refresher training has given me the skills I need to manage Sadie’s behaviour, but its also given me the confidence to use them.  I no longer worry that Sadie doesn’t want to be a guide dog, or doesn’t want to be my guide dog if she’s throwing a strop on the pavement. Sadie loves being a guide dog and she loves being a little madam sometimes.   I never asked for, or expected, a perfect dog.  To my mind there is no such thing as a perfect dog, but there can be a dog who is perfect for you.  And Sadie is perfect for me.

Repeating that particular route on two days turned out to be a watershed moment for me.  Sadie may look at me with her “make me why don’t you!” look on her face as she goes into full on stubborn mode, but it’s now met with a fierce but calm determination in my mind, and confidence level, that I will rise to any challenge she throws at me and we will go where I need us to go and no matter how slowly we go, we will go there.  And this new found confidence was reflected in my observed handling of Sadie a few days later when my trainer visited us in our home town.  For me its an almost palpable step change in my confidence in handling Sadie.

At the end of the second day of working through Sadie’s most stubborn of behaviour and getting her to walk at her true guiding pace, my trainer asked me how I know when to ask Sadie to “hop up” and when to remain quiet and matter of fact with Sadie just telling her on occasional “straight on” as no matter who tried what technique when Sadie was back in for her assessment, no one could get her to “hop up” if Sadie decided to dawdle.  I can only say its a combination of learning to initially work with Sadie and all my GDMI taught me then, getting to know Sadie as an individual (when best to speak and when best to shut up),  and putting into practice what I’ve been taught during refresher training, but also, and for me of most importance, not being in the slightest bit bothered by Sadie’s slow walking.  The little bit of absolute silence, with me having both the harness handle and lead in my left hand, ensuring my correct body position relative to Sadie’s and not flinching literally or figuratively if Sadie doesn’t want to “hop up”  seems to be the perfect recipe in getting her to increase her pace, but in a way that Sadie seems to believe is of her doing and not mine (she is part retriever after all).  Having a guide dog who will walk at vastly different paces on occasions would not suit many if anyone other than me but it really doesn’t phase me at all if Sadie walks slowly, and I’m really not in that much of a rush to lead my life.  Like I said, Sadie and I are perfect for each other and for every “make me why don’t you” she throws at me, its now met with a “watch me why don’t you” back at her.  And all the while my trainer still saying I could be sterner with my voice and better at my harness and lead flicks.  I could be, but I don’t seem to need to be.