Nova's Project 3

Throughout the past few days, I haven't blogged as much as I should have because my days have been so busy and I've been waiting to compile all the information in to one post. On last Friday, I gave my last two school presentations; I had Hawken Lower School in the morning and US Lower School in the afternoon. Both sets of students were perfectly behaved, Nova did well, and it brought back a lot of nostalgia for my time at the middle school, and of giving my chapel talk in the same place as my dog presentation. Here are some pictures of my setting up and delivering the presentation at Hawken Lower:

After the second presentation of the day, we were both pretty worn out, and we headed home. It was really great to see what an impact my speaking had on all of the kids at the different schools.

Saturday, I started my summer job, where I'm managing and lifeguarding at a pool in Hudson! I'm going to be working there a ton this summer, and I'll have Nova there with me. This being said, it's incredibly important that he be well behaved and comfortable at this pool, and know not to try to jump in. Nova did very well, and although he did get pretty hot, he behaved and the summer is looking good.

Sunday, I went to a couple of different private lessons with Amy. Nova worked on his 'down-stay' on a mat with another dog there too(!) and some free time that he shared at another client's house with her dog. It's very cool to see how Amy works with all her different clientelle to try to solve each unique situation for the dog handlers.

Monday, I had work again, and the pool was packed. Nova did well, though, and Amy had nothing scheduled because of the holiday. We called it quits early and rested up. Amy has recommended several methods of crate training that I try to teach Nova before the summer ends and I leave for college.

Today, Tuesday, we woke up early and helped Amy with a private lesson in a nearby polo field. The dogs worked on heeling obedience and ended the lesson very well, passing each other wihtout acknowledging one another. As I finish typing this, I will soon be heading to another class in a different field (assuming the rain holds off) to work on long-distance recalls!

Nova's Project 2

On Monday, I went to Nova's first real agility class. There were several other dogs there with their handlers and Nova was a little bit behind since they'd been in class much longer than him-- he still had fun, and I got some pictures of him using some of the agility course obstacles:

 

Tonight, Tuesday, I have another group class with Nova where I will be going with Amy to walk some dogs down by the Polo Field. Again, we will work on obedience and heeling. This Friday, I have my third school assembly at U.S. Lower school at 2:15! I'm very excited for it.

Nova's Project 1

I apologize for not posting sooner; here is a recap of my first few days:

On Wednesday morning, I kicked my project off by speaking to the Parkside Elementary School's K-4.  The kids made for a surprisingly good crowd, reacting well to the information and to Nova's tricks, and asking some pretty funny questions. I talked about why I got Nova, what service dogs can do for people in general, and the do's and don't's of interacting with service dogs.

I called up volunteers throughout the presentation to get hands-on experience with service dog training.

After the presentation, I sat in on a class with my mentor, Amy Gutmann. The dogs were learning basic agility and using the equipment.

Thursday, after seeing the exciting agility equipment, I started the day with a private lesson from Amy on agility. Nova zoomed around the facility, learning where to crawl through tunnels, scale and descend an A-Frame, and jump through tires. He had a blast and learned a lot. After the agility lesson, I went with Amy to a private lesson-- she is trying to teach a dog American Sign Language for a deaf client. The dog was still very young, but it was catching on to basic hand gestures, which was very cool.

Friday morning, I woke up and presented to my second school, Roxbury Elementary School. This was especially cool because this is where I attended for years K-4. Unfortunately, only the kindergarten and first grade classes could attend, so the presentation was much smaller. I went over the same material as in the first one, adding more demonstrations and chances for the kids to interact because I saw how they liked it at Parkside.

Finally, I ended my Friday by sitting in on another lesson with Amy and a client, ending in a long walk around the Polo Field working on Nova and the client's dogs' heeling and obedience.

The project has been great so far!