Day 2 was very much like day 1. I arrived at GDB in Kennel 3 at 7:30 and was put right to work. I started scooping the poop out of the back west kennels. After that was done I rinsed all the kennels out with water (to rinse off all the pee and poop stains). Then I went back inside and started washing all the bowls from breakfast. Risned them, acceled them, rinsed again, and then propped them up to dry. Another CWT was was stuffing kongs with soaked kibble and peanut butter, then putting them in the freezer for enrichment time later in the day. They are stuffed with different food depending on what dogs are in the kennel. Most of the are on NB, so a piece of that kibble is placed in the middle of the peanut butter that tops off the hole. This way when we take them out and give them to the dogs, we know which ones are which. The other food was a Eukanuba food I believe, and a piece of that kibble was placed in the peanut butter. Such an efficient way to identify kongs!
After I finished the dishes, Collier had me accel both the front and back kennels of the west side, as well as accel the whole front west community run. It actually didn't take me as long as I thought. I did however get the nozzle stuck as I was changing the accel hose head for the regular water one, and shot both my pant legs with ice cold water. Mind you, the morning temps in San Rafael aren't too high, especially when there's a coastal breeze blowing through. Luckily I was moving around a lot today so I dried quickly ( and thank GOODNESS no one was around to see that). After about 20 minutes, I was finished acceling and went back inside to see what Collier would have me do next. Turns out they have CWT meetings at 9 everyday, so off we went!
They mostly went over shift schedules and what not, but a guy ( who I think is the head of the CWT's or something) came up to me and said I would get to observe treadmill training today! So after the meeting we went back to Kennel 3, rinsed the kennels, did a few things on the board, and went upstairs to the treadmill room. There were about 4-5 trainers in there, with 3 dogs. This was all of the dogs first session. Their goal is to just get them used to walking at a brisk pace and going forward, In the second session, they put the harness on the dog so they have to pull forward in the harness, as they would have to do while guiding someone. The dog I watched really enjoyed it. There are people standing on either side of the dog, each holding a separate leash, and then one person sits in front of the treadmill and coaches the dog along and gives food rewards. The trainers said that most dogs don't have a problem with it, but if they are truly scared of it, they don't push them to do it. Most of the time it won't stop them from being a guide dog, but they do make note that that particular dog may also have a problem with escalators.
We then went back to kennel 3, doing the tasks on the board for another hour or so; checking suture sights, letting certain dogs out into the run for playtime, scooping poop, etc. During this time, a woman from the breeding department came in to get a dog that had been pulled for breeding and was going to her breeder custodian home, which also happened to be her puppy raiser! Collier and the other CWT Shannon asked if we could come along to see the reunion, so off we went! The dog was ECSTATIC to see her raisers again, and they were very happy to have her back as well. Collier said that doesn't happen very often, where the raisers are also the breeder custodians because you have to live fairly close to campus to be one. (50 miles or so I think). I loved seeing the reunion! We also went to a couple of different relieving stations toward the back of the campus and took the garbage bags out and put fresh ones in, and made sure there were sufficient amounts of poop bags at each station. Definitely not the highlight of my day, as those bags smelled like death, but it's just one of those things that needs to be done! On our way back from the dumpster, a CWT radio-d Collier asking if we could pick up one of our kennels' dogs from the training office. Some of the dogs are sent there if they are stressed out in the kennels or just need some quiet time. I picked up a sweet little yellow female and took her back to our kennel.
We then went back to Kennel 3, and Collier decided to take me to Kennel 2 with her to give a massage to one of her project dogs. He was a big goofy yellow lab that reminded me a lot of Keith. Collier is kind of like the massage therapist at GDB, so she showed me some of the techniques she used to help stretch out this dogs problem area, which was along his spine. She showed me that if the muscle spasms while your stretching it out, then it is not fully worked out yet. The dog nearly fell asleep while Collier was working on him, it was so cute!
We then went back to Kennel 3, and while Collier answered some emails and did paperwork on the kennel computer, she had me do health checks on 3 dogs and fill out their health charts. It was really cool because I even got to initial the paperwork....I felt so official! I cleaned their ears, brushed their teeth, and checked all over their body for any cuts or abrasions. One dog was also REALLY blowing her coat, so a brushed her as well. Also checked a suture sight on one dog. After putting all those dogs away and completeing their charts for that day, Collier showed me how she assess a Career Change dog that is up for placement.
First she assess how well they react to having a walking harness (like the ones from pet stores), Gentle Leader, and collar put on. How they react to a person coming up to their handler, all of their commands (sit, down, stay, etc) and they are graded on a scale based on how many times Collier has to say the command before they do it, if at all. This was really eye openening because everything she tested this dog on stemmed from how well and how often his raiser worked with him. She also test him on body handling acceptance, crate behavior and tie down nehavior, but we didn't have time to do those. She also showed me how they introduce the clicker. She got out this platform thing, and everytime the dog put his paws on it, she clicked and rewarded him. Pretty soon she had him sitting and lying down on the platform as well.
The last thing I did today was help Collier brush out a fluffy golden retriever! She had slobber matted in her ears from playing in the community run that needed to be brushed out, as well as her tail and butt feathers. This didn't take too long, and it reminded me of sweet little Alba at home and how much I look forward to seeing her!
Also there were 2 10 minute breaks and one 30 minute lunch in there where I got to watch a litter of black lab puppies play! And they were baby babies! They were all so sassy and playful, it was downright adorable.
Tomorrow I start at 7:30 again, but Collier said that I will be working with a few different CWT's! Can't wait for another day at GDB!
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