Super Halo!

Meet Super Halo, in her new "cape" that shows the world she is a Fidelco guide dog puppy!

(Isn't she cute??)



We went for our first walk with her new jacket on today, and it was a huge success. I had to fight the urge to take her to the Crystal Mall. They told us to start small and make it fun without overwhelming the poor puppies, so I took their advice and went to the Norwichtown Mall instead. (This mall has only a few tenants left, as they are demolishing it to change it to a strip mall this fall.) There were a few stores open and some customers going in and out. A security guard was talking to some people, but Halo walked right past them without sniffing, hesitating, or trying to play. As a matter of fact, one of the customers said, "Oh, look at the dog," and I didn't need to say a word...the security guard said, "It's a service dog and it's working, so you shouldn't talk to it." Wow! The power of Super Halo's cape!!

We did a few laps around the mall, and I decided to go for the big guns. There is a Super Stop and Shop attached to the mall, so I got brave and figured I'd take her in. Just walk through the front of the store past the registers, and out the doors at the opposite end. When you think about a grocery store from Halo's point of view, there are all kinds of different (potentially scary) sights like carriages, noises (beeps from the registers, squeaky wheels, people talking, music), and a scary amount of two-leggeds (people) of all sizes and shapes. Neither one of us was ready to go up and down aisles together! However, after checking the sign outside the door to make sure Halo would be welcome, we entered, walked past all of the registers, and out the other end without a hitch! I was so proud. We stopped at McDonalds (confession: mom needed a Rolo McFlurry) after that. She came in with me to order and promptly flopped down on the floor exhausted. I got my ice cream and we went back out to the car, where Halo curled up on the floor of the back seat and fell asleep. Just enough for one day! (Again, isn't she cute???)

The thing you see on her nose in the picture above is called a "gentle leader." It's a different kind of collar that makes it more pleasant for both the human and the dog when walking with a leash!  It is a device that slides over her nose and clasps behind her ears which allows me to control her head when we're walking. If you've ever walked a dog with just a flat neck collar, you know how a dog will pull, and pull, and pull until the only one who is tired is YOU! Their necks and shoulders are so strong that they can continue to pull against you. But with the gentle leader, I can direct her head (or should I say, nose, since it's always sniffing!). It gives me more control and gives her better feedback about what I want her or don't want her to do. It does not muzzle her -- she can eat, drink, bark, lick (or bite) with it on if she needs to. She isn't completely comfortable with it yet because as soon as we stop walking she will scratch at it to try to get it off her nose. But once we get moving, it's like she forgets it's even there. She's on a mission!

This week has been an exciting one for her. She spent four work days with two of my coworkers, Dawn and Linda, who were great substitute foster moms while I worked! It seems like everyone at my agency is getting used to seeing Halo around, and Halo seems to be adjusting well, too. Some of the people who have shared that they are afraid of dogs even appear to be getting over those phobias thanks to this sweet little girl!

Our Fidelco class yesterday was different from the rest. We went to The Good Dog Spot, an indoor doggie play area, for an hour. Everyone from Halo's litter was there as well as a bunch of other dogs, from labs to spaniels to bulldogs to chihuahuas. Part of the purpose was to expose the pups to different breeds and let them play and socialize. But the biggest purpose was to start interrupting their play to get them to attend to us. So as the dogs played, we were encouraged to talk to our puppies to get them to pay attention to us, stop them from playing to do bodyhandling, see if they would follow a command or even follow us amidst all of the chaos of playing dogs and distractions. Quite the adventure! At first, the Fidelco dogs seemed to all hang out together. Elitism? Maybe. As time went on, they started interacting with the others. Halo explored, did a little playing, but spent quite a bit of time interacting with the people instead of the dogs. For a while, she was following me around and I had to try to lose her in the crowd. Inevitably, she found her way back. By the time the hour was over, she was just lying under the resin lawn chair I was sitting in. I can't figure out if we "passed" or not, but I can tell you that she had no trouble playing with any of the dogs, bigger or smaller, and clearly found me and obeyed me in a crowd.

I get the feeling this is gonna be one awesome guide dog.