hotel training

Monday 10th Nov 2008

I got up feeling very nervous but excited all at the same time as today was the day I was to start training with guide dog Pearce. I packed my bags and then sat down with mum to say a prayer that the training would go well and that I would enjoy it. Then Dad came at around 11o'clock to pick us up and to take us to the Hilton hotel in Northampton where we would be met by our trainer and the 2 other clients I would be training with. We arrived and said our hello's and then went to my hotel room with mum and dad to sort everything out before coming back to the cafe for lunch, mum and dad then left us and we all sat down to have our lunch and to get to know each other a bit more, Pearce was an absolute darling throughout this lying quietly beside me without any fuss. After lunch we went into my bedroom where the trainer talked about the training and what it involved and we were given lots of equipment such as lead, 2 collars, the harness body, a sash which said "guide dog please do not feed me", 2 bells so we know where they are when they are free running and a whistle, we were given the "do not distract me, im working sash and the handle on another day. Pearce was demo dog during the talk and he behaved impeccably and listened even when he wasnt supposed too, we all burst out laughing. After the talk we had a few hours to ourselves until 7pm when we all went down for dinner and I again took Pearce as the others had only just been given there dogs who needed time to settle in and again what a star he was. After Dinner we all went back to our rooms, I spoke to mum and told her all about my first day and then I ran a bath for myself and watched TV until 10pm when I took Pearce out to do his business and then it was time for bed and at first pearce wouldnt settle down but in the end I moved the bed closer to my bed and he settled for the night but in the morning of Tues 11th Nov he had a wobbly tummy and had a big accident on the carpet by the door, I was soooooooooooooo embarrassed that it had to be me and I knocked on the trainer's door and she kindly came and picked it up for me and we got a cleaner to clean it up properly and she was really nice and said "we get a lot worse" so that made me feel a little better but it still worried me but I was told not to take him out too often. Tuesday the beginning of training.