Training with Riley

It’s time to write about my training with Riley. I drafted the first week of class weeks ago, but it has been such a bumpy ride with him that I have been uncertain what to write. Things have now settled down and I have plenty of time to blog.

Training with a new Guide Dog is hard even if you have had one or more before. Having this piece of knowledge is useful, but nothing can actually prepare you for how exhausting it actually is until you do it. My plan was to write a short daily account at the end of each day to log what I had done. However, my laptop didn’t leave my bag the whole time I was at the hotel, as I just wanted to crawl into bed each night and sleep. So the following is going to lack some details. Nevertheless, I still want to try and remember in future what it was like to train with my second Guide Dog Riley. Class started on Monday 6 January 2020.

Monday
I arrived at the Premier Inn hotel in Rugby around 11.30 in the morning after a restless night. I think it was a combination of nerves and a feeling of guilt that I was betraying my first Guide Dog Calvin. Handing over his harness felt super emotional. Before I got to meet Riley again I did some orientation around the hotel. My room to the dining room and my room to the spending area.

I was looking forward to seeing Riley again, it had been over a month since I had done so last. The black Labrador cross retriever burst into the room and darted straight for his toys in his bed, which had kindly been given to him by his Puppy Walker and Borders. I thought it was lovely for him to have some familiar items even though I had bought him some toys too. What struck me about Riley was the amount of energy he possessed. He appeared much more livelier than I had seen him before and he quickly invited me to a game of tug. After several rounds I sat on the floor and he casually rolled on to his back for a belly rub. I was falling in love with the pup already.

Once we had been fully reacquainted we did some obedience with Riley on the lead around the hotel. He had to sit at doors and not pull on the lead. It took a little bit of work, but he soon responded well.

My memory is a little fuzzy, I think we had lunch next and then had further bonding time in the room before we went through the Guide Dog contract. Then suddenly it was dinner and bedtime. Although we didn’t go out for a walk I was mentally drained.

Tuesday
Riley slept like an angel, not even moving out of his bed the whole night. I on the other hand was up and down like a yo-yo, just not settling. How I managed to get through the day, I’m still not sure.

After breakfast we did our first harness walk. It only involved right turns. I quickly became very hot and wondered if Riley was in fact too fast for me. He was stopping short at curbs, I think partly due to me hesitating being in an unfamiliar environment.

We went back to the hotel before the second walk so I could change into a lighter coat. This walk involved both right and left turns. I have no recollection of the third walk and when I was told there would be a fourth walk I nearly fainted. Thankfully it was a short one. Yet the day was not done there as we finished off with checking and grooming. Riley didn’t really sit still so I couldn’t groom him, but we went through what needed doing.

Of course I have owned a Guide Dog before. However, everything is all a bit different from the way I put Riley’s harness on to how I instruct him to turn. Plus I have developed so many bad habits it is a challenge to retrain the brain.

Wednesday
I had a better night sleep and felt a little more refreshed. Again Riley slept soundly as I have learnt he always does. We started the day with the same block route as the day before, but just extended it a bit. Then we did a route that included rounded curbs and practiced indenting. After we went to Sainsbury’s, I was pleased to discover that Riley can walk at a steady pace indoors. After lunch we did a big walk into town where things were more challenging with the amount of people and obstacles. Riley was given the opportunity to show off his party trick, which was one of my highlights of the week. He strode into B & M and without any direction navigated his way through the aisles until he found the one he wanted. He then proceeded to choose the dog toy he wanted and we took it to the counter to pay. Fortunately the boy doesn’t have expensive taste and we purchased a squeaky skunk for £1.99. I was advised he could carry it for the rest of the walk if I wished, we didn’t do this. The walk then continued through the park. Riley coped pretty well, only veering towards the grass at times.

Thursday
This was a good day of training. The morning kicked off with traffic training where cars are driven at you from near, far and from driveways. Riley was an absolute superstar ensuring we were safe at all times. Next up was train travel into Coventry city centre. Unknown to me, you should never work your dog on to a train. So that was new. Riley scrambled underneath the seats and licked whatever delights were available. I had the chance to practice stairs with him, as well as crossing boxes, shops and a city centre environment.

After lunch one of the managers came out to observe our work. We went into town again and walked alongside the park. There was a scary moment where a potential dog attack nearly occurred. I had no knowledge of the danger until my trainer grabbed Riley from me and a man started shouting that his apparently ginormous dog wasn’t going to attack. When in fact the dog had grabbed the manager’s coat as she tried to intercept the situation. We were all a little shaken and it was lucky that I had two people with me at the time. Attacks on Guide Dogs are so frequent these days it is a real worry.

That evening I was determined to groom Riley. Yet he had other ideas and kept running back to his bed. So I admitted defeat and we had an early final night at the hotel.

Friday
It was nearly home time and I was feeling eager to get back to see Calvin who had been up to mischief whilst I was away and spent a couple of nights at the vet hospital. We could choose the walk and I decided to do a walk that we did on day one so I could compare how far we had come. It didn’t start particularly well as Riley walked me straight into a bin. After that though we were flying and it was exactly the confirmation I needed that we could become a great partnership. Riley was going up to curbs really well, avoided obstacles amazingly and I felt thankful that I had been given such a competent guide.

It was time for Riley to have some fun after a busy week for the both of us and we headed to the park. He pulled like crazy, naturally super excited about the prospect of being free. I had to keep making him sit after every couple of steps and he also had to do some obedience before being let off. He thoroughly enjoyed the run around and I was happy to hear he wasn’t a roller.

The trainer took us home and it was Riley’s lucky day as we needed to free run Eefie with him before entering the house. Calvin came along too and considering his hospital stay seemed in top spirits.

Eefie was a little angry, but seemed to accept Riley into the house. Then the trainer left and all hell broke loose. I don’t really want to write too much about Eefie and her behaviour towards Riley. What I will say is that she wanted to attack him at any given opportunity. Life became very stressful.

Saturday
The trainer came over to help with Eefie’s behaviour and I managed to look after three dogs whilst my partner was at work.

Sunday
We took the dogs for a free run in the morning and they all played really nicely. Riley loves water and had a blast at my local flooded park. Again I managed three dogs by myself whilst my partner went to work again. My mum came over for a visit and Riley immediately became friends.

The second week of training went smoothly. The first couple of days we taught Riley two block routes. By the Wednesday we were signed off both. On Thursday we did the route to the Doctor’s, Oasis Health and Beauty, the train station and my parents. They all follow on from each other. Riley loved being in a new environment, zipping along happily. On Friday we did our first ever solo walk. I linked the small block and larger block routes together. I felt electric.

Unfortunately in week 3 we had to have a change of trainers. To date Riley had always been clean on walks. Yet day one with a new trainer he pulled over to the grass and did a big busy. This then happened on a few more occasions during class. Having a dog that was clean on walks was important to me and I found the spending quite disheartening.

Nonetheless, Riley continued to do some brilliant work. We caught the bus to Fosse Shopping Park where he wagged his tail merrily all the way around. We caught the train into town, walked the route to Brownies and visited one of my work locations and showed him the route to the bus stop there.

In week 4 we made the unbelievably difficult decision to send Eefie to live with my partner’s mum in Reading. Despite constantly trying to correct her behaviour she just wouldn’t accept Riley in the house.

Nobody can qualify until week 5 of training these days. On Thursday 6 February, exactly one month since training commenced we did our qualification walk to the Doctor’s and picked up my eye drops from the chemist inside. I paid my 50p and Riley officially became a Guide Dog.

In the weeks that followed I struggled more and more with riley’s spending. It came to a head when my partner came out on a walk with us one windy weekend and Riley dropped three big busies as he was walking along without my knowledge. I contacted Guide Dogs for help and was given some advice that didn’t improve matters. I was beginning to lose hope and started to feel defeated. It wasn’t ideal, but I was trying to convince myself at least I have a Guide Dog. They are not robots after all.

Thankfully a couple of weeks ago our original trainer returned and because she knows Riley inside out she was able to put a plan of action in place before we all went into lock down. Riley is now consistently doing a big busy straight after breakfast and I have a technique to reduce the chances of him spending on walks. We have had two weeks of clean walks now and whilst the technique is a little inconvenient, I am enjoying getting out and about with Riley. At a time where we are limited to one form of outdoor exercise per day I’m pleased that I have Riley by my side enabling me to navigate the streets independently.