Walking Buddies

Friends in the sun.

The walks were bitter cold this weekend but Vinson and Watson both enjoyed them regardless. Here's a shot of the two of them telling me to "come on" as I struggled with gloves and pockets to snap this photo.

My Morning View: Shadow Walkers

Vinson & My Shadow

As you know, Vinson and I walk around the training path every morning here at The Seeing Eye. This morning's cool, crisp autumn-like weather made for a wonderful walk.

When we round the corner and walk along Washington Valley Road, the morning sun is always at our backs and I often get a kick out of the shadows formed by Vinson and I walking together. I attempted to get a photo of the shadows this morning and it worked.

The low angle of the sun makes Vinson look even taller and lankier than he currently is - so here's our morning walk from our point of view.

The Stunning Seeing Eye Campus this Morning

Is it Time for our Morning Walk?

Vinson "asking" for our morning walk

As I've mentioned before, developing a regular routine with your pup is a key to keeping things running smoothly. We always take our morning walk early - what I do change up is the direction, path, length, etc. to keep it interesting (and sometimes, based on the weather).

This photo (taken by my coworker, Pat), shows Vinson's over-exuberant manner of "asking" if it's time for our walk. Pat has often joked that, if I were to write a book about raising Vinson, this should be the cover photo - me trying to work at the computer and Vinson "requesting" we do something else. Of course this behavior was more of a problem when he was younger; and I do correct any unacceptable behavior. Still, you can imagine this moment when you're sitting at your keyboard and the pup won't have it!

This morning's early walk to beat the heat took us down to the farmhouse at the end of The Seeing Eye's property. There, a large, fully-fenced yard is ready for staff to work their dogs - complete with a bucket of toys, dish of fresh water, a hose and poop bags. Now, Vinson and I have tried taking advantage of this yard in the past, but he wasn't quite ready for the stimulation, and ended up eating clumps of mowed grass rather than playing ball. Today was a whole different story! We both had a blast! Vinson would sit calmly and wait for me to throw the ball, then break into a steam-engine run, snatch up the ball and gleefully return it. We had a great time, and I'll have to admit, I felt proud of the little guy!

Both worn out, we returned to the comfort of the air conditioned office, where Vinson drank lots of water and fell asleep on the floor - where he remains now!

"Resting" at the Gazebo this Morning

Vinson at the Gazebo

On our morning walk on The Seeing Eye training path, we worked a bit on sitting and resting in one of the two gazebos. I attempted to snap a photo but as you can see, Vinson was just about to leave the "rest" position to investigate a butterfly behind me (he's used to seeing the white moths, but this monarch really drew his interest). Still, a nice morning and a good little training workout.

He's now snoring in his brand new crate and loving his "Mutt Mat".

Beautiful Day for a Walk

Vinson sitting with Sarah on the walk

Vinson enjoyed the nice weather on a good long walk near the lake today. Here he's showing how well he sits when asked to.

New Video

Here's a quick compilation video - a brief shot of a morning walk on the training path, and then some video from my office this morning, showing how Vinson is doing great at sitting, but also how he loves to bring all the toys around the desk and back; plus, when he hears the office door open, he runs to the gate and sits, hoping the person who comes in will give him some petting.

Come On! Let's Go for a Walk!

Heading around the training path

Here's Vinson on our walk this morning, looking back at the camera as if to say, "Come on, let's go!"

Beautiful Morning Walk on the Training Path

Our morning walk around The Seeing Eye's training path this morning was beautiful - golden morning sunshine, beautiful grounds and blue skies. I couldn't resist the chance to snap a few photos as we rounded the path.

We've been progressing very well on proper leash walking and sitting on command.