I guess millions of kids have asked for a puppy for Christmas, but they never got one like Melanie. The last couple of days she's been an almost perfect Guide Dog, paying attention, really trying not to get distracted, of course, reminding me that she supposed to get treats. Also, I've tried something a little different with her and that is using hand gestures more than voice commands all the time. I'm sure they start to sound repititious to her, I know they do to me. She's been responding to the gestures even better than voice commands, so I save the voice commands for something really important and, of course, gentle praise. I really think our teamwork is beginning to get better; part of it is her paying attention to me and me paying attention to her.
She has treats and nylabones in her Christmas stocking which has her name on it. She gets tummy rubs everyday and compliments from the people we meet. I really hope she's enjoying our new life together as much as I am.
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