Success!

On Wednesday, 8 October 2014, Mummy, Sparkie, and me went from Geelong to Burwood to meet our trainer. We rode four different trains on the way there, and one of our swapping stations was the busiest one in Melbourne (Flinders St Station). Sparkie easily passed her Public Access Test, and we rode three trains home. We were out for 12 hours and by the time we arrived home we were all exhausted.

 

We haven’t received the videos from the day yet, so here is some photos of us waiting for a train, and one of us on the train.

 

So now Sparkie is fully certified! We are still waiting on our ID card and some other bits and pieces, but we have Sparkie’s new coat.

We Are Unstoppable

On Monday we went to Melbourne’s CBD by train. It was Sparkie’s first train ride and she was such a good little girl!

The following is copied (only slightly edited) from my diary, so forgive the rambling!

“Up at 6:30am, on the road at 7:30. Made it to the train station on time, caught the 9:02 train. Sparkie jumped on like a pro, slept under my seat the whole hour and a half to Melbourne. The CBD is incredible. So many massively tall office buildings. And the people! So many people. First we went to the toilets, and then we had trouble finding any grass for Sparkie to pee on, finally found a gravel patch with some plants poking out and let her use that. The place we were going was on the tenth floor of a VERY flash building, revolving door, heaps of people in each lift. Sparkie handled it all perfectly. She had a bit of a goofy moment at one point, rolling around the floor. And then she fell asleep again. She woke up when my anxiety levels started to rise – she sat up and started nudging me and licking me. Love my little dog! When the session was over I took Sparkie to look out the window, she was fascinated by the tiny people way down there! We rode the lift back down, another eight strangers crowding in, and then outside. Back to the plants. And then back to the toilets at the train station. Went upstairs for a sandwich and a bottle of water, and downstairs to eat it. Sparkie's heelwork was amazing. I gave her a little drink using the empty plastic sandwich packet as a bowl, and also a tiny bit of crust. Before we went back on the train, we gave her another chance to pee but she didn't want to go. Then toilet for us and back on the train. Sparkie stayed awake for a while but eventually fell asleep. When we got back to Seymour I took Sparkie's coat off so she could sniff and be goofy while we waited for the other guys to pick us up. Took nearly an hour because Jessica had turned her phone's volume right down!”

Some short videos:

Sparkie riding on the train. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=phaNJbJVD_U

And this is us crossing a road in the CBD on the way back to the station. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4a9sQTYSH8

 

On Friday we’re off for our Public Access Test, Sparkie’s final assessment to see if she’s ready to graduate from “in training” status.

(resting on her mat during a lunch break at Southern Cross Station before we caught the train home)

We are unstoppable
That's who we are, that's who we are
For the impossible
That's who we are, that's who we are

– Unstoppable, TobyMac

Hiatus

I’ve been neglecting this blog again. So many things have been happening. This post doesn’t mention them all.

 

On August 25, we decided to cancel the Superdog shows we had remaining for the rest of the year. Shortly after that we were all sick with the flu, and then we found another diesel leak! We got it fixed, but now the bus has developed a new rattle, which seems to be in the engine.

 

With the pressure off, life seems easier. Mostly. It’s giving me a chance to focus on Sparkie’s service dog training, and we’re on our way to Melbourne for our certification on October 3. Which puts more pressure on me. But whatever.

 

Will we ever do more Superdog shows? I hope so. We might do some small events next winter. I want to keep the places we perform at small and our performances low cost so there’s less pressure to perform perfectly. For now, we’re on hiatus.

 

And here’s a bunch of photos.

Days In The Sun

So many things have been happening lately that I’ve come to the decision that I’m not going to get a special post for Auntie Beth’s visit. While she was staying with us we camped at the Maleny Showgrounds, which is beautiful. The day before she left we spent on Bribie Island. We went for a walk beside the beach and ate ice cream.

We have done some renovations to the bus this month – big ones like shifting bunks and seats. We’ve also cleaned out a lot of stuff we didn’t really need and done heaps of trips to the rubbish dump and to storage.

 

On Tuesday we went to Maroochydore, another beach, yay!

Today we’re doing more bus renovations, shifting one bunk forward to make room for a cupboard. Next up is making space for a bathroom! And we are done to just one computer again. Also, it has rained all day so far today.

 

Next post: Sparkie’s new lead and general training updates, and maybe more bus renovations.

Two Weeks Later

Unfortunately this is not a blog about my auntie’s visit, which was awesome by the way. I am going to blog that at some point, hopefully, but life has been insane.

 

Just thought I should let you know I’m still alive and nothing awful has happened, because it’s been over two weeks since I posted anything.

 

We’re all good, apart from a few light colds that are practically gone now (and I didn’t get one, yay!). Sparkie’s assistance dog training is going good, and we’ve been focusing on riding lifts because that’s what she was scared of. She’s doing much better now. There might be a video coming soon.

 

And oh, we also have a new show lined up! Horsham Show on October 1, which is also Sparkie’s birthday.

Filtered

On July 10, we discovered an issue with the bus oil that prevented us from driving very far. We spent the following day trying to source an oil filter in Gladstone, with no luck. We spent two nights parked right next to the railway line, and then moved a few kilometres up the road next a football field. We were able to train and exercise the dogs, and even discovered a dog park within walking distance.

Meanwhile we’d ordered a new oil filter from Darwin, but couldn’t find the right tool to get the old one off. We had to drain out the old oil, and ended up having to unscrew a bunch of parts before that was possible. And then the new part arrived. Daddy jammed a screwdriver into the side of the old filter and used that as a handle to turn the filter until it unscrewed and came off.

So finally, with new oil and a new oil filter, we hit the road again on July 17.

Auntie Beth flew over yesterday, and tonight is camping beside us in a hired campervan. Fun times, and photos of that coming soon!

Life Goes On

It feels like the past three weeks have been both slow and hectic. We’ve travelled about 1500kms and now we are stuck again waiting on a part for the bus – an oil filter this time. I have been busy working on another blog over at LiveJournal for all fandom related things and working on the dogs’ agility. We’ve rebuilt our weave poles to competition specifications and added another 6 poles to them. We’re now working on upgrading our jumps so when Lassie clips the bar the whole thing won’t fall down.

 

Sparkie’s assistance dog training is going about the same. She’s decided travelators are the best thing EVER and wants to go on every one we come across. On the other hand, lifts are less fun – need to find more of those to get her used to them.

 

Oh, and that new training method is going great. Instead of the dogs being allowed to eat stuff unless we say “leave it,” they now are not allowed to eat stuff unless we say “get it.” Sparkie and me play the “recall  game” every morning and every evening, and she loves it. I throw a treat down the hallway and say “get it!” and once she’s eaten it I call her back for the treat I have in my hand. I really should video it some time. It’s reinforcing her recall and so far it’s working!