first 2 days of school

As I mentioned in my last post school has started up again, and this semester Andrew gets to join me. This week was a trial run to make sure Andrew could handle being in a classroom, since this week we only had three days of school it has been the perfect week to give it a try. Yesterday was our first day of school. It started out with me getting up at 9:15am to get me ready I also took care of Andrew, and let him play some. At about 11am it was time to head over to school for my first class. I had left an hour early since I wasn't sure how parking would be. We quickly found a spot to park and I got his jacket on him and then headed over to class. Since I was early I gave Andrew one more chance to go potty to make sure he was all empty. Then we headed into the classroom. Once there I found a seat in the front I like to sit in the front for two reasons. One I can see better being short it can sometimes be hard to see over people, and two the front gives the dog more room since there isn't another desk in front of us. Class was only 5 min long (yay!!!). All we did was walk in sit down wait for the teacher to mark who was there and then got  our syllabus, and then we were told we could leave. Andrew and I then headed back to my apartment where he got to play while i ate lunch. At 2:30 pm it was time to head back to campus for my next class. Again parking wasn't bad and we didn't have to walk far to get to the classroom. This classroom was on the second floor and the staircase in this building can get real crazy with students so I took the elevator. While in the elevator I had a teacher turn to me and say how sorry he felt that my dog had to wear a muzzle. I politely explained it was not a muzzle, but rather a halti and he could still open his mouth it was just so he wouldnt pull while walking. The teacher really didnt seem to care what I said and said he still felt sorry for the dog. Another person in the elevator then said so he can still bite.

soap box moment (really wanted to say this to them but bit my tongue): One of the things as a raiser that is very offensive to me is when people call the halt/gentle leader a muzzle. I know some people do not know what a gentle leader/halti is, and I understand that but once I explain what it is I really do not like people saying comments like "so he bites" or "can he still bite". To me saying that sounds like you think I would be rude enough to bring an unsafe animal into public. I know sometimes people are joking, but as I have explained to my friends the problem of the joke can be if someone overhears that comment they might actually think my dog bites and ask me to leave or might cause an issue for someone else with a service dog. I wish people in public would realize these pups are being raised for a special reason, and are friendly and DO NOT BITE.

We then went into class where Andrew went under my desk like a good boy. I was lucky cause in that class and the class I had after that my teacher was actually one of my friend's dad and I've had him before. He told the class that I had a guide dog in training and to not step on the dog or bother the dog.After that  class and before the next I had a short break so I  took Andrew down to go potty gave him some water and little of his food since my class somewhat cuts into his diner time. Then it was back up for my third class. We were done about 615 pm and headed home where we both crashed from being worn out.

Today was day 2 of school. We woke up at 8:30 am and got ready for school. At about 10 am we headed over to campus. Parking was harder to find today than it was yesterday. We had to walk a bit to get to class. We had to cut through the main part of campus to get to class so he had to walk through lots of people. Once at the building where class would be I let him go potty again and then went inside for class. Andrew did great again this time though instead of desks we were in a lecture hall type of classroom so he had to get use to being under a seat not a desk. By 12:15 class was done. That was my only class I have on thursdays. Tomorrow I only have one class, and then Andrew and I will be driving back to Bakersfield where he has a vet appointment to have his eye rechecked. We will be coming back to fresno saturday since I have a guide dog meeting. So to sum it all up Andrew has had a great first two days of class.