All in a Guide Dog's Day, #7

There are routes that Cricket can anticipate before I tell her. For example, when she sees me in a dress, with scripture bag in hand, and we start to walk; in her cute little mind she anticipates that we are going to church. She knows the route and would walk to the front door of the church without my saying anything to her. I recall in training, they indicated it is important that we still give them some commands (so they remember they need to listen to their handler) and also when possible to vary the route so its not always the same.

In walking to church, there is not another route to take. When walking near my office, we do vary the route to our routine places that we walk so she isn't bored, and also that she is listening to me.
The first picture Cricket is veering to the left a little bit. A guide dog is trained to follow her line of travel on the left side. She prefers to walk on the very edge of the sidewalk. In the next picture, she has found her left edge, although my head is off the picture.

I remember Pantera, my first guide, and I took the same route through the malls in SLC to get from one bus route to the other. One day there was some type of construction and our original route was blocked off. Pantera was not happy! After that, I varied the route a little just to keep it interesting and her listening to me!

Side note: I love my yellow purse and matching yellow tee with this black dress. This black dress has many fun variations to dress it up or down. I love these black heels, they are comfortable and not too high. I have a new black pair that I love but they are too high. Natalie will be receiving these soon.