Well, the Trainer will be here with the dog in less than 3 hours now! 
Thanks guys for the support and tips!

Wow Cinnamon that sounds hard. I had similar experiences with Reever as I said, although ironically the thing that  started to solve things was me getting her to do something  which her trainer definitely didn't approve of, climb on my bed with me as I was just lying down reading an audio book (by staggering irony it was Robin Hobb's Assassin's apprentice).

She initially found the idea weerd and just looked at me, then she jumped up and setled down and that was what started it. I think for her, being so close when I was perfectly relaxed playing core exiles with my wireless keyboard or reading a book was what she needed, just the idea that there was someone around she needed to be close to.

With the Guiding, funnily enough that was the easy part, or at least I was able to recognize that all the mistakes were just matters of muscles that would be no trouble to solve with time, then again Reever is such a gentle dog commands weren't a problem, as opposed to the emotional bit.

So, yes, time is what is needed, and don't give up! I confess there were points I nearly did, especially sinse because literally the week before I started training my light opera society with whom I'd done five years of productions changed directors and got someone who objected to the disability thing, so I wasn't feeling great to start with.

with Reever though it worked out fine and now we'd definitely not be separated, indeed as I said she is still quite anxious about being left.

Glad to hear it. Don't worry, Kirk didn't really listen to me when not in the harness at first. They put a group of us up in a hotel for a couple weeks so they could train us all together and when I told Kirk to sit this older lady's guide dog sat instead while Kirk simply didn't bother. That said he is rather stubborn even to this day.

things went well today as well! but my instructor has been warning me about what they like to call "fifth day blues".  The day where the dog decides to question and act against everything you do to challenge your authority.  I am... very excited for that day!

I've never used a guide dog, but my late former roommate did. He only had one dog, but she worked out pretty well for him. She came from the Guide Dog Foundation for the Blind, and I'd have to say that their emotional bond was very strong. In fact it might've been a bit too strong some of the time. By that I mean he allowed her to roam free, and I've been told by a few friends and neighbors that he actually let people pet her sometimes while she was on the harness despite telling me and others not to pet her. One other thing he told me was never to utter the dog's name in public, or else she'd get confused. I've since read that this is actually not true in many or all cases, so I think he was just being anal. To his credit though, he did have some rather serious health issues which prevented him from taking care of the dog a lot of the time. So our neighbors pitched in during those times. He passed away almost 3 years ago though, and for a brief period the dog was taken to live with a visiting nurse who often came and helped out with medication. But last I heard, she was sent back to the school from which she came.

i don't have a guide dog, but in my future i want work with that dog

@Saphira it's certainly worth it if you can do. Guide Dogs aren't right for everyone, and sometimes it doesn't work which is why the guide dog association over here are so careful both about who gets which dog, and what dog you get, but if it works it's amazing! Indeed, last night I went for a meal with my brother then back to his place to watch Game of thrones, I left reever at my parents sinse my brother is a bit paranoid about his house.

Yes, I could still navigate fine with my cane, but by heck it was so much harder!  It just made me realize how much easier things are with a dog and how much less energy you need to constantly put in to walking around and being aware of people and obstacles.

@livrobo, glad your considering this and good luck with the application. I'm not sure where you are in the world, but in the Uk there isn't so much a "training program"

You apply to guide dogs for services and they decide whether your right for a dog, after doing a massive questionaire about your life, your mobility skills, how much you go out etc. They then for me did a test assessment where I had a trainer pretending to be a dog which was fairly whacky
Once I was accepted I went to a test walk day, this was where they had several dogs and a harnice and gave people the chance to walk with a dog just for the experience, as well as having a guide dog owner chat about taking care of a dog. That was okay, though myself I was more interested in meeting the dogs than the people, sinse I tend to much prefer dogs . Seriously, of the two people there one girl was a fairly sterriotypically blind person and so not really easy to live with. One older lady was quite okay to get on with and have a vague chat to sinse she'd gone blind later, though we didn't get as much time over the course of the day.

For the training itself once I'd waited on the list and Guide dogs found me a dog, I didn't myself go aaway for training. some people get sent off to a hotel or similar with a group of other blind people training with their dogs, but that didn't happen to me, I was trained at home in my flat with Reever. That was actually pretty hard as I have said due to Reever missing her trainer, indeed I do think more contact with other people in training might have helped. There was one lady who was training at the same time I did, and a couple of times we met up for joint sessions, but certainly not that often, indeed other than the couple of hours a day I was with the trainer I was pretty much alone with Reever, ---- and being alone with a dog who really doesn't want to be with you is not a nice experience, though thankfully that has now changed entirely, (indeed Reever is once again curled up on my feet while I'm writing this).

in last month i was took part in course, which prepared and tested me to get a guide dog. I passed the test, and foundation accept me. I waiting for a dog!

Hi,

While I don't have a Guide Dog, I have been in ccotact with them. My piano teacher hha a guide dog and she can be immature. If you look ather and clap, she'll get excited. i once tried to make her jump on my Mother. So be careful if your Dog iwats some fun.

And also give them anything they want provided it is within reason, of course. Otherwise thty'll be mad. My teacher's elder guide Dog does not stop when I'm in, probably because she wants all the Queenly attention. And be careful if you decide to get a second in case the two decide to outrival one another.

Best regards,and thanks for reading this post,
Thunderfist

@Thunderfist, "give them anything they want?" nope. Your guide dog is a dog and needs to have fun when not working, but equally can't just run around going nuts and having their own way all the time, for a start, you shouldn't be encouraging a guide dog to jump on anybody! sinse what happens if the dog does that on the street? IN Britain at least guide dogs are very well trained before you get them and you need to maintain that. It's a complex balance to get right, but just like any system (such as this forum), needs some vaguely understood authority  even as it exists just to have fun, you do need to be your dog's principle pack leader and definitely in charge not the other way around. This is true with any dog, but with guide dogs even more so, sinse what happens if your dog is used to doing exactly what he/she wants, is walking you around and wants to go and say hello to the dog across the road?

Same with attention, indeed guide dogs in Britain will train their dogs to be able to sit say in a restaurant or a class room or whatever while your doing something else, in fact that's a basic part of the training.

Reever is quite a gentle personality, so I haven't had that many authority conflicts with her, but there still have been a couple, for example there was one occasion where she persistantly went and tried to meet other dogs on a walk to the point that I actually had to correct her fairly firmly.

Also why the hell would you get a second dog? That would be loopy and unfare to both dogs.

@Liv robo, let us know how it goes. As I said earlier the start can be hard but don't get discouraged, it is! very much worth it in the end, and the more you put in, the more you get out .

Hi Thunderfist.

While I got your "within reason" comment, at the same time,  if a dog learns that if it barks constantly it gets  attention and rewards, well what do you think the dog will do?

It's better to ignore the dog, get the dog to lie down when you want, or   teach the dog a more appropriate method of playing like picking up a toy and bringing it to you.

If a dog barks insessantly, it usually means there is something wrong in either it's initial training, or in how it's been treated, certainly if a guide dog in Britain had that sort of issue, the trainer would help the owner sort it out, indeed in Britain most guide dogs  rarely bark at all, reever only barks when she wants to get my attention, for example if I've left her outside and she wants to come in, and even then, only in very single barks.

This is why Guide dogs aren't for everyone.  Dogs are lovely, indeed a lot nicer than people in a lot of ways, but there is a certain code you need to get into.