Ze beeg news ees...

... Ashton is now officially confirmed as my guide dog. We had a second trial walk today and all went well.

Now it simply remains to work out a training schedule. We talked a bit about the big conference of D00M at the end of September, and I think that would be a bit much with a new dog, who is my first dog, who would be going back to the city he lived in with his previous owner. My first and foremost concern is making his transition as trauma-free as possible; the instructor made it clear he's been bored and unmotivated because he is very aware that the kennels they're housing him in are not his home. Poor puppy.

If anyone on my friends list has some idea about ways to minimise what will obviously be stress and worry on his part during the transition, I'd love to hear from you. I'm sure the Guide Dog Emporium will have some useful pointers, but having a range of ideas at your disposal never hurts.

In the meantime, it doesn't feel real... with the conference in the way, it looks like I'll have until early October to get used to the idea!