Angela Villota

It is July 5^th of 2017, and it is my final morning without a dog! This is it! We did one final session of fake obedience before breakfast, then I had to wait long excruciating 15 minutes for our 8:15 meeting where we would learn our matches. Deanna would be the one announcing our matches. I remember being the last one to be told in the class. I swear she did that on purpose. Despite thinking the female black lab was too uncomfortably fast for me, I was super excited to learned that the trainers felt that we were a perfect match. Her name is Hara and at first, I was not too crazy about the pronunciation of the name, but it grew on me! I never told anyone my preference for a dog because I would have been happy with anything, but I secretly wanted a black female lab just so I can put pink bows on her head. … I did not actually do that until like 4 years later, but I did buy her cute sweaters and scarves to rock in the winter!

    Anyways, my room was right next to Erick’s and because the walls were so thin, I was able to hear him receiving his dog. Boy was I jealous and about to burst with anticipation. I placed my ear up to the wall like a nosy neighbor and just absorbed his happiness with his new four-legged best friend. When I heard Deanna knocked on my door, it took every ounce of self-control I could muster to prevent myself from shrieking something fierce. After letting Deanna into my room with Hara, we sat on my bed and I fumbled around with my treat pouch, attempting to retrieve a high value treat. I had both Charlie bears and high values, but I did not know the difference. I promise the instructors had gone over the differences, but I was already daydreaming about the moment Hara would be brought to my room. I thought if I left the alumni room faster, got to my room faster, time would match my speed and Hara’s leash would be in my hand in no time. I saw this as a true life-changing moment. I felt Hara’s judging eyes on me the whole time my hand was fumbling around in my treat pouch. Deanna handed me her leash and I felt like I was holding a baby. Like here is this leash in my hand attached to a well-trained dog that I can possibly ruin or fail. I can imagine this moment being special to a trainer too. Here is a dog you spent months training and now you are handing the leash over to a new student. After Deanna left, it was just Hara and me sitting on the floor. She whined a lot. Which honestly kind of broke my heart as a first-time handler because I felt like she did not like me.

Lunch time was announced over the PA, and we heeled our way to the dining room. I practiced having Hara lying under my chair while I ate. At first, she tried to get up a few times, but she was able to settle eventually. After lunch, we had our first official walk down country road. I was not a fan of that walk because it felt kind of awkward. Like it was not Hara’s fault, it was the actual walk. It was zig-zaggy, there was a few lose pebbles on the ground and I thought for sure I was going to fall because my middle name is Klutz. When we returned to our room, we were supposed to be bonding by sitting on the floor for a few hours. I was honestly bored because I wanted to play with her in a bigger room or groom her or go for another walk. I was so eager to learn how to care for her. Feeding time was the second highlight of that day because it was related to her care. After a long day full of excitement, I looked forward to bedtime. I gave the “go crate” and Hara eagerly walked into her crate. I gave her once last head-scratch prior to latching the crate and getting into bed myself.