“Where’s Chevelle?” This is a question that I have been asked a lot lately. I haven’t been bringing Chevelle, my guide dog in training, to school very often. This is because, like any other dog, he has some challenges. He is, after all, just a puppy.

 When people hear the reason why I haven’t been bringing him, a lot of them say, “What? I thought he was perfect!” Well this is definitely not the case. Of course Chevelle is an amazing dog, but just like every other dog; he has his problems that he needs to work out.

 Chevelle does the basic training that most dogs do such as the commands sit, lie down, come, etc. He also does some other ones that some dogs wouldn’t such as go to bed, and he needs to know how to take food politely. He also needs to know how to act when he goes places that normal dog’s usually wouldn’t like the store, the mall, restaurants, and school.

 Chevelle loves being around people, and when he is around them, he gets a little excited. This is something that we have been working on with him. He also has to know how to walk right by my side, and when he gets excited, that is very hard for him to do. That has been our main focus since Chevelle has been taking a break from school. He is showing great improvement in that and in other things as well.

 I try to dedicate as much time as I can to helping Chevelle improve on the things that he needs to work on. I work with him every night on training techniques. My mom and dad are a huge part of his training and they help me a lot. When Chevelle doesn’t come to school with me, he goes to work with my mom. He has also been to work with my dad. My parents say that everyone at their work adores Chevelle, I mean, who wouldn’t? He has to sit through all of their meetings, and he does extremely well.

 A lot of people see me correcting Chevelle on things that he is not supposed to do like eat things off of the ground and try to get people’s attention. Some people ask me why he can’t do anything, he is just a dog! My reply is that, yes, he is a dog, but he has to meet certain standards in order to, someday, become a Guide Dog for the blind. In order to meet these standards, he has to control himself and not eat off of the ground or get people’s attention. He is not a normal dog, he is a guide dog puppy in training.

 Yes, he has a lot of work to do, but he is making huge improvements in such short spans of time. He is growing and becoming a better dog day by day. You will get to see Chevelle next week when he comes back to school and shows off his new and improved skills that will hopefully lead him to becoming a Guide Dog for the Blind.