Chapter Ten
Author's Notes: In this chapter you get to meet my alltime favorite character...
A few weeks after the Harvest, Giles stopped her in the halls. "Buffy, I have an exercise I'd like you to try this afternoon."
"Sorry, Giles, I can't. I've got an appointment."
"Buffy-"
"This appointment is important, Giles. If it goes well, my Mom will have more trust in me, and that will make this slayer thing easier."
"Fine."
"Good. I'll see you Monday morning," she told him, before giving the command to Jada and walking off towards her next class.
That afternoon her mother picked her up right after school; they drove for about forty-five minutes before her mother pulled onto a gravel drive. They bounced along for a few minutes before her mother stopped the car and turned it off.
"Are you sure this is the right thing to do?" her mother asked; she had been having doubts about the whole thing ever since Buffy set up the appointment two weeks ago.
"Yes, Mom. Then you won't have to worry about me being out by myself. Jada will be able to protect me," she told her.
Her mother nodded, turning to open the door. Buffy waited for her mother to say something, but once she heard the opening of the door, she sighed, turning to open her own door.
The cutting of the engine alerted someone to their presence, and as they got out of the car, a large Golden Retriever came bounding out from behind the house. It barked at them, and hearing the barking, Buffy decided to leave Jada in the car. As the dog bounded towards them, she stayed still, leaning up against the car, hoping the dog was friendly. Her mother pressed herself against the car, afraid of the barking dog.
"Sili, non, opied," a voice said, and the barking stopped. "Assis. Pas bouger," the voice said, and then Buffy heard crunching of gravel. "Hi, you must be Buffy Summers," the voice said, and Buffy smiled, holding out her hand. The woman took it and shook it firmly, "I'm Ashlei Knox, it's nice to finally meet you. And this must be Jada," the woman said, "she is gorgeous." Then she moved away, and Buffy heard Ashlei introducing herself to her mother.
"Is it okay to let Jada out?" Buffy asked.
"Of course. Sili won't bother her none. She's just not used to visitors on Friday. Generally the training group comes up Saturday morning. We have twenty five acres of forest here," she explained, "We use it for both Search and Rescue work and French Ring Sport. And while I have never worked with a guide dog, I am ecstatic to get the chance.
"Now, on the phone, you said you were interested in personal protection?" she asked.
Buffy nodded, "Yes. My Mom's uncomfortable with me being out at night by myself, and though I think that a German Shepherd deters people, I want her to be at ease," Buffy smiled in the direction her mother had been last.
"I just don't like her being out by herself. You never know when someone will think that a blind girl will be an easy target. I-I just don't want anything happening to her," her mother defended herself.
"That's fine," Ashlei said, "Though you do have a choice. I don't know if you're interested, but there are two dog sports that train protection a bit differently. If you wanted to try French Ring Sport, they use a suit, a thickly padded nylon suit, to train the dogs to bite. If you want to try Shutzhund, like police dogs, they are trained on just an arm or leg sleeve; the only difference between the sport and police dogs are with police dogs the sleeve is hidden. It's not that hard to train a dog for both sports, but the choice is up to you.
"I confess, I'm not just looking forward to working with you, but I'm trying to convert you into a dog person. There will be some problems, for some things you need to see, to recall the dog as an example, but we can get around that."
"I think we just-"
"I'd like to hear more about these sports," Buffy interrupted her mother.
"French Ring Sport is, obviously, a sport originating in France. There are four levels, Brevet, and then Ring One, Two and Three, each level being harder than the last. There are three different sets of exercises, Obedience, Agility and Personal Protection. A sample Obedience exercise would be walking around cones, stopping and sitting when told. A sample agility exercise would be jumping over the palisade, a wall is usually only about six feet. And an example of personal protection, or bite work as we call it, would be the Flee Attack, where the decoy, the man wearing the suit, runs away, and the dog chases after him.
"Shutzhund is a bit different, they also compete in tracking. A track is laid, up to two hoursbefore the dog sees itfor Shutzhund Three, with multiple turns and cross tracks, where someone else has walked over the track you're supposed to be following. The dog has to follow only the scent you're supposed to be following, down at all scent articles, generally a piece of leather dropped by the track layer, and not wander off.
"Uh…" Buffy tried to absorb it all, "I think for right now we should just stick to teaching her to protect me. Maybe we'll try a sport later.
"That's fine. Come this way and we'll get started." Her mother helped her follow the woman onto what her mother told her was a wide field. "I asked my friend Gabby to help us today, since this is your first time. She is going to help you handle Jada," Ashlei told her, introducing her friend. Then they took of Jada's halter, put on a flat collar, and attached a nylon leash to it.
"Okay, you need to have a wide base of support," Gabby said, "I'm going to move your legs into a better stance." Buffy nodded, and she felt the woman moving first her right leg and then her left outward, so she was standing with her feet a little wider than her shoulders. "Now you hold the leash like this," Gabby said, rearranging her grip on the leash. "Now I'm going to stand behind you while Ashlei teases Jada with a tug toy. The leash is going to go taut, so be ready for it."
But when Jada ran to the full length of the six-foot lead, she almost pulled Buffy forward if it hadn't been for her new slayer strength. Immediately, Jada began to bark and growl.
"That's desired behavior," Gabby told her, "so you want to praise that. We're trying to work on her play and praise drive. But never call her by name, or you'll distract her," she said in her ear. "Good girl!" she then cried, "Get it," she called.
Buffy felt Jada lunging at the end of the leash and started rocking back and forth, keeping tension in the lead.
"Okay, now Ashlei's going to let Jada bite the tug," Gabby said after a few minutes. "Maybe next time we'll work her up to the sleeve," she said, excited.
The session was kept short, then they put Jada back in the car for a little bit. Ashlei explained that they would do one more session, they just wanted Jada to rest for about twenty minutes. So they talked. Well, Ashlei talked, mostly about the different dog sports, and about the search and rescue work she had done over the years.
When she and her mother climbed into the jeep to go home, Buffy could tell by her mother's voice that she was optimistic. This just might work. And maybe now she'd have the freedom that she craved.