Entry for arrival day - Sunday Feb 9, 2020

It’s hard to believe that after almost two years of pining and whining about getting a guide dog, that today is finally here. \240I am sure that Amity regrets ever telling me to see Pick of the Litter because every day after that, I got it into my mind that I could get a guide dog. \240Me - the same person who spent the past 40 years of her life tirelessly working to make sure people didn’t know I was blind. \240You know what, for the most part that hasn’t worked and it’s only made life harder for me. \240How ridiculous.

This experience so far has seemed familiar. \240I may have watched the movie more than once (sorry Kelly) to try to get a feel for what it would be like. \240Was this something I thought would be a good idea, or would it be an actual good one? \240Once I made my mind up, that was it. \240So, here I am, in the world of what I have already seen on the television, like going to an art museum in NY and seeing firsthand the painting you’ve seen a thousand times in a textbook. \240Somehow the real thing doesn’t seem very different.

There are 6 of us here for class - each, thank God, with our own rooms down the same hallway. \240Across from our rooms is an art installation. \240It’s a collection of river rocks suspended by metal wire down a corridor. \240I had thought it was installed to help the students have a tactile cue to help them find where their rooms would be because it’s directly across from many of the dorm rooms, and maybe this is true as well. \240It’s two Hellen Keller quotes in Braille: “Alone we can do so little. \240Together we can do so much.” And “The most beautiful things in the world can not be seen or even touched, they must be felt with the heart.”

Day 2 - Guidework Basics

I’m going to try to get better about updates, so for any of you who are dying to know my sleep schedule - I was finally able to get a decent night’s sleep. \240There’s a French chef here, Baptiste, who I try very hard to understand when he is reading the three meal options for each meal the next day. \240Cream of wheat sounds so much better when you say it with a French accent.

This morning we went back into town and reworked the same route we learned yesterday, successfully avoiding the Persian rugs this time. \240I still, for the life of me, cannot turn right or left without tripping over my feet, but one day I will. \240You have to step back and pivot while arm gesturing and saying, Vivi, left and then not move until the dog leads you. \240It sounds so simple.

This afternoon we are working in stations back on campus - reworking errors first with the Juno invisible dogs in harness, then we head to the paddock areas and be issues some toys to allow our dogs to have some play time. \240This whole week, they’ve been either on leash, on tie down, in their crates or in their harness, so this would be the first time they would be free of a teathered line. \240Currently, we only have a nylabone for them to chew and she loves hers, but it’s no toy.

Y’all I cannot believe how chill this dog is. \240It’s almost like there’s something wrong with her. \240She makes Brooklyn look like a spaz. \240I can’t wait for you all to meet her.

Her fav bone

This’ll be a short one. \240Not really much to report today that is any different than yesterday. \240Really just more of the same with a route in the morning and a route in the afternoon. \240Getting better adjusted to the turns - especially now that we’ve learned a moving turn where I don’t have to halt and then pivot left or right and wait for her to proceed.

GDB provided us with a ton of grooming supplies and we had someone come in to teach how to clean ears and brush their coats and teeth. \240Apparently, you’re supposed to brush a dog’s teeth once a week. \240Oops. \240Sorry Brooklyn and Bronx and every other dog I’ve ever owned. \240I can’t believe tomorrow is already Friday. \240In some way this has gone by so quickly and in other ways it feels like I’ve been here for months. \240I miss my family terribly. \240I’m just ready to get back to my life, but next week we’ll focus on traveling and customing her vocabulary for my needs at home so I guess I’ll have to stay. \240I’ll try to get some pics tomorrow of her working or playing. \240Each day that goes by, she’s a little more animated so that’s good to see her real personality. \240As I sit here typing this, she’s in her crate dreaming and dream barking at squirrels. \240Also learned today that she will fetch. \240I’ve never had a dog fetch before so another WIN.

First of all, happy Valentine’s Day for all of those people who care about Valentines.

I’m getting more experince going to more places. \240Today we walked to Starbucks and I got to go in and order my green tea latte. \240It wasn’t too difficult. \240It makes me realize this is going to be doable.

This afternoon, we went to the mall to learn elevators, stairs and navigating through stores. \240Tomorrow we’ll put on her booties and do escalators and get to go a hike and bike trail and navigate through crowds and oncoming dogs.

Oh, and clicker training. \240I got to train her to find a chair. \240The way you do this is to put a piece of kibble in your hand and close your hand in a fist. \240When the dog touches your hand with her snout, you click it. \240Then take away the kibble and move your fist to the place you want your dog to target. \240As soon as the dog touches your hand, click, then reward with the treat. \240You can do this several times and then start backing up. \240The dog will move towards the object and as soon as they touch it, click. \240Eventually, you can move further and further back and start to introduce the word, like chair. \240Within 10 minutes, she had learned how to find my exact seat in the lecture hall. \240Because she’s a genius. \240

I leave you this evening, with Vivi outside the candy shop today. \240

Friday, Feb 15

Since I missed yesterday, I’ll have two enteries today. \240Yesterday was packed with new experiences. \240We went to the mall and learned how to ride escalators. \240The dogs need to wear booties on at least their hind feet every time they ride on one because if not, it is likely their hind feet would get caught in the teeth of the escalator. \240 They’ve been trained to ‘find the escalator’ so if you’re walking along and can hear one in the distance, the will take you the metal enterance ramp and point their nose at the handrail. \240Adorable. \240You drop the handle of the harness and pick up their leash and heel them onto it, but stepping forward and saying ok. \240When you’re near to the top, you give them plenty of leash room so they can exit first and say ready, let’s go.

Next, we went to a hike and bike trail so we could get experience with approaching dogs on and off leash. \240She did great ignoring them today. \240She also wore all 4 booties so I could practice putting them on and she could have some more experience walking in them. \240Dogs kind of high step when they’re wearing them and as they walk they sound like horse hooves. \240She’ll have to wear them when we travel in Austin and it’s over 100 degrees outside so she doesn’t burn her paw pads.

The last thing we did was get to finally allow them off leash or tie down in our rooms. \240Even ‘free’ she’s right by my side with her nylybone she’s sharpened like a shank. \240I have cuts all over my arms from that damn bone.

No pics yet today. \240This morning we drove into San Francisco to practice walking city streets and public transportation. \240For us that meant the bus. \240We walked several city blocks past crowds and sand which boards, dogs and trash cans and she led me around all of them. \240We arrived at the bus stop on time to catch the bus and she boarded easily and we found an empty seat.

This afternoon we visited an outdoor mall like the Domain in Austin. \240Because it’s a holiday, there were tons of people, some construction, and more dogs. \240Even though she a dog that’s practicallyperfect in every way (you can call her Mary Poppins) she does seem to have an affinity for smaller dogs. \240There was once when she tried to veer towards some oncoming dauchaunds and I had to correct her. \240Another time, there were many cafe tables and crowds of people so she led me to a fountain in the center of the walkway and put her paw up on it.

This morning to try to distract us, one of the trainers was playing fetch with her dog when we were on our way to the vans to leave. \240Both Vivi and I had a difficult time trying to figure out how to move past them. \240I’m actually hoping that there are many more opportunities to practice this skill every day this week because there are so many dogs in Austin and we need to feel confident moving past them.

Now that I’ve mostly mastered the left and right hand turns, I’d say this is my main goal this week. \240Wish us luck. I leave you today with Vivi half assed playing in the paddock with her Kong.

So, if you haven’t seen the Pick of the Litter movie, you won’t necessarily know what I mean by traffic checks, but today we went into town and each took a turn experiencing them.

What this means is that as you’re walking along, there will be a car that attempts to pull into or out of a parking lot as you are trying to continue on your line of travel. \240The dogs have all be taught ‘intelligent disobedience’ meaning that they will stop as soon as they notice the car, even if the handler is telling them to proceed. \240So, basically, it’s an exercize trusting that your dog does not have a death wish or hoping that there’s not a squirrel in the vicinity. \240Just kidding, they ignore squirrels.

Later in the day we practiced more travel on roads without sidewalks making sure that the dog was keeping to the left edge as they walked.

In the evening, after dinner, we went back into town to do a night route because lots of us who have pertial vision have a much more difficult time traveling at night when the lights of the oncoming cars are facing you. \240This is true for me and I really had to trust her to guide me to each of the curbs as we walked together.

This afternoon all dogs saw the vet. \240Vivi is 47 lbs and I learned that she was considered for breeding because of her stellar health, calm demeanor, and size, but ultimately they decided on one of her siblings instead. \240I’m glad they did. \240Guide Dogs pays for annual vet visits, all the dog’s immunizations and heart worm and flea and tick meds for the life of the dog. \240So, even after she retires, if I keep the dog, they will continue to pay for her care. \240I think that’s pretty freaking amazing.

I wanted to get a pic of her on the night route tonight - especially because they gave us this teal LED collar for her to wear that made her look like she was going to a rave, but I left my phone here on campus. \240Instead, I leave you with a snoozing dog and her bone.

Wednesday, Feb 19th

Lots accomplished - no pictures today. \240Learned how to teach clearances like branches hanging over in the sidwwalk area so she stops or goes around them, learned how to go through airport security and navagaite air travel, and learned how to go grocery shopping or to Target and have her ‘follow’ the person I am with. \240My MO is losing people in the grocery store, so this command will be helpful. \240I also had my transition to home meeting and walked through how to introduce her to my pet dogs which is going to be a pain in the butt on Sunday, but I think should go pretty smoothly after that. \240We also went back to Macys and worked on some escalators again, so we are good to go with that as well.

Yesterday morning we went for another route in San Francisco because I’m still working on her getting past all kinds of dogs on walks. \240It’s getting easier every day. \240She was funny when we were learning the clearances because even after the instructor moved the clearance out of the way, she continued to stop in the same spot because dogs don’t look that far up. \240She was stopping because I had taught her to stop there, not because she was avoiding the branch if that makes sense.

Thursday, Feb 20, 2020

Just a half day today. \240We practiced more how to get through security and that many TSA agents aren’t going to know what to do and may try to take your dog to another area, but that it would be illegal for them to do this. \240Can’t wait to fly back on Sunday and see what happens.

This morning we did one more route with our dogs at Chrissy Field, right on the shore of the city with the Golden Gate Bridge in the background. \240There are hike and bike trails as well we beaches and many off leash dogs. \240Vivi was just perfect today around dogs of all sizes, just turning her head to look, but keeping her pace and line of travel. \240She got lots of treats for all of that great ignoring she did today. \240

I’m hopeful that I will hear today from her puppy raisers and I’ll get to learn more about her as a puppy and what kinds of experiences she’s had so far. \240I think everyone else has already heard from their so I’m waiting in anticipation. \240

Last day of official training. \240This morning the whole group went over to a walking trail on the bay called Blackie’s Pasture. \240I took a photo of Vivi here overlooking the bay. \240It was a beautiful morning and the whole class went together so as we were passing people on their walks, we certainly got lots of looks - not that most of us could notice that, but I’m sure we did.

This afternoon we go over our take home binders with all of the information about Vivi from vet info to GDB field supervisor information to state specific laws pertaining to guide dogs.

Yesterday I finally got a chance to talk to her puppy raiser - a 10 year old girl from CA named Khloe. \240She and her mom will come to the graduation ceremony tomorrow and I know Vivi is just going to go crazy when she sees her. \240Luckily, Khloe is already onto her second puppy, so I’m not going to have to feel like I’m stealing her dog quite as much.

Still really ready to head home. \240I’m feeling just as anxious about heading home as I was about coming here, but I’m ready. \240I miss my family and friends and can’t wait to just jump in with my new routines.

Feb 22, 2020

Graduation. \240This day was a whirlwind. \240A morning of rehearsal, then meeting puppy raisers. \240The initial meeting was tough. \240Vivi was so excited to see them but her puppy raiser was in tears the whole time. \240I felt horrible. \240Her mom talked with me and shared some photos. She brought Vivi one of her favorite toys and told me al about her puppy life.

We then took photos and we both had about another 30 min before the ceremony which allowed her to collect herself. \240When it was our turn to speak, I shared about my process of getting a guide dog and thanked my trainer and puppy raiser and then it was her tun to speak. \240She was so nervous but was able to share a memory of bringing her to school.

We took lots of photos and I promised to keep in touch so they can see how she’s doing in her new life. It was a bitter sweet day for sure, and afterwards, everyone but one other student and myself left the campus. It was quiet Saturday night dragged on as I counted the hours until I could get on the plane to go home.