GUIDE DOG JOURNAL

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2004/09/12

After an early rise at 3:30 am. I got ready to go to the airport. It was a long flight over here since we were delayed in Dallas for 1 full hour because a passenger and her baggage had to be removed from the plane. A re-fueling truck then had to be called since we had been sitting there with running engines burning fuel getting nowhere. We arrived in San Francisco about 45 minutes late and were met by 2 of our trainers Kim and Gail. The other students were waiting for us on the bus for over an hour. We were offered sandwiches and drinks which were very welcome since the only thing we were offered by the airline on the second leg of the trip was a bag of pretzels.

We came to the school and we were given time to unpack and then got together in the day room. Some of us opted to take the grand tour of the dorm which was immediately followed by a roast beef dinner. , we had lectures until 8:30 after which I wanted to go right to bed but had to wait for my trainer to bring me my return ticket which I had lost on the bus coming in from the airport.

We are told that we will have 2 more lectures tomorrow morning followed by a Juneau walk to confirm that the match they made without us being present is correct. For those of us who are not familiar with the lingo, Juneau is the name of the fictitious dog used for the walk. Juneau is actually the trainer wearing the harness on his or her arm.

After lunch, another 2 lectures and then we get our dogs. I can't wait to find out what kind of dog it will be as we were not told. To increase the suspense, I suppose, we will find out about the breed gender and weight of our dogs and be given the leash but they still refuse to tell us their names until we are handed the leash with the dog on the end of it. I am going to bed now but I doubt that I will sleep very much in anticipation. Tomorrow I will meet my 2-day roommate. As of now, I don't have one. I will be rooming for 2 days with a member of the Guide Dog board of directors. Directors here, on a voluntary basis come in to spend a few days under blindfold. I will have the honour of sharing this room with him under the blindfold as they are not allowed to take it off even in their room for the duration. I thought I would move his things around to show him how sighted people constantly move things around on us to show him how aggravating that can be but then thought better of it even though the temptation is very strong.

2004/09/13

Well, today is the day and I was awake at 5:00 am and ready to meet my new pup but it won't be for several hours yet. After breakfast, we got together in the day room to be introduced to the kitchen management and also volunteer services. We got to meet the class supervisor also. After all the introductions, the first lecture was on obedience commands vs. guide work commands. The importance of control was stressed.

Our first Juneau walk involved the heel and obedience commands while the second Juneau walk was on guide work.

After lunch we had another Juneau walk to reinforce obedience which was followed by a lecture on receiving the dog and establishing who is in control.

Well, it's 3:10 pm and I am sitting here at my desk waiting for my trainer to come and get me to take me to the room where my dog will be brought to me. I have been told only that he is a male yellow lab and that his name is McKenna. I can't wait to meet him. I rarely get very excited but this is the occasion when I do. No matter how often you go through this, it's always a very special moment in your life. My heart is racing and I can't write this without going back time after time correcting typing mistakes because, no matter how much training I have had at this, I don't seem to be able to do it right at this moment.

Well, it's 3:35 and I'm still drumming my fingers on my desk listening to every noise in the hallway. Kim, Gail and Allison are getting people one at a time but my turn doesn't seem to want to come. I hear the sound of little feet in the hallway and it's driving me nuts.

Well the boy finally came. He is the standard light colour of a yellow lab on is stomach and sides and is honey coloured on his back with honey coloured ears. We heeled them up and down the long hallway in order to get practice and controlling distraction while trainers were bouncing balls as we walked by.

This evening we had a session with the school psychologist on the pain of retiring a guide dog. After taking the dogs out for the last time, I will be happy to go to bed.

2004/09/14

After another super breakfast we had some housekeeping info with Aerial Gilbert ,the head of volunteer services, concerning the use of the computers both in the dorm and in the downtown lounge. Also sitting with us at lunch time was Johanne Ridder who, among other things, makes sure we all enjoy a graduate's newsletter. Following this was lecture time on the commands that we would be using during the morning walk downtown. We then loaded the buses and travelled to the downtown lounge situated on 4th street between E and F streets.

The morning walk went without a hitch. It's almost scary how well McKenna and I worked so well together on the first walk. We used the new ergonomic handle to try it out but I was not impressed. It gave me the impression that I needed to twist my wrist to the right and was not very comfortable. I asked my trainer to remove that handle and replace it with a regular one before the afternoon walk.

We then came back to the dorm for lunch and what amounted to no rest at all. We got here late and the kitchen staff was waiting for us and, by the time we finished lunch, it was time for another lecture. This time we talked about the soft leader, it's installation on the dog and also it's effect on the general public.

Tonight's lecture is on the use of the soft leader as we actually will be walking with it. We will also be issued our grooming tools and go over the grooming techniques. Fortunately, because this class is a class of re-trainees, this is not expected to take very long and we might actually get a chance to go to bed early. I'm really looking forward to that. Today, I lost my roommate as he had to leave for another meeting. He was supposed to stay until tomorrow but I now find myself alone in my room again and I think I will be for the duration. This was unexpected but greatly appreciated.

One of the questions I asked today is why there are so many unusual dog names around. I was told that the school policy is to never have in the field more than one dog with the same name. In order to re-use a name, the dog has to have died or had a career change. Since guide Dogs currently have two thousand dogs in the field, it's becoming difficult to find unique names.

2004/09/15

This morning we had a bit of extra time as McKenna decided to do his thing really quickly in the relieving circle. We came in and groomed him and then sat at the desk to change the radio station. While I'm changing the station, McKenna is there trying to push at my leg. I moved my leg a bit and discovered that he was trying to edge his way under the desk at my feet. I know Labradors like to have their body covered and crawl into small areas but I was a bit surprised to see the way he did it. He already likes to spend as much time as possible touching me. His head is constantly on my foot when he is down and propped up on my knee when he is sitting. I already feel that we are becoming a pair.

We had 2 lectures this morning. The first one about public relations and the second one on dog error correcting. The new word used by the school now is “careful”. That is the word used now to indicate an error such as starting up stairs without stopping or missing a flat curb.

Then we had obedience as it is a standard every day. We then loaded the buses and headed downtown where we worked our dogs while wearing their soft leader. McKenna was not impressed at all with that contraption. He started our route with his head very low. My trainer pointed out that he didn't like it very much but it’s our decision that he should wear it and not his. The whole idea is to get him to accept working with it even though he doesn’t like it. He was walking a little slower but we managed to do the route well and quite accurately for only a third walk together.

This afternoon we had the visit from the head veterinarian who talked a lot about flea control and heartworm. Several other health issues were brought up by the students and the kind doctor answered all of the questions. I asked him why Guide Dogs for the Blind do not remove due claws like some other schools like Canadian Guide Dogs do. He answered that they deal with 900 puppies every year and that the numbers were against him. Also, he doesn’t believe in anything that causes pain to the animal unless it is absolutely necessary. He tells us that he has only dealt with 2 injuries to due claws in the past several years. I then exposed the problem we had in our climate when the temperature goes up and then back down in the winter, the snow gets crusty and the dogs break through and could suffer injury. He insisted that when due claws are kept very short and, in our conditions kept filed rounded, there is no cause for injury. He is also a believer that rabies shots are only necessary every 3 years and is anxious for many of the states to join California and Quebec in cutting it back to every 3 years. In Quebec, we can get away with it until we try to cross the border in the states that still require vaccination every year. School policy, he explained, is to put as few vaccinations in a dog’s body as possible. He also talked about the vaccination against heartworm, which this school was completely against which turned out to be a great policy because serious problems were found with it and it was forced off the market.

After his very informative talk, we loaded the buses once again to go downtown and work the extended version of this morning’s route. McKenna was a bit nervous and a bit over cautious. He was not at his best and the trainer and I attributed it to the fact that his getting closer to me made him think that he could try to get away with certain details. He was brushing me ever so slightly against bushes to see if he could get away with it. It was stressed that he cannot even brush without being made to do it over again unless it is just a hand touching or elbow very slightly brushing. After all, we don’t, at this point want him to think that he can’t do anything right. This afternoon he was excellent at open door entrances and electric door entrances, which he should stop at even though they are open. He did that very well after being corrected for it several times this morning. The biggest problem we had as a team this afternoon was my problem. Isn't it always? The dogs don’t often make mistakes. Most often, when they do, we are the ones who originated it in the first place. McKenna decided that he was going to walk very slowly. After the instructor observed us for a couple of blocks, she realized that he had slowed down because of his insecurity and I was not holding back enough on the harness handle thus making us loose the tension in the handle. When she walked with us and showed me how to pull back on the handle to keep the tension as well as slow my pace a bit to create real pressure in the handle, McKenna began to lean into his harness and picking up speed. I had picked up many bad habits over the past 5 years. I know McKenna can work on very bad sidewalks like some of the ones we have in Montreal because they sure have worse ones here in San Rafael.

We are told that when we feel more comfortable with our new pups by next week, we will be traveling to San Francisco and working the heavy downtown traffic there. At some point we will be working Fisherman’s Warf in the crowds. Right now we will concentrate on staying alive in downtown San Rafael that is only about a population of fifty thousand or so.

Tonight we have the night off so I am here on the computer while some others are watching a movie in the lounge. I know at least one of us is gone swimming. There is a lifeguard at the pool from early morning to 8:00 pm. Others are in the day room chatting and some are in the exercise room eating potato chips and drinking soft drinks. Yes, it seems funny but the exercise machines are in the same room as the snack and drink machines. There is also a refrigerator in there where we can keep drinks and other food we may have purchased for ourselves. There is a great respect for other people’s things. I guess the lack of space is responsible for that combination. After all, there is a library here, a music room and a lounge where people can get together and decide on the DVS movie they want to watch. The computer room has 4 computers equipped with JAWS for the totally blind and Zoom Text enlargement software for the partially sighted. The machines have Duxbury software on them to transcribe print into Braille and there is a Braille embosser connected to one of the computers. In the library, there is a scanner for those of us who would like to scan and read print books. All computers have Internet Explorer on them as well as Word and Excel not to mention Outlook Express that has been configured for all of us to have our own private e-mail.

The downtown lounge has a main room where most people congregate and a snack room that has a few machines. There is also a reading room which has the computer in it for us to be able to answer e-mail while waiting for the instructors to take us out. As of very soon, we will be working pairs so we will get double time out on every walk.

The downtown lounge has a very nice patio with benches around it. Smokers often congregate there because it’s the only place they can smoke. In the dorm, there is a patio attached to every room. A door in every room opens out onto the patio with a completely fenced in area for each room. It’s nice to sit out there with your dog and perhaps read a book. While I am thinking about that, I will go out there with McKenna to read my talking book which I don’t have much time to read at all except when I go to bed and then I am so exhausted that I fall asleep on it.

2004/09/16

This morning was a very special morning for McKenna and I. After breakfast, we went down to the day room for the 2 morning lectures. The first one was on dog toys, how to select them from an unlimited load of useless junk you can buy out there. How to select the game your dog wants to play with you and not try to impose a game your dog doesn't want to play at all.

The second lecture was on working your dog indoors. As of now, we are allowed to work our dogs inside the buildings.

After all this, we took our dogs out and then loaded the buses to go to the downtown lounge.

Our walk this morning, I think, was a turning point for us. I managed to get McKenna to understand that it was OK to work for me. He was still wondering if it was required of him. I managed to hold back on the handle and got to the point where I could regulate his speed. Of course when I wanted to speed him up and it wasn't safe, he didn't do it. At one point I tried to speed him up but I didn't know that we were coming up to a street crossing. He calmly continued to slow down to find the edge of a very flat curb. Needless to say he got a lot of praise for that one even though technically he was not obeying my command. He was showing there that he could make the safe decision on his own.

After lunch at the dorm, we had our photo taking session. A photo of the class was followed by the individual photos for ID cards.

When the photo session was done we took our dogs out and then loaded the buses for our afternoon walk downtown. This time the buses were parked several blocks from the downtown lounge and we were given the route to get there. We all made it there safely, of course, because there were instructors at every turn to make sure everyone was safe and also to observe our technique and the dog's performance.

After supper we had a lecture on ear cleaning then we were given 2 toys for our dogs to play with. At this point, I am exhausted and I'm just going to relax after dealing with my e-mail.

Last time out for our dogs is 9:15 and I wouldn't be surprised if I’m in bed by 9:30.

2004/09/17

This morning we went through the standard routine between 6:00 am until 8:00 am at which time the first lecture began. This time we talked about word association and how to introduce new words into our dog’s vocabulary. It was very interesting to see that the only words in the dog’s vocabulary at this point are the commands used in training. Instructors insist that the dogs can be made to do anything using only these commands. Of course life can be made much easier by teaching them to find the various things we look for all the time. They are introduced to a few words of choice that the school selected as being generic terms used by all graduates of the school. This school gets a lot of input from it’s graduates and it’s nice to know how much they are willing to learn from us and modify their way of thinking based on reports from the people out in the field using the dogs on a daily basis. Any suggestion that makes sense to the training staff is evaluated and put into future training. The evolution here is constant. It’s amazing to see the things that have been implemented only in the past 2 years since Chris has had her training at the Oregon campus. The dogs have been introduced to words like inside, outside, follow, find the, door, stairs and such.

After the lecture we loaded up the buses and went downtown for our first paired walk. At the same time it was our first trip where we went into a public building. I was paired with a lady who was doing very well with her dog and McKenna and I were doing very well ourselves so, after getting a lot of praise from our trainer, our route was extended a bit as we did very well in a shorter time than expected. That is one of the things I love about this school. When you do well and there is extra time, they are willing to modify their set training to give us the little extras. I have absolutely no regrets coming all the way to California for training. It soon will be a week since I came and the time has just flown.

We then came back to the dorm for lunch and had another lecture on how to deal with potential vicious dogs attacking our dogs on the street. That was, just like all the other lectures a very interesting one.

We then loaded the buses again and went back downtown to work pairs again. This time we worked our way from the downtown lounge to the San Rafael city hall. We went in the city hall and traveled the main hallway to the elevator. We went up a few floors and then walked down a narrow and difficult staircase. At this point, McKenna made a small mistake and was just about to walk right over a very narrow landing when I caught him and corrected him. After his correction we re-worked that difficult area and he came through with flying colours.

After leaving city hall, we made our way in pairs again to a Starbucks coffee shop where we could sit and have a drink while the trainers were taking other students through their paces. I had time to have a slow ice cappuccino before the trainers arrived to pick us up with the buses. Of course there was no way to park the buses on the main drag so we had to work our dogs to find them. Some students didn’t want to go to the coffee shop so we were not a full class but we must be quite a site for people walking into a restaurant and finding 10 dogs on the floor. Of course all the dogs are extremely well behaved but it still must be a site to see.

We then boarded the buses and traveled back to the dorm. In the late afternoon, when we get off the buses, it’s time to feed and water the dogs and then relieve them.

When we were told by one of the trainers in the relieving circle that we were asked to get together in the day room with or without our dogs and without notice, I sensed something was not right. When we got there we were addressed by the class supervisor telling us that impromptu meetings are never good news. He then proceeded to notify us that he had made a decision to pull one of the dogs from the program. I was saddened to hear that the dog that had been pulled was “Egypt” my buddy from Montreal Mike Montour’s dog. He did not give us any further information, as this is confidential information between Mike and the school. The only information we got is that Mike would be given the option to go home or receive another dog. This, I knew, was a very sad thing for Mike because he had asked for a shepherd and had to wait several months for one to be trained for him. These are things that happen sometimes and are beyond anyone’s control. We were asked to be very supportive of Mike but, at the same time, to give him his own space and allow him to grieve for whatever time he needed. Loosing a dog is loosing a dog. No matter if it’s after 6 days or 6 years, it’s the same loss. Mike has worked very hard with this dog since we’ve been here and it must have been terrible for him.

When I got to the dining room for dinner, we found out that brave Mike had made the decision already to stay with us and will receive a yellow Labrador retriever tomorrow. Needless to say he got a very warm round of applause from both classes.

There are buttons on all our phones in our bedrooms that we can use at any time to find out the menu for the day and also to find out the next day's schedule. I must admit that having the evening off tonight was more than welcome and I have not yet bothered to check tomorrow’s schedule. I am exhausted and will probably sit on my patio with McKenna. I checked out the fences today around the patio and realized that they are 6 feet high and are chain link fences. I can even play with McKenna out there with his kong. It is a bit cooler today but still in the 80’s.

2004/09/18

Well, here we are on Saturday, the first day of the week-end where you would think it's the beginning of your resting time. Fortunately I've been through this tree times before and didn't expect anything like it. What I didn't know is how loaded the schedule would be today. I did bother to check the schedule on the phone this morning and I'm wondering how we will both be by the time the day ends. I'm sure we will be looking for a bed early.

First, we start our day with two lectures. The first one on total barricades and the second one on traffic work. Then we load the buses and go to the Civic Center Lagoon where we will be doing obedience among ducks, geese and birds. Of course, this is to create distraction. This promises to be a challenge. After this we will board the buses and continue on to the downtown lounge to do our basic route.

After a fantastic lunch of a tomato stuffed with shrimp salad, I am getting ready to get back on the bus for the afternoon walk which will consist of a lounge to destination route. This time the destination is Ben & Jerry's. We will be dropped off and told which direction to go in and we hope we will be found again some day. I have trouble remembering all the instructions because it is so much to remember. When you are told to go to Mission street and cross and then go to 5th and cross and then go to 4th and cross again and ,Oh by the way, the first crossing is a 4-way stop sign controlled and your second crossing is not controlled at all but it is a one way to your left. The third crossing is traffic light controlled and it is a one way to the right. Cross it and then turn left and go down to where you want because, at this point you will be totally lost anyway.

Due to the modern age of communications, the instructors always manage to find us all and make sure we arrive at our destination in one piece. In this case you would want to make sure you don't miss the ice cream. If all these instructions aren't enough, then you have to deal with the dog who may want to edge his way into a parking lot rather than following the sidewalk like McKenna tried to do to me this morning. Fortunately it was a steep incline into the parking lot so I noticed it right away and we were back on the right track again.

After an ice cream break, we boarded the buses and came back to the dorm. We took out our dogs and met in the relieving lounge to be taken on an orientation of the grounds here. The property is huge and it would take me a lot more time to learn the several paths from here to the administration building or to the kennels or to the enclosed grass paddock where we will be taking our dogs to play. I was very happy not to have to remember the route to the play area. McKenna knew that one and took me right there with no questions asked and at a very good speed I might add.

Following that pleasant walk, we came back to the dorm and I sat on my patio with McKenna and we played for a while. When we both got tired, he flopped at my feet and I read my book until supper time.

We are off for the evening so I took advantage of the laundry room being quiet to grab 2 machines and do a couple of loads. The truth is that I have been accumulating laundry since we got here because there was just no time. So, here I am jumping between the computer room and the laundry room trying to get everything done at the same time.

Tomorrow is our day off but there is a T-touch session at 10:30 am and there is a gift shop demo at 4:30. Tomorrow is also the day that the trainers are scheduled to start taking pictures for me. We will begin with the dorm and go from there. I was given an opportunity to address the class yesterday to tell them about my project of doing a Power Point slide show of our class. I had to offer everyone the option to be or not to be in the pictures. I received no opposition that I know of. I will probably never know if anyone objected as this is confidential information. The trainers who will be the ones taking the pictures will simply omit the ones who refused if there are any.

2004/09/19

Today our day of rest I actually slept in until the alarm clock went off at 6:00 am and realized that there is no rest for the wicked so I must be one of them. I went to the feeding room to get McKenna's breakfast and heard Mike's booming voice say: "Man, listen to that rain". I said it can't be because someone told me only a couple of days ago that it never rains in the Bay area. That someone must have been thinking of the song that says it never rains in California but whoever wrote that song must of been talking about another part of California. After all, California is a huge state.

Well, it was time to take out the dogs and that schedule doesn't change because of the rain. When you got to go, you got to go! I put on my rain jacket and figured I'd be out there forever with a dog that didn't want to do anything in the rain. I must admit it took him a few minutes longer but we got it done. I was protected by my hooded rain jacket but McKenna had no protection at all. When we came in, he was soaked and this is when I discovered that he is a bright dog. There are no doggietowels in the rooms because now the story has changed. It doesn't rain in the Bay area in September. The rain starts here in mid-October. McKenna didn't like the feeling of being wet so he decided to dry his face and most of his body on the side of my bed. Can't say I like the idea but I have to admit it's a pretty smart one coming from a dog.

Then the phone rang and I new it had to be from the East because it was only 7:00am here. It was Chris and her mother calling me to wish me a happy birthday. That's when I realized that it wasn't the most pleasant way to start your birthday, with a torrential downpour. The phone call made me feel better and McKenna and I went to breakfast. That is, my breakfast not his because the lucky devil gets his breakfast as soon as I can get myself out of bed.

Just before the scheduled time for the T-Touch session, I got a phone call that made me totally forget about it. I was so upset because it was something I really wanted to do. I made arrangements with another student who has been doing it for a while and is comfortable enough with it to teach me after lunch. He attended it this morning as a refresher and says it is really easy and he can teach me very quickly.

As it turns out, I found out at lunch that the T-touch session will be given again next Sunday so I took advantage of the early afternoon to groom McKenna and spend some time relaxing and reading a book. Some volunteers from the gift shop came to show us the various items that are available. They went on until just about 15 minutes before dinner so needless to say I'm broke . I didn't even let them give me a total. I will only discover that when I go to the gift shop to pick-up my order after Wednesday. It's a good thing that they will ship what I want them to because my suitcase would never have been able to take the extra load. After supper it will be answering e-mail and nothing else for tonight.

2004/09/20

This morning Bus 1 is going to San Francisco while the rest of us on bus 2 will be going downtown San Rafael for our traffic route. This afternoon will begin with a lecture on leaving our dogs alone followed by a trip to East San Rafael where we will be doing a route to a grocery store. This reminds me of my first route to a grocery store with my first dog Max who walked in one end of the store and out the other end before I realized what happened. He had seen one of the trainers at the other end of the store and decided that this is where he was supposed to go.

Well, this morning traffic check turned out to be the best I've worked with a Guide Dog in a very long time. There were 9 traffic checks and not easy ones at that. They all involved cars getting in our way and potentially very dangerous encounters. One of them that he did very well at was a car coming straight at us out of a parking lot at a very good speed. McKenna evaluated and decided to pick up the speed to go ahead of the car. Had it been closer he would have stopped on a dime because he had done that one previously. Another one he did exceptionally well on is the car that cuts in front of us into a driveway and immediately decides to back out again. When the car turned in across our path he quickly stopped. I told him to go forward which he tried to do but the car came right back at us backwards. McKenna backed up a few steps to let him out and then continued on his way receiving a whole lot of praise. I have to say he was excellent on all of the obstacles including the car parked on the sidewalk with no way around it and the one where the car pulls up cutting our path while we are in the middle of the street. In all cases, all he needed was a clear command which the instructor had corrected me on before we even started our route. She found that I could be clearer on my commands. I found the instructors here to all be very nice, very polite but , at the same time, very firm. I very much agree with that attitude because, after all, our life depends on how well we function as a team with our dogs.

I also found this morning that McKenna and I, after spending more down time together and playing, are bonding very well. Our bodies are moving together in a much smoother fashion. My back and my shoulders are not stiff when we get back from our route like they were last week. It's amazing how much we forget from the last class that was only five years ago. I did remember though, that it's far from being the vacation some people seem to think it is. Of course these are the people who have never done it before.

Our afternoon walk was just as muchh of a challenge. It involved going from our parked bus to a supermarket in a busier part of town. McKenna seemed to be a little more nervous probably caused by the fact that I had a headache and had a bit of trouble concentrating on the traffic. My head felt like I couldn't pinpoint with enough precision the location and direction of traffic on the busy corners. I'm usually quite good at that but I had trouble concentrating and I know McKenna could feel it. We were allowed a few minutes for picking up a couple of items we might need. I took advantage of the occasion to get my instructor to find a package of batteries. It proved to be quite a hike around the very crowded supermarket as she had no idea where the batteries were. We took a very long winding trip around the market through the people and carts all the time teaching McKenna that he had to follow her rather than anyone else. We then did the route in reverse and were challenged again by the overhead obstacles. By this time we were both tired and had to go over this six times before McKenna realized that I am taller than his trainer.

When we got back to the dorm, we were told we had the evening to ourselves but, at 6:45 pm, I got a knock on my door asking me to go down to the day room where we would be shown how to apply the Advantage flea control. All of our dogs in Montreal have been taking the Program for fleas but the veterinarian services here moved away from the Program as it doesn't kill live fleas but only prevents the flea eggs from hatching. They have had problems with dogs being bitten by live fleas even though they only live on a dog for about 24 hours. This also gives the opportunity for the live fleas to get into carpets in the house. There are 2 products used here: the Advantage and the Front Line. I already know that the Front Line is not available in Canada and will find out if the Advantage is. I hope we can get the Advantage as it doesn't stink like the Front Line when it is applied.

Our day is now over and after brushing McKenna's teeth, we will be doing our e-mail and reading our book until last time out at 9:15 after which we will crash.

2004/09/21

Today we are told that bus 2 is going to Chestnut street in San Francisco. I expected it as it was the reverse yesterday. This route will include a city bus ride. This afternoon will begin with a lecture on escalators. After this lecture, those of us who think we might use escalators will make our way to the local mall to practice this. After the lecture before the practice session, there will be an inspection of dog nails. Obviously, we don't want to work escalators with long nails. Tonight there will be a lecture on "The public and your guide dog". There will also be a short video on hotel and lodging etiquette.

Our walk this morning felt really good. For the first time we had a very long block which was the equivalent of about 3 city blocks where McKenna and I were able to go flat out. He really enjoyed that and so did I. The trainer told me he looked like the happiest puppy wagging his tail the whole way. Then, we were lucky enough to have another long block going towards Chestnut where we were able to open up again. It felt great. Our next step was to do obedience at the bus stop while waiting for the bus to come. We got on the bus and McKenna went immediately to the seat I normally go to first on the Montreal buses. We went about 3 or 4 stops and then got off. We then proceeded to walk back the same distance on Chestnut. This time we found a commercial street with a lot of stores and restaurants complete with loads of people walking their dogs. It was a very good exercise for both of us. I now really feel like we are a team and we are more than ready to face this afternoon's escalators.

An extra lecture was added to today's program. The orientation and mobility trainer was available today so it was decided to add her to our schedule. She talked about the possibility of using an identification cane at the same time as the dog. I must say it's not my preference unless it's just to find an object in order to teach the dog to find it time and time again such as a mailbox or the traffic light control button at a given corner. She also talked about the use of the Mini-Guide as a tool to detect obstacles. This is a small device held in the hand that is basically a sonar device. It can be adjusted to detect obstacles at various distances. If you want to have an obstacle detected at 12 feet or maybe you want it to be detected only at 3 feet. It's a great device to detect overhangs but I'm not crazy about using this anymore than I am crazy about the identification cane. The truth of it all is that it requires one hand for the dog and the other hand for any other device which leaves no hands for anything else such as carrying a briefcase or even opening a door not to mention detecting the moving rail when getting on an escalator. To each his own but I have to admit that she didn't really hold my attention for too long.

Then came the trip to the mall where we went in the Macy's department store to work the escalators. We had received prior instructions as to how this school wants us to do it as it is the way the dogs were trained. When my turn came, McKenna just enjoyed the experience. He made every move on queue as he was supposed to and was so proud of himself when he got off properly that he was a real goof wagging his tail and jumping all over the place. We did 2 escalators up and 2 down only to find out that McKenna never failed to do it properly. I guess it was the same for most students as we are a class of re-trainees who have done it before. As far as I am concerned, the details are different but the technique is the same. We all did so well with all this that our bus was back at the lounge by 4:00 pm thus 45 minutes too early to go into our routine of feeding, watering and relieving the four legged friends.

Tonight, the lecture is not mandatory for re-trainees. I guess the school realizes that we have had plenty of experience dealing with the public since most of us in the class are on either our 4th or 5th dog. All I have left to do today is brush McKenna's teeth and have a playing session with him. Today is the day he decided that he really wants to be friends with me. Even the trainer noticed how goofy he was all day. He was just a happy pup wagging his tail with no stress at all. He is just full of beans and requires all of my attention. He can't sit for 5 minutes without pushing me. He keeps lifting my hands off the keyboard to get my attention. I guess I'd better go and give it to him.

2004/09/22

Can't believe we have reach the mid point in the class. It has gone so fast. Today our bus number 2 will begin by going to a grassy area just off the relieving circle. Of course, when I talk about bus number 2, I'm talking about the people on it. That's the way our class is divided. Obviously, we wouldn't get on the bus to go somewhere on the property. I know it's a huge property but not that huge. We will be doing obedience with the distraction of the dogs in the kennels but we won't be right there at the kennels because bus 1 will be there. We will then go into the routine of curbing the dogs and picking up after them. Some people might wonder why you have to learn to pick up again. That's because you have to learn to read your dog's pattern of relieving so you have a good idea where to pick it up. On the curb, dogs obviously can't walk in a circle around you so they might just walk back and forth, they may go in a tight circle on the spot, they can go in a figure eight and almost any pattern you can think of. If you pick up on how to hold the leash, you can easily figure out when and where they will go and what it will be. The dog has to learn not to stop what he or she is doing while you feel the position of their back.

Our morning walk was on Union street in San Francisco. That's kind of an expensive street to hang around on so we certainly didn't take time to look at the stores. It was a fun walk because it was a more challenging one. We encountered a lot more sidewalk obstructions and also we were lucky enough to get there when some workers were using a concrete saw. This enabled me to see how McKenna would react under very noisy conditions where my only communication with him is hand signals. We took off 2 at a time with the instructor. In my case the nurse also came along. My partner is diabetic so that's what prompts the nurse to come on a route with us. When the nurse is not busy on a given route, she usually stays with the bus and the waiting students. Of course they wouldn't leave any of us with the keys to the bus in case we decided to drive away with it but we need the engine running to be able to flush the toilet so someone has to supervise the key to the ignition. Actually, we have a lot of fun with the nurses. They are very nice ladies who add a lot of security and well being to the class.

Sometime this afternoon, if I get a chance after our walk, I will try to find my way to the gift shop to see how much my order came to. I'm doing a lot of thinking of how I will pack what I purchased because I'm really changing my mind about shipping. I'm allowed to bring across the border a very good amount after being here for three weeks. If I ship the order, it will cost me, not only the shipping but also the duty.

This afternoon's walk was fun because we started free lancing. I asked to be given the instructions to get to a pet shop as I wanted to by the bones with the big knot on the ends. I got there finally but not before McKenna took us into some kind of restaurant that had a terrace. The restaurant was just on the corner and my boy decided to inch his way over there, walk in and make an about face and come back out on the terrace. By that time I was laughing so much I couldn't find my way out. Like magic, Adam appeared and explained what happened and gave me the instructions to find my way back out as the terrace was fenced all around. After all that, the store told me they haven't been keeping that item in stock for a while now. McKenna and I came back to the lounge like experts without a flaw this time.

Tonight is our first night walk so it will be my first chance to see how McKenna handles in the dark. Some dogs react completely differently. I haven't had any problems with my 3 previous dogs but who knows.

We went on our walk and we did very well except for going wide on one corner. I was about to halt because I had to make a left turn anyway when an appearing out of nowhere instructor told me to stop. We were off the sidewalk. I found out later that several dogs did that and there was no apparent reason for it. When we got back to the dorm, McKenna was just full of beans and wanted to play in the relieving circle. Most of the dogs are goofy at this point and I think it’s time for all of us to go to bed.

2004/09/23

Today brings a new technique. Later on in the day we will be working country roads. This morning, we begin the day with 2 lectures: The care of your Guide Dog and Feeding your Guide Dog. After this , of course, we have to do the opposite of yesterday's schedule. Bus 2 will now go to the kennel to do obedience among all the dogs there while bus 1 will do obedience in the grassy area near the kennel like we did yesterday.

Following that, we will load the buses and go to do our country travel. In the afternoon, McKenna and I will get our vet consult with all of us on bus 2 while the other bus goes to work on country and perhaps sidewalkless areas.

McKenna and several of the others have now the mid-class itch. They are now beginning to test our patience. They are trying to see what they can get away with at this point. It could get worse or it could get better. What we want is for it to get better so it's now or never. McKenna got a good correction last night for walking my right shoulder into a door frame. He had already had a good correction for being a real jack in the box at the table. I think we have that one pretty well under control now. He is now sitting next to me trying to get my attention because he knows something is supposed to happen at about this time in the morning. When one paw on my lap is not enough, he'll try both just like Gladys does. The thing is that he was right, we just got our call for breakfast.

After breakfast McKenna and I attended both lectures and then went down to the kennel. McKenna did his obedience really well and only a few repeats were necessary. I can't say that being in such an environment made it easy but the boy came through it very well. After the obedience, we went to do our country route. He was excellent at holding the shoulder and I was the one who needed the work. Occasionally he drifted a bit but not enough to make it dangerous. We will need to work that on a regular basis if we want to keep it up. Unfortunately we don't do much country travel in the Montreal area. This afternoon we will see the vet to get the details on my boy and then we will go out to do what I am really looking forward to. We will be working sidewalkless streets with just a curb and parked cars. I need this to be excellent as I have to do this 3 times a week when I go to the gym.

Here we are back from our walk and both of us are very proud of it. We walked in a residential neighborhood with no sidewalks to keep us aligned and cars parked right in our line of travel. McKenna was very good at bringing me right up to the cars that were in our way. In fact, every time I checked his head, his nose was only a couple of inches from the bumper. Something I am very happy with because, I really don't want him to put his nose right on the bumper because of our very cold weather in the winter. Once he had shown me the obstacle, I just told him to hop-up and he began to take me around. A bit of positioning from my part and a left command brings him tightly around the car without going wide into the middle of the street. The reason why I say that I have to watch my position is because , at the very time I give him the command to hop-up I have to move forward onto his right shoulder forcing him to stay left as much as he can. Guide Dog work is a combination of voice commands, footwork and hand signals all at the same time. I am still having trouble using my left foot to probe obstacles because all three dogs I worked before had been trained to watch the right foot and not the left. McKenna has been trained to observe my left foot and it confuses him when sometimes I probe with my right foot.

Why is positioning important? Because you have to give the dog a chance to make his move without you being in his way. If you tell the dog to go right and you are up on his shoulder, there is no way he will turn right because you are crowding him. On a "right" command, you have to stand well back at the dog's back legs to give him a chance to turn in front of you. If you make a left turn, then you have to be up front on his shoulder with your body turned completely towards him so the turn is much easier to work. Bad positioning and bad footwork are the best recipe for a very sloppy team.

Tonight, we will be given a copy of all our lectures on compact disk. this will enable us to review the lecture material at home from time to time. Once I've done a bit of laundry and answered all my e-mail, then it will be time to brush McKenna's teeth and go to bed.

2004/09/24

Today is the day where we strip our beds for the second time so it's a good sign for everyone. It simply means that there is only one week left. On the other hand, it reminds us that there is only one week left to accomplish all that we have left. I had my mid-class meeting with the instructors and realize that the last week is not there just for the fun of it. I was asked what I feel my weak points are and I defined them as well as I can and we will be doing some more paying attention to the fine details. I still feel I have a bit of a problem keeping the tension in the handle and also I want to be reminded when I still probe with my right foot rather than the left.

Today the schedule tells us that we will be getting together and talking about platform techniques for subways and trains. Then we will be going to the Embarcadero which is the financial district in San Francisco for heavier traffic and for those of us who need to have subway training, we will work the BART, an underground rail system which is the closest to our Montreal Metro. For those of us who don't need underground transport experience, there will be another area to work. It will be a challenge to work really busy areas with a new dog. It's a new experience every time.

Well, we made it back and I have to say it was a wonderful experience. McKenna is a real city dog and just seems to be so happy in lively areas. He just took off and worked like a pro. Tail up and wagging the whole time, so proud of himself. The instructor decided to ride the MUNI rather than the BART as it was closer and took us where we wanted to go. We went only one stop as there is no point in going further. The experience we wanted was actually to work the double edge platforms. These are the ones I wanted to work as we have them in Montreal and the dog doesn't have a wall to trail on either side. We purposely turned to face the track on the other side and I made McKenna walk forward to see, under the instructor's supervision, how close to falling over the edge he would bring me. He stopped and I attempted to give him a forward command to see what he would do. Rather than going forward, McKenna turned right and walked a bit along the platform. We tried it again and he did exactly the same thing. I then inquired as to how close to the edge I was and we were about 6 feet away. That's close enough for me in our sometimes very crowded Metro stations in Montreal.

Our afternoon walk was a very quiet one to give a chance to both man and beast to take it easy on this very hot afternoon. The forecast was for 89 degrees but I'm sure we beat it in the sun and that's exactly where we were during the whole walk.

We are both in our room right now and taking advantage of the cool air in here. I think I'm going to brush McKenna before I feed him at 4:45 as it was too hot to do it on the patio at the downtown lounge.

When we went out, we met one of the instructors who attached McKenna's identification tag to his collar. He has now been officially identified not that he wasn't before because he had already had his tattoo in his ear and had also been micro chipped. The reason why he was one of very few dogs to be micro chipped is that plans had been made for him to go to Hawaii and all Guide dogs going there are micro chipped before they go. I'm glad they decided to keep him here for me. This newer technique I think is a good idea. It involves injecting a micro computer chip under his skin in a standard place which happens to be between the shoulders. That chip can then be scanned with a special scanner and will reveal his registration number. That number is registered with the company under Guide Dogs for the Blind who, in turn, know this number belongs to McKenna. If he was lost, I would very quickly know where he is.

As it turned out, I brushed McKenna after feeding him and taking him out because I knew he needed to go and didn't want to brush him at that time to increase the stress. The reason being that I am changing his way of being brushed. All schools I know of at this time teach dogs to be brushed while standing up. I think it's a real pain to do it that way. It gives the dog too much freedom to move around and walk away from you when he feels like it. McKenna is learning right now to be brushed while lying down. He is doing very well for most of his body but he still won't let me do the front of his paws. That is very common. What I am doing to achieve this is to gently rub the front of his paws with nothing rougher than my fingers. I will then increase the friction and go next to something like his dry face cloth. I will then increase the friction until his paws have been desensitized. It will take a few days but, that way, no pressure is put on him at all. He will just learn that it's not a problem for me to brush his paws.

Seeing that tonight is Friday and tomorrow is not a day off for us, we will spend the evening just doing the e-mail and crashing early.

This photo of Ron and McKenna doing obedience was taken at the entrance to Muir Woods

2004/09/25

On the schedule for this beautiful Saturday morning, I was out on my patio in my T-shirt which is good for the Bay Area at 6:00 in the morning. the schedule tells us that we will have a lecture on curbing the dogs which is something I began 2 days ago anyway. McKenna is getting good at it and it's not a concern right now. Those of us who live in big cities can't usually find grass when we need it and curbing is a must. Quaker never did want to curb and I always found it a disadvantage. After the lecture, we will receive a visit from Aerial Gilbert, the head of volunteers who will talk about becoming a speaker in our area. She will provide a package, complete with video, for the graduates who would like to do it. Then, time for obedience at the Civic Center Lagoon with the geese, ducks and birds. Following that we will go downtown for an optional route. This afternoon, we go back downtown to do a long route from bus to lounge. In fact, we are told that the route is long enough to be split in half. Those of us who want to do only the first half will be bussed back to the lounge. This will be done along with the regular class.

As it turned out, I selected the bus going to do the sidewalkless and the country routes so I didn't end up downtown. I am really pleased at the way McKenna is working the sidewalkless areas. He walks right along the curb to the cars and points them out. A couple of times he got a bit excited and wanted to go around the cars without showing me. A bit of encouragement got him right back on track. At the corners, he goes around like he is supposed to so he can indicate to me that there is a cross street there and I have no trouble at all getting him to make a left turn right into the curb. That turn is so I can locate the curb to make sure he didn't make his corner too wide. I then turn 180 degrees and give him a forward command. That's when he goes right across the street and brings me up to the curb. That he is great at. I then give him a right command and he goes back to the street and turns the corner and goes on his way. It sounds like more work than it really is. With practice it becomes very natural and quick. It is also the safest way to actually walk on the street and stay alive long enough to write about it. Am I not a classical example. We then loaded up the bus and went to a country setting with paved roads and gravel shoulder type of environment. I had done this earlier in the week and found that McKenna was good at that and I didn't really want to over emphasize this anymore than that since we had just finished sidewalkless streets and it is basically the same. I wanted us to keep our energy level up to be able to do the long bus to lounge walk this afternoon in what seems like it will be a very hot sun. After all, we don't want it to be said that Canadians have to be bussed back to the lounge.

Well. It has nothing to do with being Canadian but we did come back on the bus. The only thing is that we didn't go on the bus to the lounge but rather directly to campus. The truth is that we had the most awful walk you can imagine and then some. This is the first time McKenna does this to me and I hope it's the last time. At this point, I am not even sure that we will be flying home together. The minute we got onto a walk where the instructors were farther apart, McKenna didn't want to move at all. When we got to the first instructor and he asked me how we were doing, I let him know that I couldn't get McKenna to go at all. He checked the tension in my handle, and of course there was none. He tried to help me without success. I then heard him talk to someone on his walkie-talkie and another instructor appeared within another 2 blocks. She stayed with me until the end of the first leg of the walk and we waited for the regular class to come in. At that point, the instructor asked me if I wanted to attempt the rest of the walk but agreed with me that I was in no mood to continue otherwise I might have done things that weren't right. She was able to read into Mckenna's behaviour that he was overly worried about me. She told me not to get discouraged that things would be re-evaluated on Monday to see if maybe it was just a bad afternoon for McKenna or if there is a pattern being created. At this point in the class, I am really hoping that Monday brings some good news because there is very little time left for me now to start from scratch and make it to graduation with a new dog. Meanwhile it is my responsibility to stay cool for 2 days and not let McKenna read the way I feel. It will be very difficult because he is very perceptive and I am very upset. Never the less I feel up to the challenge and will encourage the boy to stay with it until Monday. In a way, I wish this hadn't happened on the eve of a day of rest. It would have been easier for me to get right back into it tomorrow with a route that would end on a positive note. In fact, I am thinking as I am writing that I may decide to ask the instructors if I could go out on a short walk tomorrow. In lawn bowling, my director Shirley and I always ended our practice sessions on a positive note. I think that was the secret to my success as a bowler and will try to do the same in this instance. When I took McKenna to relieve, the instructor waited for all the other students to leave the circle and came to me and asked me how I was. I was as honest as I could be. She re-emphasized that I must stay calm and not let McKenna read my feelings. She seemed concerned that I had nothing planned for our day of rest. I explained my concerns and she told me to not worry that, things could be worked out even if worse came to worse but she really didn’t believe that we were at that point yet. She even suggested that McKenna and I arrange to go and play together in the paddock. Right now, I will answer all my e-mail and get out of here and go to enjoy the company of my classmates. Tomorrow will bring another day.

2004/09/26

On today Sunday, our day of rest, we got up at 6:00 to have time to get ready and then feed McKenna and take him out. Then I could think of my breakfast. We have a big day ahead of us. Today is the day where I decided my boy and I will make it. After my breakfast, we went to the computer room to check if I had any messages. I was floored to see how many messages of encouragement I got. I answered all of them and we went back to my room. We got on the floor and played a game of floor hockey with his bone. The bedroom, for convenience of cleaning is made of ceramic tiles. A dog bone slides very well on it. This was our skating rink. I got on all four like he is and we began a game of hockey. I slid his bone on the floor, he chased it jumping and bounding all over the place. He then wanted to score against me so he came charging at me with the bone in his mouth, dropped it in his excitement and then kicked it around with his front paws. I would then grab the bone before he could get passed me and slide it back right between his legs. Of course, that made him turn inside out and start the same procedure all over again. We did this until I was totally exhausted and had to lie on my bed and read a bit. Of course, while I read, he didn’t want to stop so he got his kong and jumped right on the bed with me. I promptly got him off of there and was laughing so much I couldn’t read anymore. We played a game of kong until it was time for a T-touch session. I didn’t even brush him yet as I didn’t want to do anything serious with him. The T-touch session relaxed him to no end. It seems like he fell asleep on me. We then took him out to relieve. I asked the instructor on duty to take us to the grass paddock and she did. We let McKenna run free and enjoy himself. He was good on recall and we had a good time. Then we went back to our room for another game of kong until lunch.

After lunch, the boy and I were preparing to go on a walk together. With much luck, we bumped into Allison who was the instructor who made the match. She told me that she specifically matched us for speed and that McKenna can walk at a very brisk pace when he gets going. The other instructors will be notified that we have to work on getting McKenna going during this week. She doesn't think it will be a problem at all. I asked her if the obstacle course is up on Sundays and she said yes. I told her I planned to go and do it a few times this afternoon by myself and she said it was a brilliant idea. I told her that, if I wasn't back for dinner to send the cops after me. She told me they usually use a search party. When I got outside, I met one of the students who was very happy to see me as she was lost and couldn't find her way back inside. She was happy to see me because it was very hot out there. McKenna and I took off in the direction of the obstacle course and did so at a very good pace. We went through weaving around obstacles until he stopped and wouldn't move. There in front of me was the overhead obstacle that he had never stopped for on the first time around. Needless to say that he got a lot of praise and I proceeded to go under the obstacle and we were on our way. We went all around the campus, he took me to the pond where we stopped and listened to the running water for a while, to the kennel and then somehow he took me back in by way of the door that goes out to the relieving circle. I was so proud of him. I really hope he keeps it up this week. Tonight we will take it easy and see what the others are doing. Several students are from the Bay area and had visitors so it could be a quiet evening. Of course, it’s probably time for a load of laundry but I’ll wait until after dinner to see if I feel like doing it.

2004/09/27

This is Monday morning and the last Monday of our training. I admit I could have slept another couple of hours but I'm still wide awake preparing to go out there with McKenna to take on the World. Today will be a challenge for us as our schedule tells us that we will have obedience with distraction this morning followed immediately by a trip into San Francisco to the Fisherman's Warf. This afternoon there will be a lecture on "Traveling with your Guide Dog" and then we load up the buses to go downtown San Rafael to do a bus to lounge walk. Our last bus to lounge walk was a disaster but that was Saturday and Saturday's gone.

We made it back after a fun trip to Fisherman's Warf. We had a ball and McKenna was really on the ball. He walked like a pro through the pedestrian traffic and among all the distractions found there. We then went to the cannery to work escalators where McKenna really showed what he is capable of. We walked along the Warf with all the boats and ended up at a crab pot where they were steaming. McKenna loves the smell of steamed crab and I had to get him out of there because he seemed like he would have stayed there all day. Before we left campus, I asked the nurse if she would take pictures for me. She agreed and I handed her my digital camera and told her to have fun. She took a lot of good pictures and reviewed them to be sure. She managed to get ahead of me on my route to get pictures of McKenna and I and got a good picture of us on an escalator. She told me she would be happy to go camera crazy again tomorrow when we go to Union Square. I forgot my cable for my camera at home so another student who has her cable with her and a laptop computer with a CD burner offered to try her cable on my camera. If it works, I will download all the pictures I have on the camera now to her computer and burn them to a CD. That will give me a fresh camera for the graduation on Saturday.

This photo was taken near Union Square in San Francisco

At lunch, I was honoured to have Bob Philips, the president and CEO of Guide Dogs sitting at my table. We had a long discussion and it was a good thing he had a meeting to attend because I think we'd both still be sitting there.

After lunch, we went downtown for the bus to lounge route. It was nothing like last Saturday's route at all. McKenna decided that he wants to be my buddy and work for me. We had a beautiful walk together avoiding the traffic checks that we had not been told about and even encountered one that had not even been planned by the school. One of the instructors told me that I got an extra one for bragging as to how good my boy was.

One of the most interesting things I heard today is that my puppy raisers are two young girls of 12 and live in Fairfield California not too far from here. I'm told it's a small town near Sacramento. I was ecstatic to hear that they both will be attending my graduation. Now I'm asking myself a lot of questions. Since they are both 12 years old, and they both have the same family name, they could either be twins or maybe cousins. My bet is that they are twin sisters. This is getting very exciting. I had visions of McKenna having been raised in Colorado or something like that and I wouldn't be able to meet his raisers. There is a book out now that is available from the school's gift shop that is a beautiful story about young puppy raisers. It's a must read. It's available in print and on CD for those of us who are blind or maybe for those who would like to listen in their car. It's called: Hello, Goodbye, I love you. It's available in the Guide Dog gift shop and, like all other articles in the shop, it's a fund raiser for the school. The school’s web page is located at: www.guidedogs.com. It's the story of Aloha the puppy. Actually, Aloha does mean "Hello, Goodbye, I love you. I've read the book myself and I can tell you that when you read it, make sure to have a large box of tissues handy. I have a very warm spot in my heart for puppy raisers. They actually say Hello, Goodbye , I love you. I can very well imagine how difficult it is for them to say Hello! when they come to them as puppies and give them all the love and nurturing they need until they are old enough to go back for training. Then it's time for them to say Goodbye! to the dog they love and let him go so he can become a guide for us. It's no wonder some raisers do it once and then say "Never again!". Others do it time after time and manage to keep going for as long as they can get a new puppy to replace the one they are giving up.

Tonight is a night off so we will take it easy. Tomorrow promises to be a full day going to Union Square in San Francisco, a route from bus to lounge and then a night walk after dinner. I did get a chance to compare cables on our cameras and, unfortunately, the cable plugs are not the same. We then thought I could put my SD flash card in her camera and download that way but her card is a much bigger Compact flash. So I’m out of luck for downloading. We will just have to see what happens with memory space. If worse comes to worse, I could get someone to review the pictures in the camera and check for duplicates. If so, I may be able to save some space for graduation.

2004/09/28

Well, I guess my puppy raisers loved their boy so much they let him sleep with them on their beds. I just caught McKenna on my bed again. He just sneaks up there so quietly that I never hear him do it. It was so funny to see him lying there like he owned the place but I had to stop myself from laughing long enough to give him a good correction. The neat part about it is that he knew he was doing something wrong. The minute I said "What are you doing there, he just slid down onto his own bed as if he was saying "Who me!".

I'm looking forward this morning to going to Union Square as I know that McKenna loves the action of the big city. This afternoon we get dropped off and told what street we are at and then, from there, we have to find our way back to the lounge simply by asking information from the public. This will be followed tonight by our second night walk. It's a full schedule so we'll be ready to crash early.

Well, we got in our first walk of the day at Union Square in San Francisco. This is the last time we go into the big city. We had a long walk this time on very busy streets full of tourists who don't look where they are walking. Most of them are equipped with briefcase or shopping bag. It makes for very difficult navigating for the dogs. McKenna loves the action and just goes on weaving between the crowds and at one point even moved apart a couple of people to make way for us to go through. My instructor was killing herself laughing and said: "I guess all methods are good in McKenna's mind as long as he gets where he wants to take you". We walked for a good half hour and more and came back to the bus in great spirits.

When we came back from San Francisco, I called the gift shop here on campus to find out if they could exchange something for me and asked if they had in stock the gifts I wanted to buy for my two young puppy raisers. They told me to go over there and we would settle all that. I had to count on my memory from going the last time with an instructor. We almost got right to the door when I asked someone walking along where the gift shop was. The lady was very nice in showing me that we were only a few feet from the door. I got my shopping done and we hurried back to the dorm not to miss lunch.

After lunch we were dropped off and told to find our way back to the downtown lounge. We took off as if we knew where we were going but neither of us had any idea. At least, McKenna didn't tell me if he did or not. We walked to the first corner and realized that there was a lot of traffic and the corner was controlled by traffic lights. So my first reaction was to think that, one of the busy streets is 4th. I remembered before I left that the instructor told me that if I went to my left when getting off the bus I would get to talk to more pedestrians. So, the traffic was moving rapidly to what seemed like being my left. I crossed what I thought was 4th and made a left and crossed again. I figured I would walk a bit until I met someone to ask. Before I got a chance to do that, McKenna tried to pull me into a place where I could smell coffee. There was a good clue for me but I couldn't hear anyone I could ask. I assumed McKenna must have recognized Starbuck's and if I was right, I would be on 4th just East of A street. I continued a bit and he tried to pull me in again. I then realized I was right. He was now trying to take me into Ben and Jerry's. I went to the next traffic light and crossed. I was sure of where I was going but I thought I'd better ask. I found a couple of guys having a grand old conversation in the middle of the sidewalk. I said to one of them: "I'm on 4th right!. He said : "Yes you are and are going towards B". I knew the lounge is between E and F on 4th and on the North side of 4th so all I had to do is walk to E and cross, continue towards F and pick-up on the landmarks I had noted concerning the sidewalk. When the sidewalk took a steep dip, I commanded McKenna to go right but he already knew. He began to wag his tail like he was going to a party. What he was telling me is: "Here we are dad, we found it!".

After dinner, we loaded the bus and went downtown again. This time to do our night walk. The bus, once again, was parked and we worked from there to the lounge. It wasn’t a very complicated route now that we know the area. The main goal is to be able to learn any differences in our dog’s behaviour in the dark. Visual perception is different at night for a dog. They could see shadows that may worry them. They could see these shadows as being other animals and such. they could see reflections in water if it has been raining. I did not detect any differences in McKenna’s behaviour. He did not seem concerned about anything other than his guiding. He walked so fast, I think my feet never touched the ground except at every corner where we had to stop. The most difficult part was to figure out the colour of the traffic lights as there was not enough traffic for us to read. Of course, we all realize that dogs do not see traffic lights as they are colour blind, right!!!

McKenna triumphantly walked into the lounge as if he was telling me: “Dad, now that I’ve done my work for the day, take me to bed!”. We came back to the dorm, took both of us to our respective relieving circles and are preparing to go to bed.

2004/09/29

Today is Wednesday and happens to be one of the three last days of training. This morning we first got together as usual to give in our meal preferences for the day. Today we only had dinner choices since we all went out as a class to a Mexican restaurant. This is when I decided that I would skip dinner. I have been fed here to a point where it won't go in anymore and I feel like I'd better stop before I explode. After this, we had a visit from Brian Francis, the director of Graduate Services. He made sure we were all aware of all the services that are available to us when we return home on Sunday. Among these services are included an 800 telephone line that reaches anywhere in the United States and Canada. This is in case we have a problem which we feel could be solved over the phone. The maximum time it would take during regular office hours would be one hour if we don't get someone immediately. There are 2 people on staff who are there to help us with these problems. If that doesn't solve the problem, depending on the urgency, a field representative could be sent. Of course, if the problem is not a major one and the field rep happens to be coming to your town within a week or so, an agreement is made between the graduate and the school. If the problem is urgent, someone from the school could be on an airplane the next day. This has to be a real emergency. In short, any and all problems can be resolved. This is over and above regular after care once a year for the first 2 years after which a telephone check is done annually. During the period of telephone checking, the school comes to an agreement with the graduate as to whether a visit is necessary or not. When the dog becomes 8 years old, annual visits from an instructor begins again until the dog is retired.

The next service is the veterinarian care for those who feel they really can't afford to give their dogs the appropriate care. The service is open to all graduate but the school is asking students who are able to take care of day to day needs, to take care of them on their own thus leaving more money in the fund for very expensive treatment which is the second part of the service. Let's say that I take care of my vet bills myself for anything that is a usual expense and my dog gets really sick and needs surgery that will cost a thousand dollars and I really can't afford it, All that has to be done is for me to call the school and get an authorization for the expense. At this time, the school veterinarian contacts my vet and they discuss the procedure. The school vet gives the final authorization and the surgery is performed and I only pay what I can afford. The rest is covered by the program. In case of a great emergency such as an accident where immediate surgery is a must, the dog gets the care that will save his life and finances are discussed later. This veterinary program is unique in North America.

After Brian's presentation, we loaded the buses to go to an area of town that has very rounded corners. This is confusing to the dog who might think this is just a curve in the sidewalk. McKenna picked-up very quickly on that and we had a fantastic walk at the speed that is comfortable to me, and that is fast!

We then came back to the dorm and within a few minutes were back on the buses to go for lunch. Except for having to put him down a few times, McKenna was very well behaved in the restaurant. If you can imagine 19 dogs in a restaurant at the same time, there has to be some control there somewhere.

After lunch, the title of the lecture was "Your Guide dog is a dog". The whole lecture reminds us that our Guide Dog, although highly trained is still a dog. He needs to be taken care of by his master and not by family members or office co-workers. It is a bad idea for these family members or office co-workers to walk the dog or take care of his basic needs. The dog needs to know who he should respond to. It was emphasized that other people must never give our dogs treats. All rewards must come from the handler. I know I have been very lax with this and I propose to be vigilant in the future. Then our instructor read to us the information that was provided to the training staff by the puppy raisers. I had a chance to learn a lot about McKenna's behaviour in his puppy raising home. For instance, I was told that until shortly before he left the puppy raisers he was the counter sweeper. This is something that could come back for a while when we get home as he tries to test to see what he can get away with.

After the lecture we were given a few choices that included resting for the short balance of the afternoon or go on a route if desired. Only 1 student opted to go on a route, so the rest of us stayed at the dorm. A few of us had to take care of some financial matters concerning purchasing a token of appreciation for our training and also dorm staff. After this we decided to go to the gift shop where I wanted to get something to be added to what I previously got for my two young puppy raisers but they were out of stock because of a mistake in the order. We will have a chance on Friday to do some of that type of shopping so I hope to get what I need then.

Tonight we got together with our instructor who distributed the 1 year supply of Advantage flea control, Heart Guard heart worm medication and a bottle of ear cleaning solution. We also got our tie-down cables for when we get home. The dogs should be kept on tie-down in the house for a recommended period of six months.

We didn't get much sleep last night so McKenna and I will turn in as soon as I have folded the laundry I did earlier this afternoon.

2004/09/30

On this drizzly Thursday morning we are up and functioning. As you can see, for the past couple of days we've been counting. Only today and tomorrow left in training. According to our info line, we will be divided into two groups this morning with some of us going downtown and others going to a sidewalkless and also country area. It is mentioned that there will be revolving door training for those of us who requested it. Since I did request it, It's probably safe to assume that McKenna and I will be in the group going downtown. Today we should be in the group who learn to manage to serve ourselves at a buffet table and then try to balance the tray and make our way to a table while also working with the dog. Obviously, I've done this before but I wanted to know if perhaps I could learn a new method that would work better for us. There is always another way to do things and something to learn. I came here with an open mind and I want to take advantage of everything that is offered.

Well, we are back from what was a fantastic morning downtown. First we went as a pair with the instructor from the lounge all the way to the only revolving door in town on the corner of "A" and 3rd. we got there at the speed I really wanted to work at and then we approached the revolving door. The instructor asked me what I have done in the past to use revolving doors and I explained that I bring the dog over to my right because that's the widest part of a revolving door, and heel the dog on a very short leash making sure his nose is right against the front panel. I then check for his tail all the time holding my left foot behind me with my heel slightly elevated. That is to prevent anyone from charging into the door at high speed and propelling us forward. Anyone trying to push the door too fast gets a surprise when the panel hits my heel in that position. That always results in the door coming to an abrupt stop and the offender walking into the door nose first. I don't feel sorry for anyone doing this because my first responsibility is to protect myself and my guide. The instructor told me that this method is the very same as McKenna has been trained with. We went through the door into the bank, paused for a few minutes and walked back out the same door the same way. McKenna got lots of praise and we walked back to the lounge. We waited for others to complete their route and then were told that we could freelance. I asked if we could go as pairs and they said yes so my buddy Mike and I took off for what turned out to be our best walk up until now. We were walking very fast so we had time to go a long way. The dogs were both doing very well and we went like wild fire. At one point we got to an area where we had never gone before and abruptly found out why. The sidewalk between "C" and "D" on 3rd is non existent because of heavy construction. We proceeded carefully but confidently and McKenna walked me on the street hugging the curb treating it like a sidewalkless street. Every time I checked for the curb, he was right on target keeping me only a few inches from the edge. When we got to "D" McKenna rounded the curb a bit like he would have on a sidewalkless street but it was me that made the mistake and didn't read him properly. I realized then that I was crossing "D" and remembered the instruction: "If you know you've made a mistake and are crossing at the wrong time, keep going, never go back". This would have the effect of confusing the drivers thus making the crossing even more dangerous. We calmly walked across and McKenna stopped like he was supposed to at the up-curb. We went ahead as if nothing had happened.

At lunch time, we did the buffet thing. I was happy to learn that the method used here is better than the one I had been using. I was putting my leash over my left arm and carrying the tray with both hands. This, when the dog got distracted, resulted in the tray being yanked to the left with my arm that the dog was attached to. This method here involves putting my hand up at twelve o'clock and pressing the tray against my waist. Of course, my belt holds up the tray on that side and my hand in the middle of the other side holds the level. This leaves my left hand free to heel the dog. I tried it and liked it. Like I said before, I'm open to anything that works better.

This afternoon we went to Blacky's Pasture, where we walked on a beautiful bike path along the water. The dogs were full of energy and were trying to keep up with one another. Needless to say that we had a very brisk walk. It was fun to just let the dogs open up an go with them.

Tonight there was an optional night walk which I had given my name for. That was our last night walk of the class. We went to the downtown lounge where the buses were parked and walked along 4th to “B” street. When we got to “C” the pedestrian traffic increased and the music got louder. There was some kind of festival on and the street had been blocked. On the corner of “B” there was a singer guitarist who was loud and not much else. We went on just passed that corner to Ben & Jerry's and had our choice of ice cream. After having a chance to chat for a while, we worked our way back to the buses that had been brought on “B” street. After brushing McKenna we will be crashing following a long tiring day.

2004/10/01

The day is young, the weather is nice and it's our last day of training. We are already talking about graduation tomorrow. Time did not drag here, in fact it went so fast it's hard to believe our class is coming to an end. This 4th training class I have attended here is, by far, the best class I have attended as far as students are concerned. We all worked very hard but, at the same time had a lot of fun. There were no conflicts, no arguments and not one word higher than the other. Frequently, in the third week, all hell breaks loose. People start snapping at one another and most of the time it’s over the dogs. We are all very possessive of our dog and sometimes, if someone accidentally steps on a paw or tail, arguments erupt. We are 12 people and 12 dogs in our class and there are six people and six dogs in the regular class so that’s a lot of feet that can be stepped on when we are all blind. The reason why I’m now saying 6 people in the regular class when seven had previously been mentioned is that one person decided to go home without a dog 2 days ago. We didn’t have very much to do with the regular class except at meal times and special events.

This photo was taken at the entrance to Muir Woods

This morning we loaded up a full size bus and a caravan and went to Muir Woods. This is a national monument where they are conserving redwood trees. I had the opportunity to walk into a redwood tree to see the inside of it. This one had been the victim of a fire but Kim, one of our instructors, McKenna and I walked into the trunk of the 800 year old tree. You can imagine the size of it. We walked a long trail in the redwoods and then came back to the souvenir shop where we were offered a complementary drink from the administration and then we all went a little crazy shopping. I had given our nurse my digital camera and she told me she got some very good pictures.

This photo was taken at the entrance to the trails at Muir Woods

We then boarded the bus and caravan and drove back to the dorm where they were waiting for us with a very special lunch. The outdoor grills were going full blast and we all had a lunch of New-York strip loin steaks with baked potato and salad topped with a special birthday chocolate cake. It’s a good thing we had worked it off before we even ate it all.

After lunch, we got together in the day room where we were given our going home binder and all the instructions that went with it. When I was given the package, it was verified that I was Canadian and I wondered why. When we got the instructions, I understood that the Canadian package contains additional information concerning CNIB’s veterinary program as well as the law governing Guide Dogs in Canada. All of our dogs medical history is included as well as notes given to the school by the puppy raisers. A complete copy of our dog’s medical file in an envelope to give to our vet when we get home. No vet gets into this without knowing where he or she is going. They know every medication, every ointment and every vaccination that our dog has ever come into contact with. In McKenna’s case, a type of drops was used for clearing wax in his right ear and his vet will know about it. It’s unbelievable the amount of work that was involved in preparing these packages by graduate services.

We then boarded the buses again and went to the local mall for last minute shopping before graduation. I found the picture frames I was looking for to give my puppy raisers each a picture of McKenna and I. I also got a nice bone for Gladys who will be jealous of McKenna’s new bone that he is coming home with.

Tonight we will be given our dogs identification tags which were received only yesterday from the engraver. The tag that McKenna had on his collar was his rabies and not his ID as I previously thought. McKenna and I will go around and exchange our E-mail address with other students. Our regular mailing address doesn’t have to be exchanged as graduate services already included that in the going home binder. We had given prior signed authorization for this to happen as this is confidential information. Then we will have one more lecture of course and the topic will be “Going home with your dog”. How much to feed and how much water to give and at what time depending on flight times. Also a talk about tomorrow’s graduation and how it will be done. As I understand it, it’s not unusual to have several hundred people at the graduation. It’s open to the public and is attended by many service clubs and foundations as well. The outdoor graduation stage is ready for us and it will be time for puppy raisers to officially present us with our dogs and the tears will be flowing from all sides.

It’s all very exciting and I really don’t think any of us will get very much sleep so McKenna and I will try to get a head start and go to bed right after the last relieving time. Depending on tomorrow’s excitement, the graduation entry here may be late or not appear until we get home. Since we have to leave for the airport at 4:15 Sunday morning which means that we probably have to be up by 2:30 or 2:45 I may not have time to do anything about making that entry.

2004/10/02

Today is graduation day and it began like any other day, Get up at 5:45 and get ourselves ready before feeding the dogs. Then it's feeding and relieving time followed of course by grooming the pup to make him look as handsome as he can be for his graduation ceremony. After breakfast, we got together in the day room and went out onto the graduation stage to do our obedience. We played a game of "simon says" with obedience commands. McKenna can sense that something is in the air. He got up from his down position when Kim came along trying to distract the dogs with her antics. She managed to get McKenna to get up thus knocking us out of the game. As it turned out, we all did great obedience and the instructors declared every one of us a winner. We came in to the day room and Kim told us all about the schedule for the graduation ceremony. We were told that our dogs will be completely goofy and that's all right for today. We are to allow our puppy raisers to have their time with their babies. After all they haven't seen them in months. We are to expect about 500 people and the place will be crazy. We are not to try and work our dogs on harness as it will be total confusion around here.

I waited in my room until Kim came to get me to bring me into the day room to introduce me to my puppy raisers. As it turned out, the raisers were not twin sisters as I was expecting. A mistake had been made when the school told me that they were both 12 years old. Alannah, the principal raiser is really 12, but Deanna is her mom. I was then introduced to dad and grandma who were also with us to see their McKenna graduate.

We had a long conversation about McKenna and I was given a whole lot of background information about him. I found out that, even though he is a native Californian, McKenna has been exposed to snow in the mountains and loves to play in it. He sure will be happy in Montreal if that’s the case. After a long chat, we were invited to go into the music room to have our pictures taken with our puppy raising families. Graduates and families both will receive copies of these pictures. It was then time to proceed with the ceremony

The school expected this to be a very emotional time for all. Boxes of tissues had been placed here and there but, I the brave one had my own in my back pocket.

Both classes, wearing our colourful boutonnieres were escorted onto the stage and the puppy raisers kept our dogs with them in the day room. Bob Philips the president and CEO of Guide dogs talked about this great organization. Adam, the class supervisor followed with a few words and then proceeded to introduce his class one by one. When the first class was done, Kim was introduced and, in turn, she introduced all of us in the re-trainee class. One at a time, we were brought up to the microphone and were presented with our dogs by our puppy raisers. We then had a chance to address the visitors. This was almost impossible because all of us were already making use of the tissues. Then our puppy raisers took the microphone to tell us about their experience raising our dogs and the floodgates opened so that even more tissues were needed. Several donations were made to the school during this ceremony. When we were all done, a demonstration of Guide Dog training was given by Allison and, we the graduates were guided off the stage and directed to the dining room where punch was served. My puppy raisers had to leave after this as they have just moved and had a long drive ahead of them.

I then continued to talk to some of the people who were in the dining room and then went to my room. When I got there, there was a tour guide going around with a group. I heard her tell people about the bedrooms and how they were made but told them they would not be allowed to go into the rooms to see them as they our out of bounds to visitors. I asked the tour guide if she wished to bring her group in my room. I was able to offer them that as I was alone in my room. They all came in and we had a grand conversation and it was my pleasure to answer all the questions coming from the group. It was a long and tiring day and it marked the end of class 648R.

Now, only a few of us are left in the whole dorm. Only the ones flying out in the morning are left. The dorm seems like a ghost town. After taking McKenna out for the last time, we will turn in as I have to get up at 2:45 to be able to get us on the 4:15 bus taking us to the airport.

2004/10/03

The night sure was short. We only slept about 3 hours before waking up and not being able to sleep again. At 2:30, the time had come to get up and get ready. After getting myself ready, I went to McKenna’s bed to get him up to take him out. He was fast asleep and didn’t want to lift his head for me to be able to clip his leash on. He finally looked at me as if to say: “Are you crazy, where are we going at this time in the morning”. I managed to get him up and take him out. He was too sleepy to do anything and I brought him back in to give him the only thing he was allowed and that was a half cup of water. No food as we were flying and he wouldn’t have a chance to relieve until we got to Dallas. At 4:00 our instructor loaded up the luggage in the van and by 4:15 we were on the road. The Golden Gate Bridge was reasonably quiet at that time of the morning and we were at San Francisco airport by 5:00.

We checked-in and got an attendant to bring Mike and I to the security where we found out that they were on high security alert. We had to take off belt and shoes and be checked time and time again until they had identified every little piece of everything that made the metal detectors go crazy. We finally managed to get ourselves through but that didn’t do anything for the dogs. Harnesses had to be taken off and even the little bag I have on McKenna’s harness handle had to be searched. Finally we were on our way to the gate where we got pre-boarding assistance as it is usually offered on airlines. Usually, when it’s possible, the airlines block-off the middle seat in the row for the dog but no such luck this time. The flight was completely full and the poor lady sitting in the middle seat had to wait standing in the flight attendant’s closet while the whole flight was boarded so we could back McKenna out of the row to let her in. I then had to put McKenna down right in front of me and he’s not a small dog. I had to put one leg on either side of him to keep him from stretching out onto the poor lady’s feet. I was so exhausted that I fell asleep and McKenna shifted over so that, when I woke up, his head was propped on the lady’s feet. I apologized and told her she should have awakened me to move him but she said that he wasn’t bothering her at all.

When we got to Dallas 3 hours later, we had to get off the airplane and bring our carry-on even though the same flight was going to Montreal. Mike and I asked for the dogs to be taken out and it was quite a production as it didn’t seem to fit anyone’s job description. I told them the dogs had to go out and they said there wasn’t a place to do that. Mike and I insisted that they find a place somewhere if they didn’t want an accident on the floor. They took us out all right but not in an area inside the gate area so we had to go back through security all over again. This time it was even worse as, in San Francisco, security have often been visited by the school to train them on dealing with blind people and Guide Dogs but not here. We went through the same process of taking off the belt and all that but, this time, my wallet was a main concern to them. They wanted to X-Ray the wallet and I told them to do so but they refused to do it with the money in it. I said: “I’ll take the money out”. They told me that they already had done that and, without realizing that our money is folded for identification of bills, offered them to me all in a neat pile and all mixed up. Needless to say that I wasn’t very happy but what could I say if I wanted to get on that flight. Again it was the same thing with checking the dogs. One security guy said: “Do these handles they have on them come off?” I really felt like saying: “No! They were born with those on” but I thought better of it. We finally were taken on board and were given our seats. This time, I was alone with McKenna in a row of three seats and we had a very nice flight home but only after one of the electronic sensors picked-up the fact that we had defective main batteries. It took 50 minutes to find some batteries and replace them. All this time I’m looking at my watch because this is lengthening the flight by an hour and McKenna didn’t like the spot they had brought us to and didn’t relieve.

When we were almost in Montreal, the flight attendant told me that my dog was chewing on some paper and we realized that another flight attendant, in charge of distributing the custom declarations, didn’t want to wake me up so she threw the form on the seat next to me. That’s what McKenna was eating. I guess he thought that is what he had to do to become a Canadian. It took some extra time at immigration to get another form and fill it out but, it all got done and, both of us totally exhausted were allowed to go home. Chris and Gladys met us at the airport with our friend Olga so that we could let Gladys and McKenna meet on neutral territory. This is necessary if you don’t want the new dog to walk onto the old dog’s territory. That way, they meet and get to know one another and walk in the home together.

We are now home but it’s not the end. It’s only the beginning. It could take 6 months to a year to get McKenna completely into his life of guiding.