Day 8

It rained again today. I had my blindfold lesson this morning and I learned the art of holding an umbrella in one hand, and using my cane in the other. Unlike yesterday, I stayed pretty much dry. A little weird walking in puddles and hearing the splash from my cane tip as I hit them on my trek.

I made a few mistakes this morning. I was supposed to do the route we have been practicing together strictly on my own today. I took the wrong sidewalk and didn't even know it. I veered onto it and thought I knew exactly where I was. My instructor was following me, and he asked me what my plan was. I told him "At the end of the sidewalk I should run directly into a bike rack!" "I can't find the bike rack, it should be right here!" I naturally assumed that someone in the middle of the night had moved the bike rack on me, because how could I be wrong?! He of course tells me that I took another direction on the sidewalk (it is set up in an 'X' pattern) and I got onto the sidewalk on my right instead of staying straight which was where I THOUGHT I was- bringing me directly to a bike rack where I would know to make my left turn and stay on the sidewalk and not go into the street. Well, My instructor had me start over since I got so turned around. Did OK my second try.

Walking to the campus cafeteria to meet everyone for dinner I caught two junior high girls talking about a service dog a student has here on campus. They were going through all sorts of names for it like 'walking eye dog' 'walking see dog' etc. So I thought I'd clear up the confusion. ALL service dogs for the blind are called Dog Guides, not Guide Dogs. Referring to a Guide Dog may be incorrect, since the term Guide Dog is a trademarked name. The dog could have been trained at any number of Dog Guide training centers in the United States, and each of these centers are very proud of their dogs, hence the trademarks. Here is a brief listing of a few Dog Guide centers: The Seeing Eye , Leader Dogs for the Blind , Guide Dogs of America which is different from Guide Dogs for the Blind. There are a few more, but you get the point. If faced in a situation where you are talking about a service dog for the blind, you would ask where their dog was trained and they will tell you one of those places. Such as "He is a Leader Dog." I may have the opportunity this year to visit one of these training centers. Since O&M professionals are their #1 referrals they invite us out to see their operations and learn about their programs. One day it would be nice to be a puppy raiser as well. You keep the puppy for 6-12 months then give it back to the center so it can begin formal Dog Guide training. If you are at all interested in raising a puppy please contact one of the centers. Now consider yourself formally instructed on the etiquette of inquiring about Dog Guides.

As Tigger would say "Ta ta for now!"