[Critique Group 1] DeAnna's April piece via Leonard

[tuchyner5 at aol.com]

Hi group 1,

Apparently, not everyone got DeAnna's piece so I'm forwarding my copy. Unfortunately, it has  sme of my comments on it.

Leonard
-------------------------



Everyone Needs a Little Dark Chocolate inThere Day





When I arrived back at the Seeing Eye to train with my eighth dog, thetrainer who had trained Griffintold me he had a German Shepherd he thought would be perfect for me. Iexplained that I didn’t want to put another shepherd in to the hostile work environmentmy agency posed for any dog who was the least bit vocal. Shepherds are naturaltalkers. They have a wide range of squeaks, yodels and woofs for any occasion.I wrote the following essay about this characteristic desire to communicatewhen I was still working with Griffin.Conversations with My GuideDog(It was first published in the Anthology Two Plus Four Equals One, ByKathy Nimmer)





 





Firstof all, my dog's portion of this conversation is expressed in grunts, squeaks,snorts of disbelief, tail thumps and let us not forget, various positions ofthose lovely German shepherd ears.  So this record of my half of ourdialogue is not simply the ramblings of a disordered mind.  Then again,perhaps you might not agree if you too don’t get into conversations with thenonhuman members of your family.  





 





“GoodMorning to you too.  I am sure it will be a wonderful day, and I know youneed to run outside as this house doesn’t provide indoor plumbing for dogs, butI think it’s raining and I need shoes and a raincoat. So please stop dancingaround until I get myself together.   





 





Youcould wipe your own feet before coming in all muddy you know.”  





 





“Iknow you are highly intelligent, you did graduate from one of the best dogguide training programs in the country.  So how come you always manage toget your front paws tangled in your leash like this?  





 





No,I don’t believe you were trying to play cat’s cradle.”  





 





“Youmust know that eating grass or kitty excreta will give you gas, so why do youalways look offended when you are the one fumigating the room?”  





 





“Ilove you, but I don't like being used as your napkin when you have dunked yourmuzzle in your drinking bowl.  





 





–-No,I don't think water does taste better when imbibed from a toilet!  





 





Ijust know so and don't have to try it!”  





 





“Shakingfur all over a restaurant isn't funny.  It isn't another way to say I’llbe seeing you again.” 





 





“Idon’t own the whole sidewalk or every place we go in to conduct business, sodon’t think we have a right to be first.  Now, I know that putting yourcold nose on them makes people move, and let us get to the front of the line,but we can wait our turn.”  “





 





“YesI understand that he said something rude to you, but it's his yard and you area professional, so just walk past and ignore him.”  





 





“No,you can't take your toys with us, you are working!  Behave yourself orI'll put this harness on the cat!”  





 





“Yes,we are shopping again, and the object isn't to go in one door and find the exitas fast as we can and no you can't just pick up things and expect me to pay forthem.”  





 





“Ibrushed you this morning and you don't have fleas, so stop scratching andjangling your tags like that!  You are interrupting the meeting!”  





 





“Wakeup, I know the sermon was extra-long, but snoring is impolite.”  





 





“Yes,that's your dinner and I know mine looks better, but yours is well-balanced andnutritious. Besides, it costs more than a dollar a pound, so it must be good.” 





 





“Youare very smart to remember this place, but we aren't going there today.”  





 





Don'thuff at me, I am not being ridiculous and yes I do too know where we are goingand it isn't back the other way!  





 





“Itisn't alright to chase the neighbor's cat out of your yard just because itisn't our cat.”  





 





“Becauseit is on the floor doesn't make it yours. So give it back right now!” 





 





“YesI know where the dog biscuits are and you are not getting another one. Your harness is getting tight.”  





 





“I know everyonesays you are beautiful and clever, but you don't need to thank them all for thecompliments.  Let’s get going!  Dog 





Biscuits aren’t free. You have to work fora living!”  





 





”Heyyou, yes you in the dog suit!  We’ve got a bus to catch, so put down theball and get your harness on!”





 





“Youcan too fit under an airline seat!  Okay, you win, being half in my lap isreasonable when you get scared.”  





 





“Yes,you are the bestis dog in the whole world.” 





 





As always, my schooltook my concerns seriously and matched me with a totally different dog fromOlsen.





I have placed below thejournal I kept when I returned for my eighth visit to The Seeing Eye. 





 





 





Seeing Eye Journal





11/27/09





 





I am going to write short entries to track my efforts tobegin the process of transitioning for the 8th time with a new dog.I am struggling to deal with the ending too soon of the bond I have developedwith Olsen. 





I haven't let myself get excited.  I dwell on thehere, this minute, get it done and don't think about the pain that is with me.Sweet Olsen,  It was only two years we walked in tandem.  I shouldn'tfeel your absence like a yanked wisdom tooth leaving the bloody hole wherea tooth should be. 





Saturday I will be driven two hours to St. Louis, board a plane to Newarkand be taken to a place that has welcomed me seven previous times.  Foralmost three weeks, I will have beautifully prepared meals. A maid willclean my room.  I will work hard and be exhausted by the struggle to learnto read the language of motion in synchrony with another.  It won't be youand I will have to fight to move on. I will meet another writer whom I knowonly by exchanged e-mail.  I will walk in all kinds of weather and bematched with the one who will share my life's journey for an indeterminatetime. We will explore the shape of our natures and begin to build the bond thatwill tear another hole in my heart when it too ends.  I will be attendingclass once more to train with a Seeing Eye dog. 





 





11/28/09 





 





Then And Now





 





I was just out of high schoolwhen I first traveled to New Jersey. Having never flown on a jet plane, I thought of the journey as a fabulousadventure.  Numerous pet dogs had been a part of my childhood, so it onlymade sense to join my steps with a canine friend as I set off to conquer theworld. 





Now I am a grandmother whostill finds it hard to believe she has actually become a grown up.  Thetrip is much the same as it was the very first time, one of excitement, anxietyand anticipation.  Of course there are differences, like a room to myself.Different amenities like a Moshi talking clock and fancy satellite radio are inmy room. 





 





11/29/09





 





New friends and oldcompanions.





 





Ralph Malatesta gave me my lovely Griffin, he isn't my instructor this time buthe does have a beautiful gentle shepherd in his string that I got to play with. Ralph says he is mine if I want him, but I can't put myself or him through theheart break if he too starts to alert bark.  So no big gentle shepherd, nodainty little shepherd girl either.  





My instructor, Sue M. says mynew dog has a name that starts with the letter R. She says he is unusual. I tease her that she is planning to give me a Sharpei named Rambo.  Rollo?Roscoe? Renoand Rondo are possible too.  She says that four of us have dogs with namesending in the letter A. One dog's name ends in an O. When Sue keeps saying hewhen telling me things about my prospective dog, I guess the chances are thatthe O is mine.  Not too many male names typically end in a letter A. 





 





11/30/09





 





My favorite!





 





Reno! Will you take agamble on me? Little labby boy with eyes of gold and dark chocolate fur. Whowants milk chocolate, when you can have rich dark chocolate? It is loaded withantioxidants to keep me young. No, the bed is mine, yours is the matt in thecorner. Our first walk is different.  You are smaller but you have a nicepace and pull. No, you can't play with your leash or chew your tie down cable.It’s okay if you need some time to decide if you can take me on as afriend.  My heart is ready for you so I can be patient.





12/1/09





 





The Hokey pokey





 





We can do this, I know you are worried.  Sue isstill back there, just trust me and I will try to trust you back.  Oh, Imust not be doing this right. My shins are stiff and ache with each step. Imust be unconsciously walking tentatively with tense muscles.  Today isonly our first full day together. “Put more enthusiasm in your voice please.Don't step out in front of him, let the boy move first, click and treat.” I don't remember it being this hard to learn to dance before, but I know it musthave been. Last park and this grandma will need to get some rest to keep upwith the coco puff puppy.





 





12/2/09





 





I am alive!





 





This morning I am actually rested.  I had no troublesleeping.  You woke up when I got up once in the night to beat the heatingregister with your tail. No sleepy labby boy you. Maybe I am a little tired,but not exhausted. Sixty-one isn't quite so long after nineteen today. I mayactually feel like I can make it.  Lukas taught us the concepts of theclicker last evening. As always he made me laugh and feel like I was in thepresence of one of my insane brothers.  Love and friendship never dimmedby time and distance are a part of coming here. So many faces are gone, JudyD., Pete L. and Doug R. are just the latest friends to  have moved on to alife outside this enchanted Shangri La, where human and canine animals learn tocombine forces to become greater than they would be separately.





 





This time there is dark chocolate and one nut to make anAlmond Joy. Ouch, I caught my heel on a raised slab of sidewalk and took asliding header on our trip in town.  Poor chocolate is worried and isn'tpulling into his harness.  I think the issue is that I am wandering aroundthe building leading the coco puff puppy without even a cane to tell me wherethe stairs are.  I am using my feet to explore the floor. That would alsoexplain the shin splints I am having. Tense muscles ache because I am notwalking relaxed. I asked Curt to send my walking shoes instead of these bootswith heavy treads. I don't need snow boots since the sidewalks are clear fornow. I've got to get my act together to make progress.  It feels as if Iam doing the soft shoe shuffle while Renois trying to waltz.





 





12/3/09





 





One foot in front ofthe other.





 





We were choppy in our movements, but I managed to followand let him lead without rushing his moves. It wasn't perfect, but at least wewere finding the beat and if not quite in step, we were hearing the same tune.Jennifer from the Colorado School role model team ishere and got a shepherd male.   She is working in Alabamabut still makes it back to Coloradooften. Jerry was in my class with dog three, and he too has a shepherd. Don got the shepherd I worked with on Sunday from Ralph's string. Bonnie has acute little lab and Tessa a medium sized female shepherd. None of them are inmy team under Sue. In my group, there are two people from New Jersey, one from New York, andone from a suburb of Boston. My class picture is going to be interesting since we will have one black lab,one golden retriever, one yellow lab, one dainty shepherd and the cocopuff.  The December training group is made 





up of17 people who are returning for successordogs.    





I had a chance to catch up withTula, who wasin my first class. She was between her junior and senior year at college and Iwas an entering freshman when we first met. She volunteers to assist people inclass getting set up in the computer room. She is still working the shepherdshe had two years ago when I was last in class. Like many shepherd handlers,she says she would never accept another breed. 





Sue, my instructor, says she understands the difficultyof going from a lab to two shepherds and then back to a lab. I think my biggestissue is the change in size. There is a difference in how the two breeds move,but my last three dogs were close in height. After three large dogs I amworking with one who is at least three to four  inches shorter.  Hedoes have a bouncy walk rather than the flowing walk of my two shepherds, butthe shorter height is also matched with a decrease in body length.  Suehas given me a shorter handle which brings me closer to his shoulder when wewalk and that is helping. At least it feels more like the usual two left feetissues whenever you have to learn to read the body language of a successor dog.





My instructor left after dinnerand we worked with Lukas 





To use the targeting techniquewith a clicker to start patterning our dogs to the smaller dining room fortomorrow.  Renogot upset when tapping the bell with his nose didn't make it ring so he couldget a treat.  He grabbed the bell in his mouth and tried chewing it. This target behavior is going to be useful to teach new tasks.  Each doghas a basic skill set when they are placed with a handler, but a lot of customizingtakes place to teach additional tasks specific to their blind person'sdesires.  






 




Ithink you should say more about targeting. I’m not sure what it means.





 





12/5/09





 





Oh Solo Mio





 





 





We did our first solo today and it went relativelywell.  There were a few miscommunications.  I lost my partner Tuliafor a few minutes while she dealt with an unplanned park time.





Am  I to asume that  ‘park time is a pottie break?  Is a partner someone who goes on a walk withyou, having her own dog? Why didn’t she tell you what was happening. Could youhave waited for her?






 




Reno doesn't have theconfidence to be decisive when I need to move over, 





What does it mean to‘move over?






 




 but he is happy inhis work.  I tried a simple modification on the harness to take some ofthe play out of it until we get our new harnesses.  This is sure a quietclass.  Maybe because we are for the most part aging baby boomers. Jen is probably the youngest at thirty-five.





 





12/6/09





 





The visit





 





Today was so busy. We got to sleep in an extra hour, andthe time flew by.  We were issued our dog boots,





What are dog boots?





 bell and afterlunch some were able to practice obedience and learn about their puppy.  Ihad visitors. Robin and Thomasina raise puppies at Rutgers University. Robin has a puppy taking his mid training town walk.  She decided to drivedown a day early to visit Jen and me.  She brought Nyla bones for our dogsand a plate of gingerbread men and chocolate chip oatmeal cookies. It waswonderful to have visitors and to meet someone I have enjoyed reading messagesfrom for some time.  After dinner, I got my puppy's statistics.  Heis going to be 19 months on the 29th. He was born March 29th 2008, a couple ofdays before I was matched with Olsen.  He has nine siblings and his parentsare Barney and Marlow. He was raised in a family of three children by theyoungest, a twelve year old boy.  They lived in the country and had otherdogs and a cat.  He weighed a pound at birth. He is a great puppy andscored well on all his important tests and was gentle with his toys. Tomorrowwe are back in town working our dogs and making more progress in winning themfrom their instructors.





Did  you mean to write ‘weaning?





After dinner we worked on fooddistractions.  Sue walked past each of us tossing garlic bread sticks downon the floor in front of us.  One pup caught it in midair.  Othersdived after the treat and were corrected until they could remain sittingquietly beside their handler. My pup wanted to hide. He pressed his foreheadagainst the back of my calf and was drooling.  He wanted the food but alsowanted to avoid the temptation. 





 





12/7/09





A Longer Route





 





in the morning we started the ADDRESS:
Elm street
 route which is pretty long anddid some freelance work to practice escalators, revolving doors and narrowcrowded aisles.  I had a chance to buy some light weight socks to make mystreet shoes more comfortable and some bath salts to do some hot soaks for soremuscles.  It was a pretty good day. I need to work on my voice when givingcommands.  He is happier with a more forceful style than I used with thetimid shepherd boys.





 





12/8/09





 





Observers





 





Today we have a class of O&M students 





What is an O and Mstujdent?





visiting.  We also have an apprentice instructor whostays with us all day under blindfold.  She works with a dog and has hermeals with us like another student.  Seeing Eye has made it a policy tobring in students studying mobility so they can understand the dynamics ofguide dog work if they ever need to orient a dog user with a newenvironment.  Each instructor works their dogs under blindfold near theend of training as a readiness test.  Apprentices experience living underblindfold for a week to understand how a blind person might feel. 





Does that mean redinessof the dog or or the stujdent?





Roger Taylor was manning thelounge this morning and it was great seeing him.  I don't think he knewwho I was at first, but after he remembered coming out to work with me andGentry with our llama He even remembered to call me Quietwater when I huggedhim as I left the lounge.  I am still having some trouble getting the pupto find the curb and to stop at the up curb.  We did some nice work aroundbarriers and he is not at all dog distractible. We went to the courthouse andworked on lots of twisty turns through people, up and down stairs. I am stilloff on my following and reading his body language.  At this point most ofthe problems are mine.  We got our harness pieces in the evening and had alecture by Lukas on the principles of clicker training and how it can beused.  





Whatare harness pieces?





 





12/9/09





 





My Shoes and His Boots





 





 





I got my extra shoes from home yesterday.  It lookslike Curt didn't want to take chances, and sent four pairs.  Add those tomy three pairs of boots and one pair of airport moccasins, and I have moreshoes than good sense!  I lent one pair of snow boots to Bonnie since shedidn't have any with her.  The weather has taken a turn toward realwinter. 





Jim and Tulia will leave onMonday and get a couple of days of work in their home areas.  Both livehere in New Jersey,so that will give them freelance work at home.  They will go in to Manhattan on Sunday tofit that in before leaving us.  Irene is also going to leave ahead of therest of us with follow up provided at home in New York City. 





Reno is a lovely, gentle,funny pup with excellent work skills.  We will be using our new harnessesby Friday, so I will need to be putting a lot of time in oiling today.  Imanaged to get the first coat on last night before heading to bed.  Wetake our class pictures tomorrow. 





We took the train a short way.  Reno trembled while we waited inside thestation and I wondered if his tight short coat was not enough protection in thecold. We went to Pet smart instead of taking a bus this afternoon.  Thisgave us a chance to work on sniffing, dog distraction, and close aislework.  I bought Renoa collar tag brass bone with his name and my phone number on it, a propellersqueak toy for Christmas, some oatmeal baking soda shampoo, ear and teethwipes.  He did beautifully at all of the challenges including sittingquietly near the cat enclosures, walking past hamsters and birds. Actually all of Sue's dogs did a great job with only Luka sniffing dogfood bagsand Simba breaking a sit when a large lab charged him.  Reno was quiet, mannerly and totally focusedon me through the whole time. We got our vet lecture this evening and Isandwiched in some boot practice and obedience.  Reno acts like the boots hold his paws gluedto the floor.  I put them on him for a short time yesterday and he lay onhis side claiming to be in force field restraints and unable to stand. When I fixed his dinner, he clomped in slowly and started to eat.  I wasable to lift each foot and remove the boot while he ate standing on threelegs.  This evening he walked slowly and carefully to and from the loungethree times. I made a cup of decaffeinated tea, got my harness pieces to oiland returned empty feed pans to the counter.  He says the boots aremagnetized or gravitic to walk on the outside of space ships.





Are the dogs requiredto use boots?





 





12/10/09





 





Smiles





 





Our ADDRESS:
Elm Street
 solo is tomorrow.  I worked in teamwith Irene, who uses a support quad cane in her right hand. She is matched withSimba, the large golden retriever.  It was crowded out there with usovertaking and getting tangled with Bonnie and Cathy from Ralph's group. There were also some dog distractions, some obstacles blocking the side walkand quite a bit of pedestrian traffic. 





When we returned, there was time to get my laundry backupstairs, put my new harness together and change for our pictures.  Sueteased that she looked like a slob compared to us all in our finery.  Thisafternoon Pam and I will be working together I think.  I've changed back frommy velvet skirt and vest to burgundy sweats for warmth.  It is chilly, butsunny which is much better weather than the rest of the country isexperiencing.





After lunch, the whole team of five of us  went toWahl Mart. Reno is really good at following particularly when it is Sue heneeds to keep track of down the aisles.  Pam, Tulia and I waited inMcDonalds while Jim and Irene went in to the store first.  We orderedcoffee and tea while we waited for our turn to shop. Pam was the adventurousone who went to the counter to order for the three of us. She had thefrustration of being told that the straws were over there by the napkins. As wesat enjoying our drinks, a mother and child passed behind my chair and thelittle one begged to pet the dogs.  His mother dragged him on saying"No, they have germs." I wasn't sure if she meant us or thedogs.  





When it was our turn, we wentto the handicrafts section to buy yarn and knitting needles, hand lotion, andsmall zip lock bags for me. Tulia needed cookies and place markers for a ponchoshe is knitting.  Then we went to house wares to look for a kind ofsilverware holder for Pam and she ended up buying a magazine about soap operason television. She has quite a bit of useable vision, but of course that doesn'tmean it is enough to travel safely.  





Tulia, Jim and Pam all hadtheir vet visits today.  I am busy writing a skit about how the dogs viewbeing matched with a person.  Of course, they don't understand the processat all, so this is just some light humor to entertain myself.  I am notusing any actual dogs or people in this class as characters.





 





12/11/09





 





Changing Partners,





 





I was teamed with Pam for the solo on Elm and it wentvery well.  The new harness is working as I had hoped.  I thought itwould enable me to feel more of Reno'smovements. As my ability to follow him increases, his confidence improves. 





After lunch, Sue took us to TheShops on Pine, which is a sort of mini mall of small arts shops.  Therewere a lot of hand-made items with dogs but most of them were out of my pricerange. We went to another shop near the crossing of ADDRESS:
South Street
 from Dehart. It sold windchimes. I found a beautiful box with a dragonfly on the lid for a Christmasgift for my sister-in-law Terry Lynne. Pam was looking for earrings. Shecouldn't find what she wanted.  I had asked Curtis to send me some of theones he makes for GDUI. They have closed down the catalog and I thought thesmall shop off the lounge that sells Seeing Eye items might like to stock them.The public can enter from the street and students from the lounge.  I gotback the sample ones I had shown to Pepper for consideration for the shop.Christen Lake wants two of the pairs of shepherds, but I still had the freshwater pearls and one set of plain Labradors.When we got back to the school, Pam decided to buy the last set of Germanshepherds. I got a skit written, but couldn't get the computer to cooperate toprint it from my thumb drive.  One station isn't talking at all. Onerefuses to see the drive and another has zoom text instead of a screen readerloaded.  I was able to send a copy to Lukas and have inserted it here.





 





School Days





 





The scene opens with four dogs comfortably relaxing undera table in the dining room at Seeing Eye. Roxy is a petite German shepherd,Arthur a larger shepherd with black predominating in his coat. Milo is a lab golden cross with the golden silkiness tohis fur. Heidi is a small black lab.





 





Milo: "Roxy! Who didyou get? I got this older lady who talks baby talk tome!       She looks like a real softy. Bet I canwind her around my little paw in no time!      You know as a cross, I have my golden retriever daddy's charm andthe      determination of my Labradormama! She doesn't stand a chance!"





 





Roxy: "That sounds cool Milo.But if I were you, I'd wait to work on her until you go home and there aren'tany trainers around to set her straight. Mine is this guy with huge feet. Hedoesn't seem to know what to do with them. He has already stepped on my pawtwice and it's only been one afternoon. Still, as a shepherd, I did expect toget a person who requires real talent in his guide."





 





Arthur: "That is true, we shepherds either getsomeone who needs a lot of looking after or one who will requireprofessionalism in his guide. I have a lawyer working for the government--veryhush-hush you understand."





 





Heidi: "Boring, I got a guy who keeps missing hismouth. Boy am I going to clean up! Heh heh heh. Um Roxy, I don't see yourlitter mate Rocco."





 





Roxy: (Sigh,) "I warned him that if he kept peeingon his trainer's shoes he wouldn't get picked in the first draft. He might makeit next month if he can learn to control his squirrel addiction. The trainerhas put him in the 24 step program. Oh here comes my kennel mate Silka. I am soglad she got a match."





 





Silka: "I made the cut! I got this chubby lady withinteresting smells on her shoes. I detected cat, horse and I think llama. Thattrainer Dave Johnson has one of those and I've smelled that scent on himbefore. As a golden, I don't know if I would like living on a farm. There willbe all those burrs and stuff to get tangled in my pretty fur. Anyone want totrade?  I can slip my tie-down tonight. We could make the switch and seeif they notice the difference. How about it Milo?"





 





Milo: "It would befun, but since I'm a male and you're not, I don't know how long we could keepup the joke. But hey, it might be a blast to try."





 





Arthur: "Last night, they brought in an older fellowwho was coming home to retire.  He kept me awake half the night talkingabout the real world. Personally, I think it will be interesting to get on withmy career. I have walked the streets of Morristownso many times I could do it in my sleep. Even going in to The Big Apple getsstale after awhile.





 





Silka: "I can hardly wait! I'll miss my trainerthough."





 





Roxy: "Me too, I didn't eat tonight because thethought of leaving her behind and having to take charge of big foot all on myown seems a little scary."





 





Heidi: "No skipping meals for me thank you. I canhardly wait to get out of here with all these trainers watching. My ambition isto fill out the extra folds in this oversized labby hide of mine."





Did you mean labby  or flabby?





 





Arthur: "Let's have a little professionalism please.As graduates from the most prestigious Ivy League of dog universities, we havea proud tradition to uphold when we go forth."





 





Milo: "Sure, Sure,don't get your tail in a knot, we will uphold the dignity thing, but what I amreally looking forward to is the freedom part!" Sleeping on beds, chewingup socks and let us not forget counter surfing here Icome!"          Oops, headsup, everyone look sharp, here comes a trainer."





 





This peek into the under the table scene has been broughtto you courtesy of Dog-house Productions starring the Hambone Players. Thenames have been changed to protect the guilty.





 





12/12/09





 





Slow Saturday





 





Irene went to New York this morning and brought back bagels foreveryone. The rest of us went out in the afternoon to do country work.  Itisn't really country, but suburban streets with no sidewalks.  We walkedin the gutter. There was a lot of snow still and some ice. The sun was shiningthough, so it wasn't too bad. I was again teamed with Pam. I finally got thecomputer to read my drive with Russell's help.  He teaches technology in Washington but lives in Idaho. I talked to Vicky C. and her husbandwhen they came to visit Bonnie. She gave me Alice Z.'s contact information. Alice was in class with me when I trained with Griffin.





 





12/13/09





 





Sunday down day.





Jim and Tulia went to New York. It was turning very cold and Tessaand Jen fell on the leisure path. It had started to rain by morning park timeso I chose not to try walking the leisure path. In the afternoon, Chris Suttoncame over with a power chair and we were able to give Reno some time to get used to it. Later Sueused a manual chair in the lounge to try to get his unease down some more. 





I missed several phone calls and talked to Mike T., andleft messages for Ron and Lisa B. I have spoken to my dear friend Kae, andwritten a letter for my puppy's raiser.  I hope he will understand that Reno will be loved andenjoy many adventures.





 





12/14/09 





 





The homeward Bound





 





Today Jim, Irene, and Tulia left for home.  Pam andI had our vet visits and Pam had her exit interview. Then we went for a longwalk in Morristownwith lots of poles, dumpsters, and other obstacles. In the afternoon, we wentfor another long walk and revisited the courthouse.  Our comfort level isimproving as our dogs begin to read us better and our communicationgrows.  The thing to remember is that these dogs are still green and needa lot of praise and feedback. Less training is done on teaching them to findthings like stairs. Inside, Outside, are still taught. Other changes includethe bringing around of both the dinner and the breakfast feed pans in theafternoon.  One is put away in a drawer or closet for morning. Shannon is taking students out by twos after last parkfor night work. Our class lectures are given to us on an MP3 player which makesit easy to listen to them while we wait our turns to practice routes. Most training groups average four students to one instructor.  We are nolonger asked to dress in business casual for lunch for the benefit of visitors.We don't address our instructors by Mr. Mrs. or Miss followed by a lastname.  Few donated dogs of unusual breeds are being accepted and trained.More emphasis is placed on freelance work to fit the dogs for the variedsituations they are going to experience once they go home.  





The Christmas trees went uptoday. It appears that the staff brings toys and food items in for distributionto the community.  The toys go under the tree. Margaret keeps the food inher office. I think there is also some sort of book drive going on too.Michelle Drolet is back from vacation, which, means there was no session onlosing a guide since she was gone. I was surprised they didn't distribute theCD or anything.  Targeting and click and treat techniques are being taughtas an optional tool.  One of the instructors taught some of us how to playwith a dreidel and we participated in a lighting of the Chanukah candles.





 





12/15/09 





 





The endless day





 





After breakfast, Sue Tom and I worked with Reno on wheelchairdesensitivity. We made good progress. Then it was off to the city where wewalked our feet off.  Crowds, subways, city buses and walking past as manycity notable locations as our feet could stand.  Pen station forescalators, time square, ADDRESS:
Columbia Circle
, ADDRESS:
34th St.
 and ADDRESS:
Fifth Avenue
. We walked past Tiffany's, Bergdorf's,Macy's NBC and ACB studios. We did some Christmas shopping in the kiosks at theedge of Central Park.  We encounteredRolling racks, street vendors of soft pretzels, hotdogs, and Broadway ticketsscalpers. There was Christmas music, singers, horse drawn carriages giving us atraffic check. We stopped for lunch before tackling the eight blocks to thePort Authority to find the car for the drive back to the school.  Afterdinner and the lecture on dog attacks and harassment, park time and some nighttravel in Morristown. Reno did it allwith a wagging tale and a sneezy nose.  Several of the dogs in class havecaught some kind of cold. Sneezes and reverse sneezes abound. The vet checkedseveral of them and none are running fevers or have gone off their food. Shethinks it will run its course and clear up in a couple of days.





 When youtalk about wheelchairs, are the dogs trained just not to be afraid of them butalso how to guide someone on a wheelchair?





12/16/09





 





The Last Day





 





Pam Sue and I walked a bit in the country but it wasreally cold.  I started packing. Dr. Cohen sent Reno a good-bye card and box of homemade dogbiscuits.  He also got a series of drawings from one of the children inhis puppy raiser home.  He has obviously imprinted several hearts on hisway to me. In the afternoon, there was  a trip to town for Pam to have hernails done and some walking for the Reno and I to work on curbs followed by Hotchocolate and buying funny pasta for presents.  The shop had a rack ofpackages of pasta in the shapes of dog bones and paw prints, shapes forgirlfriends and cats. 





Shannon wanted us to have ourpacking done so she could weigh bags. Naturally my big case was too heavy andmy small one was light.  We worked to even it out. I had to get a box tomail home the snow boots and extra jacket so the rest would fit in thesuitcases. I got Karen to check my bags online and print out the boarding pass.I had my exit interview, which gave me a chance for goodbye hugs for old friendsJim and Ginger, a kiss on the cheek from Lukas. Tomorrow it's time for thislady bug to fly away home.





 





12/17/09





 





The rest of the story





 





I was up early to finish jamming things in the smaller ofmy two cases since that is the one that is under the weight limit. I sat on itto get the zipper to close. I had a last breakfast with Pam, Tessa, Butch andRob. Then there was A trip to the airport with an apprentice named Kaylin andButch.  Our gates are two apart. We found seats between them. Butch is flyingto Wisconsinand his flight is delayed, so I am actually the first to leave.  I am inthe bulkhead row with no one else; Renosits up or rests his head on the seat beside me.  He trembles and drools abit. I carefully ignore his unease and try to seem calm and assured.  Whenwe land, I slip his harness on and accept my carry-on bag from thestewardess.  We quickly leave the plane and I sit at the gate waiting fora meet and assist person to arrive.  My cell phone lets me talk to Curt andwhen I am finally allowed out of the secured area, he finds us and we collectmy bags and leave for the two hour drive home.  Reno meets the family at home and we beginthe rest of our lives with a slow gentle introduction to my grandchildren, twofamily dogs and cat. The next day we are off to the office for a half dayending with a restaurant meal with co-workers for our office party. Except forone friend who is still smarting on my behalf for the loss of Olsen, all areimpressed with the Renopuppy. Jill says he isn't as pretty as Olsen. She too loves German ShepherdDogs. We are still slightly out of step, but have only each other now to try tomake the communication flow easily and naturally. A birthday party for mygrandson is going on upstairs, and we will soon go to meet and greet, but Ihope to keep Mr. Chocolate calm and well-mannered as this is part of his jobdescription. The magical door of the safe zone the Seeing Eye provides with itstrainers has closed and the world awaits. We step off together to discover whatit holds for our almond joy team.





 





Reno had lovely amber golden eyeslike Tammy. He was as gentleas Teddy, as sweet and cuddly as Griffinwith a loving joyful personality. 





One of the first thingshe showed me was that he thought he was a lapdog. I came in from a trainingtrip and clipped his collar to the tie down next to my bed. When I woke from anap, I discovered he had slipped out of his collar and moved up to curl againstmy back with his head on the pillow. When I asked him what he thought he wasdoing, he wagged the end of his tail apologetically.





When he returned homewith me, he charmed everyone we met. At a dental appointment, he worried when Imade a noise while having my teeth worked on. He climbed up on the foot of mydental chair and stretched out to place his head on my stomach and wrap hisfront paws around my waist. 





At staff meetings, heoften got bored. If I was busy taking notes on my braille notetaking device, hewould quietly standup and put his head in my lap. One front paw would follow.Then, he would put the other front paw up there too. Eventually, with his chestand front half in my lap, he would get one hind paw up there as well. When hetried to get the remaining hind paw up, he would run out of room and go slidingoff on the floor with a thump. 





Reno loved squeaky toys, wrestlingand most of all cuddling. When he found the demands of my job too stressful, abreak for a cuddle and a bit of praise got him back coping with the noise andconfusion of being a political disability advocate.





He guided me on protestmarches, helped me cross and recross the exit of the state senators’ garagedriveway while we protested the end of session without dealing with the healthneeds of the disabled. He guided me along with three other blind people to Washington D.C. He only worked five years because he was extremely timid and eventually histremors when frightened and his





reluctance to be harnessed told me it was time to let himmove in to a new career. He is now working with my friend who does respite andhospice care. His affectionate loving nature is much better suited to bringingcomfort to the terminally ill than it was facing the challenges of complextraffic and the rolling thunder of summer storms. Even when he was cringing andshaking with fear, he never left me in the lurch. However, I could see how muchit cost him to bravely soldier through. Because my dogs give me so much, it ismy responsibility to return that gift by knowing when it is time to let themhang up that harness. My Little chocolate taught me to think of the needs ofothers even if it means toughing it through a difficult situation for me.





 





 





 




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