[Critique Group 1] Leonard's comments on DeAnna's sub

[Leonard Tuchyner]

This is a good description of what an experienced doghandler has to go through to adjust to a new dog.  

For the most part, it is clear.  

I had a little trouble understanding what you weredescribing to the trainers 

as apposed to what you  were experiencing. 

The difficulty was minor 

but you  mightconsider making  that a little moredefined. 

I found this piece informative, 

and it will be useful if I ever decide to get a guidedog.

 

Deanna sub for August 22

 

 

 

Getting a Guide DogOver 70

By DeAnna QuietwaterNoriega

 

I was 19 when Iboarded a flight for the first time to fly to The Seeing Eye Inc., located inMorristown New Jersey. I had always loved dogs. Back then, I was a petite, shygirl who looked about 12 years-old. In July, I made that trip for the tenthtime. At 73, I knew that I was going to face a few challenges. My old dog wassemi-retired when he passed-away in April. He had escorted me from the car orpara-transit into familiar locations. His pull was light and pace more of asaunter. A new puppy would know the basics, but have no clue about myexpectations. He might be looking back at his trainer instead of listening tome. His pace, pull and way of indicating what he saw would be different.Training with him or her would be like learning to dance with a new partner,who was taller or shorter. She might  forget to keep focused on guiding if anotherdog approached. New dog might sniff, scavenge, or eagerly greet everyone. He mightwant to chase cats! I didn’t know what breed or temperament to expect. Meetinga potential new guide dog is like being a mail-order-bride, or the ultimateblind-date.

 

Guide dog schools tryto match handlers and dogs with great care. They want the team to be successful.They need to communicate, in order to work together. 

They need tocommunicate. It is unclear who the they is. 

 

I knew it was my jobto observe carefully and react in a way to begin building the trust in my dog.He had to decide that working with me was fun and better than working with atrainer who worked with a whole string of dogs.

 

Asking questions thatwould help me understand how my dog was reacting to each new situation was myjob. Feeding, grooming, praising good behavior and correcting mistakes withquiet authority were techniques I had used in the past, but my new friend wasan individual with his own set of quirks. Added to that, I was much older thanI was when I went to train before. I was less able to adjust to a stumble,tired sooner, had to monitor my strength carefully so that I was able to be agood partner. Honesty on my part about my life style was paramount.  

 

I did have to workshorter routes, forego some of the things I had done before and admit that mybalance, coordination, and even my sense of direction had diminished a little.I did those things and as a result was matched with a joyful, affectionate,confident, but cautious two Year-old yellow male Labrador retriever. If I workhard to teach him the intricacies of being my friend and confidante, we maywalk safely for at least 10 years, I will be in my 80’s before I need toconsider if there will be an eleventh guide dog in my life. If you are olderand wonder if a guide dog might be a good option, talk to other blind orvisually impaired people about how their dogs help them, research programs thattrain them. Then, as long as you are in reasonably good helth, can walk severalblocks and enjoy the company of dogs, then send in an application. If you areturned down by one school, another might be willing to work with you.       




 
 
Leonard I. Tuchyner, Author
 
https://www.dldbooks.com/tuchyner/

 
  
 
 

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