President: Sarah Calhoun
Editor: Andrea Giudice
Co-editor and GDUI Immediate Past President: Penny Reeder
Guide Dog Users, Inc. (GDUI) A special interest affiliate of the American Council of the Blind (ACB) since 1972
Toll-Free: 866.799.8436
From the editor- Hello fellow GDUISters,
This is your extremely cheerful editor- not just cheerful but dog with a new toy cheerful! I have received more submissions for this issue of “Paws for GDUI- News You can Use” than I have for all previous issues combined. GO TEAM!!!!
As the editor I am committed to providing a publication that is as diverse in its content as it is consistent in its publication schedule. To that end- as has been mentioned previously- a new “Paws for GDUI- News You can Use” will be available Bi-monthly, on the fifth, to enjoy!
The renewed interest in contributing to “Paws” is invigorating! I encourage everyone to remember how easy it is to get involved- share a favorite podcast; an interesting, silly, absurd, or touching tidbit from your local paper; something you wrote yourself or written by someone else; a helpful app or other resource; even a yummy recipe. Remember, submissions about guide dogs, or blindness/visual impairment are not the only topics of interest to we GDUISters!
If you sent me a submission, and it isn’t in this issue, I have decided to save it for June’s “Paws” as I don’t want anyone’s contribution to get overlooked because of the issue being too long! (“Can you believe this is what I am worrying about this month? Lucky me!”)
I so appreciate the renewed dedication to making “Paws”- for GDUI and of GDUI!
Sending cyber hugs and wags, Andrea and the Super T
From the President- Hello GDUI members,
Spring has arrived! I hope you and your guide dog are enjoying the refreshing cool air and the wonderful sunshine!
Thank you to everyone who renewed their GDUI membership either with your affiliate or an at large member! It is fun to think how many guide dogs are proud to be a member as well! Your participation and support are greatly appreciated!
During the 2023 GDUI convention in Illinois we will be selling products, pouches, harness signs and other great dog items in our suite! The program committee are scheduling some terrific events that will take place virtually in June and hybrid in July. We will share convention information after the plans are in place. I am looking forward to connecting with so many of you and making more friends! The guide dog community holds a very special place in my heart.
Stay tuned for an “All Paws on Deck” 2024 cruise information from the GDUI membership chairperson, Cindy LaBon. This cruise event and planning is not a GDUI supported event, we are sharing the information to our membership for more fun in the sun!
Please feel free to share your guide dog stories, journey, toys and other information either on the GDUI chat list, or submit an article to be published in “Paws for GDUI- News You Can Use”! The more the merrier!
Wishing you, your guide dog, family and friends a very Happy Easter, Passover, and/or anything else you are celebrating! Enjoy the beautiful springtime!
Happy tails and trails!
Sarah Calhoun and Lakota
Announcement- 2023 ACVO Eye Exams
Registration for the 14th Annual ACVO/Epicur National Service Animal Eye Exam Event opened on Saturday, April 1st and will be open until 11:59pm Mountain Time on Sunday, April 30th.
Make sure you are fully prepared and brush up on the Qualifications, Expectations, and Registration Information.
https://www.acvoeyeexam.org/qualifications-expectations
Here is a direct link to the registration page-
www.cognitoforms.com/ACVO1/ACVONationalServiceAnimalEyeExamEvent
After you register, you will be emailed a confirmation and link to participating clinics (please check your spam/junk folder before emailing for a confirmation email to be re-sent).
Be sure to add the following to your safe senders list!
To make an appointment after registration, please call the clinic of your choosing and be sure to give the clinic your registration number. Appointments are on a first come, first serve basis. The participating clinics list you will receive after registration will include COVID guidelines and each clinics’ in-clinic vs. curbside only policy.
Please remember that locations/appointments may be limited in your area. We ask for patience and kindness to the clinics’ staff, as we would love for this event to continue to be a positive experience for all involved! Don’t forget to ‘Like’ the event on Facebook and follow us on Instagram. We will keep you current of other similar events or news throughout the year. If you have an Instagram account, post your pictures of the event with #ACVOEyeExam for everyone to see! Results-
The PawTracks Survey: What Have We Learned?
Penny Reeder
Over many years, PawTracks was a much-loved benefit of membership in GDUI. I remember the first time I listened to a PawTracks cassette. I had recently applied to the Fidelco Guide Dog Foundation for my first guide dog. I was nervous and excited, and when that audiocassette arrived in the mail, I couldn’t wait to start listening. I took the cassette and the portable 4-track cassette player I used for listening to NLS books with me and listened on my long subway commute to work. I became so engrossed in the contents, I totally missed my stop and didn’t even realize that I had gone far out of my way until daylight flooded into the subway car, and I knew I was way far beyond the underground station near my office, where I should have exited the train.
PawTracks was a recorded magazine, sometimes GDUI members recorded their stories or poems, and sometimes the editor would read written contributions aloud. Ray Fournier, a legend in the world of recorded sound, transferred the recorded content to 4-track cassettes and mailed the completed magazine to GDUI members every three months. Many people loved the magazine. It was kind of like an internet radio stream long before the internet was even a thing imagined! PawTracks was a benefit of membership in GDUI that made members proud.
As time went on, lifestyles evolved. The internet became a reality featuring e-mail discussion lists, internet radio stations, blogs and podcasts and social networking. More and more people ventured online, and recorded materials delivered quarterly could feel already out-of-date by the time PawTracks arrived in postal mailboxes. Audiocassettes – with their sometimes-spotty sound quality—were no match for the quality we came to expect from audio downloads and streaming audio. So much information became instantly available online, more and more people owned personal computers, and then smart phones became permanent fixtures in our hands and in our pockets. Life was busier in every way, and guide dog users joined e-mail discussion lists and social networks and began routinely telling their stories and even sharing their photographs online. Everyone was so much busier than they had been before e-mail in boxes overflowed and Facebook conversations beckoned. It became harder and harder for PawTracks editors to gather enough content to fill a quarterly magazine. GDUI’s publications committee felt that changing times required us to make some changes, ourselves, and, Paws for GDUI- News You Can Use was born.
Now, the magazine is an online publication, available via download, and delivered via e-mail and the GDUI.org web site. Few of us even own a cassette player any more, and members read the magazine via smart phones, laptops, and braille displays. Fewer articles are contributed by members who want to share their personal stories – not because we don’t care about sharing with each other, but because we have so many more ways to communicate, and with more immediacy. GDUI’s Publications Committee hears from members who love the magazine, who appreciate choosing a format that works best for them, and who praise our writers and our editor’s breezy style and eclectic interests.
As we grow older, however, and sometimes become exhausted by the complexity of our 21st Century lives, it’s not uncommon to indulge in bouts of intense nostalgia. Remember, we think, how it was back in the day when we found that audiocassette in the mailbox and could hardly wait to listen to our friends telling us about their guide dogs or reviewing a new product or catching us up on what was happening in GDUI – in their own voices! Bring PawTracks back was a request we heard, not from a lot of people, but occasionally, and consistently from a few members and several board members in particular.
A committee was formed to create a survey. In fact, that committee created several surveys, but none achieved majority board approval for distribution. The requests for a survey persisted, and in late 2022, President Sarah Calhoun asked us to try one more time to create a survey which would let GDUI know exactly how many people longed for a return to a recorded, quarterly magazine that they could retrieve from their postal mailboxes.
I chaired the ad hoc PawTracks Survey Committee. Liz Bottner and Olivia Norman graciously volunteered to serve on the committee. Publications Committee Chairperson, Cheryl McNeill-Fisher helped, and GDUI Secretary and Office Manager, Lynn Merrill, kindly agreed to handle phone responses and collate results. The Ad Hoc PawTracks Survey Committee met in early January and distributed our survey via GDUI’s Announce E-Mail list. We invited members to respond by e-mail, and there was also an option for anyone who wished to respond by phone. There was ample time for members to complete the short survey, and we sent out reminders. A total of 21 GDUI members returned the survey. One return was blank, and one response came in well after the deadline had passed. The response represents22 percent of GDUI’s total membership. Overwhelmingly, members supported our current “Paws for GDUI- News You Can Use” publication. Our analysis of survey results leads us to an understanding that, although some of us may look longingly back to a time when we found something that was truly exciting in our postal mailboxes, and although all of us prefer listening to a dear friend telling us a story or recommending a product their dog just adores to hearing JAWS or VoiceOver, or using on-screen magnification or a braille display to access the same content, there are actually very few GDUI members who want us to resume publication of a quarterly, recorded magazine that we retrieve from a physical mailbox.
Ninety-five percent of respondents told us that they prefer GDUI’s publication to include stories that focus on GDUI-specific content and blindness and guide-dog-related topics, as well. We are glad to know this.
Ninety-five percent of respondents are pleased with the online delivery method that we utilize for “Paws’.” We will continue sending you e-mail notifications when a new issue becomes available, and placing a notice and a link on the front page of GDUI.org.
Two thirds of you prefer our current digital format, which allows you to print the publication in a size, font, or color of your choice, to magnify print on your computer screen as much or as little as you need, to use a screen reader to hear content, or to use a braille display to read the downloaded file. A few respondents liked the idea of accessing a voice recording – perhaps on a dedicated telephonic mailbox. We can investigate this method of delivering audio content. A very small number of respondents expressed an interest in utilizing the same kind of cartridge system that the NLS and ACB utilize for delivering audio books and magazines to subscribers. Interest in implementing a similar process appears to be modest.
Nine of you told us that you cannot help with the publication, and, while results were coming in, 13 people shared an interest in helping, as content contributors, with editing, or as trainers to help people who need to become comfortable with downloading content from the internet or with using a screen reader to access downloaded content, or with some other aspect of maneuvering through cyberspace. One respondent even volunteered to help us with marketing!
Thank you to all of you who have volunteered to help! You can expect to hear from us if the Publications Committee doesn’t hear from you first! E-mail us at Publications@GuideDogUsersInc.org, or call 866.799.8436!
Thank you to Liz and Olivia, who helped to create the survey questions and plan for dissemination and collation of results; thank you to Lynn who spoke with several people who shared their responses via our toll-free phone line and collated all of the results; thank you, Sarah and Maria Kristic, for sending out the survey announcement and the reminder messages; and thank you to Andrea who produces such a terrific publication for GDUI! . Thank you to everyone who took time to respond to our survey. We are pleased to know how many of you are enjoying “Paws for GDUI- News You Can Use,” and we welcome your contributions, your involvement, and your interest! Whether or not we are communicating with you via a specific survey, we want to hear from all of our readers, to know what you like and what you don’t, to respond to your wishes and your preferences, and to share in the delight that all of us, who are lucky enough to work with guide dogs, experiences as we travel through our lives independently and safely alongside wagging tails and occasional doggie kisses. E-mail us at Editor@GuideDogUsersInc.org.
Resource- The Seeing Eye® Advocacy App has Launched
The Seeing Eye has developed a free app for Apple/iOS to provide information about the U.S. and Canadian laws that ensure guide dog handlers have access to public places and protect them from interference from people and other dogs. The app also contains legal resources and educational materials that can be used for self-advocacy. The information is arranged topically where feasible for easy navigation and use.
To download the app from Apple’s App Store, go to this link:
https://apps.apple.com/app/the-seeing-eye-advocacy/id6446094763
For those of you who are Android users, we ask for your patience. The Apple app was our first step and we will begin working with our developers on the Android version as soon as we can and will let you know when it’s out.
We hope this will be a useful resource for those of us who are guide dog handlers; guide dog instructors who want to know the laws when they are traveling with dogs and working in the field with students and graduates; business owners; dog owners who want to know how to manage their pet dogs around guide dogs; and anyone else who might need or want the information. This is our first version, so we appreciate your feedback and your patience. We will need to make periodic updates to fix bugs and to keep information about the laws accurate as they change. This is just the beginning.
Melissa Allman, Senior Specialist, Advocacy and Government Relations
The Seeing Eye
From the Editor- Now a perfect place to put the above app to good, and fun, use!
Announcement- All Paws on Deck
Cindy LaBon and Goodman
Do you or your hard-working guide dog need a vacation?
Well, let us ask you this: Have you ever taken a cruise? Has your guide ever traveled onboard a cruising ship? If you and your guide have cruised before, were you able to share the fun with other enthusiastic guide dog users?
If you answered no to any of these questions, let us tell you about an amazing opportunity! A group of friends and guide dog users are planning a spectacular cruise to the Eastern Caribbean in May of 2024! Goodman and I want to tell you about the cruise and invite you and your guide and your friends or partners or significant others or spouses to come aboard!
Here’s how all of this came about. In 2018, a couple of guide dog users contacted Melanie Dyer from Creative Traveler, which is located in Belmont, North Carolina, and asked her to put together a cruise for blind and visually impaired vacationers and their guide dogs. Melanie was the perfect person to ask, since she had previously made all of the travel arrangements for a friend who was a guide dog user, and their cruises – yes, more than one! — were spectacular! Melanie understands what blind and low vision people who travel with guide dogs need, and she’s tuned into canine cruising preferences, as well! That cruise wasn’t associated with any particular guide dog school, or with GDUI, and the one we’re telling you about has been privately arranged and is also not sponsored by any particular organization.
Sixty people and forty guide dogs came on that 2019 cruise. It was wonderful! We named our group, “All Paws on Deck!” We even had these cool blue tee shirts with “All Paws on Deck” stenciled on the front and a picture of the ship on the back. Goodman and I have heard that tee shirts for 2024 Paws cruisers are already in process, and I can’t wait to find out what they’ll be like!
We all had so much fun on our first “All Paws on Deck” Carnival cruise, we started planning for another one while we were still lounging around on deck. But, you know what happened in the spring of 2020. Now, three years later, with the pandemic emergency officially declared at an end, we are finally planning another cruise!
Here is the itinerary. Melanie is recommended that cruisers plan to arrive in Miami on Saturday, the 4th of May, 2024. There’s an optional hotel package that includes shuttle transportation from the airport to the hotel and to the cruise terminal on Sunday morning. (Optional hotel shuttle transportation from the cruise terminal, the following Sunday, back to the hotel, and back to the airport, can also be arranged.)
It’s a good idea to arrive at the Miami hotel on the day before the ship is scheduled to depart, since one can never be absolutely sure that flights will arrive on schedule, and you wouldn’t want the ship to sail without you! Besides, if you arrive on Saturday, you’ll have a chance to meet all of the other members of the group and you and your dogs can get to know one another!
The Carnival ship will be the Celebration. It was christened in the fall of 2022. Here’s the itinerary: Cruise from Miami on Sunday, May 5. Then, sail to Amber Cove, Dominican Republic; San Juan, Puerto Rico; and St. Thomas. Return to Miami on Sunday, May 12.
For more details and answers to all of your questions, you can contact Melanie Dyer at-
Mr. Goodman and I are so excited about the cruise! We can hardly wait to hear who else will be planning to come along and then to welcome you onboard!
Announcement- Did you know… resetting your BARD password is as easy as 1, 2, 3!
(While some of you may know all about this- it was news to this editor.)
- Open the BARD login page and click the Reset your BARD password here link.
- On the reset your lost password page, type the email address associated with the BARD account in the Email Address field, then click the Submit button.
- BARD will send the patron an email with a link that will redirect back to the BARD website, where the patron can create a new password.
The link will expire one hour from when it is requested.
Pod Casts- Check these out!
Podcast of Intersections, Roundabouts, and Rover
presentation by Lucas Franck of The Seeing Eye.
direct link to the podcast on the ACB Community feed-
Intersections, Roundabouts, and Rover 02.12.23
Penny Forward Podcast- Can I Afford a Guide Dog?
Liz, GDUI Board member, thanks for this!
The following link is to a podcast I helped record related to the cost of partnering with a guide dog. The link follows-
Penny Forward Podcast: Can I Afford a Guide Dog?
Announcement- Terrific resource for dog, and horse, gear!
If you are anything like me- as well as many of the guide handlers, puppy raisers, and pet owners I know- finding a new source for great gear is a real treat! Also, like me, I imagine you are often asked, “hey, do you know anywhere to get good gear? Well, I have a Guy! Jimmy Leach, Guiding Eyes for the Blind graduate and GDUI member, is his name and fabulous dog and horse gear is his Mojo!
Jimmy works with Leather and Biophane (non-leather, waterproof, very durable, and available in many, many colors) to create collars, leashes, long lines, and tag holders (just to name some of his inventory). He also makes cable tie-downs which have protective covering over the metal connections, appreciated by humans, dogs, and furniture everywhere. But… don’t just take my word for it, at Jimmy’s GEB graduation last year, he was introduced as Jimmy Leash (a play on his actual last name) because he makes leashes, collars, and tag holders for program puppies, dogs in training and working guides.
So- you want some of this?
The very best way to reach Jimmy is via phone-
410- 918-8890
You can e-mail him at-
Once you fall in love with his stuff share all about him on Facebook-
Facebook.com/jandghoovesandpaws
Article-Fancy Restaurants for Dogs Are Booming Right Now
With fine dining-style small plates and artful cupcakes, there’s never been a better time for the dogs to dine out.
BY ALI FRANCIS
November 1, 2022
[From: Fancy, Dog-Friendly Restaurants are Booming Right Now | Bon Appétit (bonappetit.com)]
One of San Francisco’s newest tasting menus is also its most exclusive. On Sundays only, the popular Dogue patisserie and store serves a seven-course meal featuring high end, chef-prepared small plates.
The organic beef chuck steak
comes raw and adorned with pretty spirals of fermented carrot and a dusting of dehydrated beet powder. For dessert,
pastel cake balls and
rose-shaped tarts are made with ingredients like antelope heart and ground bone. The restaurant’s main point of difference: Instead of humans, the diners in question are
dogs.
“Honestly, I don’t know who gets more enjoyment, the dogs eating or me watching them eat,” says Rahmi Massarweh, the chef-owner of Dogue, which opened
late September this year. The “Bone Appétit” (yes, really) tasting menu costs $75 per floofer, so of course it’s spawned a slew of hot takes
on wealth inequality, capitalism, and a society in peril. But Massarweh, a dog lover and Le Cordon Bleu-trained chef, just wants to see our four-legged
friends thrive. “If you knew that your choices directly impacted how long a member of your family would live, wouldn’t you want to make the best choice for them?”
Article- Your Dog Got Into Weed and Got High?
WRITTEN BY KEELY BASTOW
PUBLISHED ON MARCH 6, 2023
[From: Your Dog Got Into Weed and Got High? Here’s What to Do. – Washingtonian]
Here’s What to Do.
For one thing, say DC veterinarians, be honest when you bring your pup in: ‘We’re not the cops.”
Pansy Suzuki, medical director of the Veterinary Emergency Group in DC, has learned to recognize the signs that a dog is high. Because she’s seeing it
more often. Since marijuana possession became
legal in the District in 2015, Suzuki says more dogs are being brought into the clinic that have gotten into their owner’s stashes or have eaten the remnants
of joints snuffed out on the sidewalk.
The first symptoms include incontinence and ataxia, which makes dogs appear drunk or unstable. “It’s common for people to think their dog is having a stroke,” she says. The dogs may also become overreactive to stimuli, throw up, or have dilated pupils.
When owners see any of these symptoms, Suzuki says, they should call their vets or bring their dogs in. Most often, treatment is done on an outpatient
basis, and includes fluids and anti-nausea medication. Weed will typically be out of the dog’s system in 24 to 48 hours.
Most cases that come in end up being mild, Suzuki says. Dogs have a high tolerance for marijuana, but they metabolize it differently than humans, so the
effects can last longer. While weed is still in a dog’s system, she says, owners should put the dog in a confined space so it can’t trip or fall down stairs,
and it should be watched to make sure it doesn’t choke.
Nastassia Germain is an emergency veterinarian in Georgetown and says in these cases, she closely monitors heart rate and body temperature. Both can either
spike or drop, which in severe cases can lead to a coma. Neither Germain or Suzuki have seen a fatality from ingesting weed, but Suzuki recently saw a
50-pound lab who had consumed 700 milligrams of marijuana. The dog started showing signs of seizure, had extreme incontinence, and remained in the hospital
for 24 hours.
Germain says it’s easier when owners tell them right away if they know the dog has ingested weed, but many either don’t know or are nervous to admit it.
“We’re not the cops. We’re just happy the pet is here,” she says.
A dog’s reaction also depends on what type of marijuana it has gotten into. CBD is generally safe for dogs and even can be recommended for certain health
issues, but THC comes in different forms that interact with dogs differently, Germain says.
Ingesting a bud is less dangerous than an oil or butter, because
those are fat-soluble substances. If a dog ingests one of those, they can be absorbed into their liver and kidney, take longer to leave the system, and
become more toxic.
Edibles can be more dangerous because they are also mixed with other substances that can be toxic, like chocolate. Sugar substances overall aren’t good
for dogs, but chocolate contains theobromine,
which dogs metabolize very slowly and can become toxic. If owners know the form of weed their dog ingested, it’s important to tell their vet so they can
estimate the severity of the case as accurately as possible, Suzuki says.
To prevent your dog from getting high in the first place, Suzuki says to treat them like children: put anything you don’t want your pet to get into well
out of reach. For edibles, put them in a container that will mask the scent.
Most dogs will be fine and sleep off the effects of weed exposure, but Germain suggests bringing a dog in to be safe: “Often [the dogs] do well, but we
never know until we see.”
Editor’s note- I really had no choice, this simply had to be next!… “Dude, anyone hungry?”
Recipe – A Pizza with Pooch Appeal!
[This very tasty-sounding pizza recipe was found on an e-mail list populated by grads and puppy-parents for Freedom Guide Dogs. It sounds so yummy; we just have to share!]
Here is the dog approved puppy pizza recipe!
Ingredients
2 cups oat flour (Create oat flour by whirring equivalent amounts of oat flour in a high-power blender or a food processor until finely ground oats resemble wheat flour in texture.)
1 egg
Drizzle of olive oil
1/3 cup low or no sodium chicken broth
1/2 cup of chopped peppers
1/2 cup of chopped carrots
Pinch of oregano
1 cup low fat ricotta
1 cup diced cooked chicken breast
1 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley
Combine flour, egg, oil, and broth. Add extra flour if necessary to make a
dough consistency.
Roll dough flat.
Boil pepper and carrot together until soft.
Remove vegetables from water and purée, adding oregano, and stirring until smooth.
Spread purée on crust.
Top with ricotta, chicken and parsley.
Bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes.
Cool before serving!
Announcement- Survey Reveals Gap in Public Perception: Seemingly Innocent Interactions Harmful to Seeing Eye® Teams
A peer-reviewed study Published in the Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness in November of 2022 reveals a need for more education of the general public about the consequences of interference with guide dog teams. It is entitled “Interference With the Work of Dog Guides in Public: A Survey” and was co-authored by Melissa Allman, Kathleen Freeberg, and Dr. Katy M. Evans. Check out The press release on The Seeing Eye’s web site at:
https://www.seeingeye.org/press/press-releases/survey-reveals-gap-in-public.html
Even though most states now have some type of legislation imposing penalties for harming and interfering with guide dog teams, The Seeing Eye has observed that the problem still persists. In an effort to obtain current data and gain a more comprehensive understanding of the types of interference guide dog teams face while working their dogs, The Seeing Eye conducted a survey of its graduates in October of 2019. The survey findings revealed that the most common types of human interference handlers experienced was people talking to or making deliberate eye contact with their dogs. The study also showed that people underestimated their ability to control their pet dogs. Interference from leashed but uncontrolled dogs was the most common problem, but loose dogs still posed a threat. 36 percent of survey respondents had experienced aggressive interference from another dog.
The article as accepted for publication is available on The Seeing Eye’s web site at:
https://www.seeingeye.org/assets/pdfs/interference-with-the-work-of.pdf
To check out an education campaign designed to help pet owners understand how to appropriately manage their dogs when they encounter guide dog teams, go to
Article- Is it Magic?
By Ann Chiappetta M.S.
It’s still winter in New York, Punxsutawney Phil twitched his little rodent nose and told us we would have six more weeks of it and this year, darn it — he’s correct. Unless it’s in the single digits and the wind is up, my dogs love it. They dig and romp in the snow or come in with a cold nose and ears. The best is when the towel comes out to dry them off. Bailey rubs on us like a cat and May gets all happy, pushing him out of the way to get her turn. Always gets me laughing and smiling.
I’d like to share a little bit more about the process of being matched with a guide dog. Anthropologists tell us early man and dog met tens of thousands of years ago out of mutual need; since that time, the two have developed a bond unrivaled by any other animal and human partnership.
In fact, the matching process which occurs for guide dog teams is based on the science of both human and canine behaviors but also has something else refer to as magic. The professional instructors keep this close to the cuff, and I wouldn’t ask them to divulge any more of it than is necessary for the unindoctrinated to understand. I mean, who wants to give away a process that’s been working for close to 100 years and probably longer? Just imagine the sheep herders of the distant past and how their dogs worked with them and protected them from predators. This was a partnership formed of mutuality and need. The ultimate working relationship is, of course, the military or law enforcement handler and dog, wherein the team risks injury or worse each time they take point on patrol.
Getting back to less perilous situations, in guide and service dog terms, the magic of the match has been a mystery. There is something about the process which defies explanation. The concrete side of the matching process has been explored and recorded in journals and scores of conversations during panel discussions. The subject is also popular when working a new dog or in the quieter, more convivial moments when getting to know a new dog. The ever-elusive question is why did they match me with this dog? Sure, being blind is part of it. The loss of vision makes the first step possible. Moving on, it’s not just about how fast one walks, the location and regular routes taken and geographical challenges like transit centers, street crossings, etc. It is more than this. It is a judgement call based on the information we provide to the instructors, both verbally and non-verbally. It is developed during the Juno walks and observing the teamwork we exhibited with our former dog guide. Each handler has similar requirements but most likely an equal share of unique requirements as well. I am not an instructor nor do I profess to know how to evaluate a person’s needs in terms of a guide dog. I do know, however, what I’ve observed from over ten years of being among other handlers and instructors. I can only express how my needs were met and how my new dog has been a great match.
Moreover, instructors listen to our hopes and dreams, not just what we need at the time. They see our potential with each training walk. Instructors witness transformations, the rise of confidence and when it is all completed, the beauty of a good match is the result. How can one explain it? Simply put, it is magic.
Here’s to acknowledging the time and dedication of the individuals who help make the magic happen and letting them know I won’t give away the secret. 😉
Check out everything Annie by going to www.annchiappetta.com or follow my blog: www.thought-wheel.com Join my monthly email list by sending a blank email to: anniesharesnews+subscribe@groups.io
Editor’s note:
announcements and articles, for GDUI- News You Can Use, are culled from a variety of sources; Hence inclusion herein does not imply GDUI endorses, supports or verifies their contents. Information, ideas, or expressed opinions are not advice, therefore should not be treated as such. Factual errors are the responsibility of the listed source.
Sincerely,
Sarah Calhoun, President
Guide Dog Users, Inc.
Andrea Giudice, Editor
Co-editor and GDUI Immediate Past President: Penny Reeder
Paws for GDUI- News You Can Use
Visit our web site: https://www.guidedogusersinc.org/
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