A Publication of Guide Dog Users, Inc.

President: Penny Reeder

Editor: Andrea Giudice

Guide Dog Users, Inc. (GDUI)

A special interest affiliate of the American Council of the Blind (ACB) since 1972

Toll-Free: 866.799.8436

Dear GDUI Members and Friends,

Welcome to our first-ever issue of Paws for GDUI News You Can Use. This publication will include timely announcements, like the ones we have been sharing once or twice a month via GDUI e-mail discussion lists and our web site, as well as the kinds of articles, columns, and opinion pieces you could expect to find in our quarterly magazine, PawTracks.

We are making this change for several reasons, the most pressing of which is to adjust to the alterations that the internet has made in our lives.

We are sure you have noticed that, over the last couple of decades, nearly all surviving print publications have shrunk dramatically in size, while their online digital equivalents appear more often and with expanding content in social media, on the web sites we frequent, and the e-mail discussion lists we inhabit during the 24-hour news cycle we have come to take for granted and depend upon. A quarterly magazine like PawTracks simply cannot fit into this new paradigm of publication. By the time the magazine reached your in box, you had often already read or been made aware of the news it contained. It wasn’t practical for an editor to solicit information and cajole writers to contribute to a publication that simply couldn’t meet readers’ 21^st Century expectations.

PawTracks has been one of GDUI’s benefits of membership of which we were most proud and to which our members have felt a great deal of loyalty. I remember asking Jane Sheehan to mail me a PawTracks audiocassette when I was first thinking about getting a guide dog. I became so engrossed in that audio magazine, listening to it on my MetroRail commute into D.C., that I completely missed my subway stop and, four or five stops beyond where I usually left the train, had to get off, figure out how to cross to a different platform, and, white cane in hand, find my way back to my regular stop. Yes, I was about 20 minutes late for work that day! And, the first thing I did when I got to the office was to join GDUI. Shortly after that, I completed my Fidelco Guide Dog Foundation application!

We are proud and pleased to bring you our own audio publication. It’s called the GDUI Juno Report. Deb Lewis and friends expect to produce a new pod cast every month, and we are grateful to ACB Radio for making it so easy for you to listen and subscribe. With smart phone or Victor Reader Stream in hand, you too can find yourself lost among Metro stops while you listen to our latest version of an audio magazine that fascinates, informs and entertains us all!

The announcements we have distributed over the past several years are another, timelier aspect of sharing GDUI and blindness-related news and information, they are well received, and forwarded – Yes, we happily notice! – to lots of blindness venues, so it just makes sense for us to combine our announcement format with the longer-form kinds of articles one would expect to find in PawTracks and to share those magazine articles with you more frequently.

Andrea Giudice, PawTracks (now Paws for GDUI News You Can Use) editor, welcomes your contributions to this longer-form collection. Send articles, poems, essays, or whatever you enjoy writing and sharing to Andrea at this e-mail address: editor@guidedogusersinc.org.

One final aspect of our new publications direction that we are most excited about is that we will be sharing Paws for GDUI News You Can Use with anyone in the blindness community who has access to NFB’s NewsLine. We are eager to introduce our organization to a wider audience, and we are excited to share the kind of support, empathy, advocacy news, advice, and information you have come to expect from our announcements, our GDUI Juno Report, and our quarterly magazine, with the larger blindness community. If you are a NewsLine user who is just discovering GDUI, we encourage you to spend some time on our web site, read and listen to our publications, tell friends and colleagues who are blind and visually impaired and who are committed to the guide dog lifestyle we all enjoy about this latest GDUI publication, and if you want to join in our mission of advocacy, empathy, support, and education, we welcome your membership and involvement! Here’s a link to join: https://guidedogusersinc.org/join/. Happy reading!

Penny Reeder, President

Now, it’s time for some Announcements!

We are excited to bring you the January issue of our GDUI Juno Report.

This month we begin with Guide Dog school Tails, a summary of what’s happening at most of the major guide dog schools in North America as told at the GDUI summer convention. And we wrap up with an announcement from GDUI reminding all of us that it’s time to pay 2020 dues.

The Juno report airs on ACB Radio Mainstream on Thursdays at 4 and 7 AM/PM and on Sunday at 9PM and Monday at 12AM, 9AM, and 12PM. All times are eastern.

The podcast comes out about two weeks after the program first airs.

Subscribe in Itunes at:

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/gdui-juno-report/id1107836850

Wags to all of you for the new year.

Deb Lewis

Host, The GDUI Juno Report

The Next GDUI Board Meeting will take place next Saturday, January 25, at 1:00 p.m., ET.

Topic: GDUI Board Meeting Time: Jan 25, 2020 01:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting

https://zoom.us/j/562675137

Meeting ID: 562 675 137

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Dial by your location

+1 646 558 8656 US (New York)

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Meeting ID: 562 675 137

Find your local number:

https://zoom.us/u/adkoW2kadE

Regards,

Maria Kristic

GDUI Board Member and Zoom Guru

Pick of the Litter on Disney +

Before I share an update on the continuing escapades of those adorable puppies we met last year in the film so many of us watched and enjoyed, I want to apologize for a mistake I made when I shared this announcement with you in December. Although I knew very well that the guide dog school that produced “Pick of the Litter” was Guide Dogs for the Blind (GDB), in my haste to send out the announcement before year’s end, I got the name of the school completely wrong and didn’t catch my error when proofing. I sincerely apologize to GDB and thank Jane Flower, Youth Outreach Specialist for GDB, for gently pointing out my error. We in GDUI have nothing but great things to say about the film, the six-part docudrama now appearing on Disney+, and the wonderful guide dogs and amazing training programs at Guide dogs for the Blind! If you haven’t yet tuned into the new series, we encourage you to check it out!

If you have tuned in, you might recognize a familiar name associated with one of the potential guide dog handlers featured on the show, Claire Stanley. Claire is ACB’s very own Advocacy and Outreach Specialist at their office in Alexandria, VA! Tune in to Pick of the Litter (available with audio description) on Disney+ to watch Claire’s experience and join six adorable puppies on their journey to become guide dogs! To learn more about Disney+, please visit:

https://www.disneyplus.com/

Guide Dogs of America and Tender Loving Canines Assistance Dogs Announce Merger

[Source: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/guide-dogs-of-america-and-tender-loving-canines-assistance-dogs-announce-merger-300982399.html]

SYLMAR, Calif., Jan. 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — Guide Dogs of America and Tender Loving Canines Assistance Dogs (TLCAD) today announced the merger of their organizations. This merger combines their respective service dog programs into a single organization operating under the Guide Dogs of America umbrella. The merger is effective immediately.

Founded in 1948, Guide Dogs of America empowers people who are blind and visually impaired to live with greater independence, confidence and mobility by providing expertly matched guide dog partners. TLCAD gives the gift of independence to veterans and individuals with autism by providing highly skilled service dogs. TLCAD also pairs facility dogs with professionals who serve populations that benefit from animal assisted intervention or therapy. Their prison-based dog training program also helps rehabilitate incarcerated individuals.

“TLCAD shares our goal to transform the lives of people through partnerships with highly trained assistance dogs,” said Russell Gittlen, President of Guide Dogs of America. “This merger will allow us to put more dogs into the hands of people who need them — which is our ultimate mission.”

“TLCAD is very excited to join the Guide Dogs of America family and we look forward to the new opportunities our combined efforts bring to those in need of service dogs,” said Victoria Cavaliere, Executive Director of TLCAD.

Although TLCAD will maintain its name and local offices in San Diego, California, the newly merged organization will be headquartered in Sylmar, California, on Guide Dogs of America’s 7.5-acre campus.

All programs and services are provided at no cost and are available to individuals throughout the United States and Canada.

SOURCE Guide Dogs of America

A Prize to Help You Fulfill Your Dreams! Apply for the Holman Prize!

Are you blind or visually impaired? Will you be over the age of 18 on October 1, 2020? Are you creative and entrepreneurial, with ambitious, far-reaching dreams? Submissions are open for the Holman Prize, Lighthouse for the Blind’s annual competition to win up to $25,000 for blind adventurers and creators to complete their most ambitious projects!

How to apply to the Holman Prize? The initial application is a 90-second YouTube video describing the project, what the prize money would fund and a brief application form. Semifinalists will later be asked to provide in-depth written proposals. Later, finalists will be interviewed by Lighthouse staff in order to select a winner. All the information you need, including terms and conditions, can be found here:

https://holman.lighthouse-sf.org/

Now in its fourth year, the San Francisco Lighthouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired’s

Holman Prize for Blind Ambition is an international competition that is awarded annually to three blind individuals who wish to push their limits. It is named for James Holman, a nineteenth century blind explorer and author, who was the most prolific traveler before the era of modern transportation.

Past winners have completed feats like traversing the Bosporus Straight via solo kayak, hosting the first conference in Mexico for blind children and their families led by blind professionals, and creating an app to enable blind citizen scientists to participate in the search for exoplanets by listening to space/

The nine winners so far have come from five countries on four continents and have all found unique ways to forever change the world’s perception of blindness.

2020 Application information is available here:

www.holmanprize.org/apply

If you have any questions, please contact the Holman Prize team at

holman@lighthouse-sf.org

Applications close March 15 at 5 p.m. Pacific Standard Time.

REAL ID

REAL ID starts in less than a year. If you haven’t secured your official “Real ID,” now is definitely the time to take action! Beginning October 1, 2020, every air traveler 18 years of age and older will need a REAL ID-compliant driver’s license, state-issued enhanced driver’s license, or another acceptable form of ID to fly within the United States.

To learn more about REAL ID, visit this link:

https://www.tsa.gov/real-id

Below you will find information about two surveys. We in GDUI – believing in “Nothing about us without us!,” urge our members to contribute to data collection efforts like these. Various researchers use surveys to learn about who we are, what we need, and how our needs and goals can best be met by the communities in which we are included (i.e., the community of humanity!).

University of Kansas Survey

The NIDILRR-funded Collaborative on Health Reform and Independent Living (CHRIL)

at the University of Kansas is looking for adults with disabilities to complete an online survey about health insurance and health care services. The survey is open to Adults, 18 and over, with any disability, chronic illness/disease, mental or physical health condition. Whether you have private insurance, insurance from an employer, TRICARE, Medicaid, Medicare or no insurance at all right now, we want to hear from you. Survey submissions must be received by January 30, 2020.

This survey may look familiar to you. It was first posted in 2018 and is being posted for a second time. We welcome participation from those who completed it in 2018 and those who have never participated in our research before.

The survey should take about 20 minutes to complete. Responses are anonymous.

To complete the survey, go to: https://tinyurl.com/NSHD2019

Whether or not you complete the survey, you can choose to enter a drawing to win one of ten $100 gift cards. If you prefer to take the survey over the phone or have any questions about participating, please call toll-free 1.855.556.6328. (Voice/TTY) or email healthsurvey@ku.edu

WBU Employment Survey

The World Blind Union (WBU) Employment Committee has developed a short survey designed to identify employment patterns of people who are blind or partially sighted and of working-age throughout the world.

ACB and GDUI urge as many of you as possible to please take the survey. It is very comprehensive and we believe worth your time and effort to complete. Even if you are retired or have never worked, the Employment Committee needs your participation. The deadline for submitting the survey is Tuesday, March 31.

To take the survey, please visit: https://www.surveymonkey.ca/r/8ZP2KW3

Thank you,

Mitch Pomerantz, Vice President

North America/Caribbean Region, World Blind Union

American Council of the Blind

Are you thinking of making a career change, or improving your skills to pursue that dream job?

Here are announcements regarding three interesting job vacancies, as well as scholarship opportunities for Guiding Eyes grads, through Friends in Art, and from several American Council of the Blind donors!

A Job Announcement from Sprint!

Link to job posting:

http://careers.sprint.com/ShowJob/Id/397009/Customer%20Relationship%20Manager

Job Summary

Performs account maintenance responsibilities in a non-quota-bearing environment. Responsible for Pre/Post sales support for assigned large accounts according to department strategy. Account set-up and on-going contract management to include registration and maintenance of accounts and subsidiaries, account structure definition. Monitors and resolves order status. Conducts and project manages product/solution demonstrations, conducts quarterly account presentations for customer and identifies sell up opportunities and position value assessed services. Distributes and maintains implementation documents. Initiates and conducts first bill review with customer. Provides training as needed to sales teams and clients. Provides monthly account reports which identifies opportunities for additional sales. Prepares information for monthly and quarterly meetings with customer.

This position may be located anywhere in the US.

Basic Qualifications:

Bachelor’s degree and two years related work experience or six years related work experience post high school;

Two years account maintenance or sales experience;

Two years project management experience.

Preferred Qualifications:

Experience working with and in the Blind, Low Vision Community;

Experience working with and communicating with diverse populations.

ACB Seeks Director of Development

The American Council of the Blind (ACB) is seeking a full-time Director of Development to work in its national office in Alexandria, VA.

The Director of Development will report to the Executive Director and work in conjunction with the ACB team in the areas of fundraising, resource development, and public relations.

The primary responsibilities of this position will include:

Direct fundraising activities including major giving, grants, special events, and direct mail appeals.

Develop, implement, and monitor progress toward short- and long-term fundraising strategy and goals.

Create a gift program including identification, cultivation and solicitation of major donors.

Develop relationships with new foundations and grow the number of individual donors.

Engage new donors and build their awareness on ACB.

Communicate and build relationships with prospective donors and supporters on a continual basis.

Maintain long-term relationships with existing donors.

Generate new ideas that increase revenue and donor loyalty.

Research new income streams.

Research and identify foundations to engage in development-related conversations.

Keeping engaged in the fundraising community and staying on top of fundraising trends

Preparing monthly, quarterly, and annual reports as requested by the Executive Director and Board.

Partner with the CFO and support the development of the annual budget.

Attend the ACB annual convention and connect with donors.

Oversee research of prospects and grant seeking.

Oversee the Angel Wall Donation Program.

Lead the Development Committee meetings.

Work with a third party to design and complete direct mailings.

Work with the Executive Director in development related projects.

Understanding media and more modern avenues as a method to gain support or donations.

Document connection with donors in Donor Perfect.

Understanding media and more modern avenues as a method to gain support or donations.

Other duties as assigned by the Executive Director.

A successful candidate must have the following skills and abilities:

Driven to take initiative with limited guidance.

Strong attention to detail.

Excellent written and oral communication skills, including public speaking.

Ability to manage multiple tasks and priorities simultaneously.

Ability to effectively direct and manage the performance of direct reports.

Ability to respond promptly and meet deadlines.

Ability to travel as circumstances require.

Ability to work evenings and weekends as needed, including participating in meetings and conference calls with ACB committees and affiliates.

Ability to work with diverse groups of people.

Demonstrates accountability and a results-oriented culture.

Proficiency with Microsoft Office, donor tracking systems, and social media.

Resourceful, creative, and strong problem-solving skills.

Past fundraising including major gift experience preferred.

Some knowledge of the connections to the funding community in Washington D.C. and nationally.

Experience with collaborating, planning, and delegating program development is preferred.

Bachelor’s degree, preferably in business administration, nonprofit administration, or public administration.

Applicants should send a resume, cover letter, and brief writing sample by e-mail to

jobs@acb.org

Applications must be received by Monday, February 10, 2020.

The American Council of the Blind, Inc. is an Equal Opportunity Employer. At the American Council of the Blind, we strive to develop an inclusive culture that encourages, supports, and celebrates the diverse make-up of the blind and visually impaired community. Blindness touches people from all walks of life; ACB embraces this diversity. ACB works to bring in members of all nationalities, ethnicities, sexual orientations, disabilities, ages, genders, and other minority groups to fully represent the blind and visually impaired community in all the advocacy work we do.

Job Vacancy: Director of Outreach and Engagement

Pennsylvania Council of the Blind

The Pennsylvania Council of the Blind (PCB) is a grassroots organization of individuals with vision loss. As a peer network PCB strives to promote the independence of and opportunities for all individuals with vision loss by advocating for legislative change, accessible technology solutions, and inclusive social and business practices. At the heart of its efforts is providing mutual support through peer sharing and encouragement.

PCB currently seeks a full-time Director of Outreach and Engagement to take on the following responsibilities:

Develop and maintain relationships with legislators, policy changemakers, service providers, and disability stakeholders
Work with affiliate chapters and individual volunteers to promote advocacy efforts and to develop outreach opportunities
Monitor and report on current and potential issues of relevance to the vision loss community
Serve as the organization’s voice at public meetings and outreach events

Key Competencies:

Strong interpersonal and organizational skills
Ability to initiate, prioritize, and complete projects with little oversight
Ability to work with and report back to PCB leadership
Good writing, oral, and phone communication skills
Familiarity with blindness/disability related issues and the provision of services
Grasp of basic Accounting principles
Competency in basic Microsoft office products
Ability to effectively utilize the internet and software applications
Proficiency with basic office equipment
Demonstration of an overall professional work ethic and demeanor

Background/Educational Requirements:

Bachelor’s Degree in Human Services, Public Administration, community Outreach or related field
Five years of experience in corporate or non-profit setting may be substituted for education

Additional Details:

This can be a remote position, but regular travel to the Harrisburg area is required.
Compensation will be commensurate with experience.
PCB is an equal opportunity employer.

Interested applicants should post a letter of interest and resume to: hr@pcb1.org

by February 1, 2020

Arthur and Phyllis Milton Foundation Scholarship

The Arthur and Phyllis Milton Foundation, Inc has reinstated the Arthur Milton Scholarship Fund in honor of the late Arthur Milton, a well-known, retired insurance executive, consumerist, author and consultant. A $5,000 scholarship will be awarded to outstanding graduates of Guiding Eyes for the Blind to assist each individual’s pursuit of higher education.

Initially awarded in 2000 Arthur Milton commented, “I selected Guiding Eyes for this special gift because the courage of their students in choosing a guide dog, to open up new horizons for themselves, made a deep impact upon me.”

Contact Becky Barnes Davidson to receive a copy of the application and to submit the completed form. Applications are due by April 1, 2020. Applications may be submitted in all formats- email, Braille or large print. The Milton Award Committee will select the winners of the Scholarship and inform the applicants by June 15th.

Becky Barnes-Davidson

bbarnes@guidingeyes.org

Manager, Consumer Outreach & Graduate Support

Guiding Eyes for the Blind

611 Granite Springs Road

Yorktown Heights, NY 10598

Call: 914.243.2210

Or, toll-free: 800.942.0149 ext. 2210

Text: 914.705.1626

www.guidingeyes.org

Apply for the Friends in Art Scholarship

Friends-in-Art (FIA), a nonprofit organization with the mission of advancing accessibility and opportunity for artists and audience members who are visually impaired, offers an annual $1500 scholarship to college students who are legally blind and live in North America.

If you are a high school senior or a college student planning to, or are currently majoring in the field of music, art, drama, or creative writing, and are blind or visually impaired, we encourage you to apply!

Note: Legal blindness is defined as an individual who has a visual acuity of 20/200 or less in the corrected eye and/or 20 degrees or less visual field in the corrected eye. Only individuals who are legally blind in BOTH eyes are eligible to receive this scholarship.

To apply, please go to

www.friendsinart.com , and complete the application. You will need to upload or e-mail the required supporting materials, including documentation of visual impairment from a medical professional, per the directions on the form, by May 15, 2020.

Please direct any questions to Peter Altschul, FIA’s scholarship chair, via email at searchforcommonground@outlook.com

The Deadline is Approaching to Apply for ACB Scholarships!

Don’t Miss This Opportunity!

The American Council of the Blind’s (ACB) Scholarship Program was established in 1982. The American Council of the Blind (ACB) and the American Foundation for the Blind (AFB) have now partnered together to offer educational scholarships ranging from $2,000 to $7,500 for those attending a technical college or as an entering freshman, undergraduate or a graduate student.

This program awards students with scholarships to help with post-secondary education financial needs such as tuition, fees, room and board and other additional costs associated with adaptive technology.

To be eligible for a scholarship, applicants need to be legally blind, maintain a 3.0 GPA to be eligible for most scholarships, be a full-time student (as well as students who work 32 or more hours per week and attend college part time), and be involved in their school/local community.

Applications for the 2020-2021 school year can be submitted online from Friday, November 1, 2019 to Friday, February 14, 2020 11:59pm (CST).

All interested candidates must register for a new ACB account prior to submitting a scholarship application online. Visit this link to register:

https://acb.org/scholarships

Candidates will receive an email containing a link to complete the scholarship application after their account request has been approved. Please note – the approval process could take up to three business days.

Scholarship winners will experience firsthand ACB’s National Conference and Convention in July, where you will meet other students who share the same life experiences, create lasting friendships and network with individuals who understand what you are going through and can help you with your journey. There are also many sessions where you can learn about new technology and what is happening in our community.

For more information, please contact Nancy Feela in the ACB National Office at 612.332.3242 or 800.866.3242. We look forward to receiving your application materials.

From Your Editor: a new decade, and a new vision for Pawtracks!

This is Andrea your new editor. As is the case with any successor, I am both excited about this new partnership and extremely aware of the excellence of my predecessor. Will guided with skill and dedication for which we all thank him. Now it is my turn to pull into the harness and guide this publication forward. Just like other successors, I ask for your patients, and when necessary your forgiveness with any miss-steps, as we settle into this new partnership. Now about that new vision I mentioned… Pawtracks has a new name and look!

Going forward, you will receive Paws for GDUI News You Can Use! The new publication will still have announcements from our president, news you can use and interesting articles. However, it will not be a quarterly publication any more. Rather, Paws for GDUI News You Can Use will be a hipper, happening streamlined version of its former self, striding forth much more often keeping the contents fresh and pertinent, current, and timely! Now, enough of the lecture portion for today; lets step out and work this new route!

How to Calculate Your Dog’s Real Age

[This article originally appeared on The Conversation, and is republished under a Creative Commons license. Source URL: https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20200106-how-to-calculate-your-dogs-real-Age]

Your pet clearly ages faster than you do, but new research is giving us a much clearer idea of just how old your dog really might be.

By Christian Yates

6th January 2020

If your dog has been alive and kicking its paws about for a decade, the widely held belief is it has aged as much as a human would have done over 70 years. This conversion factor – each year of a dog’s life accounting for seven human years – comes from dividing human life expectancy of around 77 by the canine life expectancy of around 11.

The underlying assumption is that each calendar year a dog lives through is equivalent to seven human years at any stage of a dog’s life. But new research suggests that things aren’t so simple. And if we look at some basic developmental milestones, it’s clear why.

For example, most dog breeds reach sexual maturity between the ages of six and 12 months – the upper end of that range corresponding, by the traditional conversion, to a human age of seven. And at the other end of the spectrum, although unusual, some dogs have been known to live for over 20 years. Under the “factor-of-seven” conversion rule, this would equate to an unfathomable 140 human-equivalent years.

New insights into how dogs age suggest our pets move into middle age more rapidly than most owners might suspect.

To make matters more complicated, dogs’ life expectancy depends significantly on the breed. Smaller dogs tend to live significantly longer , suggesting that they age more slowly than bigger dogs.

All of this raises the question of what exactly we mean by age. The most obvious way to describe it is simply the length of time that has passed since birth. This is known as the chronological definition of age.

When it comes to comparing animal ages across species, the biological definitions of age are far more useful than their chronological counterparts

However, there are other descriptions. Biological age, for example, is a more subjective definition, which relies on assessing physiological indicators to identify an individual’s development. These include measures like the “ frailty index” – surveys that take into account an individual’s disease status, cognitive impairments and levels of activity.

Then there are the more objective ageing biomarkers, such as levels of gene expression (genes produce proteins at differing rates at different stages of life) or numbers of immune cells. The rate at which biological age increases depends on genetically inherited factors, mental health and lifestyle.

Rather than celebrating chronological age, looking at the levels of methylation on a dog’s DNA is a much more accurate measure of aging

For example, if you’ve spent a lot of time eating junk food and smoking cigarettes instead of taking exercise and eating healthily, the chances are your biological age will exceed your chronological age. Or, you might be a 60-year-old with the body of a 40-year-old if you’ve looked after yourself well.

A dog’s life When it comes to comparing animal ages across species, the biological definitions of age are far more useful than their chronological counterparts. Knowing a hamster is six weeks old doesn’t give you a good picture of that animal’s life stage, even if you know the life expectancy of a hamster is only three years. Learning that a hamster has reached an age where it can reproduce gives a much better picture of its level of maturity.

The authors of the new ageing study suggest that a sensible way to measure biological age is though so-called “epigenetic clocks” – changes to the packaging of our DNA that accumulate over time in all mammals.

In their first year of life, puppies grow up so quickly that they age the equivalent of 31 human years. In particular, “methylation” – the addition of methyl groups (a carbon atom bonded to three hydrogen atoms) to DNA – seems to be a good indicator of age. Many prominent physiological markers, such as the development of teeth, seem to occur at the same levels of methylation across different species. So by matching the levels of methylation in Labrador retrievers and humans, the researchers derived a formula to map dog age to its human equivalent.

That formula is: human equivalent age = 16 x ln(dog’s chronological age) + 31.

Here “ln” represents a mathematical function known as the natural logarithm. The logarithm function is well-known in the non-linear scales for energy released during earthquakes (Richter) or for measuring sound (decibels). It comes in useful for measuring quantities whose sizes vary over many orders of magnitude. It’s even possible that a logarithmic experience of the passing of time might explain why we perceive time speeding up as we get older.

A handy short cut is to remember that the first dog year counts for 31 human years. Then, after that, every time the dog’s chronological age doubles, the number of equivalent human years increases by 11. So eight calendar years represents three “doublings” (from one to two, two to four and then four to eight) giving a dog age equivalent of 64 (that’s 31 + 3×11).

In eight calendar years a dog will approximately age the equivalent of 64 years.

Most dog lovers will already have suspected that the human-to-dog age relationship is non-linear, having noticed that, initially, their pets mature much more quickly than the linear factor-of-seven rule suggests.

A more sophisticated refinement to the factor-of-seven rules has suggested that each of the dog’s first two years correspond to 12 human years while all subsequent years count for four human equivalents.

In practice the new molecular insights into human-to-dog age conversion encapsulated by the logarithmic law suggest that dogs move into middle age even more rapidly than most dog-owners would have suspected. It’s worth bearing in mind, when you find that Rex is reluctant to chase the ball like he once did, that he’s probably got more miles on the clock than you’ve been giving him credit for.

Christian Yates is a senior lecturer in mathematical biology at the University of Bath. He is also the author of The Maths of Life and Death

Weimaraner Tales

Peter altschul

[From: http://www.peteraltschul.com/weimaraner-tales/]

Around forty years ago, I was sitting with eleven other adults with visual impairments in the lounge at Guiding Eyes for the Blind, an organization that trains dogs to be guide dogs, matches humans to the dog most likely to meet their needs, and nurtures the starting phase of the relationship. We were each waiting to find out which dog had been assigned to become our travel guardian.

“Peter,” the instructor told me. “Your dog is a Weimaraner—”

“A what?” I squawked.

“A Weimaraner.”

“What’s that?”

“You’ll find out!”

The Weimaraner named Heidi became the best-behaved dog in class. She led me through increasingly complex routes without making a mistake, and didn’t even dive for a pork chop that another dog handler accidentally dropped during dinner.

Even though Heidi was ten months old.

Five hours after returning home with Heidi, we went on our first walk together, my dad trailing several feet behind. On our return home, I heard a kid squeal and run towards us, but Heidi kept right on going.

“Good girl!” I said.

When my dad caught up with us as we were turning into our driveway, he told me that Heidi had snatched an entire ice cream cone out of that squealing child’s hand.

“Why didn’t the kid scream or something?” I asked.

“It happened so fast she was too shocked to,” he explained.

Heidi became a superb guide dog, swerving me around obstacles on New York City sidewalks, streets, subways, busses, and office buildings while walking at a four – to five-mile-and-hour clip. She yanked me out of the path of an ambulance that silently cut in front of us when the light was in our favor. She slept through endless meetings and recording sessions. When I got my first real job, she was the best-behaved dog among five other service dogs in the office.

But in order to benefit from Heidi’s strengths, I needed to provide accommodations for her Weimaraner disability.

Heidi was food-driven. But her palate was much broader than most Labradors. She snatched paper cups, napkins, cigarette butts, and candy wrappers from sidewalks and subway stairs as we prowled Manhattan streets. “No!” I would shout, sticking my hand in her mouth to remove whatever she had found. She also crunched on dead fish as my Mom and I walked on the sandbars on a Cape Cod bay beach. One Christmas night, she drained the glass of an unsuspecting guest of a cocktail that my stepmom had made in his honor.

Heidi hunted. She spent hours stalking birds in my stepmom’s fenced-in backyard and seagulls on a Cape Cod beach. She nearly caught a deer in the woods of Aspen, Colorado.

I occasionally felt Heidi’s body bend low to the ground through her harness handle as we walked those Manhattan streets. This time, pigeons were her prey. She didn’t slowed down very much, and never ran me into anything. But she once tried to climb the wall of a building in hot pursuit as a pedestrian from across the street shouted “you get that damn bird!”

Heidi hated getting wet. On rainy days, she howled as I dragged her into the rain, but assisted me in arriving at a dry destination, pawing the ground while waiting for a traffic light to change and poking pedestrians out of the way with her nose. On icy sidewalks, she picked up the pace, scattering pedestrians as we jogged past them.

Heidi had a large repertoire of barks, howls, purrs, and grunts. At the Aspen Music festival, she snapped at a mosquito throughout a performance of a piece I had written for soprano and bassoon. During a picnic for composers, she tried to persuade the wife of my composition teacher through impassioned barks, snaps, and howls in the spirit of a Wagnerian contralto to give her the hot dog the woman was holding.

For the past forty years, Guiding Eyes training staff has never trained another Weimaraner to be a guide dog, deciding that Labradors, golden retrievers, and the occasional German shepherd could get the job done with less drama. After Heidi retired eight years since we were connected, each of my Guiding Eyes-trained dogs have been Labs with ornery streaks. Each has worked well with me.

But for those eight years, Heidi was the perfect dog.

My spirit dog.

Sundance Partnership Extends Accessibility for Attendees With Disabilities

[Source: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/sundance-film-festival-partnership-extends-accessibility-attendees-disabilities-1270602]

A new alliance with the Ruderman Family Foundation will improve the accessibility of closed captioning, audio description and assisted listening devices, among other resources, at the 2020 event.

The Sundance Film Festival is making changes to improve accessibility for attendees with disabilities.

The Ruderman Family Foundation on Wednesday announced a partnership with the Sundance Institute to provide more resources for attendees with disabilities and to include a greater amount of programming featuring people with disabilities, including an opening-weekend film.

The disability organization is helping to improve the accessibility of closed captioning (CC) at the fest with CaptiView devices and Feature Film Captioning Service. It will also be expanding Audio Description (AD) and Assisted Listening Devices (ALD) with headsets for AD and ALD and Feature Film Audio Description Service. American Sign Language interpretation will additionally be available at all official Sundance events and official panels at the festival’s Filmmaker Lodge.

All Sundance theaters have CC, AD and ALD devices that can be requested from theater staff at the start of an event and retrieved by them afterward. All theaters are additionally wheelchair-accessible and offer seating for attendees with disabilities and companions. Wheelchair-accessible shuttles are available on festival transit roads, and staff and volunteers have been trained to work with attendees with mobility devices if they ask for them.

In terms of programming, the upcoming festival is set to screen Crip Camp, a documentary about a summer camp for teenagers with disabilities and its effect on the disability rights movement, on the Friday of the event’s opening weekend (Jan. 24), followed by a Q&A. Additionally, the Ruderman Family Foundation is partnering with The Atlantic to host a panel on disability in entertainment and disability inclusion on Sunday, Jan. 26.

“The generous partnership with the Ruderman Family Foundation allows us to expand accessibility resources in theatres and official venues, providing audiences with disabilities the much needed capabilities to enjoy and experience our Festival programming, and activating all of our Artist Programs to deepen our creative and professional development engagement with artists with disabilities,” a Sundance spokesperson said in a statement.

The move follows Sundance’s announcement that a quarter of the recipients of 2020’s Press Inclusion Initiative, which offers cash stipends to 51 freelance critics from underrepresented communities, were people with disabilities.

The Ruderman Family Foundation also put pressure on the entertainment industry to improve inclusion last month when it published an open letter asking studios, network and production executives to open up more casting opportunities for talent with disabilities. Signatories of the letter included Ed Norton, Bryan Cranston, Mark Ruffalo, Glenn Close, Eva Longoria, Orlando Jones and Peter Farrelly, among others.

“We are excited that Sundance shares our commitment to advancing the rights of those who have been historically underrepresented in film, media, theater and other artistic platforms,” Ruderman Family Foundation president Jay Ruderman said in a statement. “Our partnership will enable Sundance to infuse themes of inclusion of people with disabilities and diversity throughout the festival and its year-round programming, while casting a crucial spotlight among the festival’s 120,000-plus attendees on our work to pioneer a culture of greater inclusion in the entertainment industry.”

This year’s Sundance Film Festival is set to run through Feb. 2.

A Little Extra Convention Enticement, Especially for Baseball Fans!

As you know, the GDUI Convention occurs concurrently with the ACB Conference and Convention, which will be in Schaumburg, Ill in early July 2020! Soon our GDUI Convention Page will be coming to our web site, and convention related announcements will increase during coming months in this publication. Just to whet your appetite, though, we want to share this intriguing ACB Tour News which will surely be exciting for all of you who are baseball fans! What a great way to top off Wednesday of GDUI Convention Week – First, our fabulous awards Luncheon, then a trip to Wrigley Field!

If you like baseball you don’t want to miss this tour! Join the American Council of the Blind at the 2020 Conference and Convention for an interleague game between the Cubs and White sox! We will visit Wrigley Field on Wednesday, July 8th for a 7:05 PM game. Whether you wear blue or white, root for the north or southside this game is for you!

We will arrive in plenty of time for you to grab some food or sit back and enjoy the pregame action.

We are hoping to arrange a tour of Wrigley Field earlier in the day, if that happens you will have the option of attending the tour plus the game or just the game.

Here’s basic information about next summer’s convention, to help you begin searching for transportation, booking rooms, and making plans:

Convention dates are July 3rd through 10^th, 2020. The location is Schaumburg, Illinois. The hotel is the Renaissance Hotel and Convention Center. Room rates are $94 per night for up to four people in a room. This room rate does not include tax, which is currently 15 percent.

For telephone reservations, call 800.468.3571. This is a central reservations number, so please indicate that you are with the American Council of the Blind 2020 conference and convention at the Renaissance Hotel in Schaumburg, Ill. Rooms must be booked by June 10, 2020 to guarantee the convention rate.

Registration will cost $25 for pre-registration, $35 for on-site. This fee will include all general sessions, the exhibit hall, some affiliate programming and the many sessions offered by our sponsors and business partners. But wait, there’s more! All committee sessions that do not involve food functions will be provided free of charge. That means the transportation seminar, legislative boot camp, information access programming and so much more will all be included in the cost of registration.

Convention Contacts

2020 exhibit information: Michael Smitherman, 601.331.7740,

amduo@bellsouth.net

2020 advertising and sponsorships: Margarine Beaman, 512.921.1625,

oleo50@hotmail.com

For any other convention-related questions, please contact Janet Dickelman, convention chair, at

651.428.5059, or via email,

janet.dickelman@gmail.com

Or for specific GDUI Convention Information, contact Andrea Giudice, through our Secretary, Sarah Calhoun: 866.799.8436, or by e-mail:

DawgMawm@gmail.com

This room rate does not include tax which is currently 15.0%. For telephone reservations call (800) 468-3571, this is a central reservations number so please indicate you are with the American Council of the Blind 2020 conference and convention at the Renaissance Hotel in Schaumburg IL.

Thank you for reading and sharing our Paws for GDUI News You Can Use! We welcome your feedback and your involvement in our organization. Thank you for your friendship and support.

Penny Reeder, President

Guide Dog Users, Inc.

Andrea Giudice, Editor