Paws for GDUI – News You Can Use! – VOL. I, NO. 2, January 2020 – A Publication of Guide Dog Users, Inc.

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

https://guidedogusersinc.org/

Toll-Free: 866.799.8436

If You Missed our January 25 Board Meeting, You Can Listen to the Recording Here:

Topic: GDUI Board Meeting

Date: Jan 25, 2020 12:53 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

Meeting Recording:

https://zoom.us/rec/share/y8JFHYn_pzlORq_k2W_TYu18Q6b9T6a82iQX-KEFyh7HHHHSICVshI8ohf29fuNh

Hearing Loss? Can You Work with a Guide Dog Safely and Successfully?

Golden State Guide Dog Handlers Inc. (GSGDHI) invites you to attend a telephone/zoom program, titled Hearing Loss and Your Success as a Guide Dog Handler”, set for Monday, February 3 from 6 to 7:30 PM PST

Noted below is the Zoom call in information as well as a description of the program.

Zoom Info:

The CCB Golden State Guide Dog Handlers Inc. is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Topic: Hearing Loss and Your Success as a Guide Dog Handler

Date Monday, February 3 at 6 PM to 7:30 PM PST

call in number: 1.669.900.6833

meeting ID: 634304501

When prompted for a participant code, press the Pound key.

Join from PC, Mac, Linux, iOS or Android:

https://zoom.us/j/634304501  

One tap mobile

+1.669.900.6833,, 634304501# US (San Jose)

Program Description

Golden State Guide Dog Handlers Inc. (GSGDHI) invites you to attend a telephone/zoom program set for Monday, February 3 from 6 to 7:30 PM PST. This informative program will address the needs of guide dog handlers who also have significant hearing loss. Our panelists will be Marc Gillard of Guide Dogs for the Blind, Becky Barnes Davidson from Guiding Eyes, Cathy Abrahamson of the San Francisco Light House, and guide dog handlers David Jackson and Deborah Kendrick, who are guide dog handlers with hearing loss.

Kindly RSVP so we will know the approximate number of callers who will join us by sending an email to the program facilitator, Susan Glass.

Susan Glass email: Susan Glass

mailto:susancglass@att.net  

Deadline Rapidly Approaching to Register for ACB Mid-Year Meetings!

Are you planning to represent your ACB state or special interest affiliate, or Committee, at the ACB February meetings? If so, make sure to register soon!

 The American Council of the Blind DC Leadership Meetings will take place from Saturday, February 22 to Tuesday, February 25, 2020 at the Holiday Inn & Suites Old Town in Alexandria, Virginia. The deadline to register for the meetings and book a hotel room at the group rate is next Friday, February 7.

Register by visiting: 

http://weblink.donorperfect.com/DCLeadershipmeeting

2020 DC Leadership Meetings Schedule:

Saturday, February 22: Board Meeting

Sunday, February 23: Affiliate Presidents’ Meeting

Monday, February 24: Legislative Seminar

Tuesday, February 25: Meeting with Legislators on Capitol Hill

Hotel Information:

Holiday Inn & Suites Alexandria – Old Town

Room rates (pretax): $109/night (king/double)

Address: 625 First Street, Alexandria, VA 22314

Phone number: 703.548.6300

Holiday Inn Old Town Reservations (enter group code “ANC” under more options): 

https://www.ihg.com/…/ho…/us/en/alexandria/axehd/hoteldetail

To learn how to schedule meetings with your representatives and senators on Capitol Hill, please visit: 

https://acb.org/2020-leg-seminar-scheduling-hill-meetings

Leader Dogs has launched an alumni Facebook page. Below is information on how to join!  

This group will connect Leader graduates with other LDB alumni to share stories, photos, everyday issues and personal wins. Anyone who attended a Leader Dog program (Guide Dog Training, O&M Training and/or Summer Experience Camp) is welcome to join.

The group is administered by Leader’s client services team. They will confirm that only LDB alumni are in the group. They will also check in periodically to see if there are any questions or concerns that a LDB team member can help with.

When new clients are approved for one of LDB’s programs, they’ll be invited to join the group. This group is a place they can seek support and ideas to help them prepare for training, e.g.,  what to pack, how much money to bring, etc.. Who better to give them advice than LDB alums!

Please note that you must join with your own Facebook account, not your spouse’s, child’s or dog’s account

To find the LDB Alumni Group:

  1. In Facebook, go to the search bar at the top and type “Leader Dogs for the Blind Alumni”
  2. A list of pages and groups associated with Leader Dog will appear.
  3. Click “Leader Dogs for the Blind Alumni,” which should be the first group/page on the list.

To join the LDB Alumni Group:

  1. Once on the group page, click the “+Join Group” button.
  2. You will be prompted to answer three questions all of which must be answered to join the group. These questions help LDB confirm that you’re a client:

Have you been approved for or completed at least one program at Leader Dog? If you’ve completed more than one, select the most recent.

  • Under what name did you submit your application for training at Leader Dog (in case it’s different from your Facebook name)?
  • What is your date of birth?

Please note: You must answer all three questions before being accepted to the group! If you aren’t sure what name you used on your application, give us your best guess.

If you have any questions, please contact

mailto:clientservices@leaderdog.org  

GDUI congratulates The Seeing Eye, and everyone who lives in New Jersey, on the state’s naming The Seeing Eye Dog the official State Dog of New Jersey! We can’t think of a more fitting honor! (Willow, the Seeing Eye Dog who lives here with me, is wolfing and wagging in agreement!)

Congratulations!

HUD ISSUES GUIDANCE ON REASONABLE ACCOMMODATIONS UNDER THE FAIR HOUSING ACT RELATING TO ASSISTANCE ANIMALS

On January 28, 2020, the U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development issued guidance under the Fair Housing Act, regarding reasonable accommodations related to assistance animals, including guide dogs. Read the news release here:

https://www.hud.gov/press/press_releases_media_advisories/HUD_No_20_013

AER Scholarship Opportunity for Visually Impaired Students Pursuing a Career Working with People who are Blind and Visually Impaired

The Association for Education and Rehabilitation of the Blind and Visually Impaired (AER) is now accepting applications for the William and Dorothy Ferrell Scholarship. This educational scholarship is awarded every other year to two selected applicants who are legally blind and are studying for a career that provides services to persons who are blind or visually impaired.

If you are not a student, please help us spread the word by sharing this information to schools or directly to individuals who qualify.

The deadline for submitting the application and accompanying documentation is April 30, 2020; and scholarship recipients will be notified on or before May 31, 2020. The two winners will be announced at the AER International Conference 2020, July 22-26, in St. Louis, MO.

All eligible applicants are encouraged to apply. Scholarship applications detailing eligibility requirements can be found here:

https://aerbvi.org/resources/aer-scholarships/

To submit your application, please complete the application in full, then submit your application and accompanying documentation no later than April 30 to Michele Basham at

mailto:michele@aerbvi.org

Employment Opportunity! Menus4ALL is launching an independent contractor sales representative program, nationwide, on February 2, 2020.  A limited  number of representatives will be trained initially. This role is targeted, and all processes have been geared toward sales reps with blindness and visual impairments with moderate assistive technology skills.  

We are accepting applications for our first group of reps between February 2 and February 21, 2020.  Then, interviews and training will take place in the first part of March.   

To learn more, please watch our 

Employment Program Video, here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fi5_m79-Mbs&feature=youtu.be

If you have members or clients ideal for this role please share these details. 

Stephanie Jones will be on the Blind and Beyond Radio Show’s February 2 show at 7:15 EST, where she will be announcing this program and taking call-ins.  For a link to the radio show, visit

https://www.blindandbeyondradioshow.org/

If you have questions please contact Stephanie Jones at 

mailto:sales@menus4ALL.com

Thank you,

Helen Fernety,  

Menus4ALL, CEO & Founder

https://www.menus4all.com

Changing lives one meal at a time for folks 

with blindness and visual impairments

How Has the ADA Made a Difference in Your Life?

2020 marks the 30th anniversary of President George H.W. Bush’s signing the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) into law. Throughout this 30th anniversary year, the Civil Rights Division of the U. S. Department of Justice is publishing a monthly blog post highlighting the impact that recent ADA enforcement efforts have made in people’s everyday lives. We celebrate the many ways in which the ADA has transformed American society and enabled a generation of Americans with disabilities to thrive.

To read the January blog post, please click here

https://www.justice.gov/opa/blog/americans-disabilities-act-30th-anniversary-furthering-promise.

For more information on the ADA, please call the toll-free ADA Information Line at 800.514.0301, TDD: 800.514.0383

Help Amazon.com Improve the Quality of Audio Description!

Amazon.com is continuing to expand their library

of Audio described movies and TV Shows, and your feedback on the survey found at the following link will ensure we provide high quality audio described content.  The survey is open

to you if you meet the following conditions:

  1. You must be 18 years or older.
  2. You must use a streaming video service like Amazon Prime Video or Netflix.
  3. You must have watched an audio described movie or television show within the last month.

The survey should take, at most, 15 minutes to complete. Your time and feedback will help us, not only expand the library of quality audio described content in the U.S.A., but also expand our library worldwide as well. 

You can access the survey using this link:

https://aiv.au1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_0IHfp7VtKAX6pPD

New Hotline Promises an Easier Experience Identifying Accessible Products!

Consumers with vision loss may no longer have to spend hours searching for products that fit their unique accessibility  needs, thanks to the launch of the first-of-its-kind Accessible Products Hotline by Envision, Inc. The hotline will be operated by the William L. Hudson BVI Workforce Innovation Center, connecting callers with professional advice about purchasing and operating the top home, office and personal-use products on the market today. The BVI Workforce Innovation Center is part of Envision Inc. with the objective to train and employ individuals with visual impairments, place them into skilled positions and provide accessibility inclusion expertise to businesses around the United States.

The new hotline, 316.252.2500, is staffed by trained customer service representatives who are blind or visually impaired.

Learn more at:  https://www.workforceforall.com/Accessible-Products-Hotline

What Do the Laws Say? Finding Legal Resources that can Help when Access is Denied

Tom Hanson

[Editor’s Note: Tom is president of our GDUI affiliate, Guide Dog Users of Florida. Thank you, Tom, for sharing this very useful information.]

When we are out and about with our guides, we sometimes encounter situations where our right of access is challenged.  These occasions often cause responses such as, “My guide does not need to wear a vest,” or “You are not allowed to require me to sit outside,” or even, after you are totally frustrated with the lack of cooperation, “I’m going to sue you if you refuse to let us in.”  But what is really out there in the legal arena that may assist us in following through with our efforts to obtain full accessibility? If only there would be a place where we can go to learn if legal information exists and to have access to this legal information, including laws pertaining to service dogs, the rights of business owners, the differences between service dogs and emotional support animals, and the ADA rules on service animals.

Well, there is such a place!  It is the digital law library at Michigan State University.

The following are excerpts from a letter I received from the Animal Legal & Historical Center at MSU.

Thank you for writing to our digital law library. I would be happy to provide further research information for your project.

Our site does have a collection of Florida laws on service and assistance animals. The collection of these laws can be found at

https://www.animallaw.info/statute/fl-assistance-animal-floridas-assistance-animalguide-dog-laws

This page includes driving laws, equal accommodation laws, and discrimination laws that mention service animals.

We also have a table that compares assistance animal/service animal laws for all 50 states. The table also has links to other state laws on service and/or assistance animals. You can find it at

https://www.animallaw.info/topic/table-state-assistance-animal-laws  

We have a map that links to all state laws with fraudulent representation of service animal laws. This can be found at

https://www.animallaw.info/content/fraudulent-service-dogs

Also on our website is a page dealing with assistance animals in housing under the Fair Housing Act. The title of the page implies that it focuses on emotional support animals, but under the FHA, the reasonable accommodations for both types of assistance animals are the same. You can see this page at

https://www.animallaw.info/article/faqs-emotional-support-animals

In terms of case law, most of the cases we have posted are from federal courts under the ADA. The broad search term we use in our navigation is “Disability and Pets” so that it encompasses all issues involving service, assistance, or facility dogs. You can find a table of all these cases by selecting the “Search Materials” link in the purple navigation bar at the top, and then “Disability and Pets” under “Topics” and “Cases” under “Material Type.” This search yields the following results:

https://www.animallaw.info/filters?topic=14619&species=All&type=case&country=All&jurisdiction=All&combine_op=contains&keyword=

Some of the cases may relate to public service dogs and facility/courthouse dogs. The rest of the cases would involve service animals or emotional support animals.

You may find this scholarly article on non-traditional service animals informative as well:

https://www.animallaw.info/article/monkeys-and-horses-and-ferretsoh-my-non-traditional-service-animals-under-ada

Additionally, one of our contributing editors and his colleague have written an extensive article that details many of the evolving functions service animals perform. You can find this at

https://www.animallaw.info/article/evolving-functions-service-and-therapy-animals-and-implications-public-accommodation-access

 https://www.animallaw.info/article/why-context-matters-defining-service-animals-under-federal-law  

We have an article that focuses specifically on the ADA and Air Carrier Access Act as well:

https://www.animallaw.info/article/why-context-matters-defining-service-animals-under-federal-law  

Finally, we have a law review article dealing with students using service animals in post-secondary institutions:

https://www.animallaw.info/article/cujo-goes-college-use-animals-individuals-disabilities-postsecondary-institutions

I hope this research information is helpful in the creation of your piece. Please let me know if you have any questions.

Best of luck,

Rebecca Wisch

Associate Editor

Animal Legal & Historical Center

If you would like to contact Rebecca Wisch, her email is:

mailto:animallaw@law.msu.edu  

This is a wonderful site for laws, and Ms. Wisch is an excellent person to work with.

Enjoy your researching and reading!

Blind woman asks public, pet owners to be aware of service animals

[From:

https://www.wtol.com/article/news/local/woman-asks-fo-caution-bringing-dogs-in-public/512-f564f5ec-8fb4-4bc6-a947-8b57a4bfd94f?fbclid=IwAR34-NbbRyBj2ulXBwLNzU1yrj3xCpqkAe5qaPoNakICTwFTJI2bB2l5JUY]

PERRYSBURG, Ohio — A Waterville woman who needs a service dog to navigate her daily life left a message on Facebook that garnered hundreds of comments about where dogs should or should not be allowed in public.

Sara Soper is blind and relies on her dog, Vivi. 

In the past, she has had two guide dogs attacked in public by other people’s pets and now, she wants people to know what kind of training pets should have, to go in public places. 

At only two years old. Vivi navigates the grocery store with Soper close behind. She’s focused, watching people and objects making sure Sarah can safely get her groceries and get home.

“There is a time and a place for dogs. Like I said, I’m not going to know if you have your dog in the store, there could be five dogs in the store and I wouldn’t know unless they were reacting to my dog,” Soper said.

Soper and her dog work as a team. Vivi is trained not to respond to everyday distractions such as food and people. 

Soper says she has noticed a lot more dogs out that don’t give Vivi space to work, which creates a dangerous environment for both of them.

“I’m not the dog police. I’m not going to come up to you and see if your dog has the right to be in a store, I am going to go after you if your dog comes after my dog because what you’re doing is making it dangerous for service dog handlers,” Soper said.

Professional dog trainer Melissa Jarrett says socialization is important and she has noticed more places allowing dogs, but there are things you need to do before taking your dog out.

“I need to know that I have control over my dog, that if a situation arises I can re-gain control of my dog before it escalates into something bad,” Jarrett said.

Even as a professional trainer with 15 dogs, Jarrett still has one dog she knows, despite its training,  shouldn’t be going out, even to dog-friendly stores.

“They’re still dogs, I still don’t know if a person in a wheelchair or a child running up to them is going to do to them, and I think I know my dogs pretty well and I’m really careful about where I take them and I’m always similar with my surroundings when I go in,” Jarrett said.

Soper realizes that these days, she and Vivi are going to come into contact with other dogs day-to-day. She says she wants people to be educated about why dogs like Vivi are allowed where other people’s pets might not be.

“My dog does more for me than I can ever repay her for or do for her. She’s closer to me than about anything in my life,” Soper said.

How Super Sniffer Dogs Are Helping Detect Disease Around The World

[From:https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2020/01/25/799404129/how-super-sniffer-dogs-are-helping-detect-disease-around-the-world]

 January 25, 20206:11 AM ET

John Henning Schumann

As the owner of a yellow lab named Gus, author Maria Goodavage has had many occasions to bathe her pooch when he rolls around in smelly muck at the park.

Nevertheless, her appreciation for his keen sense of smell has inspired her to write best-selling books about dogs with special assignments in the military and the U.S. Secret Service.

Her latest, Doctor Dogs: How Our Best Friends Are Becoming Our Best Medicine, highlights a vast array of special medical tasks that dogs can perform – from the laboratory to the bedside, and everywhere else a dog can tag along and sniff.

Canines’ incredible olfactory capacity – they can sniff in parts per trillion – primes them to detect disease, and their genius for observing our behavior helps them guide us physically and emotionally.

Goodavage spoke with NPR contributor John Henning Schumann, a doctor and host of Public Radio Tulsa’s #MedicalMonday about what she has learned about dogs in medicine

This interview has been edited for clarity and length.

What led you to look into dogs in medicine?

I’ve been reading and writing about military dogs and Secret Service dogs for many years now, and it was sort of a natural next step. These are dogs on the cutting edge of medicine. They’re either working in research or right beside someone to save their life every day. And really, doctor dogs are, for the most part, using their incredible sense of smell to detect diseases. And if they’re paired with a person, they bond with that person to tell them something that will save their life.

You reported on dogs doing this kind of work all over the world.

Yes, I did go around the world. The first doctor dogs I learned about were in Japan. There’s a village about five hours north of Tokyo where scientists were doing some research among a population that has a very high level of stomach cancer. And I wanted to find the best of the best, cutting-edge medical dogs around the world. It was really fun to see these service and research dogs working with their people and how good they are. They’re incredibly good at detecting disease.

You also report on dogs that can detect ovarian cancer, which is personal for you.

I do have skin in this game, actually, because unfortunately, we have ovarian cancer in the family. My mom died of it. With ovarian cancer, there’s not much great testing for early detection. I heard about these dogs at the University of Pennsylvania Veterinary Working Dog Center that are able to smell ovarian cancer. They’re able to detect it as early as stage one. We’re not even talking tumors here. They’re able to detect ovarian cancer in one drop of plasma from a woman with ovarian cancer.

The fact that the dogs can do this is exciting to me, and I think for so many people who have hard-to-detect cancers in the family. What the dogs are doing now is remarkable and it’s because their sense of smell is so keen. They can sniff in parts per trillion. They can detect a tablespoon of a substance, like a packet of sugar, in two Olympic-sized swimming pools. Humans have six million olfactory receptors and dogs have up to 300 million. So their noses are really primed.

Another area in which dogs excel in the clinical world is for patients with diabetes.

Yeah. It’s amazing. We don’t know what the dogs are smelling, but the trainers are training the dogs on the scent of hypoglycemia and also hyperglycemia. The dogs are somehow able to put it together and tell the person 15 or maybe 20 minutes before the person’s devices even say, ‘Hey, you’re going into the low range!’ because the dogs detect this in real time. So the person has an extra bit of time to do what they need to do, take glucose or whatever.

I was fascinated to learn that doctor dogs may also have a role in detecting so-called “superbugs,” that is, antibiotic-resistant microbes.

Yes. Actually, there are three or four of these dogs working in a hospital in Vancouver who are sniffing out C. diff, which is one of those superbugs that can easily spread in vulnerable populations in hospitals and manifests in diarrhea and all kinds of issues that can actually kill people. And these dogs are stopping it in its tracks.

Researchers have found that where these dogs work, the rates of C. diff really diminish. I hung out at this hospital one day and I just watched one of the dogs do his rounds, and he found what seemed to be C. diff — and before I knew it, they had a whole cleaning team.

How do dogs help people suffering from PTSD?

There are people from the military, war veterans and active duty soldiers even who are suffering from PTSD and who have gotten service dogs who, again, have been game changers. They save lives. One of the dogs I learned about was placed with a soldier who had been to Iraq twice. He had PTSD and his life was falling apart. His marriage, his health, everything. He was on a cocktail of drugs. It made him a zombie. He hated that feeling. And one day someone told him about doctor dogs for PTSD. He ended up getting one. Now if he’s feeling anxious, he’ll say, like, “snuggle” and the dog will just come in for a big hug, or another of various commands. His life changed dramatically for the better. His marriage is really good now. He’s a stable dad and he’s working. He’s down to only one or two meds.

You write about doctor dogs helping people with autism. Can you share an example?

Yeah, it’s really beautiful. Sometimes these dogs may be using their nose. Sometimes they’re just being highly observant. And dogs are. They watch our body language all the time. But there are now more dogs being used for children on the autism spectrum, and they are remarkable. They can usually tell ahead of time when a child is about to have a tremendous amount of anxiety, panic, meltdown or what have you. When there’s too much stimulation for a child with autism and the dog is there, they’ll lean into the child.

Dogs change lives not just of these children, but of the whole family. There is a family I wrote about in Minnesota, with a sweet boy who waited for four years to get a service dog for his autism. He was not able to go to restaurants. The family, therefore, couldn’t go to restaurants. He couldn’t travel. He could barely leave the house. He did go to school, but that was tough, too. And so they waited four years. They tried to get a regular pet dog in the meantime, thinking, “Oh well, you know, it’s a dog. It’ll work.” But it was a disaster. It did not work at all as a service dog.

So they got a service dog named Lloyd. He’s a big black lab. As the boy met him, he started crying. His mother had never seen him cry. Tears of joy. And right there, boom, everything changed. Lloyd is the super calming presence. He’s able to be with the boy and change his behavior. The boy could not go to the barber and get a haircut before Lloyd. Now all he has to do is just have his hand on Lloyd’s head. And the boy and Lloyd like to have their own table at restaurants!

John Henning Schumann is an internal medicine doctor and serves as president of the University of Oklahoma’s Tulsa campus. He also hosts Studio Tulsa: Medical Monday on KWGS Public Radio Tulsa. You can follow him on Twitter: @GlassHospital.

The Spirit of Dog 

Ann Chiappetta

[From: http://www.thought-wheel.com/the-spirit-of-dog/]

January 30, 2020

This is a post written for, in part, the puppy raising and guide dog community. It explains what a real service dog is and how it develops. Indulge me for one more paragraph before we get to the subject line of the post. There is an ongoing issue here in the United States regarding people posing pets as emotional support or service animals to ride in airline cabins. It is called the ACAA, or the Airline Carrier Access Act. I am not going to explain the actual FAA and TSA notices and the rule making discussion, but I will say that a genuine, trained service dog will do it’s best to behave in places of public accommodation. For example, a hearing alert dog will sit quietly on its handler’s lap and not disrupt anyone’s experience. A PTSD service dog will lie quietly between its handler’s feet during a train ride. Any dog brought into the public that barks, lunges, urinates, is unkempt, is not under its handler’s control or is not tethered is not a real service dog and can be asked to leave. It’s all in how the dog and the handler behave and interact. I hope this helps folks understand what is at stake and the real service dog handlers are at risk of being negatively effected by those who break the law.

Okay, back to the original post.

Once a puppy reaches an appropriate age, usually around 18 months, the dog is returned for advanced training. By this time, the puppy raiser has imparted all the socialization, love, obedience, care and discipline to allow the dog to continue the rigorous and challenging harness training and hopefully exhibit the required qualifications to become a guide dog.

Yup, folks, it is canine college and the dog will graduate with an advanced degree in intelligent disobedience. What this means is a dog will disobey a command given by the blind handler if it is unsafe. Think of a car coming out of a driveway as the team is walking toward it. The dog will see the car pulling out and stop, then continue when it has judged it to be safe. If the handler tries to give the command to proceed before the dog judges it safe, the dog will ignore the command.

This is, of course, after months of formal harness training with a qualified GDMI – during which time the dog learns how to guide and learn other commands, like directions (left, right, forward) and targeting (to the door, steps, bus, elevator,) among others.

One time Bailey even stopped to show me a fiber optic wire hanging from the ceiling in the hallway leading to our office. Avoiding an overhead obstacle is the most difficult to teach a dog, I was impressed, for sure.

But, for the second time in this post, I digress.

Today we made the hour-long bus ride to visit Guiding Eyes For the Blind’s main campus and visit Bailey’s first Mom, Pat Bailey Webber. He just about lost his mind, spinning and doing some excited barking. He carried on, yodeling, rubbing, and licking Pat for at least ten minutes. This is the person who he bonded with, who saw him through all stages of puppyhood, some of it pretty gross and annoying, if I must say so. 😊

Witnessing the bond with Pat is just so special, so rewarding, I believe it makes my bond with Bailey even stronger. While he loves Pat and would go with her, he also willingly comes to me and does his job. He switches his attention, applies his training, and has the adaptability to get it done.

I have written before about the Spirit of Dog, what it means contextually; this is an example. The Spirit of Dog is loyal, adaptable, and talented. How could a person not admire these qualities in an animal? How could I deny Bailey the pleasure of visiting with his first family? I am honored and humbled after these visits. I am a recipient of  a very special gift; it is the spirit of dog that brings people together.

[Editor’s Note: To subscribe to Annie’s blog, ”Thought Wheel From the mind of Ann Chiappetta,” visit this link: http://www.thought-wheel.com/subscribe/]  

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

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