Tails and Travel

Most buildings at UAH are very easy to get to.  There’re a lot of sidewalks between buildings and they tend to center in two major clusters.  Unfortunately, one of the buildings I anticipate spending considerable amounts of time in is cut off from the main campus by a six-lane street.  Sparkman Drive is a busy thoroughfare connecting two nearby highways and the research park near the school.  It has few sidewalks,  its crosswalk is controlled with a very short light, and its speed limit is somewhat frightening from a pedestrian’s perspective.  Most of the engineering and computer science classes are held in this ostracized building, the Olen B. King Technology Hall (Tech Hall to students), and as an engineering major I expect to devote a good deal of my time finding safer ways to get there.
I changed majors and had only the one class in Tech Hall, but I still maintain that it is difficult and unsafe for disabled students to travel to.  Something needs to be done about that building!  Either build a footbridge or move the classes back to central campus!

My current solution, one that can evolve with changing needs, is an informal trade agreement.  A friend drives me over and picks me up afterwards, and I and my roommates adopt her into our living space.  She lives off-campus, so during the day we open our suite to her as a place to leave books, change clothes, grab a quick meal, nap, or shower.  Trading services like editing papers or hospitality for rides is a common arrangement between college students.  It’s also a common arrangement between the disabled and their friends and family.  It’s cheaper than taxi fares and frequently more time-effective than waiting on a bus.

There are, of course, hazards for puppies riding in any vehicle.  Last week when my friend picked me up after lab at Tech Hall I climbed into her truck, moved Prada's tail out of the door, and closed it--right onto the tail that she'd just moved BACK into the door. Fortunately I didn't close it hard and it only pulled out some hair but the experience was certainly painful, and very scary. Prada insisted on riding back in my lap (there's more shepherd than there is lap, but we made it work) and was shaking the entire time. She calmed down as soon as we got out and seemed fine for the rest of the week. Yesterday, my friend picked me up to go to class and Prada had no qualms about getting into the truck so I thought she had forgotten about it. This, unfortunately, did not prove to be the case. When my friend picked us up again Prada did NOT want to get back into the truck. It was the same place where the tail incident had occurred, and she was shaking again. I got her into the truck without incident but she insisted on riding at least halfway in my lap and trembled the whole way back again. When I took her up to our suite she immediately went into the new soft-crate I'd just purchased for her and stayed there. When I pulled the harness down to go on a quick errand a few minutes later she didn't want to come out, almost refusing to obey my "come" command.
We’ve only ever caught our tail in a car door once since this first incident.

The trembling and dislike of my friend’s truck lessened over time, and she and I have both become more aware of tail position (thought I maintain that it was originally Prada’s fault, since I moved her tail out of the way and she put it back).  I was very impressed with her location-specific concern about the truck, though.  If we rode in that vehicle from anywhere else she was fine, but she did not want to ride away from Tech Hall for a couple of weeks.

In other, happier news…I’ve made a delightful, “no duh” discovery.  One of the most frequently cited reasons for switching form cane to dog, and perhaps the most common testimony given by dog handlers, is increased confidence.  If you get lost with your cane, you’re on your own.  If you get lost with your dog, the odds are in favour of your dog being able to take you back to familiar ground.  That, and you’re generally a lot safer.  I’ve now begun to discovery these new layers of confidence for myself!

I’m somewhat directionally challenged (and by that, I mean I got lost in a two-street town).  But I also like to explore and travel.  I love going to new places, local and abroad, meeting new people, trying new experiences, et cetera.  However, I’ve always had to limit myself when traveling solo because of my difficulty with directions.  This, now, can change.  Last Sunday was a fine evening, and Prada and I both had energy and time to spare, so we harnessed up and set out to solve a mystery.  I’d often heard other students talking about a route between the library and the Materials Science Building (MSB to students) that took about ten minutes on foot.  My route to the MSB wound around the nursing building, athletic complex, fitness center, and a sports field.  And it takes twenty minutes.  But, I now had a dog, and curiosity, and a whole new confidence about travel!  If I got lost, Prada could just find familiar territory for me!  We intrepid explorers set out, and lo and behold!  A shorter, safer route to the MSB!  Now I add my voice to the long history of handlers praising the merits of dog guides.  I love my new feelings of confidence and independence!