"More Input, Staphanie!"

Brace yourselves—we’ve got a few days’ worth of catching up to do!

1.      Freelancing

According to Bryan we're just about done doing routes--now when we go out on lessons we do 'freelance' expeditions. Freelance simply means that we're going places other than sidewalks. For example, I told y'all about our courthouse adventure, then yesterday we visited Rite-Aid and the pet store. Rite-Aid was fairly uneventful and Bryan demonstrated where the dog should be when you're up at a counter paying for something. Prada is supposed to sit flush up against the counter, if she can manage it. This protects the dog from being stepped on, and from people petting her while I'm distracted paying. It also keeps her active little nose out of trouble.  Unfortunately Prada doesn’t agree with me that she ought to sit there (sci-fi moment, I’m breaking the timeline to confess this is an ongoing argument between us.  She’d rather turn around and stare at the people behind me).

The pet store was a bit more stressful. This one, like many around the country, allows people to bring their pets into the store, so in addition to all the neat-smelling toys and treats and food and birds and cats in there, Prada was assaulted by a floor positively suffused with doggie smells!  How exciting, how captivating, how nose-worthy!  She pinned that long snout of hers to the flooring like the butter-side of your toast to the kitchen linoleum... After a few leash corrections and "pfui's" she did ok, but kept a pretty steady tug on the harness.

Bryan also taught us the “follow” command while we were in there, too. Someone walks ahead of us and I command Prada "follow right, follow forward, et cetera" and she's supposed to...guess what? Follow! This is useful for shopping with a 'shopping assistant,' a customer service agent requested to assist a disabled shopper, working a new and confusing building on a tour, stuff like that.  (timeline break again, Prada is such a pack-oriented critter she automatically does this command whenever we’re with another person  This has caused some problems if I ever want to part ways with someone, but on the few occasions I get separated from a group my Seeing Eye dog has a built in “find my friends” app!)

Before we went to the pet store Bryan read to us the puppy profiles that the puppy-raisers had kept in case we wanted to buy toys for the dogs. According to the puppy-raisers Prada likes to destroy little stuffed animals. I'm thinking she may also have an affinity for tug-of-war and she showed a definite interest in squeaky toys. I didn't purchase anything on this trip--going to wait till I get home where there's no sales' tax! Currently on the doggy shopping list? Soft crate (it's like a little pop-up tent thing for doggies, a portable ‘place' for your dog), an extra leash and tie-down (a cable with a snap-clip at either end for noncrated placement control), doggy toothpaste and fingerbrush, and either a squeaky toy or rope toy. Oh yes, and the ever-important dog food.  (I decided at the time of writing this entry, and my resolve ahs held firm, that I will not invest in little stuffed animals that are just as disposable as pc laptops.  I refuse to spend money on little stuffed animals every two days just so she can destroy them)

All our lectures are given to us on mp3 players and I am currently working on getting permission to put those up on the blog. So far no one seems particularly averse to it--the more people know about dog guides and their rules the fewer access issues we have, but I don't want to assume anything and get into trouble.  (I was later told that this would violate TSE copyright, so no lectures, sorry!).

2.      Access

Our last lecture, yesterday morning, was about access. Where can a dog guide go, and where can't it? A dog guide, or any other service animal, is permitted into any area open to the public. Restaurants, hotels, transit, stores, exercise clubs, beaches, et cetera. There are a few exceptions, such as "if a bed-&-breakfast has less than 5 guest suites and the owners live on the property then the proprietor can deny a service animal entrance." "What about allergies?" is my, and everyone else's, first question. "Deal with it" is the extent of the ADA and state access laws. If a cab driver claims he has allergies it must be in his personnel profile before he can do the following (this is the only escape route for cab drivers who don't want to carry service animals): call for a different driver and stay with you until that driver arrives. THEY CANNOT LEAVE YOU STRANDED.  (I’m not entirely comfortable with the “deal with it” mentality espoused by the ADA regs regarding allergies.  Some people I know, including a very dear friend who has since passed on to Heaven, have very severe pet hair allergies.  There is some talk of quantifying allergic levels in order to protect those with deadly allergies as disabilities but due to the elusive nature of allergies in general this has never gone very far.  I try to be as respectful as possible to those with allergies when I have the option, though.  Since I have no allergies myself I have no experience to draw upon when judging another person’s condition and response to our presence, so I try to err on the side of respect and caution).

As I expected, the PR rep for TSE, our lecturer, told us that the best way to handle situations in where someone refuses us access to a public area is to be calm and respectful, stand your ground, and educate. Show by passive example how well the dog behaves by having him or her sit by your feet during the conversation, maintain a calm, open, friendly attitude, have a summary of the local access laws available or in memory, and politely educate the person. If it's an employee, go straight to the manager.  It’s the manager’s responsibility to educate the employee, not yours.  After you deal with the manager he/she will often want to educate all the employees, and that saves you time and energy.

What about private residences? Owners of private residences may deny access to a service animal at their discretion. It's their home, their property, their right. It is frequent, however, for dog guide users to refuse to go to someone's house if their service animal may not come in. To us it's like being told to leave our cane or glasses or eyes behind. The dog is a part of us and if the dog can't come, don't be surprised if we don't, either. Obviously there are exceptions--children with severe allergies, asthma aggravated by pet hair, older persons, people you don't know too well and may or may not have a safe environment for the dog, but in general 'come person, come dog.'

3.      In the Spotlight

"What do I do with my dog when I'm on stage and the dog can't come?" was one of the questions I asked an instructor at lunch time. After discussing the situation we determined that if it were a long performance, having the dog crated somewhere in the building (i.e. a greenroom or office) would be best, or an extremely well-known friend or family member that the dog considers part of its pack babysit. This is of interest to me since I sing in my college choir and we have been known to corral an entire orchestra plus timpani, harp, harpsichord, and grand piano in addition to our 40+ person choir onto a relatively small stage. The noise could be extremely painful or distracting for the dog, we don't need Prada harmonizing with the sopranos, and it's quite possible she'd be in the way, stepped on, or a distraction to the audience in some other manner. I've even left my cane offstage because its bright color against the black of our choir outfits would be a distraction to the audience. Fortunately I've always had a ready supply of sighted guides for that occasion, so I guess that's just what I'll be doing next semester, too.  ) While I no longer with the UAH choir I am pursuing a career in business training and development, which requires a certain amount of “stage time” and I frequently give presentations at work.  For shorter works I leash Prada to a chair in the audience area or stand on her leash while she lies down, and do my talk.  For longer presentations I leave her in my office or have someone babysit.  As she’s gotten older and more mature she has become less distracting to audiences so I’m more comfortable with bringing her up front, but I rarely stand still so she’s always tempted to get up and follow me, thinking we’re going to go work.)

4.      What do I do with Prada when I’m at the Gym?

"And if I were to go t o a gym or fitness center?"  Tor working machines or weights, putting the dog on tie-down in a corner where they can see you but won't be a distraction or get into anything is the best plan. For an indoor track, tiedown works great. I may take Prada a lap or two around the track at a mild pace because she loves running, then let her rest while I finish my own workout.  (this I discovered doesn’t work out too well, sharp puppy claws and indoor track floors don’t always get along well) Poolside is a bit more difficult. The best case scenario is if you're at a public pool or fitness center you get to know the folks at the front desk real well and ask if you can stick the soft crate in the office. By that time the dog has been conditioned to behave itself while you’re away and will keep itself happy with a bone or sleeping in the crate. If you're not comfortable with this then the first few times you go to the pool you don't get in, just sit on the side next to the dog while he/she's on tiedown. Keep the dog calm, convince it that people in the pool don't need saving and that the pool is not a place for doggies. After the dog's ok with being around the pool you can go sit on the edge, climb in just a little ways, kind of splash around but stay close to the edge where the dog can see you and keep an eye on the dog. After the dog's ok with this, try a few laps but come back to check on the dog after each one to make sure he/she's not chomping at the bit to go in after you (more of a problem with retrievers than shepherds). After the dog's ok with this routine you should be good to go.  (I got impatient and didn’t bother with the office setup or the acclimation process.  I’m an avid swimmer and frequent my college’s pool several times a week and have previously left Prada in my dorm room since I’m normally gone no longer than an hour and a half.  This semester, given that I live off-campus, I may have to find a better solution.  I hesitate to bring Prada into the indoor pool area, though, because the chlorine concentration in the atmosphere is higher than most indoor pools and not good for doggy lungs).

5.      Country Work

This morning we did 'country work.' Country is defined as anywhere outside without a sidewalk. The dog's responsibility is to hug the left shoulder of the road, your responsibility is to hold your cane horizontally between you and the road to create a barrier so the dog knows which way to go and people are less likely to swerve into you and the dog. To ensure that the dog is still close to the left shoulder every so often stop and extend the cane in front of the dog and feel for the edge. If you can't find it, suggest left until you can.

Indentation is another practice of country work. When you indent a crossing you turn into the road you're going to cross until the corner becomes straight again and you're at the narrowest part. Then cross and suggest right until the dog is following the curb into your original road of travel. This minimizes the amount of time in the lanes of the road, making the crossing safer for you and your pup.