Prologue: Book 2

I feel like the little kid waiting for her birthday to come. Can we just skip March and go straight to April? Please?!?

This morning I received confirmation from The Seeing Eye that I will be in their April 4^th class! That means I will have a new service dog within two days of that! I am excited beyond words, for a variety of reasons…not the least of which is that my cane broke last Friday! No dog, no cane…I might have to do “blind’ redneck-style, go out and get me a stick! J

Before I get to the details, let me answer the question everyone has been asking me today. “Do you know anything about the new dog yet? What’s its name, what kind is it?”

No dog will ever replace Prada. As they say in country music, you never forget the first one. But the thought of no longer traveling anywhere alone, having the comfort and confidence of traveling with a furry four-footed companion is the most encouraging thought I’ve had since letting go of my girl. As corny as this sounds, Prada was a service dog, first and foremost, and she would want her handler back in safe paws, even if they weren’t hers. She displayed remarkable initiative and delegating skills, alerting my roommates and later my husband if I wasn’t feeling well, a problem she couldn’t fix.

The Seeing Eye shrouds its dogs’ identities in mystery. I won’t know anything about my future fuzzy friend until the trainer hands me the leash. I promise to divulge my new friend’s name, breed, gender, age, and many pictures as soon as I can, but I won’t know anything until we meet for the first time.

So what goes into preparing for a new service dog? Well, really, not a whole lot. I’ve sent in my transportation form and ownership agreement via email, so now all I have to do is send in a medical form and pack! The Seeing Eye arranges transportation to and from the school for its students, so the transportation form I sent in lets them know what city I want to fly in and out of, and gives them travel contact and ID information to send to the airlines for ticket purchasing, and the ownership agreement is my agreement with The Seeing Eye to take possession of the dog upon completing my training, and relieves them of responsibility for the dog at that point. The medical form is just a simple physical examination form declaring that I am physically fit to train. Training with a Seeing Eye Dog is a physically demanding process, three weeks of rigorous exercise and long hours. A healthy hart and legs and arms are essential for all the walking, grooming, playing, and other attentions a youthful working dog requires.

Training for a second or subsequent dogs is a shorter affair than with the first. When I trained with Prada, I spent four weeks in New Jersey before they released us into the wild, so to speak. This time, however, I will spend a little less than three weeks at the school. I look forward to seeing the renovations made to the facilities, getting an updated education on service dog legal issues, finding out what bad habits Prada and I developed, and seeing the whole program through different eyes. I will update you as near to daily during the training as I can, but I won’t have much time for that, I’m afraid. Even less time than my previous trip, since I have to take my graduate work with me! I’m going to be so worn out by the time New Dog and I get home!

As always, I appreciate your support and welcome any comments or questions you have about service dogs, training, working, and living with them, visual impairment, advocacy issues, and assistive technology. Thanks, my friends!

T-40 days and counting!