[nagdu] defining abuse was being reported to your school

[The Pawpower Pack]

Hi Rebecca,
I have great mental mapping skills and really good O&M.  I can know  
where things are in theory, it's just the execution of said directions  
that can be tricky.
When I get a new dog to train, I start by only doing guide work  
training on days when I'm feeling good and healthy and when I can  
direct myself.  This is another reason why it's best for me to train  
another dog while the older one is still working.  I've made the  
mistake of taking Laveau out on a day when I was really sick and she  
was too green.  It didn't turn out well for either of us and I  
promised her and myself that I wouldn't do it again until she was  
ready.  I only start taking the dog out on bad days once it's had  
quite a bit of experience in the find cue.  Also once it has come to  
learn my routs.  I travel quite a bit in my city, but most of the  
routs are carried out the same every time.  Once I head toward a  
destination, it's pretty obvious to the dog where we're going, once  
they've been working with me for a while.  Once I know my dog has a  
good bit of experiencing finding objects and people, I will start  
working her on increasingly bad days.  It's a slow process.  Honestly  
I don't know how they do it.  It just seems like after a period of  
time, the dog knows me and maybe it's my body language, or something  
but she always seems to know what I mean rather than what I'm telling  
her I mean.
My disorder has taken a turn for the worse this April and there were  
days when I couldn't even move.  The days when I could actually walk  
were all terrible.  Laveau did really well and honestly I wish I knew  
when it sunk in, but she takes really good care of me when I have a  
visit by "the vertigo elves."
The other day I was in fedex.  I had walked the eight, or so blocks  
from my office to the shopping center where the Fedex and other  
businesses are.  I was standing in line when all of the sudden, it was  
like the floor moved out from under me.  I could only hold on to the  
harness and finish shipping a package.  Then I told Laveau to take me  
to the coffee shop, where she took me to the counter, then found a  
chair for me so I could sit and take some meds.  I sat there for a  
while, then had her take me to a chair outside and told her to watch  
for the bus.  She alerted me when it arrived and we made it on.
I know the programs tell people that dogs can't be worked by telling  
them things like "take me to the bank." but I think that the right dog  
with thorough enough training can be worked that way.
I think some people just don't need to expect that high of level of  
functioning from their dogs because there isn't the need.

As for me, I usually don't write on days when I'm really bad off.   
Those are the days when I lay in bed and read and just wait it out.
I'm doing very intense physical therapy right now to try and beat the  
vertigo elves into submission and it's working.  Between the  
therapists and the ASL interpreters, it is costing my insurance a  
fortune, but it is slowly working.  This is going to be something I'll  
have to deal with the rest of my life, so I may stop physical therapy  
next month and be back again in six months or a year, or I could never  
go back.

I do think that more people with multiple disabilities are getting  
assistance dogs and as the blind baby boomer population continues to  
age, there will be more blind persons who have additional  
disabilities.  I think that the programs who recognize this fact and  
make room for people with multiple disabilities in their classes, will  
be glad they did.  Long past are the days when only healthy men and  
women with blindness as their only disability are the only people  
getting dogs.


Rox and the Herbal HenchHounds
Bristol (retired), Mill'E SD. and Laveau Guide Dog, CGC.
"It has always been the prerogative of children and half-wits to point  
out that the emperor has no clothes. But the half-wit remains a half- 
wit, and the emperor remains an emperor."-- Neil Gaiman
http://www.pawpowercreations.com/retreat.html
pawpower4me at gmail.com
AIM: Brissysgirl