[nagdu] "High vision" and owner training

[Mardi Hadfield]

Hello Robert. Mardi here.I am legally blind. Some think I have a lot of
vision and don't need a dog. My vision problems stem from a brain injury. I
was a passenger in a car hit by a drunk driver.This resulted in a contra
coup injury and a seizure disorder and double vision. Both conditions went
with out a proper diagnosis for many years. The seizures are now controlled
with medication.The cortical vision impairment,was diagnosed 32 years after
the fact and is now "unfixable" My visual field is also compromised. I also
have macular degeneration. Every thing I see is doubled,some times tripled,
blurred and hazy and I have no depth perception.And with the macular
degeneration, things appear wavy as looking through a heat wave.This vision
is generally not useful and my eyes are very light sensitive,so I keep them
closed most of the time when outside in the sun.People can think what ever
they want but I am in fact legally blind as per tests and a doctors'
report. That being said, I have other disabilities but will mention only
that it is spinal stenosis that keeps me using a wheelchair much of the
time.When I needed a guide dog,there were no schools that trained dogs for
blind wheelchair users.I used to train service dogs and had trained my own
service dog at the time. I worked with another trainer and we trained my
then service dog to guide me from a wheelchair.This was my first guide and
she was a white Siberian Husky named Lily. When I retired her because of
Valley Fever, I looked for another husky to train. Lily died a month after
I retired her and I was dogless for several months. I purchased Nala,a dark
gray husky from a breeder and with the help of a trainer,proceeded to train
her to guide me.She learned very fast and often did things I asked her on
the first try.She was an amazing dog.It took only 4 months of training for
Nala and she was working as a guide. She was a very special dog and did
some amazing things for me in her working career. She was by far the best
guide dog I have ever had.She was one of a kind and was as close to perfect
as a guide dog can be.I retired her and she died this last August. I am
still grieving her loss. There will never be another Nala. I was unable to
find another husky to train this time but I did find a Belgian Shepherd. I
did work with a trainer early on with Shaman but did most of the training
my self.It took about 9 months before Shaman was ready to be a working
guide. I am not able to travel away from home to get a program dog so I
guess I will continue to train my own dogs.My dogs are customized to what I
need in a guide dog.They have all been good working guides.I think just as
good as any program trained dog. I have had trouble with other program
trained guide dogs attacking Lily.It's been mostly loose pet dogs that have
attacked Nala and Shaman. Lately it was a small questionable service dog
that tried to attack Shaman on a bus.My dogs have all been well behaved
around other dogs,but after Shaman was attacked by a pit bull he started
growling at dogs that got too close to him.I was able to work with him and
he no longer has a problem.I hope this and what others on this list have
said about owner training will give you a better perspective on owner
trained guide dogs and service dogs.  Have a great day,Mardi and Shaman.

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