[nagdu] Blind couple teams up with Dobermans from Gallant Hearts Guide Dog Center

Tue Sep 17 21:20:06 UTC 2013

I like that this school is getting noticed.
I wish there would have been more of the couples perspective about the
program itself, and their new relationships with their dogs.

On 9/17/13, Ann Edie <annedie at nycap.rr.com> wrote:
> I wonder how the Dobermans do in the cold weather of Canada?  Don't
> Dobermans have single coats?  But since the breed comes from Germany
> originally, I think, maybe they can adjust to the harsher winters of
> Canada.
>
> Pretty good article, though.  Lots of good explanation and detail and not
> expecting the dogs to be perfect Lassie clones, especially when the team is
> new.
>
> Ann
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nagdu [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Ginger Kutsch
> Sent: Tuesday, September 17, 2013 8:00 AM
> To: NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users
> Subject: [nagdu] Blind couple teams up with Dobermans from Gallant Hearts
> Guide Dog Center
>
> Blind couple teams up with Dobermans from Gallant Hearts Guide Dog Center
>
> By Cheryl Clock, The Standard
>
> Monday, September 16, 2013 9:58:59 EDT AM
>
> http://www.thoroldedition.ca/2013/09/11/blind-couple-teams-up-with-dobermans
>
>
>
>
> A coffee and muffin. Mark and Caitlyn Furness are on their way to a local
> restaurant for a coffee and muffin.
>
>
>
> For most people, simple, straightforward and unremarkable.
>
>
>
> For the St. Catharines couple who have been blind for more than half their
> lives, an obstacle course of major intersections and other obstructions
> that
> sighted people would hardly notice. Poles. Curbs. Bumps in the sidewalk.
> Garbage. Other dogs. And people.
>
>
>
> Mark and Caitlyn each have a guide dog. Two-year-old red Dobermans, half
> sisters from a guide dog centre in Mississippi.
>
>
>
> Caitlyn and Maggie have been a team since March. Mark and Mattie, just a
> few
> weeks. They've each had guide dogs before, but getting to know each other
> takes time and practise.
>
>
>
> Mark's previous dog, a long-haired German shepherd named Flint, was an
> eight-year guide veteran, but had to retire last year. He was beside Mark's
> side through sickness - cancer in 2008, a ruptured bowel in 2010 and triple
> bypass heart surgery in 2011. Caitlyn's German shepherd, Nickels, has
> retired too.
>
>
>
> Mattie and Maggie are the couple's first Dobermans.
>
>
>
> Every day, they walk up to eight kilometres. Mark and Caitlyn give the
> commands - left, right, forward. They keep track of where they are by
> counting street crossings, listening for traffic noise, paying attention to
> landmarks like curbs and speed bumps, and sometimes using a GPS app on
> their
> iPhones.
>
>
>
> Here is the story of a recent walk to get a coffee and muffin at McDonalds
> on Fourth Ave.
>
>
>
> They leave their apartment on Louth St., across from the Superstore, and
> head towards the lights near Canadian Tire. Mark sports a t-shirt that
> proclaims: If love is blind ... I must be love.
>
>
>
> Halfway to the lights, Mattie gets distracted by a some birds fluttering on
> a nearby lawn, and the pair veer off the path. Mark, 52, feels grass, not
> sidewalk, under his feet and stops.
>
>
>
> He corrects Mattie. Tells her, "Leave it." And off they go again.
>
>
>
> Mark, 52, lost his sight in the mid-1980s because of diabetes and kidney
> failure. Caitlyn, 47, went blind in 1987 after being hit in the head during
> an assault.
>
>
>
> At the traffic lights, as cars whiz by,
>
>
>
> they stop. The dogs are trained to stop at curbs going down, and pause at
> curbs going up.
>
>
>
> The dogs can't read traffic signals. They don't see the 'white man', and
> know it's safe to go.
>
>
>
> Their job is to keep the couple away from obstacles. Caitlyn and Mark
> listen
> for traffic to know it's safe to cross.
>
>
>
> They head towards Walmart and Mattie navigates around a no-parking sign
> post
> sticking out of the sidewalk, but doesn't quite leave enough clearance for
> Mark. His right shoulder bangs into the post.
>
>
>
> Mark hits the metal pole with his hand to get Mattie's attention. He tells
> her, "Watch it."
>
>
>
> They back up. Try it again.
>
>
>
> By this time, Maggie and Caitlyn are ahead of Mark, near the entrance to
> Best Buy. They pass a woman with her leashed hound dog. The dog barks at
> Maggie. Maggie stops abruptly and Caitlyn pulls her away. "Leave it," she
> says. The woman watches.
>
>
>
> As Caitlyn walks away, a young boy reaches out to touch Maggie. An adult
> pulls him away, and the youngster drops to the ground and cries.
>
>
>
> Maggie ignores the noise. Onward they go.
>
>
>
> Guide dogs can't be afraid of loud noises, says Caitlyn. They are calm.
> Well-tempered.
>
>
>
> zNext, they head down Vansickle. At the wide entrance to the parking lot,
> next to EB Games, they pause. Mark hears a car stopped on the road to his
> left. He know it wants to turn right into the lot and he waits.
>
>
>
> At the curb next to Marks Work Warehouse, they hear traffic to the right
> and
> can orient themselves to cross straight.
>
>
>
> Next up, the parking lot towards Payless Shoes.
>
>
>
> Parking lots are difficult, even with a seasoned dog. There are cars
> backing
> up. Drivers not paying attention.
>
>
>
> "We really have to trust the dog," says Caitlyn.
>
>
>
> Close to their sidewalk destination they stop abruptly. The dogs want to
> keep going, but the couple thinks they've veered too far and overshot the
> path. They decide to turn around, hoping to find a familiar landmark.
>
>
>
> In reality, the dogs were right. This time.
>
>
>
> Caitlyn and Mark welcome help - just ask first. Don't assume. Same goes for
> touching a guide dog. Ask before you pet.
>
>
>
> One time, Mark was about to board a city bus, when a person grabbed him by
> the arm and guided him up the steps.
>
>
>
> Mark showed the driver his bus pass and waited.
>
>
>
> "The bus driver was rude. He didn't say anything to me."
>
>
>
> Mark started to walk towards the back of the bus, and then realized what
> had
> happened.
>
>
>
> The stranger had put him through the rear door of the bus. And the person
> he
> thought was the driver, was actually another passenger.
>
>
>
> "He was probably thinking, what's this blind dude doing showing me a
> picture
> of himself," says Mark.
>
>
>
> Humour comes in handy.
>
>
>
> So does determination. "I always like a challenge," says Caitlyn.
>
>
>
> "If someone tells me I can't do something, I prove to them that I can.
>
>
>
> "You have to deal with how it is now, and not the way it was."
>
>
>
> A short walk down the sidewalk, and they're at McDonalds.
>
>
>
> The dogs lie under table while couple talks.
>
>
>
> And they have their coffee and muffin.
>
>
>
> cheryl.clock at sunmedia.ca
>
>
>
>
>
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-- 
Raven