[nagdu] Fwd: [acb-l] Fw: Meet Klinger, the First Certified Running Guide Dog | Runner's World

Fri Oct 16 13:36:48 UTC 2015

I also found it interesting that they said guide dogs do their best
work away from crowds. Maybe you wouldn't want to run with your dog in
an extremely crowded environment, but this seems like something that
should be decided on a case-by-case basis. I also don't quite
understand the restriction on the number of routes. If the dog can
truly guide effectively while running, I would think the type of route
would be more inmportant than the quantity.

Danielle and Thai

On 10/15/15, The Pawpower Pack via nagdu <nagdu at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> As someone who runs/jores with a dog, I find it interesting that the
> training program only did 25% of runs under blindfold before giving the dog
> to the handler.  I would think it would be wiser to up that figure to at
> LEAST 75% of runs under blindfold. After all, the dog will be running 100%
> of the time with a blind handler.
>
>
>  Rox and the kitchen Bitches:
> Mill'E, Laveau, Soleil
> Pawpower4me at gmail.com
> Sent from my iPhone
>
>> On Oct 15, 2015, at 3:10 PM, Danielle Ledet via nagdu <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
>> wrote:
>>
>> Since we previously discussed this here, and I saw these 2 featured on
>> CBS This Morning, but I wasn't sure where they were trained at.
>>
>> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
>> From: Jeanne Fike via acb-l <acb-l at acblists.org>
>> Date: Tue, 13 Oct 2015 09:07:50 +0000
>> Subject: [acb-l] Fw: Meet Klinger, the First Certified Running Guide
>> Dog | Runner's World
>> To: acb-l at acblists.org
>>
>>
>>
>> for those of you with guidedogs
>>
>> Meet Klinger, the First Certified Running Guide Dog | Runner's World
>>
>> A pilot program is exploring how running guide dogs can be a safe option
>> for
>> visually impaired athletes.
>>
>> By Ali Nolan <http://www.runnersworld.com/person/ali-nolan>  Friday,
>> August
>> 21, 2015, 1:30 pm
>>
>>
>> Richard Hunter, a former United States Marine and avid runner, started
>> losing his sight in 1989. Klinger, a German Shepherd, will be his first
>> running guide dog. Photo by Yanush Sanmugaraja
>>
>>
>>
>> On Saturday, the Guiding Eyes for the Blind
>> <https://www.guidingeyes.org/>
>> school in Yorktown Heights, New York, will hold a graduation ceremony and
>> welcome a new fleet of guide dogs to their homes outside the academy.
>> Among
>> the pack is a special German Shepherd named Klinger, who will graduate as
>> the first-ever certified running guide dog.
>>
>> Klinger, at 2 years old, is the only dog to have been raised and trained
>> through the school's Running Guides pilot program. After six months of
>> specialized training and more than 200 miles logged, Klinger will finally
>> get to start living with his new handler, Richard Hunter.
>>
>>
>>
>> Hunter, 48, was a second lieutenant in the United States Marines when he
>> was
>> diagnosed with Retinitis Pigmentosa in 1989. The condition causes a
>> gradual
>> decline in vision and left Hunter legally blind. As Hunter's sight
>> diminished, he found his life changing in dramatic ways, but it didn't
>> prevent him from setting goals and continuing to race in endurance
>> events.
>>
>> "There were a lot of things I couldn't do anymore," Hunter told Runner's
>> World Newswire <http://www.runnersworld.com/tag/newswire> . "But I knew I
>> had to focus on what I could do, especially as an example to my three
>> daughters. The Marines taught me to love running, and one thing I could
>> do
>> was run."
>>
>> Hunter built up a solid record racing. He qualified for his first Boston
>> Marathon <http://www.runnersworld.com/boston-marathon>  in 2008 by running
>> a
>> 3:18 at the 2007 California International Marathon. He's run four more
>> Bostons, and now does triathlons, finishing the 2011 Florida Ironman in
>> 11
>> hours and 55 minutes, making him the second visually impaired athlete with
>> a
>> guide to complete an Ironman in less than 12 hours.
>>
>> But in 2013, two hours into a five-hour bike ride while training for
>> Ironman
>> Lake Tahoe, Hunter and his guide were struck nearly head-on by a vehicle.
>>
>> "I went all the way through the windshield headfirst and woke up inside
>> the
>> car," he said. "I had my helmet broken in two. I was helicoptered to the
>> hospital and later sent home in a neck brace with a hospital bed that I
>> had
>> to use for three months."
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Despite suffering two facial fractures and a broken neck, Hunter trained
>> for
>> and ran the 2014 Boston Marathon
>> <http://www.runnersworld.com/tag/boston-marathon>  nine months after the
>> accident. Still, Hunter knew something needed to change.
>>
>> "My middle daughter, Lindsay, had grown increasingly concerned about my
>> safety after the accident and started asking when I was going to get a
>> guide
>> dog," Hunter said. "I told her if a guide program would ever allow me to
>> jog
>> with a dog, I would do it right away because I would be able to train
>> more
>> freely."
>>
>> * * *
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> It was at that Boston Marathon where Hunter met Thomas Panek, the CEO of
>> Guiding Eyes for the Blind, a nonprofit that provides services for
>> individuals who are visually impaired and have special needs. Panek was
>> also
>> a marathoner who used a human sighted guide for racing, but for
>> day-to-day
>> activities he had his guide dog. The two discussed Hunter's idea of a
>> more
>> dedicated guide dog running program.
>>
>> From there, Panek brought the idea to his board and staff members at
>> Guiding
>> Eyes. His team decided to explore the best way to make running with a
>> guide
>> dog safe for both the handler and animal.
>>
>> "What we realized was that people were running with their guide dogs
>> anyway," said Ben Cawley, a trainer at Guiding Eyes. "A lot of handlers
>> were
>> taking their dogs running, and we wanted to make this a formal program to
>> increase safety. So we took a really conservative approach as we
>> developed
>> the program."
>>
>> Knowing that an increased pace would magnify the challenges the dog faced
>> when navigating busy streets, Cawley and the other trainers decided on a
>> walking pace in areas of high traffic. They also limited the number of
>> routes the dog would learn to two, and they started with a 5K as the goal
>> distance.
>>
>> The handle was modified in consideration for the ergonomics of the dog
>> and
>> human, and the handle allows the dog's front legs full range of motion.
>> The
>> school also knew it had to choose the right dog.
>>
>> Besides his love of running, there were other things that made Klinger an
>> obvious choice. "Klinger has a nice drive to work," said Jolene
>> Hollister,
>> another trainer who worked closely with the dog. "He wants to have a job
>> and
>> purpose and wants to please his handler. He also has an undying amount of
>> stamina. He loves to play ball, and that was our first step in building
>> up
>> his endurance."
>>
>> After lots of games of fetch and retrieve, Hollister started taking
>> Klinger
>> on mile-long runs, gradually getting him going. The team would introduce
>> distractions and things like intersections and street crossings for
>> Klinger
>> to clear. Once he was able to navigate those obstacles, they increased
>> pace.
>> To ensure total safety for when Hunter would become Klinger's owner, the
>> trainers ran 25 percent of the runs blindfolded.
>>
>> Hunter has been running with Klinger for three weeks on the routes near
>> the
>> Guiding Eyes school. After graduation, Cawley will travel with Hunter
>> back
>> to his home outside of Sacramento to help Klinger adjust to two set
>> routes.
>> In addition to normal guide dog duties, Klinger will guide his new
>> handler
>> through three to four slow runs per week.
>>
>> http://www.runnersworld.com/sites/runnersworld.com/files/styles/article_main
>> _image_2200px/public/richard-and-klinger-fdr-sunrise.jpg?itok=w2nGZstK
>>
>> <img class="media-element file-default" typeof="foaf:Image"
>> src="http://www.runnersworld.com/sites/runnersworld.com/files/styles/article
>> _main_image_2200px/public/richard-and-klinger-fdr-sunrise.jpg?itok=w2nGZstK"
>> alt="" />
>>
>> Klinger will run with Hunter three to four days a week and, just like
>> human
>> runners, have designated rest days. Photo by Yanush Sanmugaraja
>>
>> "On a busy sidewalk, we go at about a nine-minute pace," Hunter said.
>> "But
>> on a clear trail, we can get down to eight-minute miles."
>>
>> All of Klinger and Hunter's runs are primarily for training. Because
>> guide
>> dogs do their best work away from large crowds, Klinger will not be
>> Hunter's
>> eyes in races.
>>
>> The Guiding Eyes team will be monitoring the new running duo's progress
>> and
>> looking to see how many years the pair can run together. But even if the
>> exploration phase takes time before they bring more dogs into the running
>> program, Hunter is hopeful that this will change running for the visually
>> impaired.
>>
>> "One of my greatest passions is helping my fellow visually impaired and
>> blind peers," he said. "I know blind runners who have trained for races
>> exclusively on treadmills. This could get them outside or get some to
>> lace
>> up sneakers for the first time."
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Danielle
>>
>> Email: singingmywayin at gmail.com
>>
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