[NAGDU] Sedona Update

[S L Johnson]

Mardi:

I am interested in your training for a wheelchair guide.  From 2002 to 2007 
I used a manual wheelchair with my golden retriever guide dog Cinnamon.  She 
had been my guide for almost two years when I suffered a back injury.  It 
was very easy to teach her to adapt to the wheelchair from walking with me. 
As I slowly gained my ability to walk again Cinnamon was able to walk very 
slow without pulling.   When guiding the wheelchair she could often be a 
little speed racer.  Do you use a power chair or a manual chair?  I tried a 
power chair but du to severe muscle spasms in my hands from multiple 
sclerosis I could not keep the chair going in the correct direction.  I 
found myself to be much safer in a manual chair.  Unfortunately no guide dog 
schools will train for manual chairs and no service dog schools will train 
guide dogs.  As my Multiple sclerosis and arthritis get worse I find myself 
stuck at home because I cannot walk the longer distances.  I even miss 
medical appointments because the distance just under a mile is too short to 
qualify for any medical transportation and too far for me to walk.  I have 
to order all my groceries online instead of being able to go the mile to the 
store.  I may find myself once again training my current guide to guide a 
wheelchair.  Even though I have done this once before I would be interested 
in knowing any techniques you have found helpful.  Also if you use any kind 
of special equipment.  As for your walking with Sedona, have you tried using 
an offset handle to keep her a bit further away from your side?  Also she 
might think she has to stay very close to you to help you keep your balance. 
Cinnamon did this and so does my current guide Eva.  I am glad to hear that 
you are once again feeling well enough to get out.  Can you please write me 
off list so as not to clutter it up with too many messages?

Thanks,

Sandra Johnson and Golden Retriever Eva
SLJohnson25 at comcast.net

-----Original Message----- 
From: Mardi Hadfield via NAGDU
Sent: Tuesday, February 28, 2017 1:18 AM
To: NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users
Cc: Mardi Hadfield
Subject: [NAGDU] Sedona Update

Hi list, Mardi here. It has been a while since I gave an update on how the
training is going with Sedona, My Dutch Shepherd.  A few days ago, I put a
guide harness on her for the first time,and set out on a trek. I am able to
walk some at this time as I have been on a combination of pain meds and
prednisone.I already have been working her with the wheelchair for a while
now and she is learning to stop at driveways and curb cuts and streets. She
is very careful when we hit uneven ground. So, I decided to take her for a
walk, with me also walking, around the block. She is very good about dogs
barking and rushing fences. She will look at them,but keeps on walking and
does not bark back at them or really show any signs that she is afraid or
reactive. She stays very calm about it. She is very good about traffic so
far,but we have not really had any traffic checks yet.She does try to sniff
allot and gets distracted by people,but redirects fairly fast. She is not
bothered by loud noises,or even things like a plastic cup,blowing across
the street,coming towards her. She totally ignores things like that. She
does try to walk close to me which is a problem as I have stepped on her
toes a few times and she almost tripped me yesterday . I just keep telling
her, over left and she will move over,but seems to drift back to being too
close to me again. But I think she will get it. I have only walked with her
twice now so I think she will learn not to keep so close. I used the halti
on her today and she did not try to sniff as much and by the end of the
walk, she had totally stopped sniffing all together.I had to stop and rest
a while but there was a bench at a bus stop so I took advantage of it. She
was very good and sat while I sat ,but was eager to go again when I got up
and we walked the rest of the way home. She walks slow enough for me when
we walk together and walks faster when we use the wheelchair. She is doing
so well with her training. I am so proud of her !  Especially because I was
not able to work with her from Thanksgiving to Christmas as I had been in
the hospital twice for the infection in my legs. The infection is now under
controll and I am able to work with her again. We have not been out in
stores for a long time so I am going to start taking her out more and maybe
try a restaurant to see how that goes.  I am so proud of my little
Sedona!!
Mardi and Shaman,retired and Neechee, GD and Sedona, GDIT.

-- 
http://wolfsinger-lakota.blogspot.com/
http://wolfsinger2-thegoldendragon.blogspot.com
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