[nagdu] My Other Question: Working with a Guide Dog When You Have Mibility Impairments

[Jewel S.]

Hi Rox,

I had read a bit about you and your dogs before, but couldn't remember
your name (my memory problems again...I am bad with names and
numbers). I think it's a wonderful setup and seems to work really
well. It's the inspiration that told me that it could work for me too!

I also have some bad vertigo, especially when shifting weight from one
foot to the other (if I am not very careful as I walk, just lifting a
foot to take a step can knock me off balance to send me stumbling back
several steps, and a few times has sent me stumbling into a pole,
curb, or friend...I haven't fallen yet this way, thank goodness. I
have fallen a few times, but mostly it was due to uneven ground (side
of a ditch, one foot on the gutter edge of a street, and one foot on
the actual road, or some such) or poor traction from rain, snow, or
ice. It helps that I walk very slowly, to keep my concentration on
keeping my balance as I lift each foot.

I also have some days that my right side is all but paralyzed, and my
right foot drags on the ground almost uselessly. I use a cane on these
days, obviously, but as I have to use it on my right side to be of
much use, I find it hard to grip the cane with a painful, partially
paralyzed hand on an arm that simply refuses to work other than to be
bent against my chest. It can be very frustrating at times.

How did you train with your dogs to counter balance and assist with
tasks that normally require lifting heavy loads (like laundry)? Those
tasks would be of particular use to me, especially if my condition
continues to worsen as it has been. I do use a rolling hamper that
helps sometimes (those I usually have a friend roll it anyway), and a
rolling backpack that I use around the house, too, to put objects in
to move them from one room to another. Do you have a special hamper
that your dog pulls around that you can put objects in as you find
them that need to be in other rooms? And I don't think I quite
understood the harness you use with your outside dog for balance
assistance. Is it the regular guide dog harness? If I lean in the
opposite direction I am stumbling, I still have problems, but in that
opposite direction, so I don't know that I understand how the dog
leaning the opposite direction actually assists. Could you explain?

I thank you very much for sharing a bit of your life with me. It is
very interesting to read, and I would love to hear more about your
daily life and how your dogs help also. If you do not mind sharing,
please do. Don't worry about length; I love to read *grin*

Hoping to hear more from you,
Jewel

On 4/15/10, The Pawpower Pack <pawpower4me at gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi Jewel,
>
> I'm Rox and have a dog who is a guide, hearing and service dog.  I am
> Deafblind and have vertigo ranging from moderate to severe at times.
> I need my dog to assist me while walking.  I don't use a wheelchair,
> though.
>
> My dogs are owner trained so I have no suggestions for programs which
> train tasks other than guide work.  I think the guide dog foundation
> does, and South Eastern guide dogs.  I can't speak to the specifics
> but I do know that both programs have trained at least one person who
> was blind and in a w/c before.
>
> As for me, my dog assists me to walk by counterbalancing.  I am not
> putting direct pressure on a stiff, upright handle which is
> perpendicular to her shoulders.  I use a standard guide dog harness
> and my dog will pull me in the opposite direction from that which I'm
> falling.  She also takes steps one at a time and will e very, very
> careful when approaching obstacles because even brushing up against
> something can cause me to fall.  She will help me up from a fall-- of
> which there are many.
>
> I have a dog who pulls laundry baskets from room to room, who empties
> a dryer, who can retrieve various objects from dropped change to large
> bottles of milk or laundry soap.  She will retrieve emergency
> medication on cue and will retrieve my phone when someone is testing me.
>
> She also alerts to sounds such as someone calling my name, the fire
> alarm, the beeping sound of cars backing up, and lots of other things.
>
> I choose to have two assistance dogs.  I have a very active lifestyle;
> work full time, am active in the Deaf and Deafblind community, and
> attend Deaf events at least once a week after work, take classes, as
> well as performing those necessary tasks such as grocery and other
> shopping and such.  That doesn't even address going out with friends
> and just walking for pleasure.  When I'm not outside of my home I'm
> busy in the kitchen, have a business as an herbalist, and am cleaning
> and such.  I need my dog's in-home help for all these things.
> I know PWD who have multiple disabilities who only have one dog.
> However they are much more sedentary than I am.  I know PWD who have
> one dog who are active and who have sighted/hearing/able bodied
> friends/family to step up and assist when their dog can't work or
> needs to suddenly retire.
> I don't feel comfortable with that and am lucky enough to be in a
> situation where I can have a home dog and an outside dog.  I don't
> take them out together once they are fully trained.  So the outside
> dog does her own thing at home and the inside dog stays home when I
> leave to go out, unless I'm taking her and leaving the outside dog to
> stay home and practice being alone.
>
> I would just google guide dog multiple disabilities and you'll
> probably find blogs or articles which address this issue better than I
> could.
>
> Good luck and sorry this was so long.
>
> Rox and the Kitchen Bitches
> Bristol (retired), Mill'E SD. and Laveau Guide Dog, CGC.
> "It's wildly irritating to have invented something as revolutionary as
> sarcasm, only to have it abused by amateurs." -- Christopher Moore
> pawpower4me at gmail.com
>
> Windows Live Only: Brisomania at hotmail.com
> AIM: Brissysgirl Yahoo: lillebriss
>
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