Recently, my route practice and general updates on mobility and all things Guide Dogs related has been pretty quiet and uneventful due to the fact that I started work in mid February and my mobility officer has been busy as there’s currently a lot of illness in the team. However, things haven’t quite gone to plan with my new job and I’ve been signed off on special leave while things are being sorted out. In the meantime, as I now have more free time than I expected to, I told my mobility officer I’m available for mobility lessons anytime if she has a free slot. Unfortunately, due to her being very busy covering the poorly staffs’ clients as well as her own, she hasn’t had many free slots to offer me. But on the 3rd of April, I got a phone call from her mid morning to say she was free that afternoon if I wanted to do a session at short notice. Well, of course I did! So, an hour and a half later she arrived at my door and we headed out to walk both my main block routes; these are the route that takes me to Kieran’s parents house & Tesco’s and then the hairdressers & the beach. As we walked passed the hairdressers on the way to the beach, my mobility officer noticed a sign on the door saying the hairdressers is moving to a new location as part of the new development happening on the beach. Sadly, this means the block route we’ve created doesn’t quite have the destinations we aimed for but it does mean I can still get to the hairdressers and have more options of places to go to once on the beach. The block route is still fine to use as it would give my future Guide Dog variation. That route went absolutely fine. There was only one hiccup with the Tesco’s block route, which happened on the return half when I couldn’t remember which direction to go. However, we think it has been several months since I walked that route and I admitted I haven’t been reading my route instructions as regularly as I should have. It’s easier to ignore the reminder on my phone screen than I first thought. I’m getting better now though.
After that, the next big event was the client day at the new Newcastle office. A client day is where people on the ready to train (waiting list) go into the office and walk with a dog in harness and experience some of the other training you’ll do when you’re matched with your dog. I’ve attended two of these before, in Southampton, but they weren’t very successful for me. The Southampton team used them before you were on the waiting list to assess your suitability for a dog. I was always too nervous to pass. Happily, the client day with the Newcastle team on 2nd May was much more successful. It wasn’t used as an assessment tool at all, more a way for the GDMS (Guide Dog Mobility Specialist) staff to witness you walking with a dog to add any updates to your criteria or needs to use when assessing potential matches for you. This client day was better than those I attended in Southampton because the atmosphere was much more relaxed, all members of staff were lovely and we were able to walk with two dogs each. They’d roughly chosen the dogs to match each client based on size and speed of the dogs. I worked with two gorgeous dogs, yellow Labrador retriever cross Bree and black Labrador retriever cross Gina. We were driven to a quiet area where we could walk short block routes with the dogs, experiencing side road crossings and left & right turns. Firstly, I walked with Bree. To begin with, her pace seemed a little fast for me but as I got used to walking with her we seemed quite well suited. I was shown the positions, gestures and commands for turns, to slow her speed down, praise and correct her. Of course, I already knew some of this from my previous Guide Dog Assessments but quite a lot has changed since. After a little while, the GDMS said we were looking good together and I was reacting instinctively with her. Obviously, they don’t expect you to be anywhere near perfect but positive signs for the future are beneficial. Bree was a little superstar. Although sometimes distracted by the other clients with their dogs and trainers nearby, she quickly focused back on her guiding and was pretty much paw perfect; she even ignored some food on the pavement. The only slight issue was with me. The pavements were quite uneven so on top of adjusting to Bree’s speed I found I was stumbling and tripping quite a bit. The GDMS didn’t seem to mind that much and I feel that it was partly due to my inexperience walking with a Guide Dog, quite a lot to do with the uneven ground and a bit because I didn’t know the route we were walking along. To be honest, because the atmosphere was quite relaxed and Bree made me feel quite comfortable, I don’t think nerves played much of a part in it. Overall, I was pretty pleased with how the walk went. Next, I walked with Gina. The staff call her a little pocket rocket and she most certainly is. She zoomed off with me in pursuit trying to keep up. The GDMS slowed her down a bit a few times and I felt a bit more in control. She didn’t seem to react quite as well to me as Bree had seemed to. Of course, they’re all very different dogs with different personalities and quirks. Gina is absolutely gorgeous and super affectionate, very eager to please. Again, I stumbled and tripped quite a bit, worsened by Gina’s quicker speed. I still very much enjoyed the walk and the GDMS who walked with me also seemed happy with how it had gone. Big cuddles were given to both girls afterwards. During our walks, another member of staff followed behind filming us, with our permission, so that the footage could be reviewed and anything they thought would be useful when looking at potential matches for us added to our assessment notes. It felt a bit odd being filmed and it made me a bit nervous having someone extra watching me trying to walk with the dogs but if it helps them find me a match it doesn’t matter.
After our walks, we were taken back to the office to have our lunch. Then, we were split into three groups of two where we took turns doing some other training techniques with the dog. I worked with Bree, which was lovely because I was falling a little in love. First, we did some food manners with her. You put a few treats on a table and stand with the dog to your left; take one treat at a time and hold it with palm upwards a few inches away from the dog’s mouth; after a few seconds, either give the dog the treat or put it back on the table. This teaches them that you’re someone they can take treats from but that they have to wait and don’t always get a treat every time they respond with the right behaviour. Another food manners method we tried was getting the dog to sit at your side, dropping some treats on the floor in front of them whilst loosely holding onto their collar and seeing whether they pull forward to get the treats. If they do, all the treats return to your treat pouch. If they don’t, they’re allowed a couple of the treats. Also, we were taught the command “head in”, where you hold the harness open and ask the dog to put their head in. This gives them the opportunity to have their harness on and makes a more positive association with it rather than just forcing it on. Of course, if they put their head in they’re rewarded with a treat. Another thing we tried was targeting objects. This is particularly useful if you want to find a certain landmark along a route, like a push button at a crossing or a chair in a café. You just tell the dog the item you want it to find and it goes. For example, for a chair you just say “chair”, the dog walks forward to the chair, rests its chin on the seat and you reward with a treat. Once we’d targeted the chair, we learnt how to settle the dog under the chair out of the way. You do this on public transport and in places like cafes so that the dog knows just to lay down and is out of the way of someone stepping on them. The last thing we learnt was the new chin rest command. This is where you use a towel or blanket on a flat surface, like a chair, and the dog goes and rests its head on the towel. Once the dog’s head is on the towel, you give them a treat. They’re only allowed a treat if they don’t lift their head. This is used for grooming and health checks. It gives the dog the choice of whether it wants you to do things. For example, if you’re trying to clean their ears and they don’t like it, they lift their head and you stop. When they lower their head back to the towel, you reward with a treat and try again or do a different part of the check/grooming. I think this is a much nicer method than how it used to be done, just doing what you needed to whether the dog liked it or not. I think it makes grooming more enjoyable for the dog and must build a better bond for the partnership. Of course, Bree was a star again. By the time the second person tried each behaviour, she already knew what to do and was acting before we’d spoken the command or done the gesture.
It was an all-round great day and it’s so nice to have a positive experience of a client day to remember. Another plus was that I was able to get to and from the office independently by catching the bus and my mobility officer meeting me at the stop by the office. It felt good to do it by myself instead of getting a lift or taxi. I don’t know if the client day will result in anything drastic happening for me. We were told the dogs we met still have some training to do and won’t be ready for a while so there won’t be any immediate matching visits. But I hope that seeing me interact and walk with trainee Guide Dogs might help them find me a suitable match in the next few months. I’ve been on the Newcastle list 7 and a half months now and it’d be great if a dog came along before I reach a year. I was told I am pretty much the northeast’s longest person on the ready to train list so add that to the fact that the new Newcastle office has capacity for many more dogs now and the fact that I, and the trainers I spoke to, thought the client day went well for me and hopefully it won’t be long before I have good news.
On Monday 15th May, as arranged just after the client day, I caught the bus to the HMRC bus stop I’ve been learning how to get to and my mobility officer met me there. This time, it wasn’t quite our usual mobility session. One of the GDMS staff, who I met on the client day, had come along to observe me doing one of my routes with a cane. I was a little more nervous than usual about this but also because it’s been quite a long time since I practised that route. However, I think the little addition to our group in the form of the lovely Bree helped me focus and walk well. The GDMS had brought Bree along because she was looking after her for her proper GDMS while she was busy with other work. Of course, I definitely wasn’t complaining. The GDMS only had Bree on her lead but she followed along happily, stopping at the up and down curbs correctly and even targeting the bus stop at the end of the route. Best of all, I got a little cuddle before catching my bus home. According to my mobility officer, the GDMS was very impressed with how I’d walked the route and said it was a great route for my future guide dog. I was pretty chuffed with how it had gone, too, but the icing on the cake was definitely getting another cuddle with the lovely Bree. My mobility officer said she’s hoping to book me in for a couple more refresher sessions on my current routes. I’ve said I’d like that to happen when a potential match is found, just so I feel more confident doing the routes on a matching visit and during training. But I’ll take any practice if offered. So fingers crossed June brings more good things.
A5Ramblings 