Welcome back!

So today was my last day of classes for a whole month. I know my class mates out there reading, are saying wow, I am so lucky. NOT! is my response. So I leave monday, but before I leave for Smithtown NY, I have to go to Temple to take a Economics midterm test. Fun! Then its off to NY.

I arrive on Monday, but won’t get my pup until wednesday. Monday night and into Tuesday they will orientate us to the building and campus. I think there will be 10 people in my class. Those in my class are from all over the country, who have all degrees of visual impairment and possibly other disabilities. Other things we do on Monday and tuesday are be intereviewed by the instructors. A interview to see what sort of things I want and need from a service animal. I’ll be using service animal in this blog, because my dog will have more than one job. There will be a quiz later on what those other tasks my dog will be trained for *smile* Because I have had a guide dog, a dog who has just guided me because I am blind. I have tasks and jobs I would like my puppy to be able to do. I have a whole grocery list of things I want and things I do not want. those who are going into a guide dog program for the first time, are not going to know what they want from a dog. And that is okay. the other thing we do in those first days is a Juno walk. Imagine the harness a guide dog wears. Imagine no dog, but a human holding on to the back strap, and the other person. Someone like me, holding on to the handle. and the instructor pretending to be the dog, pulling along, guiding you, simulating what it is like to walk with a dog. Its completely safe, and no instructor will let you get hurt, its is hard to let go of that control. I’ll talk more about that later. there will be more to happen those first few days.

but for now I am preparing. there is so much to do in the mean time. Like packing for one. The school recommends that you bring several broken in pairs of walking shoes. so because I have done this before, I have 4 pairs of shoes. Why you might ask would I need that many pairs of shoes, because when your in training for a service animal. One that will primarily be a guide dog, you walk atleast 3 to 5 miles a day. Yes folks I said miles. So for all of my class mates who said, I was lucky. Are you ready to change that answer?

With my last pup, Emma from the Seeing Eye. I think you arrive on a saturday and recieve your dog on Monday. So its about the same amount of time. And with TSE, they do about the same introductory stuff in the first few days.

For my normal at home schedule on Tuesday and thursday’s I am up at 4:30am. With my training, I will wake up at 6, potty the dog at 7, breakfast at 7:30am. and then working with the dogs from 8 to 12. Lunch is at 12 to 1pm. And then the same for the morning as the afternoon. and then dinner at 5. After dinner, there are lectures on how to take care of your dog, and covering every other topic imaginable after that. i will talk more about these as they come up. These lectures are for those new comers. If you are a new dog handler, it is important that you pay attention to these. A little secret I didn’t my first time, and now I wish I had. Back to the schedule, plus all of my training, I will need to keep up with my school work. 5 classes worth. So I am going to be a busy little bee. Oy Vey!

so a shout out to all of my classmates at Temple. to my student recorders, those wonderful students who have graciously offered to record the lectures and send them to me. Thank you again!

On a different note, Emma is still with us at home. Hubby will be taking care of her while I am gone. I am still absolutely devasted that she is not working and is retired. Emma and I were so good together. Her personality fit mine to the T. But as I said health and stress got to her.

a word of caution, please people watch where your going. I can’t see you. and when you run into my service animal, they can be hurt more than I. Its not just physical, but emotional. Dogs have feelings too!

I have done so much crying about Emma not working anymore. all of my tears are all dried up. It just seems as though I got Emma yesterday. But it wasn’t. I am incredibly nervous. Much more than I expected to be, and much more than I was with my other guides. What is different I am not sure. I was walking to the train this afternoon after classes, and said wow today is it for classes for a while. 

So this is the begining of my adventure, stay tuned!