Getting Around

Hailing Accessible Taxis

Guest Blogger, Jay Leventhal, Editor in Chief, AccessWorld®

Awhile back, my colleagues wrote about a taxi driver they encountered in Louisville, KY who was helping to make the world a more accessible place for people with vision loss. Jimmy the Taxi Man had braille on the doors of his cab and on his business cards, and was working to get all Louisville cabbies to do the same. It's a shame that not all cabs are accessible not only for those of us with vision loss, but also for people with other disabilities…but there is hope that this will change, at least in New York.

Legislation has been introduced in the New York Assembly (A.7842) that, if passed, would require all taxi cabs to be accessible by the year 2012. Some of the required access features would include:

• Ramps or lifts for people in wheelchairs
• Assistive listening systems for people with hearing impairments
• All signs in taxis in braille and large print
• Some sort of device in hybrid taxis that would allow a blind or visually impaired person to hear the vehicle.

It is imperative that all taxis are accessible, especially in a city as large as New York City where many residents and visitors are living with disabilities and rely on taxis as their mode of transportation. I invite all New Yorkers to write your representatives asking their support of bill A.7842 so that by 2012, all travelers will have access to this important mode of transportation.

Coffee and Canes

Dear Blog Readers,

As in most offices in New York, it's really cold here—I'm talking, ski-resort chilly. Every day that I've been here, I've sat at my desk, wishing I could go get a cup of steaming coffee to help warm up. (I'm cupping mine with both hands right now, so that my fingers defrost in order to continue typing.)

It's one thing to not be allowed out of the office, except for a measly lunch break. But my supervisors are nice people, and would let me out as I please—if only I could go myself. But as is natural in a new environment, especially New York City, how was I expected to saunter over to Starbucks? I felt imprisoned; I was locked in this North Pole only with my own inability to cross the street holding me back. Something had to be done.

So, to help me learn to navigate the uber-crowded streets of New York, I approached the Lighthouse for help. They assigned a "mobility instructor" to me, Karen, who immediately helped me embark on my journey to coffee. The process took longer than you would think—one session was spent on simply getting out of my building. Another focused entirely on crossing the street. Only after the third was I able to independently make my one-block-long pilgrimage.

Many steps of the process, naturally, were just as surprising to me as they would seem to an outsider. Who would've known, for example, that catching an elevator was an art unto itself? I was also particularly opposed to the idea of getting assistance to cross the street. I was learning to be independent, I insisted to Karen, and the thought of having to rely on someone else seemed absurd. But a little research told me that the practice of being dependent on strangers was not only the norm, but oftentimes the only means of living and functioning independently in this bustling city.

But now that I've got my first route under my belt, I feel proud and confident to take on more challenges. I cannot even express in words what it feels like to have the knowledge that I'm finally free—and one day, will be able to live completely alone. It's a comforting thought ... possibly even more so than knowing that my grande skinny cinnamon dolce latte will restore the warmth to my frozen body.

Michelle

P.S. It's a great coffee blend, by the way ... you should try it once.

We Can't Keep Quiet About Silent Cars

Guest Blogger Mark Richert, Esq., Director, Public Policy

With the price of gas continuing to soar, many Americans are turning to fuel-efficient hybrid cars to save some money at the pump. While these cars are better for the environment, and our pocketbooks, they pose a real threat to the safety of pedestrians. Because hybrid car engines are basically silent, it's difficult for pedestrians—particularly pedestrians that are blind or visually impaired—to know when these cars are driving by.

A recent article in The San Diego Union Tribune talked about a meeting held in Washington where members of the blindness field, including yours truly, gathered to talk about how hybrids and other quiet vehicles threaten far more than the 1.1 million legally blind Americans because many people depend on auditory cues to know when a car is approaching. This includes people talking or checking their cell phones while walking, or children who forget to "look both ways" before crossing the street. Without these noises, all pedestrians could be at risk for being hit by a car. As we move toward making more environmentally friendly vehicles, we need to ensure that we are also protecting the safety of pedestrians. There is no reason we can't do both.

Takin' it to the Street

Guest Blogger, Marc Grossman, Accessibility Specialist, AFB Consulting

Earlier this week, I read a blog entry from the Tri-State Transportation Campaign (TSTC) that sparked an interesting conversation among some of my colleagues and I. The blogger wrote about the poor design of the streets surrounding Penn Station-the same streets I travel everyday on my way to AFB's headquarters in New York City-and how it's a great time to talk about making changes to the area's layout, as New York's Development Corporation is planning a revamp of Penn Station.

Many New Yorkers, regardless of the status of their vision, find this area to be a nightmare. The streets are crowded with commuters and tourists, sidewalks are narrow (and are made narrower by scaffolding, garbage, and street vendors), and cars often block the crosswalk on 7th Avenue (just last month, a car blocking the cross walk rolled over and broke my cane!). In passing this blog post around to some of my colleagues, a discussion about the accessibility of certain areas and cities for a pedestrian with vision loss unfolded. Some felt that Penn Station and the surrounding area are incredibly accessible because of the layout, consistent land marks, flow of traffic, and availability of good stores and food. Others, like myself, feel that the throngs of people (especially during the holidays), vendors, and inconsiderate drivers, really make this area dangerous for all types of pedestrians. So, what makes an area accessible? I guess the saying is true, different strokes for different folks!

In the end, I think the real thing to take away from reading the TSTC blog and the subsequent discussion is that New York City has an obligation to design city streets that maximize the safest environment for all travelers. Pedestrians who are blind or visually impaired support the same pedestrian-friendly environments and features that all thoughtful pro-pedestrian organizations, like TSTC, promote. So, as the city begins to evaluate its plans for rehabilitating the area surrounding Penn Station, I encourage pedestrians to speak their mind and alert city planners to our concerns.

The Joys of Business Travel Never End

Guest Blogger, Marc Grossman, Accessibility Specialist, AFB Consulting

On my recent trip to Tampa to promote the Accessible Courts Initiative, I was reminded how many people out there take a "one size fits all" mentality when it comes to accessibility and accommodation. I don't think many of us would disagree that a person experiencing mobility impairment would desire significantly different accommodations than a person with vision or hearing impairment.

When I booked my room online, I specifically did not check the box for an accessible room (although I do applaud them for making it an option) because I find it easier to manage in a standard room. If you have stayed in one business hotel, you have stayed in them all: the closet is always near the door; in the bathroom, the sink, toilet, and tub are in specific places; the desk, phone, and lamp are always the same distance from the bed; and the bed is the same distance from the dresser and the television.

When I arrived in my room in Tampa, I noticed that the layout was overly spacious and that the shower entrance was flat to accommodate a wheel chair, both red flags for an accessible room. I'd been given an accessible room, without being asked if it was okay! I called the front desk to ask for a regular room, but while the staff was understanding and polite, they eventually told me that I had to stay put. This was extremely frustrating, and the hotel manager made no effort to correct the situation. I have written a complaint letter but was very disappointed with the response. The manager could not even manage to spell my name correctly in his e-mail!

If hotels really want to take accessibility seriously, let me give some friendly advice. One size does not fit all! Here are some basic tips for accommodating blind and visually impaired guests:

• Provide braille and large print copies of the hotel directory and restaurant menus
• Make sure that lighting in hallways and stairwells is bright and even
• And while you are at it, how about asking vendors to put tactile markings on the bottles in the bathroom so I don't wash my hair with hand lotion

For more interesting and helpful tips, check out our checklist for environmental safety.

So what do you think? Are hotel employees sensitive to the needs of the visually impaired? Do you feel like people take a "one size fits all" approach when it comes to making accommodations? What other accommodations would you like to see in hotels? Tell us about your own experiences in the comments section below.

There's No Place Like (a New) Home...

Perhaps some of you have heard our big news. We've been keeping it pretty quiet, but now it's time to come clean.

OK, it's not really that big, but I wanted to make sure I got your attention.

AFB's Washington, DC office, my home and that of our Public Policy Center, has moved. We're still in Washington, DC, though we briefly considered Bermuda [smile].

We're actually now closer to the part of town known for the number of lobbyists' offices. We used to be down by the Senate side of Capitol Hill (in the CNN building, no less). But, leases come up and sometimes it's good to change.

So, we're now up on L street, just one block over from the infamous "K Street," which all the political junkies know is where the big lobbyists hang out. Interestingly enough, L street is an old friend of AFB. We used to have an office in 1660 L Street around 20 years ago, so it's back to the future. We like the new digs, a little more cozy, and we love the neighborhood. Though we will miss the nice easy walk to the Senate.

Our new address is:

American Foundation for the Blind
1660 L Street, N.W.
Suite 513
Washington, DC 20036

Phone: 202-822-0830

Hey, by the way, this is also a good time for me to remind you to subscribe to our periodic e-mail newsletter about policy action of importance to people with vision loss. It's called DirectConnect and you can subscribe by emailing Barbara LeMoine blemoine@afb.net.

Accessible Streets: The Newest San Francisco Treat

Guest Blogger, Gil Johnson, Senior Advisor, Critical Issues

I have been living in the East Bay, across the San Francisco Bay Bridge, and working in San Francisco, California, for years, so I am quite used to the busy streets of a big city. However, there are still times when safely crossing an intersection can be quite difficult. Between noisy crowds that make it hard to hear the flow of traffic, construction sounds (will they ever get done rebuilding?), and hybrid cars (great for the environment, but the engine is basically silent), traveling safely and comfortably in congested city streets is becoming more challenging than ever. Thankfully, San Francisco, the City I love, just announced that it will begin making the streets more accessible to people who are blind or visually impaired. The City's transportation agency is installing 80 signal devices over the next 2 years (with more to come) with audible locater sounds to help blind and low vision pedestrians locate the crosswalk. These new state-of-the-art devices also have other accessibility features, such as announcing the street name and information about when the light has turned green. Another feature is vibrating pushbuttons, which are helpful for persons who cannot hear the "clear to walk" speech message. These developments came about through a legal process called structured negotiations, which is the same approach applied to the RadioShack accessibility agreement previously mentioned on this blog. It's basically an alternative to litigation and has produced great results. At the very least, it's helping to make the streets of San Francisco more accessible (and safer) for all pedestrians. Now if we can only find a way to level some of the City's uphill climbs...

GPS...I don't remember that fraternity

Ah, campus life. Dormitories, dining halls, and...GPS? The newest school staple for co-eds with vision loss is a talking Global Positioning System (GPS). Some of you readers might not be familiar with GPS, how it works, or its level of effectiveness so you should read AccessWorld®'s—AFB's online technology magazine—review of Sendero GPS 3.5 for BrailleNote. Now, back to school. Florida State University recently completed mapping its campus so that various important spots can be picked up by the electronic tracking tool. Hmmm...I wonder if this includes all the party spots. In order to use these systems, students must have upgraded Braille Note notetakers which are basically small computers with a one-line Braille display and a Braille-input keypad. Then they can just attach the GPS to their Braille Notes and they're off. I can only imagine how great this is for student's confidence, independence, and sense of belonging. Lets just hope it spreads to campuses across the country.

The Information Super Highway Now Offers Rides

Back in December, two of my colleagues blogged about Jimmy the Taxi Driver, a very blind-friendly taxi driver who traverses the streets of Louisville, Kentucky. Well, there is another name in town and it's Jason Diaz. Jason created a web site called www.1800cabride.com that combines the conveniences of ordering car services and making online reservations. The site has connections with independent cab companies throughout the United States (currently in the major 25 U.S markets and other outlying cities) so all you need to do is access the site, enter your pick-up and drop-off information, and you're done. Even better, payment is completed via the web site, so there is no hassling with bills or counting change when you arrive at your destination. Just another example of a resource that is not only beneficial to people with vision loss, but to anyone who wants a quick, easy way of getting around. Now we just need to find a way to get Jimmy into the www.1800cabride.com network.

Blind Attorney Advocates for Wheelchair Access to Detroit Buses

Richard Bernstein, a blind attorney from Detroit (and a friend of mine) was on CNN recently for work in getting the Detroit buses to fix their wheelchair lifts so that wheelchair-using citizens could use the transit system. CNN is having a "vote" to see which of four people should come to New York City's Times Square and be on CNN for New Year's Eve.

Watch the videos, which have nice audio, and vote for Richard!

http://www.cnn.com/interactive/us/0612/gallery.ac360.honest/frameset.exclude.html

Meet Jimmy the Taxi Man: The Most Vision Loss-Friendly Cab on Earth

Guest Bloggers Kelly Parisi, VP, Communications, and Adrianna Montague-Gray, Communications Manager

New York cabbies step aside! This taxi driver has set the bar very high...

On a recent business trip to Kentucky, we met the greatest taxi driver. Jimmy the Taxi Man, or "Cab Dude" as he calls himself, came highly recommended by a friend. He was the epitome of southern charm, and a huge advocate for people with vision loss. To our suprise, he had braille on the doors of his cab and on his business cards, and was working to get all Louisville cabbies to do the same. He wants people with vision loss to have access to cab ID numbers in case they need to report a bad experience. His clients include a blind local radio personality and a blind couple he takes grocery shopping. The world would be a better place with more Cab Dudes. If you ever find yourself in charming Louisville, give Jimmy a ring. You won't be sorry.

Ten Tips for Making Homes Vision Loss-Friendly

Guest Blogger, Priscilla Rogers, Ph.D., National Independent Living Associate

In honor of the last day of National Family Caregiving Month, here are ten tips for making a home more vision loss-friendly. For more tips, take a look at Aging and Vision Loss: A Handbook for Families.

1. Use contrasting colors to make doorways, stairs, and furniture easier to see.

2. Paint the inside of eye-level cabinet doors a contrasting color to make it easier to see dishware (or use shelf liner with a contrasting color).

3. Replace everyday household items with large print or audible clocks, timers, remotes, calculators, and a host of other devices that are now available.

4. Use tactile markings to mark controls on appliances such as stoves, ovens, thermostats, and other devices to make them easier to use.

5. Provide adequate light for tasks and reduce glare.

6. Organize belongings in a way that makes sense to your relative. Always return objects to the same place.

7. Label items such as canned goods, medications, and clothing—with large print or tactile labels so that they are easier to identify.

8. Use contrasting colors at place settings to make them easier to see.

9. Learn about devices that are available to help with writing, banking, reading, and carrying out everyday tasks.

10. Learn about safe travel techniques such as how to walk safely with a person who has vision loss.

The Newest Fad on the Streets

Back in May, I talked about New York City's efforts to establish more wheelchair accessible cabs and commented on how great it feels to give kudos to those who make the world more accessible to people with disabilities. Today, I'm happy to give kudos to Palisades Park, New Jersey, for making the world more accessible for people with vision loss. According to an article in The Record, "on street corners here and across the state, work crews have been installing special panels designed to help the blind and visually handicapped tell exactly where the sidewalk ends and traffic begins." These panels are sometimes referred to as "braille for the feet," and are similar to the type of panels found on train platforms. I hope other cities and states follow New Jersey's lead in making their streets safer for people with vision loss.

Coming Home with the New Dog Guide

We're home! Ralph drove Paige and me home this week and worked with us in my home neighborhood for several hours.

I guess most people fly home, so the trainers take them to the airport and go through security with them to the gate. This is great, since the dogs have not flown before and often the people don't have much experience with it, either. And, getting a dog through an airport is different from getting a cane through. I'll have that experience sometime in the near future.

Being so close to the school meant I could show Ralph the problem spots in my neighborhood and he could work through them with me. The worst was a subway stop that I use as a backup or when I want to go to the Bronx. It's on an island with busy streets all around. We crossed and went to the steps several times so Paige and I would learn the convoluted route.

Paige is quickly learning my regular destinations. She truly amazed me when we went home through Penn Station. We had been there for the first time that morning on our way to work. It was hard getting her to all the right staircases an hallways through the crowds of people at 7:15 AM, but we did it. Then, I thought I'd have a similar effort going home. But instead, she knew the route an barreled through the crowd back to the entrance to my subway train! I never thought she'd be able to turn the route around and do it backwards.

We found a perfect place for her under my desk. My desk is L-shaped and the side to my right is huge. I used to keep plant repotting materials under it. I moved those things out and Paige found her perfect cubby-hole where she can peek out and see who's in my doorway. She stands up to leave every time I say good by to someone on the phone.

We had our first day in Central Park without a trainer. The park is loaded with distractions, but Paige did her job. She pulls very hard, though, and tries to sniff.

I ran a race yesterday morning in the park and a friend held Paige for me for the hour or so that I was gone. All reports are that she was well behaved and my guide said she was sitting quietly when we went by during the race. Rumor has it she was distracted by one dog while I was gone. We're working on that.

I wondered what it would be like to be turned loose in the world with no trainer to straighten us out. The trainers had been working farther and farther back, of course, and we had done many walks with walkie-talkies, so that we were effectively on our own. But, it wasn't that long ago that Paige would hardly do anything I told her to do without looking to Ralph as the Big Boss. She eventually started to get the idea that I was her boss and that Ralph was mine, and now seems not to notice at all that Ralph isn't here, except that she goes to Ralph's parking place on my street each time we walk that way.

Getting a Dog Guide -- Free Time?

Before I came to the Seeing Eye to get my dog, all my friends and coworkers wanted to know what I would do when I wasn't in class. I wondered the same thing. Would I be able to work? Could I train for a marathon? How about a triathlon? Could I catch up on my reading? I imagine other people planning to get a dog might be wondering the same thing. To what extent is my life on hold?

The first-timer's program is 26 days long. People getting a second dog are here for a shorter time. Training time involves a lot of walking with the dog and trainer, lectures and discussions, and hands-on practice with grooming, care, harness assembly, and so on.

I would divide non-class time into two categories: waiting time and free time.

Friends had told me about the waiting. There isn't as much of it as I thought there would be. Sometimes the trainer takes two of us out in the van to a route and leaves one of us in the van while the other is working. For this, a book is great. Other times you're waiting in your room for ten or twenty minutes, so a book or a computer both work well. It can be a good time to make a quick phone call, too.

Free time usually comes in chunks of an hour or two. Every night after 8:00 is free, and so is most of the early morning before 7:00. We feed and take our dogs out at 5:30, so this chunk of free time is broken up a little. There are sometimes opportunities to do your own things while half of your group is with your trainer. For example, during most of the class Ralph took two people out after breakfast, then came back for the other two mid-morning. So, those in the second group had free time from about 7:30 to about 9:15.

What can you do with these blocks of time? That depends a lot on your energy level and technical expertise. The first week I played with Paige, groomed her, called the office, responded to e-mail, wrote blog posts, and ran on the treadmill. Mostly, though, I just laid on the floor. I was exhausted. I felt like I was chasing a two-year-old. I wasn't even chasing her, she was on a leash the whole time.

Once things settled down, though, I got a bit of a routine going. I managed to get a treadmill run in most days, including two long runs, both on Saturdays. I managed to work on several small projects on my computer. I managed to get most e-mail questions attended to. I did my laundry, groomed Paige, and did my homework. I didn't get much of the reading I had brought done, though. I found the waits in the van to be short and often had someone to talk to.

The most important free-time activity, though, I think, is socializing. It might not sound important, but my dog is going to need to lie quietly while I work, eat in restaurants, go to parties, sit in meetings... So, the instructors really encourage socializing. We go to one of the several lounges and make sure our dogs are on their best behavior. We sit in different places so we can learn how to get the dogs under chairs and where to put them when there's no space under the chair. We stroll on the leisure path and sit in one of the gazebos.

Quick update: we've been in New York the last few days and are going in again today. Most students get to go in once, but we're going in several times because that will be our regular working environment. We need to get very good at stairs, subway platforms, busy streets, horses, roller-bladers, construction... so we've been having a lot of fun. It's raining today, so we get to practice umbrella-dodging.

Putting it All Together-- Getting a Dog Guide

Tomorrow Paige and I will have been working together for three weeks (I'm at the Seeing Eye getting my first guide dog, if you're just tuning in). We're really starting to work together as a team. We're a little rough around the edges in a few places, but we do mostly look like we know what we're doing.

On Friday we did a solo, where we walked in partly unfamiliar territory without a trainer on hand. I had a walkie-talkie and Pete, the trainer, walked far enough away that Paige couldn't really see him, but if I got stuck I could ask him questions. I didn't get stuck, though, and we made the trip easily. We had one spot where a truck partially blocked the sidewalk and I was worried it would start up as we passed in front, so we went around behind it. Pete told me later that there was no driver in the truck.

On Wednesday we went into New York. That was the most fun ever. I kept saying "Anybody want to buy a cane, cheap?" We zipped through the lunch-time crowds on Fifth Avenue. A fire truck blocked the crosswalk an we moved around it without any problem. We walked through scaffolding and past the street vendors as if they weren't there. Paige started out the trip down Fifth Avenue showing me every door, then quickly figured out I wasn't interested in any of them and focused on walking.

We had our funniest moments, though, with all the wild animals that stalk the streets of the city. First, we walked along the Southern edge of Central Park where the carriage horses line up. When she saw the first one, about twelve feet away, she started barking and growling. Tom, our trainer that day, coaxed her closer to the horse, but she wasn't comfortable with the whole thing. I patted the horse and tried to show her that the creature didn't eat me. When that horse had to leave, the horse dispatcher brought the next one up right onto the sidewalk so Paige could see how harmless they were and how close they could come. After that, Paige calmed down and after a few more horses passed she treated them like part of the traffic. One blocked the crosswalk, and she walked around it the way she would a car. This is great, because I go to Central Park about three times a week and horses will be a regular part of Paige's new life.

Later, she barked at the statue of a lion. I patted the lion's head and put my hands on its face so she could see it didn't bite. Finally, she came right up to it. After that, nothing could perturb her. She's seen it all.

The best part of the trip to New York was the subway platform. Tom chose an especially tricky one that was open on both sides. Paige had been trained in how to deal with open platforms, of course, but I had not. Tom showed us how, if I tried to direct Paige toward the edge, she veered and kept me away from it. She wasn't bothered by the crowd, the musicians, or the trains. She showed me the staircases, too, which will be very handy since we'll be traveling via subway every day and will need them.

On Friday Pete showed me how to get Paige to show me every door on a street and how to let her know when I want to know about doors and when I just want to move down the street. This is wonderful. If I want her to, she'll turn in and take me right up to each door. This is nice if I know the Radio Shack is here someplace, but I'm not sure exactly which store it is. If I don't want to go up to each door, though, she'll sort of bob her head and shoulders each time we pass a door, as if to say, "This one? This one?" When I really want to move I say "Hup-up" and she, maybe with a little persuasion, forgets about the doors and just moves out. We need to work on this quite a lot, but when we get it together, it works beautifully. Of course, she's fabulous at finding doors to places we've been before.

This week we'll get into the city some more. We'll work more in the subway and in some areas we haven't seen yet.

Matching a Dog Guide and a Person

A lot of people have asked me how dogs and people are matched up. I'll try to describe what I've observed about the process at one school, the Seeing Eye, and maybe other people will fill in or contradict me. I'm sure every school has its own way of doing it.

Before I arrived on July 22, many of my friends asked me what kind of dog I would get. Lots of people assumed I would pick out my own breed or even my own specific dog. Apparently if you feel you must have particular traits in a dog you can request those traits, such as breed, size, or gender. I didn't do this for one major reason, but there are a couple of good reasons not to do it. First, the experts at the school are very thorough and careful in their matching. if they think a particular dog is right for you, they are almost certainly right. I wanted to be sure they were completely free to use their best professional judgment in selecting the right dog for me. Specifying that you need a female shepherd that weighs no more than 55 pounds, it seemed to me, narrows the field of dogs so much that you would have to compromise on other important traits. I wanted the best dog for my lifestyle and environment. Second, if you really need to have a female Golden Retriever, you may have to wait until one that also has all the other traits you need is available in a class.

Some weeks before my class started, before I knew what class I would be in, a trainer from the school came out and interviewed me. She wanted to know what kinds of things I do, including work, recreation, travel, and so on. We went for a walk around the neighborhood where I work, so she could get an idea of how fast and how aggressively I walk and could learn something about how the neighborhood is-- city streets? suburban neighborhood without sidewalks? street crossings without traffic lights? country roads without discernable edges?

After walking for a short time, she held a harness and I held the handle while we walked some more. She explained a lot of what it's like to work with a dog while she evaluated how I handled the pull on the harness and how I followed as she swerved and stopped. She showed me how to hold the leash and how to give a correction. She wanted to know how hard I could pull. There may have been other things she observe, but these were the ones I was aware of. All the trainer's observations went into a report, which helped to determine which class I would be in and, to some extent, which dog I would get.

During the first few days of class we went on many Juno walks with our instructors. These walks, where the instructor holds the harness and the student is lead by holding onto the harness handle, are both to get the student educated about how to work with a dog and to help the instructor know more about the student in order to do the match. Ralph told me I would need a dog with a certain type of personality to do well in the environment in which we would be working. I would need a dog that would be happy to move through crowds of people and would not be reluctant to find gaps in the crowd to scoot through. I would need one that wasn't frightened of things like fire trucks, construction equipment, and trains. With that kind of personality come traits that mean I would probably have to correct my dog a lot for taking liberties. He spent time making sure I would be able to correct the dog.

The second day of class we were each given a "random" dog to walk around with on a leash for a few minutes. I'm not sure whether this was used directly in the matching process, but I'm sure if someone handled the dog very differently from the way the instructor expected, that might make a change. For example, someone who seemed to be afraid of the dogs might get a quieter dog than someone who was very used to being around dogs.

The trainers consulted with each other on the dogs they had trained and the students in each group. There were about fifty dogs and about twenty-four students, so there was no problem like someone having to take the dog no one else wanted. The dogs that are not placed go into the mix for the next class.

What happens if a match is not right? Ralph says it's rare. But, it did happen in our class. After a few days, I'm not sure how long, one of the students and her instructor determined that the match was not right. She was matched with a different dog. For a few days she was behind the rest of the class; while we were beginning to work our dogs in harness, hers was on leash. It took almost no time for them to catch up, though.

A quick update on the first part of week three: We've had an introduction to areas that have no sidewalks, we've ridden the train, and we've taken a bus. We're starting to do things that are not only new or complicated, they're a little bit scary. Yesterday we walked along a train platform. Paige was very good at staying far from the edge, but the whole environment is a little unnerving. Today we walked along the side of a road with no sidewalk. Paige stays out of the way of the cars, but I've never trusted drivers to see me walking and it's scary to have them whizzing by right next to us. Well, in "real life" we'll find ourselves in both those situations often, so we need to get good at them.

Broadening Our Experiences-- Getting a Dog Guide

I'm at the Seeing Eye, getting my first dog guide. I arrived July 22 and it's been the experience of a lifetime. This is the seventh post on the subject, so if you'd like to start at the beginning, go to the July 23rd post, Getting a Dog, Day 1.

The past few days have been spent working on specific things we're likely to encounter while going from place to place. One of my favorites was the escalators. New York is loaded with them, and often it's hard or impossible to get where you're going without one. I've heard many things about escalators from other dog guide users, including that they should always be avoided, that certain ones should be avoided, and that there was a right way to do them. So, I was glad to learn that I didn't need to avoid all of them, and that Paige knew just what to do. We rode escalators in a mall and in a department store. The first ones we did were unfamiliar to Paige, an she acted apprehensive. After we did them twice, she was perfectly comfortable. Later, we went to a store where Paige had been trained and she took me right to the escalator, showed me the edge, and when I said "forward," we walked on as if we'd been doing it together for years.

We also learned how to get us both through a revolving door. My life is loaded with revolving doors, too, but I usually look upon them as giant blenders. People are going in and out at the same time and the thing is spinning around, just the thing I need if I want to turn my cane into a pile of toothpicks. The doors we practiced with had nobody else going through them, so we could take our time, find the opening, get us both in, and go through at our own pace. After a few tries we got pretty good at it. Paige still showed me the regular door each time we approached the building, though, which is a good thing since in real life I'll probably continue to prefer them. The timing seems pretty hard to get right if the thing is spinning nonstop.

Besides specific things, we worked in environments that many of us could expect to find ourselves in. We've gotten very good at stopping at streets, crossing straight and somewhat angled intersections, working past pestering dogs, and the like. We're still working on those things, but this week we walked around in grocery stores, drug stores, malls, and hotels. These were great for several reasons. First, We had both tight spaces to work through in the stores and wide-open spaces with hard-to-find-with-a-cane turns and passages in the mall and the hotel. We had complicated passageways to figure out and many distractions for the dogs. We had great opportunities to find revolving doors, escalators, corded-off lines to counters (the food court at the mall, the bank, the hotel all had these an we went looking for them in order to get the most experience with them). Best of all, these environments were air conditioned. It was a hundred degrees out there! Nobody wanted to work their dogs in the afternoon on the hot pavement (Our personal comfort didn't enter into it, of course.).

Paige's new thing is showing me doors. We had been walking around the school for several days before we started going out onto the leisure path for "strolls." Once we had done that a couple of times, the light bulb went on and she realized that I liked doors and that she got a big reward-- lots of praise and a chance to go for a walk-- when she showed me one. So, she started pausing and showing me every door in the building, and now every door in every building. This is great. Last week I was having trouble walking up to things. She would get close to something, but then she would view it as an obstacle and try to get around it. Now, she tries to figure out what I want and take me to it. One day I put my backpack on a chair and sat in the next chair for a few minutes. Then, we went off to do something else for a half hour and came back. She took me right to my backpack. This is something my cane never learned in ten years. Paige learned it in a few days.

All our work this week wasn't indoors. One of the things we were introduced to was traffic islands. I have a couple of these in my neighborhood at home, so I'm glad to get the practice. They're pretty scary for me, but Paige doesn't act like they're anything special. She goes right across the first part of the street to the island, turns the way I tell her to go (This is the hard part, which way do I tell her to go?) an then when I give the word, crosses the other part of the street.

Paige is distracted by things that might distract any dog, but she has her own favorites, of course. You might expect her to have focus issues when she sees or smells birds, other dogs, food on the ground, or people reaching out to pet her (what are they thinking??). But, her big thing is paper products. She loves paper towels, Kleenex, napkins, anything like that. I'm working very hard at correcting her for going after napkins or other goodies. We worked through the grocery store and I thought she was angelic in the checkout line, but Ralph told me later she ducked her head down and ate three small pieces of straw wrapper while I was paying. Well, at least we left the place neater than when we found it.

Next week, among other things, we'll go into New York City. I can't wait to learn how to deal with turnstiles, subway platforms, trains, crowds, horses, bicycles, police barricades, street vendors... then maybe we'll leave Penn Station and see what else will be new for us.

A Lifestyle Change-- Getting a Dog

It was a week ago yesterday afternoon that Paige's leash was handed to me. I can't believe how much I've learned. I can't believe how much I have yet to learn.

A friend of mine who is a cane user came to visit last Sunday. He asked me the same question I've been asked a hundred times: "Does it make much difference walking with a dog instead of a cane?"

In the past, all I could say was, "I hope so. That's the plan."

This time, I gave my friend the one-week dog-guide-user answer. I hope some of you experienced dog users will chime in and help me answer the question.

After a week, do I think it's different? For me, vastly different. I'm walking faster, I'm hunting around to find my way less, actually not at all, I'm gliding past people in the hallway. A surprise bonus: my right hand is free.

When I first started running, I went out to Central Park and joined the Saturday workout of the Achilles Track Club. Someone handed me a tether, a string or rope or something to hang onto and a sighted volunteer took the other end. I had said I wanted to run three miles, but now I was looking at the park full of skateboarders and an unfamiliar road and doubted the wisdom of charging at top speed into the unknown. We did the three miles, and we ran together regularly many, many times, but it was a long time before I felt brave enough to really run my fastest.

Walking with Paige is very much like walking with a running partner. I wonder if it's unnerving for new dog users who haven't run at top speed with a sighted guide before. You put your cane away, take hold of a harness handle, and you're guided into the unknown. It isn't scary at all for me, but I think it might be for someone who hasn't tried some of these things before.

There is one thing I do on a regular basis that I might do more easily with a cane. I currently have trouble walking up to things that I want to interact with. Paige is great at avoiding things. I have trouble letting her know when I want to go right up to something like a table, a sink, or a treadmill. I'm sure I'll learn, but I do miss the close-range exploration you can do with a cane. I haven't had the least wish to get my cane out again, though. I hung it on the hook on the back of my door last Monday and it hasn't moved since.

An update on what's been going on around here? We've graduated to a new route. We have angled intersections, outdoor cafes, construction, parking lots, busier streets, and lots of little things in the route. Of course, Ralph and others are adding obstacles and distractions to what's already there. Today there was pizza on the ground and Paige had to ignore it. Ralph picked it up and tried to coax her to take it from him, while I told her to leave it alone. She did pretty well. Later, a dog really pestered us. It came right up to Paige, sniffed her face, walked beside her, and generally made a huge nuisance of itself. Paige had to keep walking. I had to practice telling her to "leave it" and correcting her when she slowed and turned to look at the other dog.

Ralph set up a barricade that Paige could walk under but that I couldn't. It was complicated, the way a construction barricade might be. She had to size it up an figure out what to do. We had to turn all the way around, walk a few steps, then go out into the street to get by. I was surprised when she turned around. I really didn't think that could be right. Then, she walked over and showed me the curb. Here's that charging-into-the-unknown thing again. I told her to go left, which put us in the direction we had been going, and she walked along in the street for a short way, cars whizzing by, then turned up and back onto the sidewalk.

I can't wait to work her in New York, where we find obstacles like that every day! The first day home we'll probably come across a construction site on the sidewalk with pizza on the ground and a loose dog.

Beginning to Work Together-- the Dog Guide Team

(This post is part of a series that begins with "Getting a Dog, Day 1." I'm at the Seeing Eye, getting my first dog guide.)

Paige knows everything about guiding. She's had four months of training, during which she's had obstacles block her path, had cars pull in front of her, had people's pet dogs try to distract her, had people walk in all crazy directions in front of her and around her... and she's been taught how to handle those things.

What Paige doesn't know is how to work with an inexperienced handler. She shifts easily from working with Barbara, her trainer, to Ralph, mine. She isn't so sure what to do with me.

I, on the other hand, know nothing. The walks on the carefully-planned routes late this week were devoted to three things: teaching me how to communicate with Paige and how to understand what she was telling me; teaching us together how to handle obstacles, traffic, and distractions; and beginning to establish the relationship between us that we will need for the next eight to twelve years.

Late on Wednesday we began working our dogs inside the school. Up to now, we've had them on leashes. What a difference! We glide around smoothly. No more dogs in tangled messes. No more huge traffic jams at the tops of the staircases (try to imagine ten or twelve blind people with no canes with excited dogs on leashes).

Paige's long training really paid off. While she could really be a silly dog on a leash, she became a trained guide in harness. She showed me every step, took me to every door, came around every corner without walking me into anything.

On Wednesday we walked the same simple route we had walked on Tuesday, but now obstacles and "traffic checks" were added. A traffic check is when the dog stops for a car. On Wednesday, we were walking along a seemingly safe residential sidewalk when suddenly (I was told in advance it was going to happen) a van turned from the street into a driveway right in front of us. Paige stopped and took a step backwards. I stepped with her. A pluses for both of us.

Thursday and Friday we walked a new route. This one was not much more complicated in terms of finding our way, but it had a lot more going on. Some of the intersections had traffic lights, some didn't. There were restaurants with outside tables, a flag blowing at face level, turns in the sidewalk, a pet shop, and construction. Ralph and his co-conspirators added other complications to this: they blocked the sidewalk completely at one point, so that the dogs had no choice but to guide us into the street. Cars turned abruptly across our paths numerous times. Someone held a dog on a leash near the sidewalk. Ralph talked us through all these things the first time and sometimes the second.

Paige encountered a fire-breathing dragon! There was construction at one point on the route. We could hear heavy machinery and maybe a truck up ahead. As we came near, I heard the men shouting to each other "hold up! Hold up!" so I knew they were waiting to let us pass. Paige did not have this information. She slowed and watched them as we got close. I told her to go ahead, so she walked cautiously in front of the men an the equipment. Suddenly, we were hit by a blast of hot air from the machine. Paige started and trotted out of the way. She craned her head to look as we went, and acted a little scared. I gave her a pat and she calmed right down and went on.

The next time we passed there, there was still construction but it was a few feet away from the sidewalk. She slowed and looked all around for the dragon, but it didn't threaten, so we went on by.

On one of our walks we were working along with Graham, one of my classmates, and his dog. Graham was in the lead and Paige and I were right behind. The team ahead of us moved into a tight spot, and we started to follow right behind, when I saw a table and chairs to my right (I have some peripheral vision, usually enough to get me into trouble, sometimes enough to get me out). I stopped Paige immediately, realizing that a restaurant had put tables outside on the sidewalk. We took a short step back, turned right, and went around the restaurant. Meanwhile, Graham's dog marched right through without turning his head left or right, without being distracted by the food, the people, the noise... A pluses for Graham and his dog!

Paige does everything in a hurry. She has a brisk pace that I love. She doesn't mind passing people on the sidewalk, and she figured out quickly that I'm appreciative of this. When we do the route with Graham she always looks for opportunities to pass him and his dog. I love this, since we'll be going to New York, where not passing means not getting where we're going.

We're a little rough on some things. We've mastered the dog-under-the-chair maneuver, but now we have to work on getting through doors. We went down to the tech lab the other day to use the braille printer. Paige and I went flying down the hall to the door of the lab, I figured out which way the door went, opened it, and we blasted through into the lab. Theresa, another of our training partners, was using a computer. She announced, "It's Crista and Paige! I knew it was you because you always burst into a room!" We all had to laugh. I guess I need to work on having more decorum.

Today, we go solo. this will be a great exercise. There probably won't be a dragon on the route, since it's Saturday, but I'm not worried even if there is. The biggest thing we need to work on is not having Ralph right there. Paige is very aware that he is calling the shots. She hears my commands and follows them, but if she's at all unsure, she looks around at Ralph. Today, she and I will have to communicate without an interpreter. She'll have to know that I mean business and that I really mean it when I say to turn left.

Learning the Basics with a Dog Guide

A few weeks before my class began, a friend who is a dog guide user was telling me some of her experiences. She described some of the early frustrations of taking over the ownership of a well-trained dog. I said it must be like trying to do things with someone else's dog. I remembered a Will Rogers quote I had heard sometime in the distant past, and it's been stuck in my head ever since. "If you get to thinkin' you're a person of some influence, try ordering somebody else's dog around."

Well, Monday and most of Tuesday I really felt like I was ordering somebody else's dog around. Paige is willing and eager, but simply doesn't know what I want half the time. Sometimes, she just doesn't want to do it. The hardest thing I've had to do, and I've had to do it many times, is to get her under a chair or table. She usually stands and waits while I'm trying every way I can think to tell her to go under the chair, turn around, and lie down with her face looking forward. Maybe today I'll try drawing a diagram.

Today the big events were two trips into the now-familiar Morristown neighborhood to walk with the dogs in harness. Ralph took two of us in the van, then came back and switched students for the second trip in the morning. Each student worked individually with the instructor, while the other waited in the van. I brought a book to read, but the wait was short.

On the streets, we let the dog set the pace and just walked a simple route that had nothing in it but a few quiet street-crossings and a few right turns. The instructors told us that the dogs would be a little nervous and excited working with new people, and they would be a little confused by our inexperienced handling, so we weren't correcting much and we weren't trying to make any adjustments in speed. Some dogs worked very fast, others very slowly. The instructors were able to attach a second leash to the collar and take control if necessary, so we were safe and the dogs weren't unlearning anything.

Paige walked fast and, I thought, very well. She stopped at every curb and followed every command. Ralph worked on the way I delivered commands. I need to be clear and loud (I'm not actually being loud, I just sound loud to myself. Paige has a hard time hearing me when I speak in my normal tone, as do most people).

Before lunch we had a lecture and discussion on corrections and types of errors. After lunch, we got to go out again and this time apply what we had learned in the lecture. We walked the same route, but this time we corrected mistakes. We had already learned how to correct when heeling, sitting, and doing all the obedience activities we had already learned. Now, we were applying it to the real work the dog would do.

In the evening, we had a lecture on dogs' fears. This covered what dogs are often afraid of and how to work with a dog that is afraid. This lecture will be harder to take out and practice immediately. I don't know how long it will be before I find out what Paige is afraid of. People in uniform? Buses? People who walk funny? Balloons? Garbage bags? A dog that was afraid of any of those things would have trouble getting through Penn Station! She seems fearless.

In the discussion, we talked about the difference between a startle response and a fear response. Dogs might be startled by a sudden loud noise such as applause after a quiet play, but they probably aren't actually afraid of applause, they just wake up suddenly, react, then realize nothing is wrong.

At the end of the discussion we all clapped. Paige bolted straight out from under my chair and I had to grab her with both hands and pull her back under!

By the end of the day, it was really starting to feel as if Paige were my dog. I rarely repeat a command, she heels immediately when we leave a room, and she seems to like my company.

What's in store today? I understand we're using the same route. Maybe we'll work in a left turn. I'm sure we'll work in more corrections. I also know that late tomorrow, if all goes well, we'll start to use our dogs in harness within the school. So far, we keep our dogs on the leash at all times, and only have them working in harness during these trips. Soon they'll be working all the time.

We Meet the Dog!

Her name is Paige! She's a black Golden Retriever/Labrador Retriever cross. She looks exactly like a lab to me. Her coat is short like a lab's and she's as black as black can be. She's a very high-energy dog.

Ralph called me to the lounge just down from the women's dorm, and I went down to meet her. She pushed close, then laid down on the floor and asked me to scratch her tummy. She got up and scooted under my chair for a moment, then wanted to sniff all around the room.

We walked down the hall to my room. The instructions were to keep her on the leash and not to groom her yet, but just to spend time together.

We hurried around the room, checking all the edges first. She walked into the bathroom, leaned over the edge of the tub to see what was inside, then climbed in to get a better view. Bored with that, she hopped out and finished her tour of the rest of the room.

After the tour, we sat and I scratched her all over. She washed my ears and pulled at my ponytail holder with her teeth. That wasn't interesting enough. She wanted to stay by the door, in the hopes it would open again and somebody more interesting than me would come in. Several times Ralph popped his head in to make sure all was well. That made her happy, since he is very interesting to her.

On one of his trips, Ralph brought a harness and I practiced putting it on her. I was a clumsy mess, but she stuck her head into it and helped me out. I figured out where the straps went and got it buckled, then took it off and put it on a couple more times.

Finally, the real treat. Ralph came back and we put her into the harness again. We adjusted everything so it fit her better (she's a size 44, whatever that means) and we went for a short walk.

First, Paige walked at heel until we got outside. Then we went for a loop around the leisure path with me holding onto the harness the way I'd learned to do in the Juno walks. Ralph had added a second leash and had control of her. When she veered off the path, he corrected her and got us back on track. She walked fast, but not too fast. She pulled, but not too hard. She slowed and veered when we neared the gazebo and seemed to need to decide what to do -- was it an obstacle she should go around, or could we go through it? Ralph helped her decide this time. Tomorrow maybe we'll let her really do her guiding.

Dinner was exciting. I expected to get little to eat, being busy keeping my dog in place with all the other dogs around. We went to the dining room in shifts to avoid creating traffic jams. Many of the dogs carefully placed under the tables popped up when their friends came into the room. Most of us were very busy keeping our dogs where they were supposed to be. Irene, who serves our table and who has worked here for many years, said, "They'll be quiet tomorrow." I'm sure she's right.

The rest of the afternoon the students praised, petted, groomed, and walked around with our dogs on leashes. We spent a lot of time together, partly so that our dogs could get used to being in groups, but under control, and partly because we wanted to hear about each other's dogs.

It's fascinating to see how different dogs are treated differently. Theresa has a quiet, calm Golden/Labrador cross. I have the same breed, but mine is high-energy. Ralph is giving us exactly opposite first-day instructions -- I'm to correct everything my dog does. I feel like a nag. Paige, heel. Paige, sit. Paige, no. Paige, quiet. Paige, down (I like that one. I laugh every time I say it.). Theresa is to let everything slide. She's not to worry about anything her dog does today.

The last structured activity of the day was park. The park is a large rectangle of concrete with a fence around it. The dogs are taken there to relieve themselves. For today, the students didn't have to clean up after the dogs. I'm glad my dog is learning to do this on pavement -- a friend of mine had a lot of trouble getting her dog used to New York when she moved from someplace with a lot of grass. Morristown is grassy, green, and beautiful, but I'm leaving for New York City in a few weeks and we won't find grass very often.

Paige slept quietly through the night. She whined a little at 10:30 when she heard people and dogs in the hall, and she is whining off and on now while I'm writing this, but I tell her "quiet" and she quiets right down. At 5:30 we'll get the wake-up, then a trainer will come by with food. After that we'll go park again (that means all the dogs will go relieve themselves) and then another big day begins!

Getting a Dog, Day 2

Yesterday was full of exciting new experiences! Everything is leading up to preparations to match us with our dogs this afternoon. (In case you're just tuning in, I'm at the Seeing Eye, getting my first dog guide.)

We had breakfast at 8:00, then went into a Morristown neighborhood for Juno walks. According to Ralph, one major purpose of these walks is to help the trainers determine which dog is best for each student. All the trainers took their small groups to the same area, so we saw our classmates and their trainers.

Our group practiced crossing streets, turning, giving commands, and holding the leash and harness.

I was curious to know how a dog whose head is two feet off the ground could tell if my head was going to brush a tree branch. Ralph explained that it's hard for them to tell and the best way for them to learn it is to make a mistake. I think it's a good thing my trainer is taller than I am. In any case, my cane was always very bad at that.

After the walks, all of the members of the class gathered in one group at the school for a lecture. We learned a little about dog psychology and about how our dogs' lives have been up to now. One very interesting point: our dogs have likely never lived with a person with vision loss before. This will be new for them.

At lunch, Roger, one of the students in our small group, told us stories of his experiences with his first dog. The other three of us, all first-timers, hung on his every word. One person wanted to know when we would use our canes. Roger seemed confused by the question, as if he couldn't think what cane we would use or what we might think we'd use it for. "Like in a public washroom or something," one student said. "Oh, no, you use your dog. You use your dog for everything! 'Find the sink... find the garbage...,'" Roger explained. He went on to say that he carried a cane in his bag just in case, but never used it during the eight years he had his dog.

The afternoon was the highlight. Ralph gave us our leashes, the ones we'll use tomorrow with our dogs, and brought us four dogs from the kennel. These are not our dogs, or at least the chances are infinitesimally small that any of us got our "own" dogs. This was, again, to help in determining which dog was right and to familiarize us with how to handle a dog.

It was much harder than I had expected. I've handled lots of dogs before -- my own pet dogs, other people's pet dogs, and I've dogsat for dog guides in the past. But here, Ralph was explaining things and I was trying to do everything right. The dog was excited and happy to be in a new place. She wanted to check out all the nooks and crannies, while I wanted her to walk at heel down the long hall from the lounge to the dining room. One big difference between walking with this dog and walking with someone else's pet dog: she was to walk at heel on a relatively loose leash, so that only my command and her training put her in the right spot. So, I had to continually correct her position. She was extremely willing and eager to do what I wanted, but I was very clumsy at letting her know what that was.

In the dining room, we practiced getting the dogs into the right position under the table. After a few tries, it seemed easy, but at first I didn't know what to do at all. I had a dog, a table, a chair, and myself, all in a chaotic tangle. Luckily, once I got her pointed in the right direction, she knew what she was supposed to do and came in from my left side, went in front of me seated in the chair, and laid down on my right with her nose pointed out into the walkway behind me. It's a good thing one of us knew what was to be done. I know a lot of dog guide users and it always seems to me that they go up to the table in a restaurant, sit down, and their dogs disappear. They make it look so easy. I can't wait until tomorrow evening when twenty-four of us are all in the dining room at once!

The four dogs in our group were very different. One was a black lab, two were golden retriever/lab crosses, and one was a large shepherd. While we were waiting for instructions, Theresa's dog kept rolling over on her back and asking to have her tummy scratched. Mine sat alertly, as if she were expecting something exciting to happen. Roger's spun around on the end of the leash for a minute or two, then laid down at his feet and took a nap. Graham's intermittently stood up and sat down. I was ready to go home with any one (or all four) of them.

We ended the day with a get-together that allowed the students to get to know each other better. My classmates are from all over the US and Canada. Some have had multiple dogs, and some are here for the first time. Many are college students who are home for the Summer.

What do we do today? Well, I'll start with a run on the treadmill, of course. This might be my last chance for a morning run, since I'll need to feed and walk the dog first thing every morning after. After breakfast we'll go for Juno walks. We'll have a meeting at 11:00, followed by lunch, followed by... the Big Event -- We'll meet our dogs.

Getting a Dog, Day 1

What's it like to get a dog guide?

I arrived yesterday at the Seeing Eye in Morristown, New Jersey and will leave here, if all goes well, with my first dog guide. I'm beside myself with excitement -- I took a long time deciding that a dog was right for me and then choosing the school. Then, there was the application and admissions process. Now I'm finally here.

I'll share at least the big events with you, since you may have the same questions I've had. What's the training like? What's the school like? How is traveling with a dog different from traveling with a cane? What can I do while I'm at the school when I'm not training? Can I work? Can I check e-mail? Join teleconference calls? Go shopping? Go for a run? What kind of dog will I get? How will that decision be made? What if the dog and I don't click?

A group of my running friends offered to give me a ride to the school. We loaded my suitcase and bags in the van, piled in, and got stuck in Manhattan traffic. But, we arrived at the school by 12:30, and had lots of time to get oriented.

I met my trainer, Ralph, who gave the group of us, my friends and me, a thorough orientation of the main building. He showed us the grooming area, dining room, dorms, office area, and park area (probably not what you think it is). He included the numerous lounges and waiting areas. Apparently sitting is a big part of the training. One lounge includes a piano and guitar, a television and DVDs, books in braille, a microwave, refrigerator, and sink. Maybe I'll just stay.

Each of the twenty-four students has a private room. There's a private bath, a desk, a bed, and two closets in mine, and plenty of room for a very large dog. I haven't actually seen any dogs yet, but I've heard them barking in the next building.

After unpacking, eating dinner, meeting a few of my classmates, and getting a couple of laptops connected to the Internet, the training started. Ralph is training four of us. He took us out, one at a time, for a Juno walk. This is where you walk holding the harness and leash, but the trainer is holding the other end of the harness. I still haven't seen a dog.

Although Ralph said this walk was for him to learn my pace and some other details about my way of walking, I learned a great deal. We practiced applying the right amount of resistance to the pull between us and I practiced matching my pace to his. He swerved around real or imaginary obstacles and I practiced moving with him. He explained 143 things, which I won't itemize now, but my head is full.

What's in store for us today? I'm starting with a jog on the treadmill -- did I mention the very nice gym and computer areas they have on the lower level? I'll get a run in, take a shower, eat breakfast, meet more classmates (many people were delayed because of thunderstorms in the area), and we'll go for another Juno walk, this time on the streets of Morristown. What else?