Sense - Abilities # 9 - Approval Process at GDB

Happy Days are coming soon,.

Dad submitted his application for a guide dog in July. He had no idea how long it would take to get an answer. He had discussed it with his company and felt the mid November class would work best for his schedule.

In early August, a representative from Guide Dogs for the Blind (GDB) called to confirm they had received his application and had a few more questions.

In early October, GDB sent a representative named Emily to our house to meet Dad, Mom and Cuzzie, my soon-to-be doggie sister. (See how excited Dad was about getting a guide dog?!)

"Emily wanted to learn more about where I would live and work. She wanted to assure herself that I could provide a good, healthy and safe living environment for my guide dog," said Dad.

She also wanted to learn more about Dad's eye condition, how well he could use his cane and did he have the required orientation and mobility skills?

She checked his orientation and mobility skills while walking with him around the neighborhood. He was very nervous as they walked down the street, with Emily right behind him watching his pace, the sweep of his cane, his skill at crossing streets, how he handled changing grades along the way, and much more.

"Emily also wanted to know how well I monitored the traffic flow at intersections to determine the best time to cross the street," he said.

She also wanted to see how he negotiated obstacles and how well he knew the streets in the area where a guide dog would regularly walk with him.

In addition, Emily wanted to know the type of work he did, what types of mass transit he might use, the frequency of his out of town travels and the size of the cities that he visits as part of his job.

Before she left, Dad said that she did “Juno training” with him, which means that she pretended to be a guide dog, named Juno, and asked him to give her the commands like the ones he would learn at guide dog school.

When they got home, Emily said, “You really learn fast!” That made Dad feel very good.

The interview took about three hours and Dad passed the test.

Emily told him, "Only about 35% of the students that apply actually qualify for guide dog school.I think you have an excellent chance of being accepted, but the ultimate decision is not up to me. It's decided by a committee that weighs all the factors.

"A board reviews all applications and your application will have to go through the normal process."

However, she felt very positive and said she would "pencil" Dad in for the mid November class.

There was yet another call from GDB late in October. All they needed was for Dad to pass a physical. He got a physical the next day, and the doctor faxed the report to GDB.

Then the wait began. It was already late October and the class would start on November 19, so time was short.

Well, we all know what happened, right? Dad was approved on October 27. He recalled the emotion and excitement of being approved.

He screamed out loud in the office and his assistant wondered what was going on.

"I'm just excited and thrilled. I have been approved for guide dog school!"

Ah, isn't that nice!

Zane

PS One of Mom's friend's said, "Gee, I didn't know Richard wanted to be a guide dog." (ha ha ha)

Sense - Abilbilities #8 - Is a guide dog for me?

Dad in Georgetown, CO, at the edge of a cliff - YIKES!
Boy, did moments like this make Mom nervous!

G'day mates,

I bet you're wondering how Dad ended up at guide dog school in the first place. It's not like you just arrive at the front door and announce you want a guide dog! There is a process that can take many months. Here's how it happened for Richard.

He went to a business meeting in Ogden, Utah, and several working guide dogs were there. There were also some puppies in training from the Guide Dogs for the Blind school in California.

Different guide dog owners shared what a difference having a guide dog had made for them, such as how their lives had been saved so many times when the dog did "intelligent disobedience" and disobeyed commands that would have put their partner in danger.

"Wow," Dad thought, "what a sense of safety and security that would give me."

He knew it was time to get serious about applying for a guide dog. He had a few near misses with cars at intersections, run himself into some sign posts . . . you get the picture. Ouch!

But getting a guide dog is a BIG decision. Any dog requires 24/7 maintenance, lots of grooming and weekly care. Having a guide dog is a whole new level of responsibility.

"With a white cane, you just fold it up and put in the corner of the room. You can't do that with a dog!"

But Dad loves dogs and felt that the responsibility would not be anything new (he already had one dog, my sister Cuzzie), and decided to go for it.

He picked up an application for Guide Dogs for the Blind (GDB) from Mr. Boulter, an alumni student right at that meeting in Ogden.

When he got home, he told Mom, "It's time for me to get a guide dog. What do you think? I feel that this will provide me with more independence, freedom, a sense of security and safety."

Do I feel proud! I provide all of that for Dad. I'm so glad that he chose to come to guide dog school and that I was the one that got to go home with him.

Claudia, my new Mom, was thrilled and relieved as this would give Dad not only more freedom, but make his life safer as well.

You see, it's not just the blind person who is taken care of by guide dogs like me. "The family members get their stress levels reduced when their loved one is protected," Mom said.

By mid-July he had completed his application and mailed it to GDB. He was so happy that he had started the application process because he knew it would change his life forever.

The initial application has several parts: a section that requires information from an eye doctor and three references of people that know you. He got that complete, faxed it in and waited with intense anticipation.

Gosh, how long do we have to wait to know when Dad got approved?! This suspense is killing me!

Thanks, Dad, for having confidence in Guide Dogs for the Blind, the college that I graduated from.

Lots of Big Licks,

Zane

Sense - Abilities # 7 - Sense-Abilities Tested

Good day fellow canines,

These guys and gals with their white canes were all over the college campus as we were training and going through our paces to be top-notch guide dogs.

Some were tapping, some were sliding back and forth and others were just rolling them along. I really wondered what was going on here.

Now, as Dad shares his stories, I can really appreciate the change from a cane to a guide dog. Here he is with his cane, walking to work, before he found me,

Dad said that he carried and used a collasible white cane. Why? It made it easy to put away when he got to wherever he was going. Dad shared about some of his experiences while using the white cane.

His first experience in a shopping mall was very funny. Dad said that he was walking through a mall around the Christmas shopping season and the aisles were very crowded. As he walked and moved his cane back and forth, feeling his way along, the crowd would just start parting in front of him. He said that he felt a lot like Moses parting the Red Sea.

I wish I had that power some times when I have to chase toys into the water. It would have been nice to just walk out to them and not have to go through all that water to get them.

OK, OK . . . the truth . . . I'm a Labrador Retriever who doesn't like to swim or get wet. So what?!

It was now much easier for Dad to go into restaurant. Most of the time, as he moved through a dark restaurant or bar, he would run into or bump people and they would see his cane and say "excuse me" to him!

"It was pretty funny," he said, "I ran into them and they tell me, "Excuse me." Dad was quick to point out that he replied, "No, please excuse me!"

Some other funny times happened when Dad would be standing in a long line, as in for a movie. As the line would snake forward, Dad might get too close and his cane would come between the legs of the person in front of him. They would go, "Wooooh!" He was embarrassed, but did not realize that it had happened until it was too late.

One time he was walking and his wife was on his right side. He uses the cane in his right hand. As they were walking, the cane hit a big crack in a sidewalk and stopped the cane in its tracks.

Unfortunately, the cane spring back and hit his wife in the belly. It happened so fast that he could not stop it. He then began holding the cane closer in to his body so it would hurt anyone, including himself.

The sense of touch is very strong with a white cane. You can feel the grade change, up or down, you can feel holes, bumps or cracks as they are coming at you and be ready for them. You have to concentrate pretty hard sometimes, especially at night, if you have some vision, and this can get pretty stressful if you are not really sure where you are.

Dad shared that the sense of hearing is also at play. You are hearing the sound bounce off of objects that you are passing or sensing as you get near to them. You are constantly monitoring what you hear as clues as to what is going on around you.

The sense of smell becomes very acute, also. You can smell cars that you are getting close to, restaurants, coffee shops, bakeries . . . any place that has a distinct odor. That lets you know that you may be close to your destination.

"We use our "sense-abilities" in many ways when using a white cane," he said.

After 16 years of using a cane, Dad said that he made a decision to upgrade from a cane to a guide dog.

Oh boy, now I get to find out why he came to Guide Dogs for the Blind looking for me!

Lots of puppy love,

Zane

Sense - Abilities - #6 - White Cane is Able

Howdy all y'all doggies,

As I listed to Dad sharing with Mom about going blind, he started to talk about making that BIG move to a white cane.

After he signed a purchase agreement to buy Uncle Walter's business, Keith Distributing, Dad hired two sales people to take over the daily sales calls.

"Anthony, my driver, became my warehouse manager. Now I could stay at the business as president, sell from the inside and manage the operation."

Dad said that this worked well as the years went by and the business doubled its sales volume.

He joined a Houston Rotary Club in 1987. He went to many meetings, struggling with not being able to see in lowly lit rooms and restaurants, often with bright sunlight coming in the windows.

"It was tough," he said, "I ran into people all the time and banged into chairs as I tried to negotiate tables at lunch."

My wife asked me, “Why don’t you consider learning Braille and maybe even using a white cane?”

His first reaction was swift and direct.

“I can still read fine and I don’t need that stinking white cane!”

This is a typical reaction for someone losing their sight. Those who are dealing with vision loss are more worried about what everyone else will think about them rather than the benefit that a white cane might provide.

Dad thought that everyone would wonder, "What's wrong with him?" or "Why does he need that cane?"

Dad’s reaction was based on what he thought every one would think. He was worried about “looking good, and not disabled.”

“Wow,” he said, “the stories we make up!” He knew that no one actually said that, but he had made up a lot of stories about what he thought people were saying and thinking.

This sounds like some of the stories I make up about big dogs when they are barking at me. "They must want to eat me alive!" Silly, huh? But it sure feels real at the time!

Dad said that it’s amazing how many stories we can make up . . . stories that end up controlling our lives and separating us from reality. And for him, not having the independence and freedom he could have had if he were using the white cane and not worrying about what anyone thought.

Finally in 1991, he called the Lighthouse of Houston and made an appointment with an orientation and mobility instructor to learn how to use a white cane.

"Wow, what a change that made in my life!" he exclaimed.

Oh boy, I can't wait to hear what happened next. This is the step just before he got me!

big licks and lots of belly rubs,

Zane

Sense - Abilities #1 - Before RP

Greetings Fellow Doggies!

Here's what I heard Dad share about learning he had an eye disease.

“In the winter of 1970, I received my draft notice from the U.S. Army. I was one of those 18 year olds who watched on TV from my college dorm room as the federal government drew the birth dates, lottery style.

This was before there were so many lotteries about winning money and one time I did not want to WIN the lottery!"

Dad's "lucky" number came up: 39. His heart sank, he turned pale and fear crept into his mind at the thought of being shot at or even killed in Vietnam.

"But, I love my country and if this is what my country asks me to do, then I will do my duty."

“I knew that I would certainly be going to Vietnam when I graduated from Georgia Tech. I had a very heavy feeling in the pit of my stomach."

Dad has been a good athlete all of his life. He played baseball since he was eight years old, playing Little League, Pony League, Colt League, high school and also in college at Georgia Tech. He was a pitcher in both his freshman and sophomore years. He loved playing shortstop and pitching. He was an All-Star.

Dad also played football and basketball in junior high, and mainly played basketball and baseball in high school. He learned to play tennis and golf at age 18 with his brother, Roy, who is five years older than him.

Being very competitive, Dad said that the challenge to beat his older brother drove him to get better and better. He shot golf in the low 90s and got pretty good at tennis, winning several tournaments.

Dad loved learning to drive a car at age 17, enjoyed the freedom of being able to drive anywhere he wanted to, and especially liked taking girls out on dates!

“Then, late in 1970, I received my draft notice from the U.S. Army requesting my attendance for a physical examination and review for potential military service.”

Dad was not surprised because he was number 39 out of 365. Heck, he was like a football draft prospect - one of the top draft choices!

Dad had big dreams of being a pitcher or short stop in the major leagues and now he was a first round draft choice. But not for the Houston Astros . . . for the Army!

Dad's eye doctor told him at his last eye exam, “Richard, whenever you receive your draft notice, just come see me and I will write you a letter to give to the draft board when you take your physical. You will not have to serve in the military.”

“At that time, I did not ask why I would not be eligible to serve. I just figured that I had poor eyesight. My right eye was 20/800 and my left eye was 20/400, both correctable at that time to about 20/30. Just call me FOUR EYES!”

Wait until you hear what happened next!

I hope you are enjoying this series . . .

Big licks and belly rubs,

Zane