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Message From Your New President, Hello everyone. It is my great pleasure to introduce myself to all of you here in Forward. Guide Dog Users Of California is a fine organization, and I am extremely proud and happy to have this opportunity as your new president to work on behalf of guide dogs and their handlers in our state. I began working my first guide dog in the fall of 1971 as a freshman at UCLA where I graduated as a music major three years later. Dogs sure walked faster back in those days. All kidding aside, working with a guide dog is the best thing about being blind in my life, and I am going to do everything I can to advance access rights and improve the lives of guide dog teams along with educating the public on our behalf in California. GDUC's membership has been growing steadily over the past few years, but we must reach out to all those who are guide dog handlers and not yet members and who may benefit from joining GDUC in some way, whether they be individuals requiring assistance with an access issue or individuals simply seeking fellowship with other guide dog handlers. I also wish to strongly encourage participation and membership from anyone else out there who wants to promote and support activities related to living and working with guide dogs in California. I do not personally possess detailed knowledge regarding guide dog legislation in other states, but I have been informed that our laws in California are currently among the best on the books. However, you and I know that there is still much work to be done in this area, and hopefully with your support, we will be working on strengthening loose dog legislation, stiffer penalties for drivers who hit working teams and possible legislation promoting clearer guidelines for regulation of all assistance dog teams in California. For those of you who were unable to attend, at the CCB 2001 fall convention, GDUC hosted a panel discussion where pros and cons were expressed regarding expansion of the California State Board of Guide Dogs to include regulation of other types of assistance dog providers or the possibility of creating another mechanism to establish appropriate means for insuring high standards for qualified working teams and eliminating the proliferation of unqualified teams in California. Working in conjunction with CADO, The Coalition of Assistance Dog Organizations, which is collaborating with the Depart ment of Justice on the national level to revise the language defining service animals, we seek to protect the rights of guide dog handlers as well as all other qualified working teams by eliminating language containing loopholes through which all sorts of flying pigs, service snakes and snarling protection dogs are claiming public access. There is much that must be done on both the national and state levels if we are to achieve positive outcomes which will protect the future access rights of guide dog teams. We have come so far as guide dog handlers, most of the time taking for granted that because there are so many laws on the books, we will not be denied access when we enter a restaurant or call a taxi. However, as many of you know, access is still at times denied, and there remains much work to be done educating members of the public, law enforcement and legislators regarding the rights of guide dog handlers as defined in already existing laws. Let me state here as your new President, that it goes without saying that along with continued efforts to protect and advance our rights, GDUC also promotes the acceptance of the responsibilities associated with being a guide dog handler, including good behavior in public, maintaining our dogs in a well groomed state and accepting responsibility for our dogs' actions in public places. Most importantly in concluding this message, I wish to thank Melita Waters for all the fine work she has done in all the categories discussed above, and I sincerely hope she will continue to work hard for GDUC, as her efforts would be greatly missed. In fact, I want to encourage all of you to work harder for GDUC. Later in this issue of Forward, there will be a listing and description of committees, and I hope some of you will choose to sign up for one that interests you and assist us with our important work. Once again, let me tell you how proud I am to have this opportunity to work for guide dogs and their handlers in California as GDUC's new President, and I can promise you that nobody will try harder than me to get the job done. I can't do it alone without your support, however. So I am counting on each and every one of you to think about how much you love and respect your dogs. Then take some of that positive energy and bring it to your association with GDUC. If we are to grow our organization and accomplish all our objectives, we need your support. Thank you |
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The Fall 2001 convention of GDUC was held in November in the Los Angeles area. A more complete report will be in the next issue of FORWARD, but there are some things that must be mentioned. First, the election of officers was held. Sheila Styron was elected President, Abby Vincent was elected Secretary, Jerry Arakawa and Lee Morton were elected to the Director spots. Along with Ken Metz as Treasurer and Melita Waters as Immediate Past President, this constitutes the officers for the coming year. Second, there was a panel discussion concerning the possibility of expanding the current State Board of Guide Dogs for the Blind to perform the same functions of licensing schools and trainers to include the other service dogs, including hearing or signal dogs and service dogs that aid the wheel chair, and other, people. The panelists included Keith Tomlinson from Guide Dogs for the Blind, Steve Burkman of Guide Dogs of America, Don Robinson from Guide Dogs of the Desert, Corey Hudson from Canine Companions for Independence, Linda Jennings from Assistance Dogs International, an association of service dog trainers, Ralph Dennard from the San Francisco SPCA hearing dog program and Allan Brenner representing the State Board. Also invited but not attending was Dennis Van Sickle from the SDVA. For the most part, the panelists expressed their own personal opinions, not committing the parent organization. The guide dog school people were cool but willing to listen and be informed about the idea. The service and hearing dog people, especially CCI and ADI, pointed to their own standards and the standards that the service dog national organizations impose. The feeling seemed to be that they were already doing everything that the state board could do and they felt they were doing it better. There was no strong feeling expressed one way or the other; everybody seemed to want to collect more information. This panel was a great lead-in to the luncheon speaker, Chuck Jordan. Chuck, a recipient of a Guide Dog Trainer of the Year award, recently moved from the guide dog field to the service dog world, working now at CCI. He talked on the similarities and differences between the guide dog world and the "other" dog world. The talk was long and extremely interesting. It is important. The developing cooperation between the guide dog world and the service and hearing dog world demands that guide dog users understand the similarities and differences in order to make the necessary decisions that will be coming. Please read Chuck's luncheon speech. |
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GDUC Committees GDUC's Constitution And Bylaws currently provides for seven standing committees, which are listed and described below. GDUC wants you our members to become more involved in the important work of this organization by joining one of these committees if you have a strong interest in one of these areas and wish to make a contribution to GDUC in this way. Your personal input is welcome whether or not you choose to join a committee. Feel free to contact me, , for more information.
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Hello, GDUC Members. I am Ken Metz, Treasurer and Membership Committee Chair of GDUC, and I would like to remind you that your 2002 GDUC/GDUI dues are now ready to be received. I will be sending you a letter shortly requesting payment and asking you to submit your dues to me as soon as possible so that we can quickly get our 2002 membership list into both CCB and GDUI and meet our deadlines. Should you wish to send your dues to me prior to receiving the letter, , and I will send you my information. The dues are still $15.00, $5 of which goes to GDUI with the remainder going to GDUC and a small portion to CCB. If you are paying your dues to GDUC, please ignore any letter you may receive from GDUI as we will be paying that portion of the dues for you. If you are a GDUI life member, the cost of your dues is only $10.00, but you need to remind me of your life member status. I will also be looking for the following information to keep you current on all GDUC/GDUI news and information:
As Membership Committee Chair, I sincerely hope that you will communicate to me any potential new members names you may have who would be interested in joining GDUC/GDUI, and I will send them a personal letter of introduction. I will need their Name, Address, and Phone Number for a contact opportunity. Your help in increasing our membership will be most appreciated and can only work for all our benefit. |
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by Melita Waters One of the standing committees specified in GDUC's Constitution is the "Constitution and By-laws" committee. This committee is responsible for keeping the organizational governing documents up to date and in good order. We are supposed to make sure that the Constitution and By-laws align with the parent organization Constitution and Bylaws and cover any questions regarding the smooth functioning of our organization. This being an interest of mine I have volunteered to chair this committee. Ken Metz is on the committee and I hope that if there are any of you who would like to serve on this committee or have ideas about things that should be included in the Constitution, you will let me know. We are going to do our best to improve and enhance the documents we already have. There are places where fine-tuning really is needed. There are those of you who do have a great deal of expertise in this area, so please do take part in this committee and thank you in advance. Melita Waters |
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From Guide Dogs for the Blind What better way to introduce our mission to 150 million people than by having a float in the world's favorite Parade! We'll be kicking off our 60th anniversary year by drawing national attention to our history, our mission of building lifelong partnerships, and our vision to reach out to those we have yet to serve. We will raise public awareness about our services and attract new members to our Guide Dog family. A working Guide Dog in-harness will stand regally atop our 45 foot-long float, overlooking a basket of frolicking puppies. Guide Dog graduates and puppy raisers will be along for the ride. The float's animals are animated and will be spreading good cheer to millions of viewers. Tournament of Roses Float participants. To date: riding on the float will be:
Outwalkers: Sheila Styron with black Lab Dorian OR3R, 3/96 -- Sheila was recently elected President of the Guide Dog Users of California and is on the board of directors for Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic. Tiffany Wilson with yellow Lab "Melba;" CA 571, 6/97 -- Tiffany has run with the United States Association of Blind Athletes and has won a gold medal in long jump and a bronze medal for 100 meter race. She's working on her degree at San Diego State. John Woodman with yellow Lab "Cabot: CA 599R, 11/99 -- John is a Marine Veteran and teaches Sensory Awareness at Braille. Raiser Outwalkers: John Matz, Lindsay Smith, Will Wilkinson and Danielle Shinkler There is more information on GDB's web site, www.guidedogs.com |
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Minutes of the GDUC business meeting held at the Los Angeles Crowne Plaza Hotel November 3, 2001 President Melita Waters called the meeting to order at approximately 8:30 A. M. Present: All the Board members, except Don Brown, and various members of GDUC. At Melita's request, all present introduced themselves. Treasurer's report: Treasurer, Ken Metz, gave the treasurer's report. Our balance is $6,147. We have 92 members. GDUC contributed $200 to an animal rescue organization that helped dogs affected by the attacks of September 11. The report was approved as read. Minutes of the last business meeting: David Foster read the minutes of the meeting held at the 2001 spring convention. Except for the extra zero on four hundred dollars, the minutes were approved as read. Web site: Melita announced that the GDUC web site is now running. It has information for our members, as well as materials appropriate to people learning about guide dogs. The web address is: There is a place for comments. Members are encouraged to use it to let the web site committee know your experience with the site. Individuals and affiliates are also encouraged to send information to our "news" section. This news will be included in the quarterly additions of "Forward". Melita and David reminded us that not everyone has computers and internet access, and to be sure everyone is included in the activities of GDUC. Public Relations: Sheila Styron is working on a GDUC brochure. Proposed resolution: Last business meeting, we discussed expanding the California State Guide Dog Board so that it would include other service/assistance animals. The board met and decided that we all need more information about other kinds of assistance animals and the people who train them. We invited all the schools in California to come to the fall convention and discuss their position on the board. Most accepted the invitation. The board will continue its discussions of the issue.
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Whoever said "LET SLEEPING DOGS LIE" didn't sleep with dogs. The first thing you discover when you bring a dog onto your bed is the striking difference in weight between an alert, awake dog and a dog at rest. Rule Number One: The deeper the sleep the heavier the dog. Most people who sleep with dogs develop spinal deformities rather than rent the heavy equipment necessary to move their snoring canines to a more appropriate part of the bed. Cunning canines steal precious space in tiny increments until they have achieved the center position on the bed -- with all covers carefully tucked under them for safekeeping. The stretch and roll method is very effective in gaining territory. Less subtle tactics are sometimes preferred. A jealous dog can worm his way between a sleeping couple and, with the proper spring action from all four legs, shove a sleeping human to the floor. Rule Number Two: Dogs possess superhuman strength while on a bed. As you cling to the edge of the bed, wishing you had covers, your sweet pup begins to snore at a volume you would not have thought possible. Once that quiets down, the dog dreams begin. Yipping, growling, running, kicking. Your bed becomes a battlefield and playground of canine fantasy. It starts out with a bit of "sleep running," lots of eye movement and then, suddenly, a shrieking howl blasted through the night like a banshee wail. The horror of this wake-up call haunts you for years. It's particularly devastating when your pup insists on sleeping curled around your head like a demented Daniel Boon cap. Rule Number Three: The deeper the sleep, the louder the dog. The night creeps on and you fall asleep in the 3 inches of bed not claimed by a dog. The dog dreams quiet slightly and the heap of dog flesh sleeps --breathing heavily and passing wind. Then, too soon, it's dawn and the heap stirs. Each dog has a distinctive and unpleasant method of waking the pack. One may position itself centimeters from a face and stare until you wake. The clever dog obtains excellent results by simply sneezing on your face, or they could romp all over your sleeping bodies -- or the ever-loving insertion of a tongue in an unsuspecting ear. Rule Number Four: When the dog wakes--you wake. So, why do we put up with this? There's no sane reason. Perhaps it's just that we're a pack and a pack heaps together at night--safe, contented, heavy and loud. |
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Fourth Annual Dog Guide Conference I recently had the privilege of attending Canada's Fourth Annual Dog Guide Conference which took place in Burnaby, British Columbia, October 11 through 13. It was definitely all about the dogs, and needless to say, Dorian and I enjoyed ourselves immensely. The weather was crisp and provided just enough rain and cool fall temperatures to remind us that we weren't in California anymore. There was so much grass outside the hotel, that I almost drafted a personal resolution requiring ACB to hold all future conventions there as it was such a perfect environment for guide dog teams. The conference was arranged by PAWS, Public Awareness Without Sight, an organization ably led by Lori Sheppard., and the opening banquet Thursday night was a smashing success with a silent auction and fabulous menu including fine wine. The banquet entertainment featured Dr. Laugh, a comedian who imparted humorous life enhancing tips and an inspirational speech from Michael Hingson, a guide dog handler who made it safely down 78 flights of stairs in the World Trade Center on September 11. Friday morning, William Thorton of BC Guide Dog Services shared his fascinating perspectives on "Making The Match," and Janet Brandley followed with her informative presentation, "Physiotherapy For "Your Dog." Devbon Wilkins brought us up to date before lunch with "What's New In Canadian Guide Dog Legislation." Friday afternoon David Loux from The Seeing Eye talked about "Mental Mapping," and next came a panel discussing "Cruising With Your Guide Dog." The afternoon's presentations concluded with Veterinarian, Peter Dobias enlightening us regarding "Homeopathy For Dogs." Saturday morning's agenda kicked off with Thom Ainsworth of GDB's very well received presentation, "Dog Attacks." It is worth noting here that the U.S. currently has more guide dog legislation on the books than Canada. After Thom, Ulriche Radermacher spoke to us about the historical culture of dogs which has led to their current status of being held in both high and low esteem by mankind in the modern world. A panel discussion followed made up of guide dog school reps who shared their organizations' positions regarding "Ownership Of Your Dog." After lunch came "Puppies From Birth To College," a discussion featuring raisers of all types of assistance dogs which was followed by introductions and presentations from some of the organizations in attendance and last but not least, closing remarks. I thoroughly enjoyed attending a conference that focussed on anything and everything having to do with guide dogs, and I would recommend this event to other U.S. handlers, although PAWS will not offer it again until the fall of 2003. I would personally love to be there for the next time around and admit to entertaining fantasies of producing a similar event for guide dogs here in the States. |
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by Ann Kysor First General SessionThe afternoon general session began with the usual invocation and flag salute. Then followed an astounding performance by Kaleidoscope, a vocal ensemble from the Braille Institute of America. They covered a wide range of musical styles from the swing era to spirituals sung in Latin. To say we all enjoyed them would be an understatement. They were simply awesome! Next on the agenda was Tom Lee, special consultant from the Department of Social Services. The focus of his talk was how blind and visually impaired individuals are entitled to better services than we often receive through the Department of Rehab. As the newly appointed director of Services for the Blind within the department, Mr. Lee offers many innovative ideas and strategies for blind clients. Then followed a very interesting presentation by Jim Abrams, Vice President of the Hotel and Motel Association. He discussed the ongoing effort to educate the hotel and motel industry concerning the access rights of assistance dogs and their handlers. Two short films were then shown. The purpose of the first one was to train hotel and motel staff and restaurateurs to allow assistance dogs and their handlers access to their facilities. The second was a training film for law enforcement personnel showing them what to do when negative situations arise. Lastly, our director of governmental affairs, Dan Kysor gave us the latest news on the legislative front. All in all, it was a great year for the disabled community in general and the blind in particular, as all our major bills were passed by the governor. There are, however, two pieces of legislation that have become two-year bills, namely our Commission bill, SB105 and our pedestrian safety bill, AB841. We'll continue to keep our collective fingers crossed on those. Later, I attended the Presidents' Dinner, hosted by Pat LaFrance-Wolf, President of the San Gabriel chapter. This afforded all chapter and affiliate presidents a chance to brag a little about their respective entities a little. We discussed various ways of increasing membership and encouraging folks to get actively involved in making chapters and affiliates stronger. I believe everyone there had a good time.
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CADO, the Coalition of Assistance Dog Organizations, has developed a 20 second PSA for radio. The PSA was produced by Sheila Styron in her capacity as GDUI public relations chair. It is hoped the PSA will be aired next year. The text of the PSA is: "Assistance dogs are specially trained to help people with disabilities. Imagine trying to follow a waiter through a crowded restaurant when you can't see, or trying to pick up a dropped object with hands that can't grasp. This is why assistance dogs are allowed in places where pets are not. Please help. Sponsored by CADO, The Coalition Of Assistance Dog Organizations." |
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Lives and breathes to love his family
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No, this is not the first of a regular article on computers. But there has been some activity that deserves notice. Everybody is getting their web sites up. GDUC went on-line in early October at www.gdu-cal.org and now the long-awaited GDUI site is up at www.gdui.org. Go see it, it's really great and will be greater. Be sure to sign up for the e-mail lists there - these are lists that have been needed. As Jenine Stanley said, keep informed, ask questions - and there is no better way to do that than to be on the lists. |
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By Sandy Brock Cotton Ball Remedy What do you do if your puppy (or mischievous older dog) gets into your holiday decorations and eats some of the glass ornaments? This potentially lethal mishap can darken even the brightest holiday season.
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Guide Dogs and the Visually Impaired: A Study of Trends, Usage, and Attributes of Guide Dog Users Executive Summary Prepared by the Guide Dog Foundation for the Blind, Inc.
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What a particular behavior is called depends on the life style of the dog. Here are the terms describing behavior for pet, obedience, show and agility dogs. What would be the proper term for these behaviors if it was a guide dog involved? Pet dogs raid the garbage Pet dogs shed Pet dogs are in heat Pet dogs run around the house Pet dogs get a bath Pet dogs beg for treats Pet dogs jump the fence Pet dogs bark at other dogs Pet dogs are hyper Pet dogs steal socks and laundry Pet dogs find and chew up their owners shoes |
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Hotel Training Video Nears Release The long awaited Hotel Training Video is in the can. It was shown in the Friday afternoon session at CCB and will be distributed in the very near future. This is a result of years of hard work by Jim Abrams and the California Hotel and Lodging Asso-ciation as well as GDUC, IAADP, ADI, San Francisco Hearing Dog Program, CCB, NFB, Law Enforcement, and not to forget the money people including American Express, AAA and many others that I don't have a complete list of. Jim showed the film at a national industry conference in New York City in late November or early December and it rated rave reviews. He tells me that he is getting calls, many of them, from all over the country asking for copies by the thousand. The films are, of course finished, but we are currently waiting to see if any financial Governmental production help is in the offing. If it turns out that it isn't, the additional production money will have to be raised and the mass production will be delayed for a few weeks. The project was initially aimed at California, but fortu-nately soon out-grew even California and is now a national project. It should help with lodging and restaurant access for all of us. Produced at the same time, but not yet complete is a similar video aimed at the Law Enforcement world. The two together should make life a lot easier for every service animal user. Lets get out the thesaurus and find as many words as we can to send our thanks and appreciation to Jim and all those in-volved for this wonderful project. Jim will be showing the films at the IAADP/ADI conference in New Orleans in January '02 and I believe he will be receiving an award for his fabulous contribution to the Assistance Animal world as well as the entire Hotel/Motel and Restaurant industry. |
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Thank you. I don't know that I necessarily prepared a speech but I did prepare an outline to try and at least somewhat organize my thoughts. Melita called me about coming to this convention and presenting a program about my transition from the guide dog field to the service dog field and that's the topic I'm speaking on in some respects. But it's more. I'm going to talk about some of the commonalities and the differences between the guide dog field and the service dog field but I do want to touch briefly on my transition from the guide dog field to the service dog field. It was somewhat of a difficult transition in the respect that when I left GDA it was like leaving my family because I did love that school. The people that I worked with there, the graduates that I met and worked with there; the 4-H-ers, the puppy raisers. It was like I left a family and I'm enjoying immensely seeing them all here today. I do want to thank GDA for the opportunities that were provided for me there; Steve Berkman in particular. At the same time, when I first got to CCI I found the same family atmosphere and I want to express my thanks to Corey Hudson for going out on a limb and taking a an "old dog" off the hill and giving him a new chance to learn. It was a long slow dance in deciding to make the move from the guide dog field to the service dog field. Corey and I had talked for many many months prior to my actually making the decision to go forward. One of the reasons I did that was to expand my knowledge and see if an "old dog" could learn again because there is a lot to learn in the service dog field. I came into working for CCI with some preconceived ideas about service work. Steve Berkman had a lot of fun with me right before I left because he just couldn't imagine me - being the old school trainer, a hard nosed guy, going to an organization that we all thought you know, basically has controlled misbehaviors as their skill levels. You know digging on the walls and jumping on tables and stuff of that nature. Steve would say, "Chuck, I just can't imagine that you can allow that to happen. Your first reaction is to want to smash the dog and say, "all four feet on the floor". So that was a serious adjustment. The first commonality that I found between the two fields when I got to CCI was the incredible, the absolutely incredible professionalism that I found in the staff--in the trainers; the admin-istrative staff; the support staff; the volumes of volunteer staff that work with CCI and what they do to enhance the operational goals of the organization. So the first commonality is the dedicated staff that I see. You would be, since we had the interesting panel discussion today, quite pleased to see that some of the things that, while licensure is a qualification process that exists that gives a person a credential, that CCI in its own right, already has some in-house testing and educational procedures that at least duplicate if in some respects don't even exceed the guide dog model in the respect that they are dealing with so many types of disabilities. That's a commonality that I would like everybody in this audience to feel very good about because the service dog field does have extremely high goals and extremely high bars of expectancies within their staff level itself. The other commonality that I found is the nice facilities that are provided. Because at that organization like in the guide dog schools in most cases unless you're doing an in home training, people come and live at the facility for a period of time. And CCI is very good about providing the same type of facilities that all of you are used to. At whatever alma mater you go to do you have a good support system while you are in the school? There are some differences in that area that I will touch on a little bit later but it is really good to see that there is an extremely high professional level in the facilities that are provided for the clients that do come in to get their service dogs. One of the other commonalities that I saw immediately is the length of time of training that is put into the dogs. The average time of training if the dog goes through on the first selection process is a very strenuous six months. The training itself is somewhat different than what you see in the guide dog training institution. In the service dog field probably 90% of the work is done at the facility because the majority of the training there is to get these 50 commands or skills taught in a manner that the dog is immediately verbally responsive. Because the clients that we deal with don't have the same physical dexterities that the guide dog users do. So the difference is that instead of field trips every day when you take the dog away from the campus to a natural setting in the service dog world the majority of the training is done at the school. Field trips are toward the end of training in what they call the second semester to get, what we call, public proofing. So there is a minor difference there. The major difference that you run into is in training time with the team. In the guide dog field, at least in most of the schools, team training time is four weeks; some of the eastern schools have 26 days in contrast to the 28 days in California. In the service dog field people come in for two weeks of training. You might at first think well, gee, two weeks is not enough time but it is because of what's being taught to the participants going through the training. They're not dealing with, having to be concerned about reading traffic, crossing streets and following dogs because the use of dogs is somewhat different. You'll find in that course of two weeks, the lectures that you all learn: how to care for your dog; how to maintain the training; how to use your dog; how to work your dogs; what do the commands mean. And, keep in mind that in the service dog field, there are over 50 commands that you have to learn; how to remember; how they are used; how to reinforce them; how to maintain them. There are 50 commands in contrast to in the guide dog field where forward, while it's one command implies probably 37 different things: Get me from this point to that point safely; avoiding this; stopping for that; getting around this. The time element at first was a little confusing to me because I thought, "how can they get this work done in a two week time frame"? It all came together after I watched the first team training and what happens 45 days later with them. One other area that is interesting is that when you go to a guide dog school you travel across the country or it may be in your same town, you live at that school. You're there by yourself; you're in a dorm and your meals are provided for you. You need to focus on learning how to use your dog; care for your dog and that type of thing. In the service dog industry, you do live in the dormitory but I would say a vast majority of the people usually have a family member or attendant with them because there are other physical aspects of their life that have to be dealt with, frequently from a medical standpoint and our staff is not really qualified to nor should they be responsible for that care. So the dormitory structure is set up differently. Instead of having a room by yourself or sharing it with another student, the rooms are set up so it's the actual student going through training and a family member, sometimes several family members, or caretaker that is there to assist that physically disabled individual. So that's a little bit of a different situation. You have a support group with you or support person with you while you are going through training which also helps in the learning process. One thing I forgot to mention about the two week training that the students go through that's different than the guide dog model is: in guide dog work you go through your lectures, you practice with your dogs but do you ever have homework? Has anybody ever had homework in a guide dog facility? Guess what, in the service dog facility at the end of the day the instructor gives you your homework assignment for that night. You go back to your room and you have to read up your stuff and you have to take a quiz and turn it in the next morning and have it graded and discuss it. So there's some serious education that goes on here. I know I took a couple of tests and flunked them right off the bat. They told me I was incorrigible. The other interesting thing that I found about the approach in the service dog field is the organization only provides lunch for the students. Actually the organization doesn't do it. We have an extremely dedicated corps of volunteers that come in and make the lunch; get the food; get it donated, whatever is necessary; fix it for the students and their families or caretakers to participate but the breakfast and the dinner is left up to the families that are going through training. Why, would you think? Well, because that's part of dealing with reality; that's part of dealing with independence; that's part of life. The dormitory has a very large kitchen set up in all of the facilities with several stoves, refrigerators, enough shelving that each room is provided space for their own stuff. The stoves are both regular for ambulatory people or disabled people in a wheel-chair so that they can participate in preparing their own. The neat thing about that whole process is after the second or third day instead of making individual meals for themselves the classes tend to get together as a group and it becomes one large exaggerated family. This I think helps in the bonding process because they're all going through the same structures of learning. So that's a positive but it also keeps that part of the independence in doing for yourself because it's not just about a dog, it's about independence and the quality of life. So that's a very interesting concept. The other concept is, when you're at a guide dog school when you go to train with your dogs every day what do you do? You load up on a bus and go down town to a workout area. Most schools have lounges that you work out of. You do your workout in the morning; you come back to school and have lunch; go back in the afternoon and go out again. At the service dog facility, we do go on the field trips but the school does not provide transportation. The people provide their own transportation because, here again, you've got to keep in mind we're dealing with people with a multitude of types of dis-abilities. From manual chairs to power chairs. If it's a hearing class with people that physically may be ambulatory, they provide their own transportation from the actual sites that we're going to work on. Now, keep in mind you just don't go jump in your car and take off because part of the learning process is learning how to get in and out of a car safely with a wheelchair and a dog. Then you're met at a designated area by the instructors where you're taught how to get out. Later down the road you're graded on these things as well as your actual trip itself. So the learning process is very complex, like I say, a very high bar of expectation not only just on the dog but on the students who are learning how to use the dogs and the families that are providing the support processes. There are many commonalities in the actual class, the philosophies and the approach we do but there are differences that are set forth by actual differences of disabilities. When you get into the dogs, I think you are going to find the dogs that are used, generally speaking, throughout the service dog industry are very similar to the dogs you see that are used in the guide dog field; Labradors, golden retrievers and some lab-golden crosses. Years ago CCI used other breeds of dogs but decided to focus on these because this gives us the ability to really predictably put forth the dogs that we know are going to fill the needs of individuals and fit into the various life styles. Examples of some of the dogs that have been used, in the past. They did use Welch Korgies for hearing dogs; they used border collies for hearing dogs but the reality was if, for some reason, they did not make it in one service area, could they make it in another service area? Well, obviously a Korgie is not going to be able to help someone in a wheelchair pull unless it's a very short person in a very short wheelchair or a very tall Korgie. So we went to the breeds that we could utilize in all areas of service. CCI itself, which I'll touch on here briefly, has four types of dogs, That's another difference between the guide dog field and the service dog field. Guide dog schools basically train a dog to do one thing which encompasses a lot of skills and that's to guide a person successfully and safely from point A to point B. In the service dog area, CCI provides four types of dogs. The first dog is called a service dog and that is a dog that is trained for a person who is in a wheel chair; to assist them physi-cally throughout their life independently with that one individual. In order to do this, a person must be at least 18 and have the physical ability to manage, care for and control their dog. So that's a service dog. That's what we call the Cadillac of the industry. It is the dog that people most associate with this work where you see a dog with a person in a wheelchair and they function as an independent team. We get into the second category and it's called a skilled companion category. Now this is something that I had to really adjust to and learn quite a bit about. In the skilled companion category, we see a lot of children that are in wheelchairs that have various physical problems and some adults whose disability is so severe that they physically cannot do a lot of the handling and manipulation of the leash or control of the dog. So what they have is that third part of the team and that person is called a facilitator. With children that's usually one or both of the parents that also have to go through the training for the two week time frame and learn how to work with the team to manage the dog; correct the dog; control the dog and facilitate the dog focusing on the child or the individual that's using the dog. In the beginning I was a little bit confused about the value of this but the more classes I've seen and the more skilled companion teams that I've seen I am blown away on the value of this. Like I say, I've got very limited experience. It's been about eight months since I've been there. A lot of these children, because of their disability and stuff, tend to be rather withdrawn where they're not communicative. They obviously are fighting a lot of physical challenge in their life on a daily basis And you enter that dog and even though they're not, at that point in time, able to really control or work directly with the dog without a facilitator, you begin to see instantly a change. It brings the child out. There's just something magic about a child and a dog. I do want to remark about one particular team. It was the first team training that I got to watch. You know I had told Corey when I first met him - I said, "Well, you know I'm the crusty old buzzard on the mountain. I've seen it all; done it all and nothing affects me emotionally; I can handle it." So I go to my first graduation after watching this team go through training. They did have several young children in there and this one little girl was about seven or eight and very profoundly disabled with CP. It even affected her ability to speak very well But she had a smile that would light your heart up five miles away. She was one of the ones that started coming out of her shell. By the end of that two week time frame, this little girl went from being relatively laid back and shy to outspoken, aggressive--we created the monster we lived with as I always like to say. The thing that got me, it was the first graduation of CCI that I got to go to and I'm sitting out in the audience; you know, the crusty old buzzard from the mountain nothing affects me. I got through the whole thing and at the very end of it the little girl raised her hand and spoke to her mother and said, "I want to talk." The mother put the mike in front of the little girl and she started talking. Like I say, her speech is also affected by her disability so it can be, and it was, difficult for people to understand her. But when you'd been around her for two weeks you got to a point that you could understand her quite well. So I'm sitting out in the audience and she starts talking. I immediately take my glasses off and say, "Oh, my gosh I've got something in my eye. I've got to go out in the lobby." The crusty old buzzard all of a sudden found a heart again. I went out there and just about cried my eyes out. I told Corey the next Monday at work I said, "I don't know if I can do this kid thing. This is just too hard." But it was all so beautiful. Since then she's been by the organization several times for visits and that smile, still from a mile away your heart just starts to melt. So the skilled companion teams are something. If you ever get an opportunity to meet a skilled companion team, I hope you do because you will see the true difference that this type of dog makes, not only in the physical ability of helping the people but what it does from an emotional and personal standpoint for that individual. If you stop and think, while your guide dogs are only there as your tool and to give you assistance and guidance, I think you'll find that in your heart you know that they are a very strong companion and that's a good part of your relationship. So anyway that was the skilled companion dog. The third area that we train dogs for is an area we call facility dogs. This is where a professional, like someone from a rehab center; or it can be a physical therapist; it can be someone that visits disabled people in their homes and helps them with physical therapy; it can be school teachers; it can be anybody that in a physical capacity can use the dog with the types of training that service dogs do that will benefit not just an individual but a group of people. Probably a good example of that is one of our what they call the participant program manager--in the service dog field they break it up into participant side, which means any of the humans: students, graduates, applicants, what have you--and then the dog side and that's the program side. One of our program managers had gone up to do some followup, Yes, service dog schools do followup just like guide dog schools. It's really important that you ensure that the people are getting out of their dogs what they need and the only way you can do that is by extending that helping hand of assistance when problems occur. And, believe it or not, dogs occasionally offer you things that you don't expect. Nobody in this room has ever seen that before I'm sure. Anyway, this young lady had gone up and it was one of her first serious trips in the field where she had seen facility dogs. She had seen service dogs a lot, skilled companion dogs a lot but this was the first time that she worked with a graduate with a facility dog and she came back and literally was in tears, tears of happiness, satisfaction and gratification of her job. She said, "You know, all these years I've done this but I never understood the value or the impact that these facility dogs make". This one client she talked about was an elderly person who had had several massive strokes and consequently was basically bedridden. Because of those difficulties and situation, her personality was not the warm, loving friendly person that possibly everybody had known as she was younger in life. Her husband even made a comment, "You know the only times that she lightens up is when you come and visit with the dog." This lady is a physical therapist and she goes in and helps the lady do particular exercises to keep what is left about her body moving properly. The fact that she has to reach out to pet the dog simulates a lot of the physical therapy where you might have to have the person do an act over and over and over. Well, if it's just straight physical therapy, you lose motivation after a while. But with the dog there, she just lights up and the husband said, "when she knows you're coming, for several hours before hand she is o.k. to live with. While you're here she's great and she's real good for about two days after. You need to come more frequently". So Rebecca came back and she said not only is it giving that individual person support and the help that they need from a physical standpoint but she sees the value that the dog gives to the support group in the family. So the facility dogs impact not just one person but numerous people. So that's a program that, while it's not the main focus of CCI and it's a smaller proportion of what we put out, it's a dog that is really really benefitting numbers of people not just a person. The fourth one of course is the hearing dog program. Canine Companions for Independence does have a hearing dog program. Right now it's only taught at the Santa Rosa campus. Eventually we will be, hopefully, getting it out to some of the other campuses and of course we all know what hearing dogs do. I have to say I had not seen hearing dog training and it's a totally different concept of training than I'd ever watched before and boy, is it fun! The dogs just love it and the people, when they go through training, it is just a kick. Those dogs really give the people a lot of help. That, being my first exposure to that type of activity, I'd never even thought about some of the things that people with profound hearing loss or deafness, have to deal with in day to day life. I'd had some minimal experience training a couple of deaf-blind people but the dogs were basically guides, not signal dogs or hearing dogs. Consequently, my interchange with them was from a guide dog standpoint. Now, looking back, it would be interesting if that were done by some schools where they had a program dealing with the deaf-blind and could incorporate a few of those activities as well. So there is some difference in the respect that the service dog schools usually are not limited to one focus of the skill set but multiples. The guide dog schools, here again that's where the difference is, all the guide dog schools have similar programs in what they teach. There are some technical differences in the way they teach it and the way they instruct it. I think, generally speaking, most of the guide dog schools put out a product that is really pretty darn good and it's real predictable, it's what you're looking for. The one thing that leads back to something I said earlier about the two week training thing because a lot of people are still going, "Gee, two weeks, can you really learn enough in two weeks?" Well, from what they have to do, yeah, they can but the interesting concept that I found when I saw the first process of what they call the 45 day workshop, aha, what you do is you graduate. You go home after two weeks. You have to come back 45 days later and you have to prove that you have maintained the training; that you have understood everything you need to do; that the dog's care has been good and you have to go through a test for public certification. Because when you graduate you get a temporary public certification ID. You have to come back and re-certify. We take you down town to an area and you go through what they call the ADI certification test and there are several parts of that test. If you fail it then you don't get certification and it's six months before you can take it again. Can anybody here imagine graduating and having to go back to your alma mater 45 days later to prove that you learned what you're supposed to learn? But the interesting thing here too and some of the points that make me so glad we're having the opportunity to share this information with the panel today because there's so little known back and forth between the two areas of service, is that service dogs, when they go from an ADI organization, the certification that you get when you pass that test is not for a life time. It's a one to three year certification. So if you're really good you might get a three year certification but you're still not certified for the rest of your life, you have to come back again. You have to keep proving as a student graduate that you're living up to your side of the bargain and making sure that your dog is working properly; controlled properly and taken care of properly. So that's a very strong difference between the two areas and that's the thing that I'm the most proud of and I keep telling all the staff at Santa Rosa, "My God, we've got to get this information to the guide dog field so they understand. Because I know, having been in the guide dog field for so many years that every now and then you run into a service dog that's out of control and looney tunes but then, by the same token, I've seen some guide dogs that are out of control and looney tunes. What it gets back to there is personal responsibility. Has that graduate lived up to what they're supposed to do? Because most dogs, you know, given the proper directions; given the proper control methodology are going to be pretty good dogs but every now and then people let it slide. You get a little lax and the next thing you know you've got a dog in the middle of the table helping you eat your food. But that was a real interesting concept to see that certification process. I've had the opportunity now to go through three of the ADI testing processes. They actually let me score it this last time. That was a lot of fun. They felt that I had learned enough that I could score it. The other thing that CCI does that is amazing because I just went through my first experience at the northwest region and that was what they call a graduate workshop and seminar. It's a three day program. In this last program we had 74 graduates show up from the northwest and they were there for three days because what's offered. They have a variety of workshops where people can pick and choose which workshops they want to go to. They had everything from off leash obedience in a controlled area; they had grief counseling; adjusting to loss of a service dog, that type of thing. They got into public access issues because, as you learn in the school how to deal with it, the first time you have to deal with it it's not very comfortable, how do you deal with it from that point on? It was really amazing to me to see 74 teams there for three days, 72 hours and not once in 72 hours with 74 people and 74 dogs of various ages, sizes and disciplines because there were service dog people there; there were skilled companions there; there were facility dog users there; there were hearing dog people there. So you've got all four categories represented and not once in 72 hours, did I see one dog even look at another and lift his nose in anger. It was beautiful. On Friday we did 30 ADI recertification tests. It was incredible. Rebecca, the young lady I was talking about that went up to Canada and came back in tears, organized it to the point that you wouldn't have even believed that much could have gone on with what appeared to be as little effort. Because it's such a set program that it just rolled like it was a fun thing and it was very much a fun thing. We had a ball doing it. The luncheons and the food and everything else, it was just great. The commonality that I have found between the two areas of assistance dogs, meaning guide dogs and service dogs, is: the organizations exist to help people with disabilities to live safer and with more independence. That's a commonality that I think is fantastic and both sides of the fence are providing that. The other thing that I see that really is common in both areas is the companionship that each person and his partner truly gets out of it because there is something that's special about that. It's not really work related. It's not skill related but there's just something about it that makes it special. In the years that I've been involved in this field is I've always been a little envious and a little jealous. As much as I've had good relationships with dogs in the past, I've never experienced that special bonding that I see with guide dog users and now with service dog users. It's special and it's a companionship that both organizations provide. The successes that I look at on both sides of the street show that, while dogs are the vehicle that provide the abilities for people to be safe, independent, more convenienced and have a better quality of life, it allows us that work in this field to peripherally live through the successes that you guys have. All we can do is provide a dog that has been well trained and give you the education in using the dog but the successes that I see are yours because you're the one that takes that dog and goes forward with it. The same thing is true with what I've seen with the people that get their service dogs; skilled companion dogs; facility dogs or hearing dogs. Their successes are what they've done with what they've learned and it's neat to live peripherally through that or be part of that even more peripherally as I am now because I very seldom am able to get involved much with the dogs. I'm working more with the staff and with the trainers. One other difference that CCI has in comparison with the guide dog model is, with the exception of GDB that has two facilities, CCI has five facilities. Corey mentioned them earlier. We have one in Santa Rosa which is the northwest regional training facility and the national office; one in Oceanside where I just spent this last week; one outside of Columbus Ohio in a little town called Delaware. Gosh that's the nicest part of the country I think I've ever been into. Of course I wasn't there in the winter time. We have one on Long Island and I just got back from the brand new facility we have in Orlando Florida. The only thing about that is their bugs are on steroids and their service spider met me at the door. It was about six inches across in diameter and when you have extreme fear of spiders like I do--I didn't know what to do--because it was too big to kill. I didn't think I could beat it up. That is one of the differences is the fact that we have five regional centers to deal with on a national level. One of the reasons we have five centers in contrast is it's pretty easy to jump on a plane and fly across the country to get your guide dog but when you're wheelchair bound, particularly if you are a quad or something and you're using a power chair, it becomes really difficult just to jump on a plane. Yes, people do do that but to convenience the clientele that we serve, the regional model is what we chose to go on. Corey can certainly tell you that from an executive director's standpoint, it is not the cheapest form and the cheapest model to do and sometimes we really scratch our head and go, "Why do we do it this way"? but the reason we did it this way is to convenience the clientele that we serve because we're here in a service capacity. The common goals that I really see between the two fields is that independence, and that improvement of quality of life; dealing with access issues; getting people assistance and help in the manner in the parts of life that they do have a right, in my opinion, to have and also ensuring that the graduates keep up their responsibility in this too because it's not just the organization that provides the dog or the dog the training, it's the graduate's responsibility to use the dog and to maintain that level of expectancy that you go forward because the expectancy is there for the person. In conclusion, the real differences that I see between the two fields is: a guide dog's job is to guide and that's why you see somewhat of a difference in personality between a service dog and a guide dog. A guide dog has got to be able to, besides taking a command and responding to a command, they've got to also be able to exercise that intelligent disobedience and override a command to ensure the eventual safety of their master. So most guide dogs are a little bit more what I call ready to use initiative. A service dog's role is to serve. They're to exercise no initiative. They sit there and that's why they have to use 50 commands. A person who is physically disabled cannot have a dog to make a decision and go pick up something that that person doesn't need. The dog must be patient. It must wait and sit there and listen to the spoken command and to exercise the skill that the person needs utilized. So the basic difference is between guiding and using initiative in making decisions and the service where the dog waits to be told exactly what to do and then to do that to benefit their master. So that's the two basic differences that I really see but when you look at it they're still not that different because they are there to provide assistance to the person that they love. So there's not a lot of difference, there's more commonality. There is also more commonality between the two areas of disabilities, of the blindness and the physically disabled because you all have common goals. The thing that I see today--and I'm so glad that Melita was able to pull this package together--is that we need to see more of a focus between the different areas in disciplines of training and the different areas of disabilities because there are common goals that exist. Anything that we can do organizationally to help our people, just like the schools you get your dogs from, that can help you, eventually helps everybody because it's all going down that same path of accessibility, safety, independence and freedom. So pretty much that's what I've seen in my transition. I didn't get into the jokes that I wanted to tell but at times we have to keep a little bit more of a quiet nature about us but before I close I do want to thank one other person in this room for helping me. She is sitting at my table. Her name is Audrey. Audrey Hebner is a good friend of mine. I've known her for a number of years and I had the distinct honor of training her, doing an in home training with her current guide dog whose name I won't use because she'll probably come over and lick my hand. As a matter of fact, she did take the bacon from me earlier. But the thing that's been really neat with Audrey is when I made the move to CCI and we emailed frequently, Audrey has been helping me in my learning process because she understands old dogs don't learn as quickly as young dogs. Audrey is very good about writing me questions asking me about this and asking me about that. And the thing about it is that it makes me stop and think because you know as you're just going through life and as you're talking you can , as I am now, ramble on but when you have to commit it to writing and send it in an email, you have to stop, think, organize it and do it. So Audrey has been my teacher in the respect that she makes me think and explain stuff to her. A lot of what I have talked about today are things that she has brought up that I, in the course of making the transition was going through the process, but never put in a concept of why are we doing this or what is the difference and what is this all about. So, Audrey, I thank you. I want you to keep it up because you keep me awake and you keep me relatively young. So, other than that, I'm going to go ahead and close. |
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