Service

Service dogs assist individuals in a variety of ways. There are the more commonly recognized guide dogs that assist the blind or visually impaired, as well as dogs that assist the deaf or hard of hearing by alerting their owners of alarms and other important sounds. Service dogs also assist the physically disabled by retrieving objects, pulling wheel chairs, turning off light switches and performing other tasks to help in everyday activities. In addition, there are service dogs that assist with invisible disabilities, such as diabetes and anxiety, alerting a person of a physiological change. These dogs are able to

Today I became best friends with a yellow lab whose name is Nash. We were introduced early in the afternoon. He’s good and strong about not crying or whimpering after the trainers leave the room. The room here at Guiding Eyes for the Blind is bigger than a typical dorm room but smaller than a New York City studio apartment. There are two doors, one that leads out to the lobby of GEB, and one that leads out to an alley where the dogs can do their business. We were told to hold onto the leashes for the entire first

This is part three of Brian Fischler’s ongoing series about meeting and learning to work with his guide dog, Nash. Walking with a Guide Dog Today was the first day that we went out into the streets with our guide dogs. Our instructors were attached to our dogs so we weren’t flying solo. My instructor had a leash also attached to Nash’s collar; that way she could control the dog and ease me into commanding him. I was holding onto his harness to get accustomed to walking with him. We worked on right and left turns. The difficult thing about

Nash and my second day of working together went pretty well. We worked on going forward, right and left turns. A very common misconception about Guide Dogs is that they read traffic lights and tell you when to cross the street. This is not the case, as dogs are color blind. I have to listen to the sound of traffic, and tell Nash when I think it is safe to cross the street. He is trained not to walk into oncoming traffic. This is definitely going to take some getting used to for me. It wasn’t too long ago that

First, the good. We had good moments during both our morning and afternoon walks today. We began making right turns today, because I am an ambi-turner; I do make right turns in my everyday life. If you are not familiar with that term, see the movie “Zoolander.” When a Guide Dog Loses Focus Nash was really good at leading me around obstacles, both human and non-human. He didn’t walk me into anything. I was a little disappointed with Nash’s crossing of intersections, as he would slow down in the middle of the crosswalk. I can’t stress enough how quickly you

This is the first in our series about Service Dogs and the important work they do. Service dogs assist individuals in a variety of ways. There are the more commonly recognized guide dogs that assist the blind or visually impaired, as well as dogs that assist the deaf or hard of hearing by alerting their owners of alarms and other important sounds. Service dogs also assist the physically disabled by retrieving objects, pulling wheel chairs, turning off light switches and performing other tasks to help in everyday activities. In addition, there are service dogs that assist with invisible disabilities, such

This is the second in our series about service dogs and the important work they do. Service dogs assist individuals in a variety of ways. There are the more commonly recognized guide dogs that assist the blind or visually impaired, as well as dogs that assist the deaf or hard of hearing by alerting their owners of alarms and other important sounds. Service dogs also assist the physically disabled by retrieving objects, pulling wheel chairs, turning off light switches and performing other tasks to help in everyday activities. In addition, there are service dogs that assist with invisible disabilities, such