Day 3: Who Was That Masked Man?

The pace picked up today.  The entire class moved over to Guide Dogs facility in downtown San Rafael.  They call it “The Lounge”, and from there, students can walk pre-designed routes in the downtown area.

With a ratio of two students to one instructor, one student would go out and walk with his or her guide, the instructor right behind to teach and correct.  The other student remained behind in the facility, which has a comfortable common room, a small dining area, a kitchen, rest rooms and a patio. 

My route was about a mile roundtrip.  I did in twice.  Both times, I was blindfolded for the first half.  It kept me from using my small amount of residual vision to override the dog.  I had to trust Nicole completely.  Well, not completely.  I also trusted Angie, my instructor, to tell me when it was safe to cross the street or when the sidewalk was going to be a little rough.

 

If there are no sounders on the walk signals, a completely sightless person might have already developed the ability to read cues such as when traffic is moving perpendicular or parallel to him or her.  I usually use cues such as whether the traffic light is red or green.  The dog only knows that the handler said “forward” and not to walk in front of a car.  (No, the dogs cannot read traffic lights.)

Nicole and I are bonding.  Some of what she did today was a relief (to both of us in different ways).  We also received instruction in how to groom our dogs daily. 

And we had a yoga instructor come in tonight to help us unwind all those muscles we’ve been using to hang on as the dog takes us for a walk.