Three Months On

Today marks three months since Chase and I graduated from Guide Dogs for the Blind.  It seems to be a good time to reflect on how things have gone and how things have changed since then.

I have thought throughout that one fundamental change is that I’m less likely to procrastinate.  With the added demands of caring for Chase and keeping our schedule, I now try to do things as soon as I think of them.  I don’t make mental lists of what I’ll do later. 

This blog is the one thing that puts the lie to that previous paragraph.  I write all day long for a living and sometimes find it hard to sit down at night and write some more.  So I put it off.  To those of you who have been kind enough to say you enjoy reading about me and Chase, I apologize that my posts have become less regular and less frequent.

I have learned that no matter how well trained, a dog is still a dog.  Chase does his job well, but he can be distracted.  He is drawn to other dogs.  He is drawn to things on the ground.  So I have to be aware of what he’s doing.  In terms of dog behavior, Chase sometimes seems unaware of certain basic rules.  When we walk down the street, he turns his head and stares at passing dogs.  Sometimes they seem  to find that provocative.  As a result, I have begun using his Gentle Leader, a leash attachment that goes over his snout and makes it easy to direct his head.  It also helps me keep his nose from scanning the ground around him.

Our daily ride on BART generally goes smoothly.  Chase knows the rhythm of our schedule.  He now not only sits and lies down in front the side-facing seats, but slides himself back under the seat.  Then as we depart the station before the one where we change trains or the station before the one where we get off, he gets up so I can put his harness handle back on.  He also knows how to jump up on the bus bench so I can put his shoes on or take them off. 

At work, people come by to visit us through the day.  By us, I mean Chase.  Chase is always happy to see them (if his tail and full body curl are any indicators).  And I think he provides therapeutic relief for some of them. 

At home, he and Cody have become good friends.  I think they would wrestle, growl and chew on each other without end if we let them.  When off his lead, Chase loves to bound across the living room and engage his skinny adopted brother.  It makes the rugs slides across the wood floors and the dogs slide across the rugs. 

A couple weeks ago, Chase attended a meeting of the San Ramon Valley School District.  The club there that raises puppies for Guide Dogs for the Blind has been encouraging the district in its efforts to develop a policy that would allow students to bring guide dog puppies on campus with them.  They asked me to offer some perspective from a person with a guide dog on the value of the puppy training.  Chase slept through most of the meeting.  I suspect he is not the first to do that.

Chase is proving to be a good guide and a good companion.  As the darkness comes earlier, it really helps to have him lead me down the street.  We wear lots of flashing lights to let people know a man wearing dark clothes and a black guide dog are there.  So far, so good.