I traveled by plane for the first time to get to class and I did not even realize when the plane took off until the flight attendant said over the speaker we were now 10,000 feet in the air. when I arrived it was a Sunday so not much was done but unpacking and socializing with others who got there, On Monday we did something called Juno walks.A Juno walk is the trainer holding the harness that will go on your dog. The point of these walks is to learn the commands and corrections if they need to be made to the dog. I got my new guide dog the next day because it was a short class and all the trainers thought we should get extra time since it was a short class. I was presented with a yellow lab named Greyson. A awesome fact is Greyson was raised in the prison system not with a family. So for his first full year of life he stayed with this person and they taught him basic commands and things that may be strange to the dog. The first week went by very quickly and before I knew it Sunday was there. Sundays are the days Greyson gets to just be a dog they are for play, lazing around, and recouping from the week. The second week also went by very quickly but we learned many more things together. Greyson and I went along busy roads and longer routes where there were many obstacles. When there may be a ground or just an obstacle in the sidewalk Greyson stops to let me know something is there and I should check it out. Once I do so I take a step back and give the command forward and he has the responsibility to take the safest way around the obstacle. On Saturday I was not feeling Greyson and I were progressing well but in the morning we took an independent walk with just trainers at certain points just in case we needed help. That walk made me feel better on how we are working together but in the afternoon my feelings were in a way I could not describe because we did a very busy mall. To go into a busy mall and not run into anything was amazing. Greyson easily guided me around people and obstacles smoothly and with grace. I found out many people are not expecting to see a dog in a place like a mall so they can get startled.I had that happen Greyson and I passed a woman and she dropped all her stuff because she was not expecting to see Greyson the next day was Father's day and my dad came to visit me for a couple hours. He had some trouble getting there because a belt broke on his vehicle so he had to have a friend bring him another one. Greyson met my dad and he likes him so that is very good. Then was the last week. the last week I really enjoyed because we went and did a route in Detroit and I got to go on a people mover for the first time. I also learned if Greyson and I are on a platform like for a train or the people mover and I try to tell Greyson to go forward and nothing is there he will actually turn the other way and not go off the drop off. We also walked a trail the last week which was very nice because I like to go hiking and I was wondering how Greyson would handle that situation. Thursday came around and I signed the papers that made Greyson and I an official team. We also got an I.D that has our picture on it and it says we are a Leader Dog team on the back of the I.D there is the ADA law. I went home on Friday with Greyson. It was an interesting experience going threw security and riding on a plane with him. Greyson got very stressed after security and he threw up but after that everything went well. I was very surprised when I was told only 40% of all the puppies that are born make it threw to class and graduate with a handler.Some dogs may not like the responsibility of the job, some dogs may be too hyper, some dogs may even be too lazy. These dogs are called career change dogs. Leader Dog does its best to put the career change dogs in a position somewhere else like working with a person in a wheelchair or even in the airport. If there are any questions I can answer just put them in the comments.
