Respecting Boundaries

This week, my friend, Sean, and his guide dog, Franklin, have been visiting me and Mason. Since my dorm is extremely tiny, we decided to do obediense and play with the dogs in the hallway. I have a friend who does this with her dog, and I figured there wouldn't be any issues. However, I was just informed that we have to stop. My RA was verry nice about it, but hhe said that service animals who were out in the hall had to be on some type of leash or harness at all times. The annoying thing is that this suveerly limits the obediense you can do with a dog. Sure, you can get the dog to sit, lay down, and heal, but you can't get the dog to stay in a certain spot, come when called, or heal off leash. Therefore, since the on leash commands are used constantly anyway, obediense is completely pointless. I realize that there are people who are not confortable around dogs, but we live here too and should have the same rights to the building as everyone else does. Besides, if approaching people is the issue for why service animals can't run free, how are they supposed to learn not to do it if they're nog given a chance to learn?

Update On the Dining Hall Situation

You may have read the poste I made earlier about how difficult it can be to navigate around the dining hall. Well, it turns out that I wasn't completely right. Our dining hall has a to go station. I'd never thought to use it before, so I thought I'd give it a try tonight. It turns out that the people working there are more able to help us out than the ones who work in the regular area. The lady behind the counter explained what food was offered, and helped me get everything together. True, it isn't total independense and I cant sit down and eat there. But, at least it's a step in the right direction.

Scout Meeting

Last night, I took Mason to a cub scout troop to show him off to the kids and explain what it is like to be a blind person using a dog guide. Everyone, including Mason, had a great time. The kids had a lot of interesting questions for me, and were as about as atentive as fourth graders could be. Not only was it a good time to make people aware of what dog guides do, but it was also a great oppurtunity to work on Mason's obediense in a real life situation. At the end of our presentation, I removed his harness so everyone could have a chance to pet him. The trick was that he had to sit for it. This is quite a challenge for an excitable retriever, but he managed to pull it off. I'm hoping to do more of these types of activities in the future. After all, the more we make people aware of the importanse of service dogs and the respect they need, the less access deneyle and personal space issues we as service dog handlers will have.

The Importanse of Technology

Last week, I realized once again how much technology really means to a college student. For some reason, we've been getting snow, which allmost never happens in Georgia. Anyway, that was happening on Tuesday, and I really didnt feel like going to class in it. However, thanks to email, I found out that class had been canseled since my prof was sick. You see, without email, there would have been no way to tell us that. This would have a bunch of annoyed students to make a trip through the snow for nothing. However, a lot of blind people think that technology isn't necesary, and I used to be one of them.
Back in highschool, I didn't have much use for the internet. We had the occasional research paper, but I usually just got someone to look stuff up for me so I could do the assignment. However, I sooned figured out that this would not fly in college. So, I had to buckle down and learn how to use it. Now, I've opened upn a whole new world for myself. Not only have I mastered email and research, but I've been able to access other social networks such as facebook and this blog sight. I say this because I know there are a lot of blind people like me who have never had a desire to master technology. If anything, I hope this poste reaches at least one person and helps him or her realize the necesity of it before it's too late. Believe me, trying to juggle a full load of courses plus mastering the computer at the same time is something you want to avoid if at all possible.

Eat Your Vegetables

One of the things the vet told me to do was to supliment some of Mason's food with greenbeans. He said that it would fill him up without giving him the extra calories. At first, I wasnt sure if he would eat them. After all, dogs and vegetables don't exactly mix. However, I was soon proven wrong.
When I gave Mason his dinner, I usually make him lay down acroos the room untill I tell him to take it. Usually, this isn't a problem. However, now that greenbeans are part of the meal, it's a bit more of a struggle. One time, I got his dinner together, and was putting it down for him. When I told him he could take it, he ran across the dorm so fast that he knocked his harness off of the bathroom door. I guess the differense between him and most little kids is that I don't have to worry about reminding him to eat his vegetables. Lol.

Dining Hall Dependense

There are 2 problems with our dining hall. First off, the serving lines are not blind friendly. The food is set out on racks, and we are supposed to just grabb plates and serve ourselves. Even if I could get a staff member to help me get food, they're not allways right behind the counter, and it's not their job. Also, instead of being able to get a trey, you have to get several plates. This is a problem if you are a blind person eating alone. For one thing, you cant carry more than one plate with one hand. I know most people can carry several at once, but Mason allready occupies my left arm. You could just go back and get more food, but a plate doesn't hold verry much. So, you would spend most of your meal at the food counters.
Most people might ask why I bother to write about this. It may not seem like a big deal, but to an independent blind person who wishes to live like any other college student, it is. Sure, I have friends who are more than willing to help out, but it's the principle of the thing. For one thing, if they have to get their own food, then there should be a way for me to do the same. As things are now, it's difficult to go to the dining hall alone, and that's is something I've had to do in the past. If anything, I hope that if someone is reading this blog that has a job involving designing these types of facilities, I'd urge you to keep things like this in mind.