Everyone's Favorite Gadgets

First off, I want to dedicate this poste to Anneliese. She's the one who enspired me to write it, so she deserves all the credit. Anhyway, last week, I started working downtown at the store operated by the Center for the Visually Impaired. I've been working with the different technical devices they sell. Let me tell you, with their selection, you will never suffer from boardum. When it comes to devices for totals, they mainly work with companies like Humanware and Levelstar. When it comes to some of their devices for people with low vision, they work with a few other businesses. However, since I don't work with those items, I have no clue who they are.
Let me start off with the stuff I was working with. I got to play around with the Victor Reader Stream, the Trekker Breeze, the Idee Mate, and the Icon. The Stream is a tiny machine about the size as a deck of cards. Basically, it's a book-mp3 player for the blind. The coolest part is it holds all its data on an SD card, like the one you would use for a camera. The 2 great things about this are, you have an unlimited amount of memory, and the cards are easy to find. The trekker breeze is a type of GPS. However, it doesn't lay out the whole route for you. Basically, it just tells you when you've reached a landmark that you've previously rechorded in to it. I don't know why people find it useful, but I guess some do. The Idee Mate is a device used for scanning bar codes on different foods, books, and games. It reads all of the information to you, and allows you to rechord additional information about the item. Also, it comes with lables with bar codes that you can attach to your clothes and file folders. This way, you can tell what color shirt you're wearing, or what file you just put a paper in. The Icon is basically a PDA. You can either write in it by texting, or you can get a docking station for it. It has a calendar, a journal, and a voice rechorder. Also, you can use it to play digital books.
Along with the items above, the Center sells a variety of CC TV's and magnifiers. As you may havde allready figured out, we're coming out with more and more technical devices for the blind every day. Who knows what people will think of next.

First Day On the Job

Today, I started some volunteer work at the Center for the Visually Impaired in downtown Atlanta. Basically, I work with the technology they sell in their store. A lot of people who buy the stuff either don't have the time or patients to read the instruction manuals that come with the things they buy, or they may simply learn better from an actual person instead of a book. So, when people like that buy something from the center, I'm one of the people who will be working with them. Anyway, for today, they wanted me to just take a look at the devices they have, and get familiar with the ones I don't normally use. The trick was that I was sitting at a long table that didnt have room to fit a dog under it, or a corner to tie him too. Therefore, I was wondering how my social retriever would handle this arrangement. It turned out that I had nothing to worry about. Instead of constantly looking for people the way he normally does, he spent most of the time sleeping. I guess he figured that since he was in plain sight, everyone who wanted to could admire him without him having to make his presence known. Hopefully, this behavior will continue when I start showing customers around the store. I'll keep you posted.

The Art of Bonding

I got the idea for this poste from my fellow TSE classmate, fellow blogger, and good friend, Anneliese. Thanks for the great idea. Anyway, a year ago yesterday, I met Mason for the first time. I must say that he is a completely different dog from the withdrawn, unaffectionate, and stubbern monster I met that day at TSE. When I first got him, he decided right off that I was not his master, and was therefore not important enough to listen too. He demonstrated this by trying to yank my arm off with the leash, deliberately making noise at night since he knew that would make me get up and not sleep, and leading me off every curb we came in contact with that first week. However, I also noticed a lack of trust. This was noticeable because of the way he ignored my presence when we were just hanging out. But, the most interesting behavior he had was making absolutely no noise and showing absolutely no excitement whenever the other dogs would do so. It was allmost as if he was in his own little world, and noone else was a part of it. However, he is completely transformed from the dog he used to be. Now, he is completely attentive, traveling with absolute obediense, which keeps us both safe. Also, he sleeps through the night without a problem, sometimes not getting up untill he hears me get the leash for his morning park time, and I find myself receving countless kisses. But, the most interesting transformation took place when he went from the quiet dog that would ignore everything around him, to the constantly curious dog who is constantly finding something to be vocal about. Whether it be someone walking in the front door, someone walking in the room, or just because it seems like a fun random thing to do, he allways approaches someone with a toy or bone in his mouth and makes a noise between a bark, a growel, and a whine. Durring all of this, his tail is going a million miles a minute as if he's saying, "Okay people, I'm here. You can stop whatever you're doing and give me all your attention.
However, I'd have to say that the most satisfying feeling came when we were at my beep baseball games. I realized how much we'd bonded when I was out in the field, and he turned in to that monster I remember from the first day at TSE. However, once I was back with him in the bleachers, he lay by my feet contentedly as if he'd been behaving like that the whole time. I guess what I'm trying to say here is that the most rewarding things in life usually take time. No matter how hopeless things may seem, they can turn around with plenty of patients and persistance.

The Ignoranse Of Humans

Yesterday, I went to church, just like any other Sunday. When we got there, Mason and I spent the first few minutes socializing in the lobby. At one point, a woman came over and started talking to Mason, something you should absolutely never do when a dog is working. However, just like any other social animal, Mason pulled toward her, and soon receved a quick leash corection. "Don't do that," the woman scolded.
Now, I can be pretty patient with people when it comes to not knowing to leave Mason alone when he's working, or when it comes to asking questions. However, one thing I refuse to put up with is people who don't know anything about how to properly train a dog, and have the knerve to tell me how to take care of mine. Anyway, I began to explain that Mason wheres a martingale collar, which is made to give a firm but harmless corection. However, she had no interest in listening. Instead, she interrupted me and said, "I have a friend who trains dogs, and I don't think people should treat them like that."
By now, I was pretty confused. I mean, any person who has been around someone who trains dogs should know that giving a leash corection is far from being abusive. However, she still wasn't interested in hearing what I had to say, and ended up just walking off in a huff. Anyway, my point by posting this is that the public should be willing to listen and allow themselves to be educated if they're going to confront handlers about how they handle their dogs. However, we as handlers should also be willing to listen and remain calm. Getting angry and yelling back at people won't do anything to improve the situation. I think there is a lesson for everyone in this.

Escape Artist

Lately, Mason has been perfecting his skills as an escape artist. I first noticed this yesterday. We were in Petsmart getting him a new collar. I had put it over his head, and was adjusting it to see if it fit him. Then, I hooked his leash to it, to make sure the weight of the leash didnt affect its ability to give a good corection. I've learned in the past that if a collar is light weight, the leash can sometimes make it tighten before you give a corection. Anyway, once I was done adjusting it, I unclipped Mason's leash and took the collar off. However, I'd neglected to reclip the leash to his old collar, and he made a break for it. Luckily, I caught him before he got too far.
His second try took place this morning at my beep baseball game. I'd leashed him to the bench, and was out on the field batting. I came back to discover that Mason had managed to break his leash. I guess he figured he would get to play ball with us, but all he got was more close supervision from the people sitting in the stands. However, he didnt seem to mind. I guess he's been going through this phase lately to remind me how unpredictable and exciting life with a dog guide can be, and how careful I need to be about not making a slip up. After all, if that were to happen in a certain setting, it could make things pretty dangerous for everyone involved.

Don't Let Your Guard Down

Yesterday, nothing much was happening when the UPS truck came by our house. I was up in my room when the woman delivering the packages left one on our doorstep. When I went down to get it, I made sure the door was mostly shut, but I didn't shut it enough for it to actually click in to place. I figured that since I was just going to get the box off the porch, and Mason was good about not door dashing, it would be fine. However, right as I was getting the box, that's exactly what he did.
He pushed the door open, and was off the porch before I realized what happened. Luckily, I managed to get the door shut before our other dog, Scout, who loves to door dash, followed Mason's lead. At this point, Mason found the UPS worker, who was in the process of getting back in to her truck. He proceeded to give her the greeting he gives to all of our house guests. This consists of jumping on the person, grabbing his or her shirt sleve in his mouth like it's a toy, and getting verry vocal. Also, if it happens to be a woman with a purse, he'll usually attempt to take it from her shoulder.
Anyway, I went down the driveway, and got him off her before he got too excited, and I managed to get both him and the package I'd just gone through all that trouble for in to the house. Luckily, this person was extremely understanding. However, that's not allways the case. Sometimes, if people see a dog racing towards them, they may panic and end up injurring the dog before putting any thought in to it. Also, there are plenty of other dangers involved with our 4 legged friends escaping from our homes. Therefore, I'd have to say that the lesson I learned from this is to never let your guard down. You could regret it in the end.

Behaviors to Ignore

Recently, I joined a beep baseball league. It's basically like regular baseball, but the ball and the bases make sounds. Anyway, durring the games, I usually leave Mason tied to the bleachers. The problem was he didnt like the fact I was running after a ball and doing everything else you do in a game. He showed this by whining, barking, and basically being as loud as he could be. A friend of mine said she usually interrupts whatever she's doing, and corrects her dog for this type of behavior. However, I couldnt exactly stop in the middle of batting or catching the ball, or running the bases to correct what Mason was doing. Besides, I figured that going to him would be like a reward. So, I decided to just ignore him. After a while, Mason realized that all his barking was doing was making him hot and tired, and not getting him any of the attention he wanted. So, he quit. I guess that goes to show that there is more than one way to train a dog. Just like us, they all have different ways of learning that work better for them as individuals.