Sixth Day

Today, we returned to the street with the wheelie bins in the morning and to the kennels in the afternoon for some more obstacles practice. Here are some photos that were taken while we were

at the kennels.

This is the car that we used for travelling to different places, our GDMI was the driver.

In the cage on the left you may just see Ishka and in the cage on the right is Danny.

Kevin

Jean having a five mins break while she can!

Ishka

Laraine (GDMI) and Simon

Kevin, Laraine (GDMI) and Simon

Simon

Fifth day

After doing our morning chores regarding the dogs we met our instructor at the van and Simon and I including our two guide dogs, Ascot and Ishka headed out for a training session at the Nottinghamshire Kennels. After arriving at our destination, it was suggested that I went first while Simon remained at the van to groom Ascot.

Our instructor had set up a course that had many obstacles en-route; it looked very interesting! There were lots of cones and other obstructions blocking our way but not completely. We walked to the other end and then Ishka and I tackled the course; we did it about three times in all. Eventually, we returned to the van while Simon and his guide dog, Ascot had their session. I groomed Ishka using the platform at the back of the van.

We returned to the hotel for a light lunch which was followed by a meeting with our District Client Rep who explained that if we had any problems she was the one that we should contact so that she could sort it out for us. It was a very interesting meeting and being a guide dog owner was able to tell us some funny stories!

For the afternoon session, Simon and I went with the instructor to a small area where wheelie bins were littered all over the pavements! Simon went first and it was not long before he came back. I was looking forward to this exercise as this was obviously the follow up to the obstacle course that we did that morning. Ishka and I started well but it was not long before I walked into a wheelie bin and I grabbed hold of it. The instructor told me that I should have let the wheelie bin go over but I replied “No way, I am not going to end up putting the rubbish back in the bin”. The real reason why I walked into the bin was because I did not follow Ishka when she moved out towards the kerb however the instructor and I had a good laugh about it.

Fourth Day

I went out with the instructor and one of her colleagues on my own this morning. Simon and Kevin and their dogs went earlier while I groomed Ishka in the lounge. The work this time involved ‘corrections’ and swapping the lead from the harness to my right hand while walking with Ishka. Sounds easy enough, doesn’t it ─ not to me, it wasn’t! For some reason I was finding it difficult to swap the lead from the handle on the harness to my right hand while walking. I admit that I did not feel comfortable with the lead between my forefinger and middle finger while holding the handle and it was noticeable that I was not holding the handle correctly ─ this was proving a problem. I tried holding the handle and lead a different way and although it was an improvement, it was not really satisfactory; however it was eventually time to return to the hotel for lunch.

 We arrived late for lunch to find Simon and Kevin talking to the Fundraising Representative of Guide Dogs. While Simon and Kevin went off with the instructor, I had an interesting conversation with the Fundraising Representative. Following lunch, I did some obedience work with Ishka.

Later in the afternoon, the instructor asked me if I wanted to go out again and my answer was a definite ‘yes’. It was essential to sort out my difficulties with the harness and lead. The instructor showed me a different way to hold the handle with the lead and all of a sudden the problems were quickly solved ─ it was more comfortable and much easier for me to transfer the lead  from the handle on the harness to my right hand by using this new method.

By holding the handle, the guide dog owner receives tactile information letting them know what the guide dog is doing and if necessary the owner can then correct the dog with the lead.

Third day

It was an early start this morning ─ 5.30am!  This was so that the instructor could assist in the feeding of the dogs. When a bowl of food was placed on the floor, the guide dog sitting nearby would wait for the owner to blow three short blasts on the feeding whistle before starting to eat the food ─ they are trained to do this from an early age. The feeding whistle is also used to recall the guide dog during a ‘free run’;  as the dog has learned to link the feeding whistle with food it encourages the dog to return to its owner knowing that it will receive a reward.

After the morning feed it was time to learn about grooming. Grooming is very important and helps to build a strong relationship between guide dog owner and guide dog.  Ishka loves it when I rub my fingers through her coat against the lay of the hair.  I would then brush her coat against the lay of the hair and then comb the coat in the direction of the growth. Finally, I would brush her coat in the direction of the hair growth. Job is accomplished after the equipment has been cleaned. This is followed by a mini health check and then by a working lunch when we were given a lecture about ‘Dog Welfare’ in the lounge.

Later in the afternoon, I went out in the van with the instructor ─ it was only a short ride out but it was to an area where there was a small street block that was ideal for doing some harness practice. The commands that I used were mainly ‘Forward’ and ‘Right’ but the instructor did work a bit on my voice control! This is a weakness of mine but the instructor kept on telling me to talk louder as Ishka could not hear me. Praise your dog, Jean the instructor would say! I tried ─ I really did and I believe that was the day when I started to make some progress. 

Second day of Training

The second day was the day when Ishka who I was successfully matched with a few weeks ago was handed over to me. Before I was to meet Ishka, the other trainees and I were given a rundown of what to do on our first interaction with our chosen dog. We were told that there were to be no commands, just to be there and enjoy being with the dog. First, we had to make sure that our hotel room was dog proof by making sure that there was nothing on the floor or accessible to the dog ─ even the waste bin was moved to a safe place. I admit that I was slightly nervous while I was waiting, wondering how Ishka would react but when the GDMI came in with Ishka, it was to see her dash around the room sniffing at everything she could find. Ishka kept coming towards me and then moving away, eventually she decided to lie on her bed. I decided to sit down on the floor which proved to be a good move for she came over and sat near me and then laid alongside me. After a few minutes I decided that the time was right for me to make a fuss of her ─ it worked. After a short time on our own, the GDMI returned as it was time for the obedience training to start.

First day-Guide Dog Training Course at Nottingham

The first day was about orientation regarding the layout of the hotel. It looked relatively easy to navigate as the corridors as they were long and straight, lined with doors on both sides but I did notice that in the area between the two fire doors where the three hotel rooms of Simon, Kevin and my hotel room were situated the light was dimmer than the bottom half of the corridor. I navigated my way down and up the corridors by walking alongside the wall with my finger or hand on the wall and feeling my way to my hotel room by counting the doors as I walked by.  My hotel room was at one end and the lounge was at the other end of the corridor on the opposite side, both between two fire doors. I was very surprised to find that I had difficulties in locating the lounge and my hotel room in what should have been an easy task and there were times when I got exasperated however with some help from my instructor, I was eventually able to navigate my way around the corridor and only occasionally got it wrong.

Later in the day, we attended our first talk in the lounge. The instructor gave each of us a bag containing some equipment and asked us to empty the bag and she then told us what to feel for ─ the first thing that we had to feel for was the harness and then we were shown how to handle the harness. Other pieces of equipment were a lead that is used when walking with the dog when not in harness, in other words when it is not working. There were two collars, one of the collars had two bells on it and is regarded as a play collar. The second collar was for when the dog was working and finally a feeding whistle and grooming kit.  This was followed by a discussion of the Guide Dog Agreement.

Charles Bonnet Syndrome CBS

Charles Bonnet Syndrome is a condition that causes mentally healthy people with vision loss to have complex visual hallucinations. They were first described by Charles Bonnet in 1760 after noting that his elderly grandfather who was nearly blind was experiencing visual hallucinations; he was being visited by visions of people, birds, carriages and buildings, all which were invisible to everyone but himself. It was in the 1930’s that the phenomenon was named after Charles Bonnet in recognition of his work in showing that visual hallucinations secondary to eye disease is different to the hallucinations experienced by those with mental health problems. Charles Bonnet was a Swiss philosopher and writer who wrote about his elderly grandfather who was nearly blind and who had lost his sight to cataracts and later started to have visual hallucinations.

 I started to experience “visions” at night about seven months ago; I found this distressing at first and was reluctant to talk to anyone about it and decided to keep quiet about the people and patterns on the wall, etc that I was seeing. It was really strange because what I was seeing was detailed, coloured and clear, much clearer than what I see in my everyday life. At this time I was struggling to cope with the loss of my husband who died at the end of April. The hallucinations and the grief that I was experiencing made me feel that I had no time to be on my own with my thoughts and memories of yesterday. As the visions continued, I found that by blinking at the image, it started to fade and switching my bedside light on have never failed me.  The hallucinations have mostly occurred at night, it happens when I wake up and then I see people walking around my bedroom. I know that they are not real and will not hurt me but will admit that I found it a bit distressing at first mainly because I did not comprehend what was happening.  Eventually, I went to see my GP who told me that it sounded like CBS and she printed some notes out for me to read when J got back home.