Third Day Home
This morning was much the same with me getting up at 5:30am and heading out the door for the office by 7:30 am Once in the office Eve settled herself nicely in her bed while I worked on getting my notes together from the NFB 2023 conference to share with my team.
After most of these notes were taken care of Eve and I worked a successful route from my office to the paratransit pick up point. To work this route, I chose to use my clicker to mark landmarks instead of having one of my SA’s assist. While at the paratransit pick up point Eve and I took a picture in front of the GO BEACH sign and the Elbee cutout.
Eve and Lindsay standing next to Elbee.
Lindsay and Eve standing next to Elbee with the full GO BEACH sign behind them.
Once I returned to the office my officemate commented on how fast it was for us to get back to the office. Until my shift was up, I continued working on my NFB 2023 notes. Once I finished work for the day my dad picked Eve and I up, before we went home.
When I got home, I got lunch before starting to work on some notes for an upcoming interview. After these notes were done, I took care of what Eve needed before attending the monthly California Association of Guide Dog users call. Once this call ended, I headed to bed.
Second Day Home
Although it was only our second day home I had to head back to the office, as I had been off work for a month. This morning started with a similar routine from the previous day except I got up at 5:30am to ensure I had everything in order for Eve and I before leaving at 7:30am.
Once arriving in the office, I had my dad help me set Eve’s bed up in the office before starting my workday. As a result of being gone for an entire month my day consisted of catching up on emails and other messages that had been neglected while I was out. In addition to cleaning out my inbox, I also had one of my Student Assistants (SA) help me work a route from my office to our main office. With the help of this SA Eve did amazing learning this route with the landmarks that I gave her.
Eve sleeping in her Mickey mouse bed in the office.
Eve sleeping in her Mickey mouse bed in the office.
After the workday ended my dad picked me up and we headed to @shelbi_nichole’s house to help her with a few things, while also allowing Eve and @kristentheguidingeye to meet. Right off the bat they became fast friends, which made @shelbi_nichole and I happy as they would be spending a lot of time together. After finishing at @shelbi_nichole’s my dad and I ran a few more errands before heading home.
First Day Home
Our first night home was uneventful with Eve only waking up once around 4:30 am thinking that it was time for breakfast, but after I told her that it was too early, she went back to bed. Around 7 am we started our day with a similar feeding and relieving routine from class.
Around 8:30 am I woke my sister, @loveuleslie up to see if she wanted to take a walk to our local Starbucks, so we could get breakfast while also working a route that I was familiar with. Overall, Eve did fine on the route and in Starbucks. On the way back I remember @loveuleslie making the comment:
@loveuleslie: “Wow she matches your pace really well.”
Me: “Yes, that’s what she is supposed to do.”
Eve laying on the floor of Starbucks while Lindsay sends out thank you messages.
Lindsay and Eve walking to Starbucks.
Prior to Eve @loveuleslie had been around a few of my friends' guide dogs but had not picked up on this important fact until I got Eve.
After returning from Starbucks, we took a few minutes to put a few things together to go to the Container Store. While in the Container Store I remember getting comments of how well-behaved Eve was and many were shocked that we had only been home for 24 hours at that point. To grab a few more things for my room we also ended up at Target. While on this Target run, we encountered another dog, but Eve did amazing and had no reaction. In addition to encountering this dog, I remember on a few occasions @loveuleslie asking me to slow down because she could not keep up with Eve and I. Prior to Eve I would often have to ask @loveuleslie to slow down because I could not keep up with her while using my cane.
We finished up these errands at Islands for lunch. Like a good girl Eve slept peacefully under the table while we ate. When we left the waiter that was assisting us got a little startled when Eve got up because he had no idea she was under there.
Once returning home I took care of Eve’s needs before putting my stuff together for the work week.
July 29th, 2023
This day was different from all the other days in that I got up at 5:45 am and got ready before finishing the last bit of packing. Once I was ready, I took Eve to the play yard to run off some energy and go to the bathroom before our flight. After Eve was taken care of, I went back to my room to give her a little food and water before heading to the airport.
Once at the airport my instructor helped me and his other student check in our bags before getting us into the airport. After parking the car, he helped us through security and to our gates. In addition to helping us he also helped one of my other classmates, as she missed her first flight. When he got me to my gate, I thanked him profusely for everything that he had done for me throughout these three weeks.
When walking down the jet bridge I got a little emotional, as it hit me that I was now doing all of this on my own. Once on the plane the flight attendance helped me to my seat. Getting Eve down the narrow aisles was definitely not graceful, as at one point she was walking backwards, but we got it done. Getting her to settle under the plane seat in front of me was not easy either, but after a few tries we got it done. Despite these few challenges our flight went well.
Once arriving back at LAX the real challenge began because I had to independently get Eve to the relieving area and go to baggage claim. Going to the relieving area was easy as my dad had shown me which gate it was at before I left for Guiding Eyes. The really challenging part as I would soon find out was getting my baggage from baggage claim as I was trying to navigate it without help. Somehow, I was able to get outside with all of my stuff and Eve, but by that point I knew I would have to flag someone down to get across the street to the pickup area. Thankfully I found someone to help and I was then able to call my dad to tell him where I was.
Once my dad picked Eve and I up we headed home. When I got home I had quite the project on my hands, as I not only had to unpack from this three-week adventure, but I also had to put my room back together after my dad and brother redid my floor while I was in class. Putting my room back together was quite the project as I had several gifts from wonderful friends and family to unbox and put away. One of the many packages I had to open was Eve’s first @BarkBox, which was movie themed. One of the toys she received was a squeaky toy that was shaped like a Root Beer bottle, which was much deserved after flying across the country.
Eve laying on the floor smiling at the camera with a Root Beer bottle toy between her front two paws.
In between doing all of this I fed Eve and took her to her new relieving area. At about 9 PM after taking care of Eve’s needs and unboxing as much as I could, Eve and I headed to bed as we had a long day.
July 28th, 2023
On this day I got up at 6 AM like I did on most days and took care of Eve’s needs at 7 AM. Although I got up at the normal time, it was also bittersweet because it was also graduation day, which meant I would be flying home with Eve the next day.
At 7:15 Am after finishing everything we both needed I headed up to breakfast. Once breakfast concluded our individual instructors asked us what skills we wanted to work on. One skill that I knew that I wanted to work on was working in doubles, as I would use this skill frequently when traveling with other guide dog users. Working in doubles is a lot like following the leader, where the person who walks faster starts in the lead and the one who walks slower follows behind. On occasion each person will switch lead spots.
To complete the skill of working in doubles my group and another student went to a local national park. By going to this national park, it not only allowed me to practice working in doubles, but also allowed me to get more practice with shore lining. During this route Eve did amazing only getting distracted a handful of times as a result of different scents in the air. When we were about five minutes from the van the other instructor and student, we were working with approached us with our class van to ask if we wanted to finish our route. My classmate and I chose not to, as we both knew that we needed to get to alumni hall for graduation practice soon.
Once arriving back on campus, we went right to graduation practice. This graduation practice consisted of us learning the order that we would be sitting in, getting us to practice tucking our dogs under our chairs, and getting the dogs used to hearing a crowd of people clapping. Once graduation practice ended, we had more down time. During this downtime I worked on a Service Animal 101 PowerPoint that I was going to give in a few weeks at work. After finishing this PowerPoint, I gave Eve water and a bathroom break at 11 am. Before heading to lunch I also got my stuff out to start getting ready for Graduation later that afternoon.
For lunch we had pizza from a local Italian restaurant. This was different from many of the other days in class because usually we had a chef and a whole menu to choose from. During this lunch it was also bittersweet because all of the staff that we had come to know not only through these three weeks, but also on our application process came to congratulate and wish us well, as after graduation would be quite chaotic.
Once lunch concluded we were given the option to have our dogs take part in a community play session with the other dogs from class. This community play session was beneficial, as it helped the dogs release any pent-up energy.
Once this play session ended, I went back to my room to start getting ready for graduation. At about 2:15 pm I had to stop getting ready to go back to alumni hall to meet another guest that would be attending graduation with his guide dog to ensure that none of the dogs would get startled at graduation. Once this concluded at about 2:30 PM I went back to finish getting ready. At about 3 PM once I was done getting ready, I met Eve’s puppy raiser. It was really cool to meet her, as she is a retired teacher and has two daughters around my age that I also got to meet virtually.
Lindsay and Eve smiling at the camera.
Once this meeting concluded around 3:30pm I fed Eve dinner before taking her out. At about 3:50 pm I headed down to graduation. As a result of the amount of people and dogs at graduation I opted to take my instructor's arm, as I knew I would get to my seat quicker.
During graduation Thomas shared a little about the Guiding Eyes mission and how this mission has impacted many people’s lives for almost 70 years. Once he was done speaking the puppy raiser recruiter spoke about the impact that the puppy raisers have on the overall mission and recognized the puppy raisers that had dogs graduating in my class. Then the director of Donor Relations got to recognize one of my classmates as her dog was special named. After that, one of the class instructors shared a little of our individual stories and which dogs we were matched with before presenting us with our graduate certificates. Towards the end of graduation each of my classmates and I spoke about our experience in class and what it has meant to us. Here is what I said in my individual speech:
“On July 9, 2010, I was being wheeled back for brain surgery number five. Little did I know that 13 years later on this exact day, I would be embarking on a journey of a lifetime. Had it not been for a Guiding Eyes graduate and her guide dog. I do not think I would be sitting here right now, but thanks to both of them I am. I also have to thank the admissions staff, trainers, puppy raisers, kitchen staff, and so many more for getting me an Eve where we are today. Enclosing, I want to encourage those out there who are currently being encouraged by others to take the leap and go on this journey. You won’t regret it. Don’t make the mistake I did and wait 10 years to get on this ride.”
To close graduation out someone from the client experience team spoke about what it has meant to her to have a guide dog.
When graduation concluded I was met by Eve’s puppy raiser, @leslie.vp, and @esk8er718. It was really special to have @leslie.vp and @esk8er718 with their kids, since they only live in New Jersey. What I found out later was that they happened to sit next to my puppy raiser during graduation, as a result it was really easy to have them find me and take subsequent pictures.
Lindsay and Eve standing in front of the Guiding Eyes for the Blind statue.
Lindsay and her entire class at graduation.
Lindsay and Patricia, Eve's puppy raiser.
Lindsay and Patricia, Eve's puppy raiser standing in front of the Guiding Eyes statue.
Lindsay and Eve standing in front of the Guiding Eyes for the Blind statue with @leslie.vp, @esk8er718, and their kids.
After pictures were taken, we all headed up to Rosies for graduation dinner. It was a wonderful time to catch up with @leslie.vp and @esk8718, while getting to know my puppy raiser better. At about 6:45 pm dinner concluded, and I said my final goodbyes to my puppy raiser, @leslie.vp and @esk8718.
After dinner concluded I went back to my room to finish packing. While I was packing, I called my brother @cylinderdillinger and his bride to be @alexxisb_kerr to see how they liked graduation, but if I am being honest, I called them because I needed someone to talk to as I had a lot of thoughts running through my mind. These thoughts were much the same as I had coming into class, which had to do with the unknown and the thoughts of “Can I really do this without an instructor in my right ear?”
After getting off the phone with them I took Eve out two more times before going to bed.
July 27th, 2023
On this day I started my morning at 6am like I had been doing and fed Eve at 7am after taking her outside. When I went outside, both my instructor and the instructor that my instructor wanted to get with silly string were outside. As Eve was finding a spot to go to the bathroom, I asked the other instructor her thoughts on theme parks and guide dogs. When she was about to give her answer my instructor got her with the silly string. Because I knew what he was up to I had a really hard time not laughing as I asked the theme park question. After this happened, she asked if I was in on this, and I said maybe? Once these shenanigans ended, we all headed up to breakfast.
Once breakfast concluded we were instructed to listen to the going home lecture to understand our expectations once we returned home. After we did this, we met as a larger group to have any questions answered. At this time, we were also given a starting supply of food and training treats.
Once this lecture concluded we were instructed to relieve our dogs before heading to Ridgefield, Connecticut to watch the Barbie Movie at the Prospector Theater.
As I was in the process of relieving Eve, Thomas Panik the CEO of Guiding Eyes and his guide dog Blaze came to meet the class, so that we would not have any issues the next day during graduation. As a result of Thomas and Blaze coming to visit us at this very moment Eve was more interested in making friends with Blaze than focusing on the task at hand, so I knew I would have to try again later.
After this encounter concluded as a class, we got in the van to head to the movies. Once at the movie theater the instructors chose who they were going to take on a simple route, while the other students sat in the Ridgefield Library until it was their turn. I went first for my instructor, but before I went, I also tried relieving Eve again without any luck. This route went well with limited dog and sent distractions. Once returning to the library I sat and waited for my classmates to finish. Once everyone finished, we headed outside to give our dogs water before heading into the movie theater. As I was walking with our class supervisor, I could not help but notice that Eve was more sent distracted and pulling me over to grass. As a result, I said to my class supervisor, “Is there a spot to relieve her nearby? I can tell she might need to poop.” I then proceeded to tell the class supervisor that I had been trying to relieve her since we had left campus, but Blaze was a bit of a distraction. Once we found a good spot Eve did what she had to do, and we were on our way to get her water.
Once all the dogs had their water, we headed into the movie theater. Before going into our individual movie theater each student took pictures with the Barbie movie props.
Lindsay and Eve standing in the Barbie movie prop.
When we entered the theater, we were treated like royalty, as Guiding Eyes has taken many of their classes to The Prospector Theater. This theater is not like any other theater in that they have captions, audio description, sensory theaters, and much more to make their guests with disabilities feel welcome and included. What makes The Prospector Theater more inclusive is that 75% of their employees are persons with disabilities.
The Barbie Movie overall was good and portrayed many of the issues faced in adult culture today. I would not recommend it for young girls, as there are portions that they may not understand.
Once the movie concluded we all got ready to leave. Before we could leave a few of us had to make a bathroom break, since we had an hour drive back to campus. As a result of the chaos of everyone trying to leave the movie theater the class supervisor offered to take Eve to the van and have me go sighted guide with another instructor. As a result of doing this I had many young girls saying how cute Eve was once I returned to the van.
Once everyone took care of what they needed we headed back to campus. When arriving on campus we gave our dogs dinner and a bathroom break. When our dogs were taken care of, we were instructed to go to different rooms throughout campus to meet the individual trainers that worked with our dogs before we got them. Funny enough, one of the people that worked with Eve was the staff member at the National Federation of the Blind convention that said to me “Your dog has four legs and fur.” As a result of this previous encounter, we talked about the convention in addition to Eve.
After meeting with the trainers, we headed up to dinner at about 6 Pm. Once dinner concluded we took the dogs out at 7:30 pm and at 9 Pm. In between these two bathroom breaks I started the sad process of packing to go home. After the 9 PM bathroom break I went to bed.
July 26th, 2023
On this day, I got up at 6 AM like usual and took care of what I needed for Eve and I until about seven. Around 7:15 am I headed up to breakfast.
Once breakfast concluded my instructor and I loaded up into a van and headed to a local city in order to board the train to go into New York City. During this trip, I got to visit One World Trade Center, Grand Central Station, Jefferson Park, and Time Square. These adventures really gave me the opportunity to see Eve’s ability to navigate through busy cities like Los Angeles or San Francisco. She did amazing navigating through crowds of people, cars, and even train platforms.
Lindsay sitting on a Center while hugging Eve.
Lindsay and Eve standing in Grand Central Station/
Eve making friends with a stuffed German Shepherd.
Lindsay and Eve Standing in Time Square.
Lindsay and Eve crossing a street in New York City.
Lindsay and Eve Standing in front of one of the pools of One World Trade Center.
In addition to going to the touristy spots we also got to get New York pizza before heading back to Grand Central Station to head back toward campus.
Once we got back to the local train station, we loaded back up into the van in order to head back to campus. I had much needed free time until about 4 PM when I had to feed Eve. Once Eve was fed and had an opportunity to go outside I had more free time until about 6 PM for dinner. After dinner I took Eve out two more times before going to bed. This night I slept really well because I walked about 5 miles.
July 25th, 2023
On this day, I got up at the same time as I always had, and completed all my morning tasks, including feeding Eve. After doing all of this, I headed up to breakfast.
Once breakfast concluded, we grabbed our stuff to head to a coffee shop where we were going to sit while each person completed their route for the day.
On this day, our roots consisted of crossing streets, getting around obstacles, dog distractions, and much of the same as we’ve been doing for the past two weeks. The new challenge was we were going to work on train platforms. This is one of the most challenging and scariest parts of guide work as our dogs have to exercise intelligent disobedience in order to keep us safe on the train platforms, since train platforms in themselves are an extreme hazard for those who are blind or have low vision. Eve did amazing, not making me fall off the train platform. This was also great practice as we were going to be taking the train the next day. In addition to working on the train platform Eve and I got this picture taken in front of a local church.
Eve and Lindsay standing in front of a church in New York.
After getting back to the coffee shop, we all loaded back up into the van in order to head back to campus for class photos. These class photos consisted of one group photo and individual headshots.
Lindsay and Eve headshot.
Entire class photo.
Once the class photos concluded we headed to lunch. After lunch concluded each instructor's students had individual tasks to work on, so as a class we split up. My group really needed to work on trusting our dogs, so myself, and the other student completed routes blindfolded. The most challenging part of this for me was ensuring that I kept my orientation while under blindfold because had I not done so I could’ve lost where I was in space or ended up in dangerous places like an intersection.
Once this portion of the exercise was completed, we went into the mall where we did more escalator and elevator work. Not only did we do all of this, but we also went into the Dollar Tree that was in this mall in order to see if we could get the silly string that we had been looking for. Thankfully, the dollar tree in the mall did have the silly string, so this plan could continue. When the silly string was acquired, we headed back to campus as we had to feed and take our dogs out soon.
Before taking Eve out, we met with another instructor to give her information for custom tags that we all wanted made for our dogs. Once this finished, I stayed back to speak with my instructor as we needed to make a plan for the next day, as I was going to go into the city to work roots that I would be more accustomed to at home.
After this was done, I went back and gave Eve food and water before taking her out. Once she was taken care of, I had some downtime before dinner.
After dinner, I took Eve out two more times before going to bed.
July 24th, 2023
On this day, I got up at 6 AM and fed Eve at seven. After taking care of everything we both needed, I headed up to breakfast. Once breakfast concluded, we were instructed to wait for our instructors to come get us as we were going to individually do some indoor work in harness.
When it was my turn, my instructor and I also ended up switching out Eve's collar as we realized that what she was previously using wasn’t working too well. After this collar was switched out, this gave me the ability to complete indoor tasks, such as targeting doors, buttons, ramps, and a whole host of other things. I was also given the approval to work her indoors in harness. Prior to this I was always instructed to heal her when indoors.
Once the indoor activities concluded we were given a lecture on pilling, teeth brushing, and ear cleaning. After these exercises were completed, we headed to lunch. Once lunch concluded, we grabbed our stuff and headed to the local mall in order to get on a bus to go to a Walmart.
Riding the bus to this Walmart was a bit of an adventure. Four students and two instructors got on the bus to head to Walmart, while the other instructors took the van to Walmart. While on the bus, a few of us experienced an interesting guy that wanted to feed our dogs Cheez-Its. We politely had to tell him no and went on our merry way. We were all kind of weirded out by this encounter.
After getting off the bus, we were split up between the four instructors that were with us that day. I ended up working with my main instructor. Before proceeding into the Walmart, he asked me if I needed anything which I didn’t. So, he said, “OK, I need birdseed.” I had no idea why he would need such an item, but I was like "OK.” Then later on in our lesson he said, “You know what else we should get?”
Me: “What?”
My instructor: “Silly string”
Me: “For who?”
My instructor: “One of the other instructors.”
Me: “Umm… Ok”
We then went to Customer Service to see where the silly string would be located. Because we were in an area where Walmart was hard to come by, the person who tried to assist us, didn’t speak that much English, but pointed us in the right direction. Unfortunately, this Walmart was out of silly string. This was not the end of this adventure, though.
After a Walmart adventure, we went to Haagen Dazs to get ice cream. Then headed back to campus in order to feed our dogs and give them a bathroom break.
After the dogs had a food and bathroom break, we had downtime until dinner.
After dinner, we took the dogs out before heading to our night route.
At about 8:45 PM we loaded up into the vans in order to go to the same satellite campus where we did our traffic check on Friday, in order to complete our night route.
During the night route, I went second. Overall, this route was extremely easy as I had done it in the past, but it was also difficult, because I realized at this point how much night vision I didn’t have, and how much I would have to trust Eve in her judgment to keep me safe in dark and dim situations.
An example of this was when I was crossing an intersection, and gave her the command forward, but I didn’t realize how much I had veered until I got across the street. At this point instead of being lined up with the ramp to go up the sidewalk, I was lined up with a curb. I didn’t realize this until Eve had put her front two paws on the curb to let me know that there was a step up. At that point my instructor laughed really hard, because he was trying to warn me how much I had veered, but I didn’t listen. From there I did what I needed to do best, which was to tell her to go right so that we could line ourselves back up with the curb cut and go on our way.
Not only did I have this encounter of veering, but as we were peacefully walking during this route, a spider had decided to make a web in a matter of 20 minutes that my instructor ended up walking into due to being about a foot taller than me. We both knew that this spider had taken 20 minutes to make the web as my instructor did not encounter this with his previous student.
After completing the route, we all got back in the van and headed back to campus to get ready for bed as we had a full day of instruction the next day.
July 23rd, 2023
On this day, it was Sunday, so we had breakfast at 8 AM. Although we had breakfast at 8 AM we were still responsible for taking our dogs out at 7am. After breakfast, we were free to do whatever we needed as there were no lectures or other assignments for the day.
At about 12 we headed up to lunch. We had more free time until about 5:30 when my classmates and I headed to dinner at an Italian restaurant. At about 7 PM we headed back to campus in order to take our dogs out two more times. After taking our dogs out, we headed to bed as we had a full day of class the next morning.
July 22nd, 2023
On this day, we took things a little slower because it was Saturday. I still got up around 6am and fed Eve at 7am. After we both had gotten ready for the day, we headed to breakfast. On this day breakfast was a little different. One of the class instructors brought her pet dog to work and had him on leash walking around the dining hall not only to try to get treats from us, but to distract our dogs from the task at hand.
After breakfast, we completed an obedience session where we had this dog as a dog distraction. Once our obedience session had concluded, we grabbed our stuff to complete a short route in a local city. This route consisted of us doing a square route. Although it was a simple square route, I still had to work through dog and sent distractions. On this route the bigger challenge was a dog distraction because a person in this neighborhood decided that he was going to tie his dog up to a pole before going into a business. As a result of doing this, his dog tried to lunge at Eve, but thankfully the guy had come out in time to get his dog away from her. I was personally not happy about this because I think he saw us coming.
After everyone completed their routes, we headed back to campus for lunch. After lunch, we had some downtime because all of our rooms had to be deep cleaned due to many of the dogs having giardia. We didn’t complete any more activities on this day besides giving our dogs food and water at normal times. At about 6 PM. Everybody headed up to dinner.
Once dinner concluded, we took our dogs out two more times before going to bed.
July 21st, 2023
On this day, I got up around the same time as I had been and took care of eaves needs. Once that was taken care of, I headed up to breakfast before completing an obedience session.
After the obedience session ended my classmates and I grabbed our stuff to start training for the day. This day was a little bit different from the previous days because we had to complete our final traffic check. This traffic check consisted of one of the class instructors driving a vehicle at us three times in different locations in order to have Eve either back up or stop before the obstacle came towards us to keep me safe. This is one of the most challenging parts of guide work but is really important because of how often it happens.
After this traffic check was completed, we headed back to campus in order to have lunch.
Once lunch concluded, we grabbed our stuff to head into PetSmart to complete some more indoor work with added distractions. During this route I realized that in high sent areas Eve can get very distracted. When this outing concluded we started heading back to campus but stopped about a mile from campus to work on shoreline travel. Shoreline travel is when a guide dog has to hug the left of a path that does not have a sidewalk to keep their handler safe from potential oncoming traffic. The conclusion of this route had us on campus. Before heading to a 4pm meeting on campus we were instructed to feed our dogs and give them a bathroom break.
At about 4 PM we were instructed to go into the alumni hall to meet with the Director of Client Experience in order to sign our graduate agreements. Once this was done, my classmates and I got ready to go to dinner together in order to celebrate one of our classmates, who would be going home the next morning. It was honestly an amazing evening to get to know each other more while also getting us out of our comfort zones.
Lindsay having dinner with her classmates.
Once dinner was done, we headed back to campus in order to take our dogs out two more times before going to bed.
July 20th, 2023
On this day, I got up at 6 AM and fed Eve at seven just as I had been doing for the previous week. Once this was done, I went up to breakfast. After breakfast, my classmates and I completed our obedience session for the day.
Once our obedience session had concluded we went to the training facility that we had been working at for the last week and a half. On this day, I worked a route in which I was walking all uphill in order to prepare for having to go to campus at San Francisco State.
After completing this route, I headed back to the lounge in order to have lunch. After lunch, four of my classmates, and I headed to the mall to work on more indoor travel, escalators, stairs, and elevators.
Once coming back from the mall, we gave our dogs water, food, and took them out. After they were taken care of, we had some downtime before dinner.
Once dinner concluded we had downtime until we had to take our dogs out two more times. I went to bed after taking Eve out.
July 19th, 2023
This day started just like the others with me getting up at 6am and feeding Eve at 7am. When taking Eve out, I shared a picture of the toy that I got Eve the previous day with my instructor because the toy didn’t last overnight. At this point, I realized that I had a super chewer on my hands and any toys she got would have to be very tough.
The Kong Frog that Eve destroyed.
After feeding Eve I headed up to breakfast with my classmates. Once we finished breakfast my classmates and I completed our obedience session for the day.
After finishing our obedience session, we went back to our rooms to grab what we needed to train for the day. On this day we worked in the same training facility that we have been working in for the previous week. On this day I completed a route into Target once again and also walked through a farmers’ market.
After finishing my route for the day, we went back to the lounge to have lunch. Once we finished lunch, we headed back to campus.
After returning to campus, we had final vet visits for each of our dogs. During this vet visit, I learned that Eve was 62 pounds, and her birthday was March 27, 2021. This is a hard birthday to forget as my sister’s birthday is on March 26. I was also given Eve’s parents' information. Once coming back from our vet appointments, we were instructed to feed and take our dogs out, in order to be ready for the next activity.
At about 4pm, we had a lecture on advocacy. In guide work advocacy is extremely important because we often have to advocate for our rights in the community whether that be in a restaurant, airline, or even rideshare service.
On this night, dinner was a little bit different for me. When attempting to put Eve in a down position on the left side of my chair, I gave too much of a leash correction and toppled over in my chair. At this point, I learned the hard way that I should leave her back for dinner, but always bring her to meals in which I had more assistance.
After dinner, we took the dogs out twice before going to bed for the evening.
July 18th, 2023
On this day as I had the previous days, I got up at 6 am and got myself ready before taking Eve out and feeding her at 7 am. After she ate, we headed up to breakfast. Once everyone was done with breakfast, we all completed an obedience routine.
After our obedience routine concluded, we were instructed to grab our stuff to head to one of the satellite lounges.
On this day, I went second. Before my route, my instructor asked me how I would feel about going to target this day. I said sure, I actually wanted to get Eve a different toy to see how she would do.
We headed out on a route, which went extremely well. She was able to navigate me through Target and even to the toy section with minimal distraction. I grabbed what I needed, and we headed to the cash register to pay.
When we got outside of Target, I said to my instructor “I feel a drop of water.” Shortly thereafter, my instructor said I do too. As we continued on our route, we experienced quite the downpour. The class supervisor was following us at a distance. When she caught up to us, she asked if I wanted to stop and get a ride back to campus. I quickly obliged, especially because not too long after that we heard thunder. This was all because the one day that I left my jacket behind it rained. I learned the hard way in this instance, to always have my rain jacket in my backpack just in case it started raining as we were on route.
One of the other class instructors picked us all up before heading back to the lounge to pick everyone else up. Once we got back to campus, we gave our dogs water and a bathroom break then headed up to lunch.
After everyone finished lunch, we went back to our rooms to prepare for a lecture on traffic checks. During this lecture, one of the class instructors drove a shopping cart at each team, as we were walking past her in order to simulate what our dog should do in the event of an obstacle coming towards us, such as a moving vehicle. This was all to prepare us for our official traffic check that we would have on Friday.
After this lecture, we were given some downtime before 4 PM when we had to feed and give our dogs a bathroom break. Once this concluded, we had more downtime until 6 PM for dinner. After dinner, we had a little more downtime before having to give our dogs water and another bathroom break. We gave our dogs a final bathroom break around 9 PM before going to bed.
July 17th, 2023
On this day, I got up at 6 AM like the normal routine that I have been doing for the previous week. At 7 AM I took Eve out to the bathroom, then I gave her food and water. Once that was all done, I headed up to breakfast. When everyone finished breakfast, we were instructed to go and complete our daily obedience lesson. During this obedience lesson, we had more dog distractions, as well as the other obedience exercises that we had been doing the previous week.
When the obedience session was over, we were instructed to grab our stuff in order to load up in the vans to head to the satellite campus that we had been working at the previous week. On this day, it was my first opportunity to work in an actual store. I did a basic route to a local CVS and got to see Eve’s ability to get me up and down small isles.
Once everyone finished their route, we headed back to campus for lunch and a veterinary lecture.
After the veterinary lecture was completed, we got into the vans and headed to the Starbucks that we had been working in the previous Saturday to work a similar route. During this route, I had one of the first pictures taken of Eve and I in front of a local library.
Once this route completed, we headed back to campus where we gave the dogs food, water, and a bathroom break. After this concluded, we were given downtime to complete other tasks that needed to be done before having dinner at 6 PM.
After dinner we took the dogs out and gave them water at about 7:30 PM. Once this was taken care of, we were given more downtime before having to take them out again at about 9 PM. Shortly after this, I headed to bed because I knew there was gonna be another early morning ahead.
July 16th, 2023
Because today was Sunday, we were given the ability to start our day at about 8 AM for breakfast. Before breakfast I got up at about seven to take Eve to the bathroom, give her breakfast, and get myself ready.
Once breakfast was done for both of us. I had free time to rest and relax. I also took the time to update other family and friends that I hadn’t had a chance to throughout the week.
At about 12 we had lunch. After lunch, we had a mini lecture on all of the items that the Guiding Eyes gift shop offers its clients. During this time, I was able to purchase things like extra leashes, booties, T-shirts, tiedowns, and other essentials.
Once we finished this, we were given more downtime until we had to feed and give our dogs a bathroom break. During this downtime I listened to the veterinary lecture in preparation for the live Q&A my class would have with the head veterinarian the next day.
On this night instead of going up to dinner on campus my classmates and I decided to go to a restaurant called Yorktown Grill. We had a great time talking and getting to know each other more. One of our classmates even surprised us with quite the unexpected surprise. You see, this classmate went out with friends for dinner, but little did we know he actually ended up at the same restaurant we were at. While there he asked the bartender to give us a round of shots. Because the student knew that we were going to be training the next day he told the bartender to give us vodka, but in reality, he told him to give us water. Because all of us girls didn’t know the mischief that the student was getting up to, we thought we were actually getting real shots. After laughing, and realizing what we were doing in the area, the bartender told us the joke.
After this all happened, we had a good laugh, and the student came over to ask us how he did. We all laughed at him and had a feeling that it was him that would do something like this, just based on his humor.
Some of my classmates and I at dinner at Yorktown Grill.
Once we finished dinner, we got in our Ubers and headed back to campus as we had to ensure that our dogs went out at the 7:30 PM bathroom break. After taking Eve out, I took the opportunity to get everything in order for the upcoming week of class. At about 9 PM I took Eve out for the last time before going to bed.
July 15th, 2023
On this day, even though it was Saturday, I still got up at 6 AM and got myself ready. At 7am I took Eve out, fed her and gave her water. Once this was done, we headed up to breakfast. After breakfast, we completed an obedience session similar to what we have been doing throughout the week. Once our obedience session ended, we were instructed to go back to our rooms to grab our stuff in order to go on a short route for the day.
This short route was very different from the routes we have done in the past because this was the first time that we were actually in a public space. On this day, we were stationed in a Starbucks and told to keep our dogs under control. I lucked out in that I actually went first on my route, so when I got back, Eve was very tired. The only challenge we had on this route that neither of us had ever navigated through was duck poop. The instructor that I was working with had to guide me through the duck poop because there was a lot of it.
After we finished our route, Eve and I sat in the Starbucks with our classmates, waiting for the others to finish. Once everyone had finished, we loaded back up into the vans in order to head back to campus for lunch.
Once lunch was completed, we had a group play session. This group play session went extremely well and was extremely beneficial for our next activities.
Shortly after the group play session ended, we had a lecture on using booties for extreme temperatures. This is one lecture that I struggled with because not having two working hands made it very difficult to put the booties on for the first time. The instructors were more than willing to assist in trying to find ways for this to work. Once I got all the booties on, it was very different to walk with her in them than out of them. It was almost like she was galloping like a horse.
In addition to learning how to use the booties, we also learned how to brush our dogs as this is an important bonding process for us as handlers. It’s also important to brush our dogs in order to make them look their best as they are in public constantly.
During the lecture on booties and brushing, we were also introduced to the clicker. If you know anything about dog psychology and Pavlov, the clicker is used in a very similar way. Anytime a dog hears a click we were instructed to feed them. Some examples of when we would use the clicker would be to identify chairs, buttons, and other commonly used objects or places.
After this lecture concluded, we were given free time to complete any tasks we needed before 4 PM when we had to give our dogs food, water, and a bathroom break.
From about 4 to 6 PM we had more downtime before dinner. After dinner, I took Eve out again and gave her water. At about 9 PM. I took her out one more time before going to bed.
July 14th, 2023
This morning started very similar to the previous morning in that I got up at 6 AM and got Eve taken care of at 7. When she was taken care of, I went up to breakfast. After breakfast, as a class, we had an obedience session which consisted of much of the same skills from the previous day, except there was a dog in the room as we were completing these exercises, which did make things a little more challenging.
Once our obedience session was completed, we were instructed to go back to our rooms, and wait for further instruction, as we were dealing with a thunderstorm this morning. It was a good thing we didn’t go out right away because shortly after returning back to our rooms, the power went out for a short period of time.
At about 9 AM once most of the storm had passed, we were instructed to grab our stuff and load up into the vans for training for the day. Once arriving at the satellite campus, I went second on this day. When completing routes on this day, we completed the same route as we had been doing for the last couple of days, but I definitely had more confidence with this route. I had so much confidence with his route that at one point my instructor said, “Do a wait, I want to try something.” Doing a wait, means to have a dog stop.
At this very moment, I had a lot of thoughts running in my mind, some of these were “Umm, ok what’s next?” “What did I do wrong?” but the most pressing one was “Wait, could he be doing what I think he’s doing? Could he be potentially removing his support leash shortly?” Sure enough, the last thought was correct. I also had thoughts of if this really is happening and can I really do this on my own? But, yes, I could. When this happened, I felt extremely free because it meant that I had full control of the commands given, and the movements within the leash and harness.
After this support leash was removed our route went extremely smoothly, except I was still losing the leash from time to time. When this continued to happen, I realized that I was going to have to use a different Biothane leash when working, which only has one layer of Biothane instead of two. Before this other leash could be introduced, we returned to the lounge to have lunch and recap about our routes.
After lunch, I went second again. Being that I was using the leash with only one strip of Biothane my route went so much better. Once we finished our routes for the day, we re-capped our routes and then headed back to campus.
When we arrived back on campus, we gave the dogs food, water, and a bathroom break. Once this was all done, we had downtime until dinner. Usually during this downtime, I would call my parents or other close friends that were following my journey, but on this night, I actually chose to do a yoga session with a volunteer. It was honestly refreshing to do a session like this after such a really hard week. What made it even better is that most of my classmates participated as well.
After the session was over, we all headed up to dinner with our dogs.
Once dinner was completed, we took our dogs out and gave them water. We took them out one more time at about 9 PM before going to bed.
July 13th, 2023
My day started again at 6 AM. From 6 to 7 I took the time to get myself ready. At 7 AM I offered Eve the ability to go to the bathroom and then I brought her in to get her water and breakfast. She ate. I took her back out to go to the bathroom one more time before heading to breakfast.
After finishing breakfast, my classmates and I completed our first obedience session of training. This session consisted of us doing a series of sits, downs, touches, and placing our dogs into a healing position.
Once we were done with obedience, we were instructed to go back to our rooms in order to get our harnesses and other things we would need for the training day. Once we had everything, we needed we were instructed to go to the vans to load up to go to a training facility. When we arrived at the training facility, our instructors decided on who they were going to take first.
On this day, I chose to go first. Overall, the route went well. I was getting more comfortable with the movements of Eve, as well as the different commands that I would have to give. The only challenge I was having due to my limited dexterity in my left hand, was occasionally losing parts of my leash. After this happened a couple times, my instructor and I realized that the leash that I was using was too heavy, so we had to switch it out for a Biothane leash, which made life a little easier.
After returning from my route, I was given the option to take a break and talk with my classmates about their routes. Once the other students returned from their routes, we had lunch. After lunch, we went on our second route of the day, which was very similar to the first.
Once we completed our routes for the day, everyone piled back into the van, and we went back to campus. Once arriving on campus, our instructors gave us a mini lecture on leash corrections, and when they should be given. This was all to prepare us for the events of the next day.
After completing the lecture, we went back to our rooms in order to give our dogs dinner, water, and a bathroom break. Once this was done, we had some downtime before dinner. At about 6 PM, just like the previous day, we went up to dinner. After dinner, we came back and took our dogs out, then had more downtime. At about 9:30pm we took our dogs out for the final time for the evening and went to bed shortly after.