PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT...

At least once a month, I try to go to the Beverly Center with Dobby so together we can practice working on escalators. Now the Beverly Center is a big mall with five levels of parking above ground and three floors of mall space on top of that. The mall was designed to be entered by escalators that climb up the side of the building to the sixth floor. There are elevators which take you into the mall and to get to them you have to work through the Macy's Men's Store on the ground level. Most of the time, I take the elevators to get into the mall where I can more easily prepare Dobbs for escalator practice.

Now for a dog, riding escalators can be a very dangerous thing; less so for a trained guide dog but it's still dangerous. A dog's paws can get caught in the collapsing steps, in between the steps and the grill which clears the grooves on top of the steps as they collapse and recycle to the opposite end of the device. In fact, just about two months ago, at the Beverly Center, there was a serious accident when a woman forced her small dog to ride on an escalator and it's paw got caught and mangled. Security tried to keep her from getting onto the device with her dog (who was resisting getting onto the escalator) however the woman ignored the warnings and forced her dog on anyway only to have the situation end in disaster. Dogs aren't generally allowed in the mall although in Los Angeles, little dogs have become a fashion accessory and people tend to carry them around in their handbags where ever they go. You'd be amazed at some of the places that Dobbs and I have had dog encounters but I'll leave that for another post. The point of me telling you all this is that, in spite of Dobbs' training, escalators can be very dangerous for him and there is a risk every time we ride them.

In order to keep Dobby as safe as possible, he has to wear shoes when he rides on escalators. Dobby has a set of four Vibram soled booties that protect his feet. He also wears them when the sidewalks are too hot during the summer and could burn his pads. Now, Dobby doesn't like his shoes all that much. He tolerates wearing them but prefers to not have them on. I guess it must feel kind of like walking on the moon for him while he's wearing them. Normally, he can feel the ground with the pads on his feet and when he's wearing his shoes, the ground must feel like it's disappeared. For the first five minutes after putting his shoes on, Dobby high steps around and tries to sit down off his feet. I take out my cane and heel him around the first level of the mall until he gets used to having them on his feet and then we head for the escalators.

The Beverly Center has at least 20 sets of escalators, probably more, I've never tried counting them but suffice to say there are plenty of opportunities to practice riding on them. Once Dobbs gets over sulking about having to wear his shoes, he actually kind of likes riding on the escalators with me. For him it's all a big fun game and another chance to earn praise and an occasional food reward for a job well done. Not to mention that Dobby enjoys doing things with me and riding on escalators is one of the many adventures he enjoys sharing with me and I with him.

Right after I first graduated from guide dog school, I avoided riding escalators with Dobby for about 6 months. Having to stop, put on his shoes, get him comfortable in them, etc. just to ride between two floors didn't seem to make a great deal of sense to me when there was a perfectly good elevator available. But as with anything we don't do regularly, our skills can become dulled if they're not practiced occasionally. As time wore on, this began to weigh on me and I realized that if I was forced to ride an escalator with Dobby some day because there was no alternative, I would be remiss if I didn't occasionally practice riding them with him to keep his training sharp. What I discovered was that I was the one who needed the practice. Dobbs knew exactly what to do. He's an incredibly bright dog and its situations like this that make me realize just how smart he really is.

I won't bore you with a step-by-step description of how we work on escalators but the key thing is to have Dobby moving when we get on and when we exit. One of the biggest worries is that in a crowed situation, people coming off of the escalator behind us can rapidly build up if we don't get out of the way quickly. It's that part of the process that is most nerve racking for me and it's good to practice the techniques in a real world, crowded mall environment. What I've found is that people are very understanding and realize why I'm repeatedly going up and down on the escalators. Actually, a lot of people are really surprised to see me riding with Dobby at my side. It's a fairly unusual sight. People aren't generally allowed to have things like strollers or objects with them so seeing me with my dog on an escalator causes quite a lot of double takes (or so I've been told). The security staff at the Beverly Center loves it when I bring Dobby by to do some practice. They think its good for the general public to see just how much effort it really takes to keep a dog safe on an escalator and they hope that by having me practice riding on them in such a conspicuous way that a greater sense of caution will hopefully rub off onto the general public. Let's hope they're right...

AN AFTERNOON AT THE GETTY...

Dobby and I went to the Getty Center (between the time I had the cold and first pulled my back) and I've been chomping at the bit to tell you about the experience. Confidentially, Dobby and I have been there together several times and the staff at the museum really loves it when I bring him by for a visit. They are always so amazed at how well behaved Dobby is, so confident in fact that the security staff at the museum no longer follows us around to make sure that he isn't accidently walking me into the priceless exhibits; which is a real act of faith because, unlike most other museums, at The Getty, you are allowed to walk right up to the artwork with no ropes or barriers of any kind between you and the masterworks. The Getty Center is, after all, America's equivalent of The Louvre and it's such a remarkable experience to be able to go there with my dog.

It's an unusual feeling working Dobbs through the galleries, pausing to stand and admire paintings by the likes of Rembrant and Rubins (with my monocular). Dobby, sits patiently at my side waiting for me to finish. Occasionally he lets out a groan of boredom so I try not to linger in the galleries for too long of a time. Dobby is so diligent and I'm amazed that he doesn't get fidgety walking ten feet then stopping then walking ten more feet and stopping. He likes the walking around the museum part but the stopping and staring at paintings and sculpture part he could do without.

The Getty has an amazing outdoor sculpture garden and Dobby loves working through and around it. There's a little stream with bridges and a winding path through a grassy field that he particularly enjoys the challenge of negotiating for me. The path was designed with sharp switch backs that wander down the hillside of the garden. He also enjoys sitting on their outdoor veranda soaking up the scene while I sip a soda and take a break.

Confidentially, I think that, in part, he enjoys The Getty so much because of all the attention he gets from people while we're there. I can't begin to tell you the number of times that people (visiting The Getty from all corners of the world) have expressed surprise and pleasure over seeing a guide dog at the museum. I think Dobby fits right in with all the masterpieces on display. He's pretty darn special and I enjoy giving him a chance to really show off what he can do. I'm looking forward to our next visit...

HAPPY, HAPPY, JOY, JOY...

One of the most common questions I'm asked about Dobbs is, "Does he ever get any time off from work?" "When he's at home, does he get to just be a dog sometimes?" "When the harness is off," I say, "he's just a dog and he loves to play like one." Dobbs' favorite playtime game is tug. Whether it's keep-away tug with his Kong or just good old fashioned pull-tug with his Tug Ring, Dobby is a relentless and crafty dog. I love playing with him because it brings him so much happiness. Being a Guide Dog is hard work and Dobbs deserves all the time off he can get.

The other game Dobbs loves to play is fetch. Now fetch, as a rule, is usually discouraged for a guide dog because it can cause obsessive behavior to develop in a dog. One day you'll be working down a street and a bird will fly by and bang! off the two of you go in hot pursuit. Fetching isn't a normal behavior for dogs, as hard as that may be to believe, but is rather a learned behavior. I didn't teach Dobbs to fetch, somebody earlier in his life (prior to living with me) taught him to retrieve but he's got such a diligent work ethic that his playtime fetching hasn't ever shown any sign of spilling over into his working life.

The one problem that I have with fetch is in throwing out his chosen toy to retrieve. He likes to fetch his Nylabone and tossing that across the apartment can be a bit of an act of faith; faith that I won't hit or break anything with it. Dobby can go on fetching for a good half an hour before he tires out. Sometimes his dad (me) tires out more quickly than that but I keep going because I know how much he loves it. When you're in guide dog school they tell you that you need to try to schedule at least fifteen minutes per day to play with your dog. If Dobby got anything less than an hour and a half to two hours of play per day I think he'd go into withdrawal. As I've said, I don't mind and he willingly stops playing when I tell him "that's enough" so it's never become an obsession with him.

One regret that I have is that I haven't been able to secure an outdoor enclosed paddock where I can take Dobbs from time to time to let him run around and really chase after his Kong. Since it isn't safe for me to take Dobby to a dog park, due to the risk of a dog attack or his inadvertently contracting an illness from another dog, this is the one aspect of my guide dog transitional plan which I haven't been able to fulfill since returning home from guide dog school earlier this year. But I'm still looking!

I'M WITH HIM...

Let’s get it all on the table up front; Dobbs is a rock star. He’s gentle, friendly, affectionate and diligent. He works incredibly hard, rarely makes a mistake and really watches out for my well-being wherever we go together and people notice.

Whether we’re on the bus, in the grocery store, at the mall, waiting in a reception area or just walking down the street, people actively go out of their way to engage with me about Dobbs. He’s a people magnet. I’ve lived in my current apartment for over seven years and until I got Dobbs, I had hardly met any of my neighbors. Now I know all of them. At times the attention he draws can be overwhelming. It’s always the same kinds of questions: How old is he? How long have the two of you been together? How much training has he had? Did you have to pay for him? and so on. It’s not that I mind answering people’s questions, because I don’t. Having a guide dog makes you an ambassador for the guide dog program and in a way you are always on display when you’re working your dog. It’s just that sometimes I begin to feel as if I’m Dobbs’ publicist fielding all of the inquiries from his adoring fans; and believe me; he has a lot of fans out there in the general public.

Don’t get me wrong; Dobbs is the best thing that ever happened to me. His presence in my life has made all the difference. I get out of my apartment a lot more. I’m not afraid to travel places because I know he’s with me. The likelihood that something bad will happen is infinitesimal. Not to mention that he’s also my best buddy and I adore him. I love it when I’m sitting on the sofa at home and he lies down next to me putting his head in my lap so I can stroke his ears. He lets out a big sigh of contentment that melts my heart. He also loves to play tug and fetch relentlessly but I don’t mind. I really enjoy all the time that I spend with him. The effort that properly caring for him takes is not a burden. After all, he takes such good care of me that he deserves nothing but the best. At this point, I can't imagine not having him in my life.

Maybe it’s the close bond between us that attracts all the attention from people. I’d like to think so. I’d like to think it’s more than the fact that Dobb’s is an amazing dog that attracts all the attention. But, at the end of the day that may be all it is. Perhaps it is Dobbs’ world and I just live in it. If that's the way it is, that's okay. Dobbs' world is a great place to live...