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<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='margin-left:1.0in;text-align:center;
text-indent:.5in'><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><span style='mso-tab-count:1'> </span>Mixed Feelings</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Ken Volonte</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><span style='mso-tab-count:
1'> </span>This is the story of transition between my old guide
Gulliver and my new dog Bryant.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>It is a
work in progress, a little window into the future.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center;text-indent:.5in'><font
size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Sunday night was
my first night here.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>I had forgotten how
lonely the first night was without a dog.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>
</span>We were all nervous trying to figure out who we would be with each
other.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>It wasn’t like we could
just be ourselves.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>That’s how it
felt.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>There were some liberals in this
class; a nice counterbalance to the military structure of guide dog school.</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><span style='mso-tab-count:
1'> </span>Monday, I got my dog; a little yellow lab named
Bryant.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>I had a real issue with the new Swiss
harness.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>So did Bryant.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>He developed an aversion to it almost immediately.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><span style='mso-tab-count:
1'> </span>Tuesday was our first route; the basic one from the
downtown lounge just to get used to our dogs.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>
</span>Bryant just flew down the street.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>
</span>It felt good.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>Yet there was no
movement from the harness handle, no way to do a harness check—and Bryant
was getting more scared every time I tried to put it on. I’m annoying my
class mates with this mantra.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>I asked
for the old familiar harness.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>This one
came complete with an off set handle which made my thumb turn and put me
further to the right of my dog. </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><span style='mso-tab-count:
1'> </span>Wednesday.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>
</span>I’m relaxed enough to actually play the piano and sing in the Day
Room.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>Tuesday and Wednesday are so
sad.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>I’m thinking I’ll have
to switch my dog for a taller one.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>
</span>I’m 6ft 4, and Bryant was built for someone about nine or ten
inches shorter. I realize that I can’t journal like this because the bond
between Bryant and myself means much more.</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><span style='mso-tab-count:
1'> </span>Now adays, Guide Dogs for the Blind uses what is called
clicker training.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>I think they do this
because of programs on Animal Planet.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>
</span>Keeps the money flowing in. <span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>Of
course, there’s an inherent flaw with clicker training.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>You have to click as soon as a behavior
occurs.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>That level of precision
isn’t as practical for a blind guide dog handler on a busy street as it
is for, say a sighted dolphin trainer who must teach the dolphin where the free
throw line is. That is, incidentally where clicker training first started:
training marine mammals. </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><span style='mso-tab-count:
1'> </span>Did you hear about this trainer at Sea World who had her
leg chewed off by a killer wale she had been working with for years?<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>I can imagine that wale thinking, “if I
hear that whistle one more time, I’ll go nuts”, and so he did.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>Where was I going with this-- oh yah clicker training.
</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><span style='mso-tab-count:
1'> </span>Clicker training was developed by science.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>Whose science, I’d like to know.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>I can’t go there because I’ll get
lost again. </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><span style='mso-tab-count:
1'> </span>Before you go to Guide dogs for the Blind,you get a
packet of cds containing all the lectures so you can read up on how to work
various situations.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>The cd says,
“This is the sound of a clicker.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>
</span>Two quick tones.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>This is the
sound of a clicker when it is incorrectly pressed.”<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>As I drifted off, I thought, “ This is
the sound of a golf ball.”<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>Two
Ambien and I was away.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><span style='mso-tab-count:
1'> </span>Everything revolves around positive reinforcement.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>Our dogs get food rewards for crossing the
street, for not being afraid of loud noises, for just lying still. </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><span style='mso-tab-count:
1'> </span>Whereas the bond between a guide dog and her person used
to be based on love and trust and so much more, our dogs now guide for nuggets
of kibble.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>I know a trick dog when I see
one. </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><span style='mso-tab-count:
1'> </span>I thought that these were just idle thoughts, but I just
heard a class mate walk by.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>When I said
hello she said, “I’m <span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>going
to get some kibbles so our girls will be good on the outside”.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>In one fell swoop, guide dog school has
drained the smarts out of our dogs and us as well.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>It’s about numbers.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>You got to keep the money rolling in, and
nobody works for fre e.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>Such is the
claim. </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><span style='mso-tab-count:
1'> </span>The one thing I thought about using the clicker for does
not involve a specific enough target: bathrooms.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>You could teach the dog to find a specific
bathroom in a specific building.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>To find
another bathroom in another building, you would have to teach where that place
was, and you’d have to call it something else than bathroom.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>They actually said that.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>Thus, clicker training might be popular, but
it is almost of no practical value for the reasons stated above. </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><span style='mso-tab-count:
1'> </span>I took a bad fall two weeks ago.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>There was some construction in the area, and
I fell over a traffic cone.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>Everybody
has falls, but this had come after a series of diagonal crossings.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>It was not an auspicious beginning for the
teem of Bryant and myself.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>Two days ago,
I almost lost my balance on a high curb in <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">Berkeley</st1:place></st1:City>.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>
</span>The result is that my guide dog, trained with food rewards and clickers
and all kinds of behavioral techniques is trying to avoid up curbs and just go
around the corner or out into traffic instead.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>
</span>My instructors can spin this and explain this all they want, but
I’ll be just as dead.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><span style='mso-tab-count:
1'> </span>Now we work on curbs.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>
</span>For two days, we work on curbs, and then it’s graduation day.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><span style='mso-tab-count:
1'> </span>I met Bryant’s raiser, a high school girl wise
beyond her years.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>She told me of all the
cute things Bryant did as a puppy.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>We
talk for a long time, and she too has questions about food rewards and clicker
training and they are the same questions I have.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><span style='mso-tab-count:
1'> </span>There is something else too.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>She understands that she is only a small part
of a larger process.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>Suddenly, I
understand that my instructors have shown us a little of how the magic works
with our dogs.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>If I want or need to
teach Bryant a complex route, I can, using back chaining.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>If he needs to target a pole or a bus stop, I
can teach him with the clicker.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>And all
the troubles in class, troubles with Bryant, troubles on the street, trouble
around missing Velvet, it was all just stuff.</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><span style='mso-tab-count:
1'> </span>Graduation gets longer every time.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>There are the speeches, the overview of the
program.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>We even had a song written and
recorded by Tamara’s raiser.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>
</span>It’s about money.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>It’s
always about money and satisfying the general public.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>Now that it’s over, I have just one
question.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>How did Rupert Murdoch manage
to get so much power over the process of getting a guide dog? </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><span style='mso-tab-count:
1'> </span>Now that we’re home, I’m learning some other
interesting things about my dog.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>Clicker
training has thrown his timing off.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>He
really does wait for the click or for the kibble.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>He’s scared of traffic and still tries
to avoid curb cuts and will look for something else, anything else.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>In a new situation, he has no confidence and
no sense of what he’s supposed to do.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>
</span>Remember my<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>posting wherin I
quoted my instructor?<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>“This
dog’s not going to make it”, the training department of GDB
knowingly sent me home with a dog with whom I didn’t feel safe.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><span style='mso-tab-count:
1'> </span>I am the first to admit that sometimes my orientation
suffers.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>Sometimes, I start out for a
destination without knowing exactly where I’m going.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>I’m the person who really needs a guide
dog to guide, to think, to know that when I say Forward, he’s committed
to the process of getting me safely across the street.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>At this point, Bryant doesn’t know what
to do.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>I’m so sad. I’m going
to work with him with every trick I know.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>
</span>It’s early in the morning.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>
</span>I’m going out now while there is no traffic armed only with a
clicker and a food pouch.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>Wish me luck. </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><span style='mso-tab-count:
1'> </span>I’m back from the simplest of routes: across the
street to the store and back.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>Bryant is now
scared even of the little alley way between my house and the
neighbor’s.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>He was so scared and
confused that I just came on home.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>
</span>He’s asleep now.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>He’s
had a hard day.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>It’s 7:15:am. Why
am I going through all this sadness and worry?<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>
</span>After all, it’s not my job to Beta test guide dog school’s
new training program. <span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span><span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span><span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span></span></font></p>
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