Note: I shared the followign on Facebook, where many local friends, family, and colleagues follow me. It hreceived much positive feedback and I have decided to post it as a public post in case it is useful. This is a post that I wrote personally and is different from the letter that the school sends home. We are not discouraged from writing this type of thing ourselves. I wrote this to be specific to Pepper’s and my needs as a team. If you are acquainted with a blind person who is working with a dog in your local area, please ask questions about what they need from you.
I am pleased to share with you that I will be returning home on November 8 with my sixth Seeing Eye dog, Pepper. She is a black Labrador retriever, trained at The Seeing Eye, Inc. in Morristown, NJ, and we have undergone three weeks of rigorous training together in addition to the five months of individual training that she received prior to meeting me. Pepper is two years old and has never had another human partner who was blind. At the time of writing, I know nothing about her puppyhood. This will change between now and the time we go home.
Some of you know me and have seem me work with other dogs in the past. For those who do not know me or who have never seen me work with a new dog, I would like to tell you about some ways that you can help me and Pepper as we make the adjustment to being home and living, worshiping, and working in the community.
Pepper is trained to take all of her instruction about what to do and where to go from me. I am familiar with Anderson and have been traveling here for many years, sometimes with a dog and sometimes with a cane. Please say hello to me, and if I don’t know you well, please introduce yourself. I like to know who you are. You never know… Perhaps we have been missing out on a great friendship all this time because we should have been chatting instead of thinking about helping.
Please don’t remind Pepper to follow my directions. There will be a lot of times during the first few months when we need time and space to work things out. Too much help will cause her to rely on you for direction instead of doing her job. Sometimes it can take a lot of struggle between us for one of us to convince the other who is right. She is familiar with New Jersey and is confident, and here I have had to learn to trust her. At home it is I who will be confident and she who will need to trust me. When she makes an independent decision, I will need to learn to trust that it is for the right reasons.
Please don’t feed Pepper or assume that she is underfed. She is well-tonedbecause she gets out and exercises a lot. Her diet is restricted and I manage it very carefully. She will not be hungry if we eat in front of her. Likewise, her water intake is regulated so that she can learn to control herself appropriately as we travel unpredictably. This is like the decisions you make about whether or not to drink that large coffee before attending a very important meeting.
Pepper will have time to “let her hair down” when I am at home. I do not need her to work when I am in my own home and this is her playtime. Please know that she is greatly loved by myself, my husband, and our family. As our friends get to know her, they will also come to love her. It is very important to me that people take care not to initiate relationship with her without permission. It only takes eye contact or a bit of baby talk to do this, and often people initiate relationship without indenting to do so–they intended to make a general emotional comment about a dog but because the comment was made in a high, cooing voice it attracted the dog. Please help us out by directing your face and your compliments to me. I will help her to receive your appreciation of her loveliness and manners. It means a great deal to me to know how proud you are of her.
Finally, please understand that my commands to Pepper are given quietly, meaning that you may or may not hear them. This is due to her personal style of work and not to the fact that I don’t like her. I believe that you will all see that she is a very happy worker. Please help us out by driving safely and controlling any dogs that you bring near us and by helping others to understand why this is important. Pepper is an invaluable animal, and her safety and confidence is vital to my safety.
Thank you very much for helping us out! We look forward to meeting you on our journey.
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