I am spending the week in California, first having a little time with friends and then at the annual conference for the Society of Biblical Literature/American Academy of Religion. Being in an area that is not familiar to me is giving me and Loretta a good workout and opportunity to evaluate how we work together and how I am doing at this point, nine weeks out from surgery.
Perhaps the question of how I am doing is better to answer first. Indiana is into it’s little-sun period on many days, and i sometimes have difficulty judging the stability of my vision because it is very dependent on lighting. I have now been out in sunny and well-lit areas for much of the last two days. I am seeing well, following my friends at good distances (five feet or so). I was able to see a gray cat on the floor yesterday, and that was something new.
Loretta’s work is very good in both day and nighttime. She is showing a lot of initiative and located my friend’s house by herself after only one trip out. The route home from the place where we had dinner was very complex, and my friend and I were both very impressed with her memory–I certainly did not remember enough to cue her properly. Today, while we were out, I paid attention to the way I was working with her; and it gave me a lot of insight into some problems we have had in the last year or two. I have been redirecting her from distractions by pointing at the person I want her to follow, directing her to targets by pointing at them, etc. She is used to this kind of direction from me; and when I couldn’t see well enough to do it, she seemed to lose her initiative and become distracted and discouraged easily. I can’t see well enough to travel without a dog; but using my vision changes the way I work with my dog. I am figuring out how to respond to this emotionally.
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