Taking the Lead | Are You Guide Dog Ready?

We take a closer look at what it truly means to be ready for a guide dog. 

What is Taking the Lead ?

Leader Dogs for the Blind empowers people who are blind or visually impaired with the tools for safe and independent daily travel. Our goal is to educate, advocate, and share real life experiences of those with blindness. Come learn, laugh, and grow with us.

Christina: [00:00:00] Welcome to the Taking the Lead podcast where we empower people to be unstoppable. I'm Christina Hapner with my co-host Leslie Hoskins and Timothy Kyo. So today they wanted to talk about a myth that people typically think about. And Timothy, do you wanna tell us what that myth is?
Timothy: The guide dog fixes everything.
Christina: Wait
Leslie: a minute, that's not true.
Timothy: No, it does not. Yeah.
Leslie: What do you mean by that? Why not? Well,
Timothy: I mean, well first of all, I'm still losing my eyesight, okay? Mm-hmm. And this is still a daily thing that I gotta go through. And sometimes Glacier makes mistakes, believe it or not. Trust me, she does. She made 'em big one this past weekend, but we try to correct those.
Even she's been working for over six years now. Uh, she's not perfect.
Christina: She's not,
Timothy: not, no.
Leslie: I know. There she tries to be. It is one of those myths out there that everybody kind of thinks, oh, I'll just get a guide dog. It'll fix that. Or I'll get a guide dog and it'll fix that. And while guide dogs are fantastic and they do a [00:01:00] lot of things, it doesn't fix everything right.
And it's dogs are not perfect. Just like humans are not perfect.
Timothy: Well, actually, actually, I think it's a little bit more stressful. Yeah.
Leslie: To travel with a guide dog. Yeah. Yes. Because
Timothy: Because you gotta worry about another animal. You gotta worry about an animal.
Leslie: Yeah. Uh,
Timothy: like when I do all my traveling, I have to worry about her instead of just myself.
I have to worry about both of us. Yeah. And I have to plan 24 hours in advance of her, her, you know, her flight day before. Everything's gotta change. And then I'm always constantly worried, are we gonna have an accident in the airport? And how is she feeling? Is she stressed out? I mean, it's can be stressful having a guy dog.
It's. Just it does. It's not a one pill fixes everything. It does not.
Leslie: Absolutely. And not to bring it back to the cane, but you don't have to prep the cane
Christina: 24 hours before,
Timothy: but you gotta worry about that cane breaking by you now.
Christina: I was waiting for that. I'm just looking at her in the studio right now and I was waiting for her to bring that line out in some way, shape, or form.
Just felt like it needed to be mentioned. It's a lot of care. [00:02:00] It's like. You know, you have to have, you have glacier's. Whole backpack. Yeah. She's got a diaper bag. Diaper bag that you have to carry around. Right.
Timothy: And go, you know, she could get sick while I'm traveling. Uh, she can get hurt very easily. It doesn't take much for a guy, for a dog to get hurt.
Uh, just like the other night we went out to. To a, to a restaurant, and the waitress stepped on her. Oh, she wailed in pain. Oh. And so the waitress felt really bad about it, but you're always got this other person, it's just like a child. You always have to worry about your child all the time. Leslie, you should know about that.
Yeah. To worry about the other person who's with you. I call Glacier a person, so it does add stress on. But you know what? The rewards she gives me every day. You, the pros and cons just still outweighs I, it, she's a pro. She's a pro at it, and we're a pro together, so we just, we've been doing it for quite, quite six years now, so I'm used to it.
But somebody who gets a new guide, dog, it's stressful for that first couple years.
Leslie: [00:03:00] Absolutely. And that's why there's so many things to consider when getting a guide dog. And there's a lot of other myths out there too, uh, that it's, you know, easy to get a guide dog. Anybody can get one. And that's really what we're here to talk about today.
We actually have two experts with us, one from the Guide Dog World and the other from the o and m world to discuss the International Guide Dog Federation applicant standards, or really more accurate accurately. The conversation we're gonna have today is things to consider before applying for a guide dog.
Christina: Yes. Today we have Tina Goda ti and Erica Erky. Tina is the director of Guide Dog Services and has over 17 years of experience and Erica Erky is now the director of Client strategy and experience and has almost 20 years in o and m.
Timothy: Good morning, Erica and Tina. I am so glad you guys are on here. We'll start with Erica.
Can we go over and review the requirements of somebody trying to get a guide dog?
Erica: Sure. Great talking with both of you, and thanks for having us on to talk about this important topic. Uh, so to start us off, [00:04:00] the eligibility requirements are to be able to care for yourself independently. Really what we're looking for here is can you dress yourself?
Are you okay with your taking care of your dining needs? And then can you really take your own medications, even if it's in, uh, you know, pill, containers. The next one is be at least 16 years old at the time of program attendance. That really means that if you're 15 years old and you're meeting the eligibility requirements and the standards, start your application so that.
We can look at potentially serving you when you're 16 and still in high school. And then the last eligibility requirement is to be able to walk at least 30 minutes at a time, multiple times a day, without a walker or a wheelchair. So in this is a training requirement, and in training, our routes will be about 30 minutes long.
Now that's gonna. Mean that there will be stops for discussion where you're gonna be standing on your feet maybe for a little bit, or standing at a [00:05:00] curb and, and working with your dog in some ways and listening to traffic. So being on your feet and active in lots of different ways for 30 minutes a time is, is an eligibility requirement.
Leslie: Awesome. Thank you Erica. So those are just a few things to start off this conversation to be thinking about, but another piece of qualifying for a leader dog is meeting the International Guide Dog Federation, also known as IGDF Applicant standards, which we're gonna use to really further our conversation on determining guide dog readiness.
But first, Tina, could you explain what IGF is and why it's important to follow these guidelines?
Tina: Yes, certainly. Um, IGDF is an, an accrediting body that supports guide dog organizations around the world, but also holds them to a standard. To be a member of IGDF organizations must go through an evaluation every five years to determine if they are still upholding the IGDF standards and providing quality guide dogs.
As part of IGFs support to guide dog [00:06:00] organizations, uh, they created a list of applicant standards to be used industry-wide. We've taken that list of standards and are using them to help applicants self-assess if they are ready for a guide dog. Um, the, the standards provided by IGDF are broad and we define those standards with further details.
Christina: Yeah. And Erica, one of those first questions that applicants should ask themselves. From those standards is, have you been declared legally blind by an eye care professional, or do you have functional vision loss that requires use of a primary mobility aid? Can you tell us more about this?
Erica: Yeah, thanks for that.
Great question. So when we talk about functional blindness and legal blindness, I'm gonna break it down into a couple of different categories here. So, legal blindness is pretty much what we're all familiar with, with that 20 over 200. Uh. In the best eye with best correction. So 20 over 200. If I, with normal [00:07:00] vision, am standing at 200 feet, someone with legal blindness would have to stand at 20 feet to see that same thing.
Um, legal blindness also could be field loss, and that field loss is restricted to 20 degrees or less. So that would be like looking through a straw hole. These things. Require a need, uh, uh, to to use a cane or to use a guide dog because getting around might without them might include bumping into things or falling or injuring oneself.
And those tools can be really helpful. But functional vision loss is a little bit harder to define. Um, medical advancements have gotten so much. Better that, um, we're finding different, that things are affected differently and our eyes are no different. So maybe there's a muscle problem and the muscle causes your eyes to be closed all the time.
Mm-hmm. Your eyes function perfectly, but [00:08:00] that muscle causes your, your eyelids to be shut. Uh, perhaps your eyes are, are in very healthy, but there's a, a brain connection that it's not communicating to your eyes, so your eyes can't, um, can't see, and your brain can't process what your eyes are seeing. So that could also, um, that's, that's functional blindness and can cause them some mobility limitations as well.
Timothy: So Erica, another consideration somebody should have is they can go to a place by themselves, a destination. Why is that so important?
Erica: Wow, Timothy, I think you said it best that when you're walking with Glacier, there's so many other things that you need to be aware of. So when we're talking about these standards, it really means that those.
Routes are in place, um, that, that somebody can get out with their white cane or with their guide dog and, [00:09:00] and they know what to do. Uh, they don't really have to think anymore about, uh, when I'm listening to traffic, I, I know how to cross the street or when I turn my body in a certain way that I've changed a certain direction.
Um, having those routes and traveling to places with your white cane is, is the basic minimum. To then excel in being a guide dog traveler.
Leslie: Oh my goodness. There's already so much to think about. But another thing that we wanna talk about, and really this is such a huge piece of it, and you know me, I love to talk about the cane.
I love to talk about orientation mobility, but this is such a huge thing to think about the importance of orientation, mobility prior to guide dog. Can you explain why somebody needs to be confident in their o and m skills to really be ready for a guide dog?
Erica: Yeah, so just like I, I'm gonna elaborate a little bit more on just what I was talking about.
So, orientation and mobility is the [00:10:00] basis of guide dog travel and that confidence, uh, when you're traveling with a guide dog works. Tandem with a guide dog. So if, and it's a partnership. So if we're working together, that confidence with those orientation mobility skills is what the person brings to the partnership.
The guide dog has other skills that it brings to the partnership to make the team work, uh, work like a dream. So all together, um, that orientation and mobility skills. Really need to be solid. I'm talking about the problem solving. So if I veer up a driveway, can I listen to the sounds that are going on to get me back on track?
Or they just need to be second nature to take the most advantage of being carefree and independent with,
Christina: uh,
Erica: a guide dog.
Christina: Absolutely. [00:11:00] And now we're gonna talk more about specific guide dog readiness skills. So we're gonna go back to Tina. So Tina, one of the guide dog readiness questions is, can you walk comfortably for at least 15 minutes at a pace of two miles per hour?
So can you tell us more about that and what that means?
Tina: So walking at least 15 minutes at a time and at a minimum pace of two miles per hour or 3.2 kilometers per hour, uh, that is the minimum. Uh, and when we talk about the, the miles per hour, we're not gonna be going out and measuring somebody's speed or their pace.
Um, but if, if the pace is lower than that, typically, um, the dogs that we use, they cannot walk or work naturally at that lower pace. Um, so it would be, it would be difficult for us to find a dog match in that case as well. So. We wanna make sure that there's, um, at least 15 minutes at a time that somebody could walk and, and work with their guide dog and, and kind of keep that pace up as well.
Timothy: Okay, Tina, let's talk about daily routines. What are some of the things that people should consider on their [00:12:00] daily roots? How often and how long should they be able to walk on these routes?
Tina: Yeah, work for a guide dog team must include a minimum of two walking routes that are at least 15 minutes long. Uh, like I mentioned earlier, um, and are used at least five times per week and at least one route should be outdoors and walked three times per week.
Uh, we make mention of that because sometimes people, they might work in a large office building or wherever they work and the dog might. Guide them indoors and they receive a ride to work. Um, and that could be five days a week, right? But we wanna make sure that the dogs and, uh, the team, uh, the handler and, and the dog that they are getting out and working outside every day as well to keep those skills up.
Um, so, and, and this should be for the working life of the dog, and this is the bare minimum. For meeting the standard. So if somebody tells us that they do more and they're capable of doing more, that would be our expectation and we would match that [00:13:00] person with a dog that needs that work and activity level.
Leslie: That makes total sense, right? We wanna make sure that the dog is maintaining its skills, getting good exercise, which also, and we've talked about already, a little bit of the physical standards that we're expecting of our clients. But another piece of that too is really being able to manage a large breed dog and the commitment of a guide dog.
So could you explain more about what you want people to think in these regards?
Tina: Yeah, the people, they need the physical ability to manage a large breed guide dog. We use labs, golden retrievers and crosses of those two breeds, which can be anywhere from 50 to 75 pounds, give or take of course. Mm-hmm. Um, and their handlers will need to handle sudden movements from the dog.
Uh, at the end of the day, no matter how well trained dogs are still dogs. And they will do dog things that are natural to them and that are instinctive to them. So they're gonna make mistakes, kind of like Timothy mentioned earlier. Um, they're, they will get distracted, they'll get confused at times. Uh, they can make a choice to pull [00:14:00] towards something that they find interesting or exciting, um, or they might try to turn in a different direction than what the handler was anticipating.
So, um, being always being ready for that and, and having that physical ability to handle that should the dog. Pole. Um, they can be very strong. So, and, and also while the team, the handler and, and the dog, while they're new, these behaviors from the dog could be higher than normal for that particular dog until the team has bonded and becomes seasoned.
Um, and a brief explanation on the team being seasoned would be where the dog and the handler have been together. Long enough, typically, at least at the, at the minimum, at least six to 12 months, if not longer, um, where they know each other well and have a good relationship, both working and outside of Guide dog work.
Christina: Yeah. And Tina, you kind of just touched on this a little bit, but relationship skills are something that someone would need to have because you have to build that bond with your guide dog and serve as the primary caretaker providing that daily physical and mental simulation beyond guide work. [00:15:00] So can you tell us a little bit more about what this means?
Tina: Yeah. So, um, I'm gonna probably have a little bit of a long explanation here and go over a few, a few pieces. They should be able to clearly communicate to the dog, which we'll teach in, in guide dog class, including, uh, using food rewards and positive reinforcement, um, as well as read the dog by, by feeling their movements.
Learning their habits and how they're communicating to the person. Uh, they must be the primary caretaker of the dog. Uh, while I always advise that someone else has the knowledge of how you care for the dog, their daily schedule, their feeding amounts, their bathroom schedule, and so on, uh, in case of emergency.
Uh, or urgent situation, it's always good to have a backup plan, um, or if, or if times you just simply can't bring your dog with you somewhere that wouldn't be appropriate for a dog, such as a really loud concert, a haunted house, uh uh, somewhere that could either be physically or mentally harmful to the dog, right?
We have to think about. I think from the dog's point of view as well, when we're taking them places, um, it would be absolutely appropriate to leave the dog [00:16:00] home and, and with a caretaker for that short period of time. Um, but otherwise, your daily routine should be you caring for your dog. The dog should be looking to you and relying on you for their daily needs being met, uh, daily, physical and mental stimulation, uh, or enrichment.
Outside of guide work should be a part of this care. Uh, now we really want guide work to be one of the most fun things that the dog does each day or almost every day, right? But we, and we want the dog to enjoy their work. And if they enjoy it, they'll continue doing it and doing it well. Um, however, after a long day of work or any day for that matter, the dogs deserve to be off duty and have fun every day.
That could be time in the backyard or another secured area, playing with a toy and their handler, uh, playing with another family pet or just allowing them to sniff around, um, and having appropriate two toys inside the home, uh, playing inside the home and just being a part of the family. And it's okay for other members of the family to play with the dog as well?
I've had that question before, so I figured I would, I would mention that, that [00:17:00] the, the dog should be part of the family and, and other family members can enjoy having that dog around as well.
Erica: Can I add in here real quick that, uh, you know, Tina made a great point about that there's places that you don't necessarily or shouldn't take a dog, and that you should give them some downtime.
That's also the reason why we have included in the standards. Yes. Right. I'm, I'm joining Team Leslie, right, as an o and m specialist. Um, been on that team, but that's really why people need to keep up those backup skills, but also because of the teamwork. Sometimes there's going to be times where a dog can only tell us or communicate so much.
So gotta whip out that cane, um, to, to help support the team.
Leslie: Thank you. It's so nice to have somebody else on the can tell done that or the team. Yeah. Right. Timothy,
Timothy: I've done it a lot. So Tina, considering somebody's home and their environment, what is the most safest and the most happiest [00:18:00] environment that these guide dogs can have?
What are we looking for?
Tina: Uh, well, the home environment, like you already mentioned, should be safe. Uh, must, must include adequate space for a dog. Uh, must be free of aggressive animals. Pests and access to harmful factors, including, but not limited to excessive smoke, chemicals, medication, and clutter. Um, now we all know that every home or just about every home has chemicals and medications.
That is fine, but they just can't be accessible to the dog. Um, so I always remind people to basically have their, their home puppy proofed, especially when first arriving home with their new guide dog. But really always, even the dogs we trust won't get into something. It only takes that one time and it could have a very bad outcome.
Leslie: We've discussed so far, a lot of considerations and something that sometimes, which we've touched on here already, is, uh, something that's not considered is the physical and emotional needs of working with a companion. And a big piece of that is the financial resources. So what would you encourage someone to plan for financially when they're thinking about a guide [00:19:00] dog?
Tina: So, yeah, they'll need to financially provide for the dog's routine health and wellbeing, including a commercially available, complete and balanced kibble dog food diet. Home cooked or raw diets are not acceptable. Uh, they'll have to purchase toys for the dog throughout the life of the dog. And then the annual veterinary care, such as, uh, vaccinations, medications, and, and their annual vet checkups.
So we estimate an annual cost of about $1,500. Um. For, for all of this, but it could be much more depending on the situation. So that $1,500, that's again, that's a minimum.
Christina: Yeah. And so we've gone through a lot of things that someone has to think about for themselves, for the dog, but one of the last things that they should consider is other people in their household.
So Tina, why would other people in the household be a consideration?
Tina: Well, they have to live with the dog too, and there are specific rules with guide dogs in the home. So the whole household does need to be in alignment with that to some degree. [00:20:00] Uh, dogs need consistency from everyone that they interact with, so everyone needs to follow some basic rules.
That would at least be very helpful for the success of the team. Some examples would be not allowing the dog to jump on people or leaving the door open and allowing the dog to run outside off leash or in an unsecure area if it's not fenced in or not leaving food on the coffee table or end table for the dog to access.
For them to be enticed by, um, or just leaving items that are not safe for the dogs in their reach. So things of that nature. Um, also if someone in the household really doesn't like, or maybe they, they're afraid of dogs, maybe they've had a bad experience in the past and, and just don't wanna be around dogs, um, or maybe they have a severe allergy, that that should be certainly taking in into consideration.
Timothy: Going back on the, uh, the bills of the dog for the vet. Everybody knows that Glacier had a, had a disease or or illness this earlier, this, this year. And about three months I paid about $1,600 on her. Mm-hmm. [00:21:00] Just trying to get her back to healthy. So you always gotta be worried and you gotta be prepared for that last minute, uh oh, we got something going on here.
So you need to really consider, I mean, uh, if you can do that on a dime. 'cause sometimes it's gonna be difficult with people with limited resources.
Tina: Exactly. Yeah. The, it's always good to have an emergency backup plan, both, both financially and should, should you not be able to care for the dog, having that backup plan of who, who's gonna be that caretaker for the dog.
Um, and how will that, that happen if, if an emergency happens either, either the dog that gets sick or, or the, the person.
Leslie: Please know to reach out to Leader Dog in those types of situations too. So if anybody listening does have a leader, dog leader, dog wants to help, we know those are the unexpected things.
We do have some vet money set aside to assist with, you know, any surgeries or anything that's really gonna help. The, the working life of the Guide Dog continue and we can always partner with Lions Clubs, right? We talk about Lions Club and the huge support that they [00:22:00] provide us in lots of different ways.
Sometimes they'll provide some financial assistance in those times, so, uh, please always reach out to us because hopefully we can find a way to help, but. This has been fantastic. I hope this has been a really good episode for anybody who's thinking about a guide dog. There's just so much to consider. It is not a fix it button.
It doesn't make everything better. Uh, while they do a lot, you really have to go into it prepared, right? You need to have those skills, orientation and mobility. I know I preach it all the time, but you heard it from somebody else too now. Um, and it's part of the IGDF standards. Like we didn't just make that up as leader dog, right?
This is, you know, across the board of. Guide dog organizations that are affiliated or accredited through IGDF. This is what they're holding their applicants to. So this has been absolutely fantastic. Is there any last thoughts that you wanna add? Either Tina, Erica, or even Timothy?
Erica: This is Erica, and certainly if you're wanting to explore a guide dog as an option, um, our orientation and mobility program [00:23:00] might be a good place to start.
Um, and our client services team, uh, can, can also start to answer questions about some of this as well, or if the, the. The conversation gets too complex and we need to, to hook you up with a subject matter expert and discuss some specific living situation or your personal circumstances, um, by all means reach out to us.
You know, it's not a one size fits all that for sure. So there's a lot to consider and remember, it really is the, for the long term and what we've discussed today are really the minimums. Uh, we want everybody to be. Successful and, and want that to be maintained throughout the partnership?
Leslie: Absolutely. I always think about, you know, a 16-year-old getting a guide dog and dogs, our guide dogs hopefully are working eight to 10 years potentially.
I mean, 16 to 26. Wow. Like how many things in your life really change and thinking about the financial [00:24:00] piece of that. Maybe your parents are assisting at 16, but there might not be at 24. You know? So, so much to go into this. But thank you so much to both of you for being here today. We greatly appreciate you taking time out of your very busy days, and thank you so much to our listeners for listening to the Taking the Lead podcast.
I'm Leslie Hoskins with host Timothy Kyo and Christina Hepner. We hope you enjoyed learning about seriously, all the considerations that go into getting a guide dog. Please join us next time as we continue to dive into the world of blindness. And if you'd like
Christina: to learn more about applying to our free services at Leader Dog, you can head to leader dog.org or call us at [phone].
Don't forget you can reach us at taking the [e-mail] with any questions or ideas. If you like today's podcast, make sure to hit subscribe and check us out wherever podcast drink.