Hanni met Harper recently and offered some advice.
Four months ago (has it been that long already?) Harper and I returned from Morristown to piles of snow here in Chicago. Poor Harper had never trained in snow, but he was a troopertrouper. He made the adjustment.
Is that why he’s cowering on our walks to the Loop now? Does he miss the snow? Or maybe it’s a delayed reaction to the van that turned right in front of us. The driver didn’t see us crossing, she said. Her van brushed Harper’s face, and he pulled me back from harm so strongly that I fell. My head crashed on the concrete. Maybe that near miss still has him scared. We’ve been traveling a lot lately. Is that confusing him? Can I blame the little snippy dog who nipped the tip of Harper’s ear off in the elevator? Post traumatic stress syndrome?
Harper’s cowering started the day after we returned from the Door County blizzard in Wisconsin. I had a meeting at Willis Tower with my co-workers at Easter Seals Headquarters that morning. Halfway there, along a normal length of sidewalk, Harper crouched to the ground. Wouldn’t budge. Not forward, not backward. After trying everything I could come up with to get Harper to move, I finally accepted help from a stranger. The man walked Harper and me to Franklin Avenue, and when Harper caught sight of the Willis Tower he took off like old times.
On the way home, though, he cowered again. Four different times. Now he cowers on the way to and from the memoir-writing class I teach, on the way to and from the pool I swim at, on the way to and from the train station to visit Flo. We eventually get to all these places, but it’s like driving a car that stalls all the time. It’s miserable. Both for Harper, and for me.
”It really doesn’t matter why he’s acting this way,” the instructor from the Seeing Eye said when I called the training department for help. “he just can’t act like this.” I’ve been back and forth with the Seeing Eye almost every day. They’ve been wonderful, listening to my concerns, giving me ideas to try, suggesting different ways for me to hold the harness and leash to remind Harper I’m back there and I mean business. “And be sure to overdo the praise when he does good,” they said. “Go really over the top.”
On our walk home from teaching the memoir class today, I had no opportunities to praise Harper at all. He didn’t do anything well. Not one thing. I usually put music on and Harper and I dance around with his toys once we make it home safely, but there was no joy in Mudville today. “I don’t want to talk to you,” I told him. I unbuckled his harness, gave him some water and slouched into my office chair to phone the Seeing Eye. Again.
”An instructor is coming out your way at the end of the month,” the trainer on the phone said, asking which days would work best for them to visit Harper and me that week. Before hanging up I told her I’d planned on going to the pool this evening, but now I wasn’t so sure. She urged me to stick with that plan, arming me with another technique to try to encourage Harper.
*******
Hours later.
*******
Just got home from the pool. Never got a chance to use that new technique. Harper didn’t need it. He was perfect. He never balked. Never cowered. He stopped on a dime at every curb. And when I gave the “forward” command? By God, he pulled me forward!
Hmmm. I know Seeing Eye dogs are smart. Think Harper can read my blog posts?
This is really hard, I know, because we’ve been there. On the dark side, it could be that Harper simply does fail as a guide dog. On the bright side, the visit from Seeing Eye may get him back on the right track. Either way, it is so difficult for you. I’m really sorry. I started out to write a funny little vignette about Tom’s failed dog (now a pet), but in writing it, I was jerked back to the reality of how very difficult that was–for everybody. Tom. The failed dog. Me. The guide dog school. Instead of a goofy story that tries to make light of a difficult situation, may I send positive vibes, good karma, and a whispered prayer?
Lauren
Yes! Good vibes, good karma, and a whispered prayer all very much appreciated, as is your understanding, Lauren. *Thank you*.
Maybe the threat of an impending instructor made him shape up! Good luck, I know this is hard.
Oh, whew! I saw your title — Harper’s gotta go — and I was quite anxious that the end of this post would see Harper shipping off to an early retirement!
No, not yet. I’m stil hopeful Harper and I will have a long life together. Am writing you from a hotel in Milwaukee, we gave three presentations at General Mitchell Elementary School in West Allis yesterday. Harper has an incredible homing instinct — we’ve stayed at this hotel before, and he guided me through the lobby and to the elevators perfectly. He really does a good job *inside* buildings, it’s when we get outside that he is challenged. Will be interesting to see how he does guiding me home from Union Station in Chicago later today…
Poor harper and Poor you! Many thoughts coming your way. So glad that he did a perfect job. I always notice a difference too once a call to the seeing eye has happened. I often wonder if I am possibly more relaxed and calm and that translates to my little man. Harper get it together!
Karen and Gordon
Good point. I am always mor relaxed — and much more hopeful — after receiving a call from the Seeing Eye. Am anticipating that when the instructor comes at the end of the month, Harper will do perfectly, these dogs always seem to put on a good show for the instructors! Thanks for the good wishes, so good to hear from you, Karen. Give that Gordon a scratch for us.
I wish you the best and hope that it was just a fluke!
A bit of amusement though, I’m an American living in Canada at the moment and was quite confused at your blog title(as that’s all I get initially in Google Reader). I was wondering what the Prime Minister of Canada (Harper) could have done to get you riled up (especially since that’s the only news really here at the moment — the election)
Hopefully you will have better luck with your Harper and he’ll behave! I can only imagine how difficult it is for all involved (you and Harper) Best of luck and hope to see a happy/stress free blog detailing how he’s doing a wonderful job for you!
Aha. That explains all the blog hits I’ve been getting on this post — must be those Canadians! One woman in our Seeing Eye class last December was Canadian and she pointed out that Harper had the same name as their prime minister, who is not well-liked up there. I chose to focus on Harper’s name being the same as the wonderful woman who wrote “To Kill a Mockingbird” — !
Hi Beth – This has to be really frustrating for you. Hope this was a temporary situation and that Harper will be better. Have you ever had this happen with Dora or Hanni?
Not to this extreme, and not this early in the game. Still, I’m hopeful…
Hi Beth. Wow! You really scared me there for a second. I thought for sure that you were going to say Harper couldn’t work anymore but am so glad he’s doing better now. I hope he keeps on doing better for you.
C’mon Harper, you know what to do.Keep the faith the best you can Beth.
Jacques
Beth I hope Harper is just growing up and learning how to be a good guide dog, and this all works itself out with a bit of help from the seeing eye.
I’ll be thinking about you both.
Jen and OJ x
Recently, my Seeing eye dog, Randy, and I were walking with friends near the DePaul University campus. Randy deviated from his straight and true course to a zigzag route, nose to the ground, pulling me this way and that. My friend said, “Oh, that’s OK. He’s just distracted by the lunch-hour crowd and the food vendors.” After I corrected Randy several times, reminding him in the prescribed Seeing eye manner to keep his mind on his work, and being told by my friend that what Randy was doing was understandable, I said, “I know it’s understandable; but it’s not right. He’s been trained to ignore distractions, no matter how enticing and, for him, friendly students and hot dogs are supremely enticing.”
The point is, and thank you for this blog, Beth, that we dog owners are not unfeeling, rigid taskmasters solely bent on keeping our dogs subservient and denying them their natural instincts and their joy in life. Rather, we try to understand our dog’s behavior in terms of its training and its role as our companion along safe streets, that we benefit mutually by each doing our best. Thank you, Beth, for mentioning that, regardless of the unfortunate cause of Harper’s balking, neither he nor we are safe or happy when off our game. And, as you described your after-work playtime and dances with dogs, we encourage all healthy expressions of our dog’s love of life. I will someday write a bio of my dog called, “Randy: Share the Joy,” so named because he is so full of life, love and exuberance. And I hope joy of a job well done remains in his repertoire.
All best wishes to youand thank you for sharing so that all may learn and understand.
Jeff, thank you so much for these kind words. Confession: this was a difficult post to write, Harpre’s work has been shaky for a few weeks now but I kept putting off writing about it, knew I had to get it written “just right” or else readers might shrug Harper’s behavior off, say, well, it’s okay, I get scared walking in the city sometimes and I can see, give Harper a break, he’s just having a hard time. Kind of like your friend did when Randy zig-zagged through the DePaul campus. Your thoughtful comment tells me I did an adequate job getting the point across – this is a serious subject and Harper and I need to get it straightened out to keep both of us safe.
Also appreciated learning you are working on a book — Can’t wait to read it! In the meantime I’ll keep up with you and Randy via your blog. To my own blog readers – you might want to check out Jeff’s blog, too. It’s called
Jalapenos in the Oatmeal: Digesting Vision Loss
http://jalapenosintheoatmeal.wordpress.com
Here’s an official description:
“Written by Guild for the Blind member Jeff Flodin, the blog is a must-read and irreverent take on vision loss. It is a forum for sharing information, thoughts and feelings about blindness…”
Keep up the good work, Jeff.
Hope Harper keeps reading your blog posts. Beth.
Kind of reminds me or raising my kids,don’t you remember days like this when you were raising your child, especially through those early years.
Keep the faith Beth – Penn
I guess those smart Seeing Eye dogs can read…if not words, emotions and feelings….because he certainly read yours.
Beth,
This is hard.
Cowering sounds like he’s afraid of something. Hopefully the instructor will be able to help you both figure out what that is.
Four months is about the time they start to “Come up,” meaning that they figure out you’re blind and start testing you.
But, fears are a challenging behavior to suss out and manage. Brook and I had some issues early on with fears. We were able to work through them as I learned some different ways to handle her.
If you’re interested in doing some reading before the instructor comes, write me off the blog and I’ll point you to some resources. Sometimes knowing the right questions to ask can help the instructors to better help us.
Lolly, yes, I *would* be interested in doing some reading before the Seeing Eye instructor comes. I’ll write you off the blog for some resources. Thanks.
You did a good job getting your post just right–no surprise! And knowing your strength, I am sure things have been difficult with Harper. Adding my hope/good thoughts to all the rest coming your way that things work out soon.
Thanks, this is high praise coming from a fine writer like you. And like I always tell the writers in my memoir-writing class, sometimes taking time to write these things down helps clarify them in our minds. Cheap therapy!
My walks with Harper have improved significantly since I published this post, writing it all down, finding just the right word to explain it, well, it helped me decide to keep at it, convinced me that Harper might just be capable of this work, we just have to keep trying.
So Harper and I are keeping at it, in large part thanks to all these encouraging comments from you blog readers. *THANK* you.
Harper may need a few more time outs, but he’ll get there.
Beth
I can’t imagine how difficult and or scary that is for you for a variety of reasons. Hang in there and good luck. I’ll say some prayers that Harper keeps on the straight and narrow.
Amy
Best of luck to you and Harper. I will keep you both in my thoughts and prayers! As a dog lover I understand your frustration as you try to figure out what is going on in Harper’s head causing his balk–and my dogs are only pets, not guides to daily adventures in life. –So sending good thoughts and hope of smooth sailing for you and Harper. Take care.
Oh wishing you well. Cricket did some cowering that we worked through a couple years ago. Understand all the emotions that come into play … sending love, good vibes, prayers, that Harper can carry on.
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