Guide-dog journals · the full archive
These journals follow three chapters: Harold at Guide Dogs for the Blind in 2009, Rory at The Seeing Eye in 2010, and Chief in Seeing Eye Class 701 in 2023. All 70 original entries have a home here, separate from the official blog.
70 preserved entries · 2009, 2010, and 2023
70 entries
August 3, 2023
Well, it is 2:30 in the morning on the day I am going home. Yes, obviously I can’t sleep so here I am wrapping up the blog with my journey at the Seeing Eye. During day 16 I checked out with the…
Read the storyAugust 2, 2023
In July 2023, I shared Chief’s puppy profile as I prepared to meet him at The Seeing Eye. His puppy-raising family described a confident, playful dog who loved people, toys, car rides, and a good…
Read the storyAugust 1, 2023
We made it to the last week of class. Things are beginning to wind down and it cannot come soon enough! I got up a bit earlier than usual and took him out for park and groomed him very early on…
Read the storyAugust 1, 2023
In the afternoon on Sunday, we went to the pet store. This was the first time I heard a noise come from my dog. He was quite excited while we were in the pet store. While at the pet store we bought…
Read the storyJuly 30, 2023
Today is Sunday, July 30. We have more class members leaving the school today. We had one leave yesterday and one leave today so the numbers in the class are thinning out a bit. I leave next Thursday…
Read the storyJuly 30, 2023
On day twelve we had two trips. After breakfast we traveled quite a distance from campus to a terribly busy part of town where they had five lane crossings which also included an island in the middle…
Read the storyJuly 28, 2023
Before we proceed with the rest of day eleven’s activities, I wanted to point out how difficult it is to write without expressing or mentioning gender or names of my guide. To give this a way, my dog…
Read the storyJuly 27, 2023
This brings us to Tuesday, and it was a remarkably interesting day to say the least. We started with the normal park time and breakfast. We proceeded to go out to practice the Elm street route once…
Read the storyJuly 25, 2023
Yes, I am behind a bit so combining two days. On Sunday we got up at the normal time and prepared to venture out for our South Street solo. We did quite well as a team. Lots of people were bustling…
Read the storyJuly 22, 2023
We are now on day six, almost at the half way point for retrains. Believe it or not, I am already starting to pack things I won’t use for the rest of class. Yes, I am eager to get home! Today is the…
Read the storyJuly 22, 2023
OK, this is actually being written on day 6 in the early evening. I will get to the activities we had on day 6 in the next post. I forgot to write about an incident that took place in the later part…
Read the storyJuly 21, 2023
It is the middle of day five and I have a few minutes so I thought I would update folks about the activities that are happening thus far today: • I got up about 4:45 and started to work on work…
Read the storyJuly 21, 2023
We are now on day four and what a day it was. I was extremely tired at the end of the day, so it was nice not to have any lectures in the evening. Wait, I am getting ahead of myself. We took the dogs…
Read the storyJuly 20, 2023
We finally made it! Dog Day! Now, no, I won’t reveal today the name, breed or any other characteristics of my dog, but stay tuned. All will be revealed in time. I got up at 3:30 and proceeded to go…
Read the storyJuly 19, 2023
I am at the end of the day and staying up to do three days of laundry so I thought I would knock out the post for today’s activities. I woke up at 4:00 in the morning and worked on writing Monday’s…
Read the storyJuly 18, 2023
Well, we made it! This was a journey unto itself. Suffice it to say, I have been proven yet again why “I hate space travel”, oh, wait, that’s a different sense of reality isn’t it 😉. Seriously, my…
Read the storyJuly 16, 2023
Well, here we are again with yet another Seeing Eye journal as I undertake the journey with my new guide dog. This comes at a time in my life where I have been doing a lot of self-reflection with an…
Read the storyMay 21, 2010
In the afternoon Kyle and I went to go see the Morris Frank statue. I have never seen such a realistic statue before. Even the textures will remarkable. The harness felt like a harness. The leash…
Read the storyMay 19, 2010
I got up on Tuesday at about 5:15 or so and really didn’t want to get up. The forecast predicted rain all day so I was pleasantly surprised when I found that while it was cool outside it wasn’t…
Read the storyMay 18, 2010
After I got done posting the prior post I got an email from a distant cousin named Tommy who lives in Long Island, NY. He came to see me. I don’t recall meeting him before but my Dad says I had many…
Read the storyMay 16, 2010
Saturday couldn’t come soon enough. I really needed a break. I did lots of personal stuff on Saturday: * I did some obedience with Rory * I groomed Rory. * I did three loads of laundry and packed all…
Read the storyMay 14, 2010
Karen woke me up at 5:00 or so. I could hear her XM radio or laptop playing music and she was quite chipper for 2:00AM Tucson time. I bet Joyce is really thinking she and Darrell are crazy with that…
Read the storyMay 13, 2010
Today was the day to do country work and escalators. We got up about 5:15 and I gave Rory her pill for her foot and took her out after giving her food and water. Breakfast was at 7:00 and it felt odd…
Read the storyMay 13, 2010
Today would be bus day and pet store day. I got up about 5:10 and got ready for the day. After PARC Shannon noticed some blood on the floor as I went upstairs from the PARC door. It was from RORy’s…
Read the storyMay 11, 2010
Monday was solo day for the Elm Street route. I got up pretty early and got ready for the day. In the morning Barb and I went out on the first trip and it rained for most of the route. It went very…
Read the storyMay 9, 2010
Today turned out to be a pretty busy day at first. I got up to take Rory out to PARC. I took her down stairs to groom here. I did obedience. I then played with her for about 10 or so minutes. I then…
Read the storyMay 8, 2010
Today is Saturday and I had to work it like a normal day due to being slightly behind in class. We got up at 5:30 (actually I was up at 5:05 and was dressed and ready to go by 5:20) to take our dogs…
Read the storyMay 8, 2010
Rory was raised in Pennsylvania by a family with 4 children aged 8 to 15. They had 2 other friendly and affectionate dogs but no cats. She was a good eater and was clean in the house. They took her…
Read the storyMay 8, 2010
The next two days at the Seeing Eye were pretty uneventful compared to the last few days :). We started the South Route on Thursday and soloed it on Friday afternoon. The first two trips went without…
Read the storyMay 6, 2010
Rory was born on 3/29/2008. Barb just came in and told me. She is also a pure Black
Read the storyMay 5, 2010
This turned out to be an exciting day. I was a bit worried that Rory would keep me up during the night but she slept very well. I could hear her sometimes moving around but she really did a great job…
Read the storyMay 5, 2010
Tuesday was a difficult day for me. We got up, parked our dogs and ate breakfast. I was going to go out with Tom Pender (the class supervisor) to work on pull with Vincent. I went in on the 8:45…
Read the storyMay 5, 2010
I am writing this on Wednesday, May 5. I am a bit behind. Monday, May 3, we got up at the sound of the wake up call and I got ready for the day and took Vincent out. I had cereal for breakfast. We…
Read the storyMay 2, 2010
Sunday was a great day of rest. We got up at 6:30 and took the dogs out to PARC. We had a yummy yummy breakfast of scrambled eggs, bacon and English muffins. Did I tell you it was really really yummy…
Read the storyMay 1, 2010
Today is solo day where we have to work the route we have been working out without any instructor involvement. It was hot in my room over night so I slept on top of the covers and was awakened by the…
Read the storyMay 1, 2010
I did forget that I worked with Lucas Franck in the morning on Clicker Training again. We first sat at a table and looked at a map of the dining room. He then had me work Vincent to the new location…
Read the storyMay 1, 2010
The day started about 5:30 or so. I took Vincent out to park and came back to write Day 6’s blog post and to read mail and tweets. I then went down for breakfast. As usual I was on the first trip and…
Read the storyApril 30, 2010
Day 6 began around 5:25. I staid up until about 11:30 the prior evening and man was I feeling it that morning. I fed and gave Vincent water and took him out to park. I came back to my room and in a…
Read the storyApril 28, 2010
I woke up at about 4:45 and began the day. It was about 45 minutes prior to taking Vincent out to Park. I started to write yesterday’s blog post and also read some email and tweets. It was very quiet…
Read the storyApril 28, 2010
Day 4 is the first full day with our dogs. I got up around 5:00 on Tuesday and proceeded to get ready for the day. We took our dogs out at 5:30 and I cam back to work on my third day blog post as…
Read the storyApril 27, 2010
Today is the big day. I got up at 5:30 and got ready for the day. It seems that the morning is the time to write blog posts. I went down for breakfast and head a bowl of cereal and then it was off to…
Read the storyApril 26, 2010
Sunday started with me getting up and getting ready. I heard the announcement for the wake up call and it took a few minutes for me to get out of bed. I proceeded to write up Saturday’s activities…
Read the storyApril 25, 2010
The journey to the Seeing Eye began on Friday, April 23. I got up with Keri and the kids at about 5:30 or so and started checking email and handling some work issues. The rest of that day was spent…
Read the storyFebruary 9, 2009
Just a quick note as I am at work. Harold and I arrived to the office at about 9:00 this morning and things have been going well. I took him out for lunch (no, he didn’t eat :)). We did a simple…
Read the storyFebruary 8, 2009
Harold and I are home safely and I am writing this on my desktop. Boy does it take some getting used to switching keyboards :). I got up early on Saturday and was dressed for the day by 6:00. I ran…
Read the storyFebruary 7, 2009
Friday was going to be a short day as far as routes go. After breakfast we meant in the Visitor’s Center and talked about graduation a bit and then transitioning home with our guides (travel…
Read the storyFebruary 5, 2009
We are almost done! Today started with a discussion about taking trips with our guide dogs. All of the basics were covered: feeding, watering, relieving, riding in cars, cruses (they should have…
Read the storyFebruary 5, 2009
Below is an essay that Bryan Goldstein wrote about his sister Robin. Remember that Robin raised Harold even though the entire family played a vital role in making Harold who he is today. This was…
Read the storyFebruary 4, 2009
We are nearing the end. I got a very nice note from my boss today and I sincerely appreciated that. She is awesome. I actually have two supervisors and Zach is out all week at an Oracle conference…
Read the storyFebruary 4, 2009
Today was again going to be a very long one. We went into Portland to work on routes in the morning. Nothing special here. We did stop at a Goodwill and walked around inside. Harold did well here. He…
Read the storyFebruary 2, 2009
Sunday morning was pretty lazy. I kind of hung around in my room and then took a nap at 12:30 or so until we had to take Harold out again for relieving at 2:00PM. I was out like a light and had to be…
Read the storyFebruary 1, 2009
The last time I left you we were all preparing to go out on our routes in the afternoon. We all eventually met for pizza or ice cream. We had no problem getting there but getting back was a bit of a…
Read the storyJanuary 31, 2009
Here are the stats on Harold: Birthday: July 3, 2007 23.5 inches tall at the shoulder 68 Pounds I do not remember his parents names but will revise this post when I get them
Read the storyJanuary 31, 2009
OK, that post I mentioned by Mary, the nurse here at GDB? Huh, well, she posted it :). It is on her blog in the post Welcome Back. So, go take a read and comment at will. I love you Mary
Read the storyJanuary 31, 2009
Friday was a day of stairs, revolving doors, elevators and traffic checks. The morning went as normal and we all loaded into the busses for our last trip into Portland. It was very cold Friday…
Read the storyJanuary 30, 2009
When I got up on Thursday I knew it was going to be a very long day and I am feeling it today (Friday morning). After breakfast (I had cold cereal and toast) we took the dogs out and got on the…
Read the storyJanuary 29, 2009
Tuesday morning I got up and got ready for the day. After sitting down and starting to read email before taking Harold out my tradition has been to check the weather to see what I was up against…
Read the storyJanuary 26, 2009
I got up around 5:30 or so and got ready for the day. I spent some time catching up on email list and work email before I fed and took Harold out. I then listened to some local Tucson radio stations…
Read the storyJanuary 25, 2009
Today was a lazy day. I got up around 6:25 or so and rushed to be ready to take Harold out after feeding him. The wonderful surprise we had was about an inch of snow on the ground. It felt neat…
Read the storyJanuary 25, 2009
January 24, 2009
Here is a picture of Harold just one week prior to him leaving for Guide Dog training. It was taken in October 2008. I want to thank his puppy raising family for the
Read the storyJanuary 24, 2009
My plan was to groom Harold and then go for a walk. Well, we had to go relieve the dogs at 1:45 or so and then a gang of classmates wanted to do the walkabout right after. So, off we went. After I…
Read the storyJanuary 24, 2009
This entry is being written on Saturday afternoon, just after lunch. I am just about to go and groom Harold before we take the loop around the campus. Day 7 actually kind of starts with the evening…
Read the storyJanuary 23, 2009
This post is going to be a tough one to write. Thursday was a very hard day for me. A decision was reached after a lot of tears to make a switch to a new dog. Let me be very clear. Declan’s work was…
Read the storyJanuary 21, 2009
I haven’t written for a while. The main reason is due to the very hectic schedule and me being very tired in the evenings. OK, well, let’s review the last three days: Day Three: Let the Guiding Begin…
Read the storyJanuary 19, 2009
Day 2 started pretty late in the morning (well, at least relative to the rest of my stay here). We met for breakfast at 7:30 and then proceeded to the discussion room at the end of the hall to wrap…
Read the storyJanuary 18, 2009
I will put up audio later today but I wanted to get a picture up. Here it
Read the storyJanuary 17, 2009
The journey started early this morning, or should we take you back even further. On Friday night Keri and I finished up packing and she got to bed around 10:30 or so. I chatted with Darrell and Karen…
Read the storyJanuary 14, 2009
As I was preparing last weekend for my 3 week trip to Guide Dogs for the Blind I thought I would set up Mobile Geo to have the school’s address set as a route. This way I could follow the route as we…
Read the storyJanuary 11, 2009
Jacinda past away on January 3, 2009. I will miss her dearly. The picture above shows her loving smile and great personality that she shared with all of us throughout her life. I want to thank Fred…
Read the storyNo stories match that search. Try a different word.