Respect for a dog

So I was riding the train this morning to the subway to the bus to the airport to my interview. God, the flight is two hours and covers several hundred miles, but the first 60 miles or so takes 5.5. Nobody else finds that funny?

If it makes it better it was technically more since I got a ride early from a friend when it was convenient for him then waited instead of walking a few miles to the first station.

I'm not opposed to walking. I walked three and a half each way to volunteer coach earlier this year (in the snow in the cold up hill both ways, blahblahblah). Given the chance though, I'm definitely happy to be lazy. Besides, I'm pretty wiped from karate yesterday.

Karate in a full uniform in 90 degree weather isn't my favourite thing. Karate when you have to wear a second shirt under your top because the gi wasn't designed with women in mind and is prone to wardrobe malfunctions isn't quite as much fun in 90 degree weather. Karate in a full uniform plus another layer underneath in 90 degree weather in a gymnasium where the heater on and can't be turned off due to a system error is remarkably unpleasant. I also forgot my water bottle yesterday.

Whoever installed the water fountain in the back of the gym is my new personal hero. It will make an great essay on whatever bullshit job app or grad school application I fill out next. They are probably tired of reading Lincoln essays anyway.

Anyway, so I was on the train this morning when a woman came in with a dog. It was a big beautiful golden retriever lab mix wearing a guide dog harness. Touching a dog wearing one of these harnesses isn't allowed, it messes up the absolute training they receive that says when they are in the harness they are on the job. Normally I when I see one I just ask if I can pet the dog, the owner removes the harness, and then get to play with an adorable dog. This woman shook her head at my request and spoke to an imaginary person a few feet to my left. "You can't touch him. He's working right now. He is my guide."

I nodded and then thought better of it and responded "Ok." There was a brief awkward silence before I tried to start the conversation again. "He's beautiful. What's his name?"

"I don't give out his name. It distracts him. He's working right now."

I took this as a sign to shut up and went back to work. A few minutes later another lady with a pet dog walked up and said "Does he like playing with other dogs?"

"He can't play with other dogs," said the blind woman, "He needs to work now. He needs to know he's not a dog right now, that he is working."

"But there is another man with a guide German Shepard and she plays with..."

"This dog saves my life every day! Their training is vital! You can not compromise it!" the blind lady was visibly upset by now.

"Yeah, I know," I said trying to appease the situation, "I have wanted to train one of those forever, but my current apartment can't have dogs."

The woman's whole attitude totally changed, "You should."

"I think it would be kind of hard to give it back at the end."

"Oh I imagine it would be," the woman agreed, "I'm so grateful to the people who trained my dog for me. This dog is my eyes. The people who trained this dog gave me my life back."

I chatted a little with the pet owner after that. The blind woman, however, withdrew from the conversation and was totally silent. Her dog, seeming concerned, first sat up on the train seat. When that didn't get a response he put a paw on the blind lady's shoulder, and finally nuzzled her face. The blind lady responded by rubbing the dog's ears and kissing the dog on the forehead.

I can't quite explain how this was different from the millions of dog owners who do this every day, but normally you witness this feeling of the human condescending to the dog with this action. The action fits the words "who is a good puppy huh? Yeaaaaaaaaah you're a good puppy!"

The blind lady's behavior was different. She was quiet and contemplative. At first I thought we had deeply offended her to make her tune us out, but that did not seem to be what was going on. For lack of a better word it seemed the blind woman's way of displaying respect for her dog.

I don't think your average person really stops to respect animals as peers. I'm not saying people should or shouldn't, I'm just saying people who do are rare in our culture. In most old religions mankind is the keeper of the rest of (insert relevant deity's name here)'s creations. You see respect for the animal's needs, or instincts, or space, but it is not often that you witness a human paying respect to the existence of an animal as a peer.

...and yet there it was. Somehow this was an action of overwhelming respect and gratitude. The woman honestly looked almost like she was going to cry.

Quiet raw displays of emotion are rare things to witness in strangers, but they afford these brief few seconds into the lives of that person. This was a very powerful image to witness. I almost took a photograph, but the woman seemed like she wouldn't appreciate such a request, and I didn't want to take advantage of the fact that a person is blind to get a fantastic photograph.

I suppose I had always cognitively comprehended that a blind person could live a far better life with a seeing eye dog than without one, but I guess I had never actually understood previously what a difference it makes.

So, I've made up my mind. When I move out of my current apartment at the end of May I'm going to try to become a foster parent for a seeing eye dog to assist in its training. Hope its a German Shepard or a lab...but more importantly...I hope its housebroken by the time I get it...

Whatever, it will be an adventure.

Edit: people have been asking me about what this involves so here are some links to information I found about it.

Lots of the USA: http://www.guidedog.org/Pupprog/pupprog.htm
CA and WA USA: http://www.guidedogsofamerica.org/raising.html
Mid-Atlantic USA: http://www.seeingeye.org/aboutus/default.aspx?M_ID=123
Lots of the West (as far east as AZ and CO): http://www.guidedogs.com/site/PageServer?pagename=programs_dog_puppy
Maine to Ohio to Carolinas (all states in triangle) USA: http://volunteer.guidingeyes.org/bin/manpage?0+3
Indiana Michigan and Ohio USA: http://www.leaderdog.org/volunteer/puppyraiser/index.php
California: http://www.guidedogsofthedesert.org/volunteer.html

Just google it. The term is "puppy raiser" normally. These are just a few of the results I got. The some of the Australian programs seem to call it "puppy foster parents."

And yeah, looks like housebreaking it is my problem. Joy.