Mona's Updates

Well, it was bound to happen. This is something else, I'll tell you. Every
day is a new adventure. I'd write it all down, but just living it takes all
my energy.

Dr. Woodward came to see Cali last week, and Cali is losing a baby tooth and
got her teeth floated. She sure needed it, which was why I called in the
first place. The vet says Cali is great and not to worry too much. Uh-huh.
I'm good at worrying.

Cali and I are learning so much together, and now that I'm learning to relax
a bit (only a bit, unfortunately), we have more fun together. Cali and I
even make a game out of cleanup in the morning. And now, she calls to me
every time I come outside or to the window where she can see me. She even
calls to my family.

Only one thing mars this for me, and it has nothing to do with Cali at all.
I had to give Baylea to Adria because the owner of the office building said
she had to go, and I didn't trust leaving Baylea at home, not with my family
and their predilection for getting rid of bunnies. So Adria took her. The
office is more spacious now, and all of Baylea's things are gone, replaced
now with a myriad of horse things. I knew that this might happen, but it's
still hard. My only solace is that despite Adria's vows that she isn't
interested in animals, she loves Baylea and is taking excellent care of her.

I still want my bunny back and have thought about what I could do to keep
her. It wouldn't be fair, though, for her to be alone all day and most of
the evening, as Cali and I take walks. And she wouldn't be able to run
around like she can at Adria's. So I let her go.

Other than that, things are pretty much okay. Even though I try not to, for
many reasons, I fall in love with Cali more and more each day, for the
little things, like when she puts her head on me to sleep or the way she
breathes out just before she gets a treat, or the way she runs for her ball
as soon as we get home, or the way she wipes her wet face on me after she
gets a drink if I'm not quick enough at grabbing a paper towel. I can't help
it, even though I've told myself that loving her so soon might not be wise.
But life is about risks, about taking chances, and I'm taking mine. I stand
right next to Cali now, and she knows it. I really try, but I can't love her
less.

So, things are fine right now. I just got my GPS last night and am playing
with it. There are places around here that I never knew about! Imagine that!
And within walking distance! The one store I can get to is definitely NOT
wheelchair accessible. It's a store with mostly Arabic stuff, but when you
need something...

Well, I'll go away for now and get some sleep. Tomorrow, there's more of
that fabulous calculus book to read, though I can't complain, because Rob is
actually rotating it so I don't have to read the entire thing. He realizes,
I'm sure, that I wouldn't!

By the way, I taught Cali Adria's name just once, and now she takes me
straight to her, even when Adria doesn't want to be found, I think! And yes,
Adria really likes Cali, not enough to let her in the car when her feet are
wet, but enough to take her otherwise.

Guide Dog User Visits Mona

Claudia visited with Cali and Mona. Claudia is blind and uses a Guide dog.
She also has horses. Since she also lives in Michigan. She asked about a mini
as a guide for some time in the future.

This is her report of visiting with Cali and Mona.

We had a fabulous time! Cali is unbelievably beautiful and smart, as good a
worker as any of my dogs! Mona spent about three hours with me and my
husband and shared a wealth of information. I learned so much about guide
horses over the weekend. I visited two farms on Friday and am forwarding
pictures for your opinion. After careful consideration, I believe the wisest
path for me is to look for the foal of my choice and raise it myself to be
trained when mature. I still have a good 3-4 or more years with Freedom and
I see real benefit to not having two guides at the same time. I also need to
research funding or grant feasibility to finance the training. As you know,
all my guide dogs have been provided to me with no charge. Training a guide
horse is unaffordable at this time . Michigan State University has an Human
Animal Bond Initiative which is a place for me to start. I'm hoping to write
a grant proposal to fund an experimental guide horse training project. Are
you interested in participating? I need expertise from the horse trainer's
perspective, as well as recommendations for potential grant resources. I
also invite you to start searching for the right foal. I am checking out
Michigan mini breeders as well. You probably have more resources on the east
Coast. I want an Arab, similar to Cali. Cali actually could pass for my Arab
mare's offspring, same color and disposition. Mona expressed interest in
visiting me and my mare and I plan to take pictures of Cali with Exie

Cali and Mona begin their life together

I haven't been able to update this blog in forever. It seems like there is always something else to train, do, or solve. The last few months have been a whirlwind as my new book Conversations With Cadbury was released and we got to the final details of Cali going to live with Mona. Mona and Cali have been a team now since Jun 2, 2009. Mona flew by herself to our place in Upstate NY to practice with Cali. Of course, we had to deal with the Al Hurra news coming to do a story in-between too. Nothing like the media to make the turn-over more complicated.

We returned to Dearborn Jun 9th. Cali and Mona have been together 100% since then. That's not very long in the lifetime of a guide. Guide Dog users tell me it takes 6 months to 1 year to get fully into a relationship. So, without saying another word, I'll let the photos do the talking.

And, a note to that Dutch and German TV are also doing a feature on them. They said it would be posted to Youtube. I'll post a link when I have it.

It Isn't Easy Being a Mini Horse Guide

Sighted people have no idea how difficult they can make situations in trying to be helpful. Cali will have to negotiate some of the most amazing situations. I took these photos in our little town in Arkansas and ask that you imagine how you would travel these situations with no sight. Cali and I will be traveling this intersection this week. I will report back to you what she discovers. Of course, I'll be there helping her. She has enough training that she can make some decisions. It will be interesting how she negotiates the challenge.

Cali will not make the decision to cross. She will stop and indicate that she and Mona are at a crossing. Mona can tell by the sound of the traffic which way they are going. She will listen to the sounds to determine which way the cars travel. She will wait for several cycles of the lights changing (if there are lights). She will then indicate to Cali to go forward. Cali must know whether to obey the forward command or not. But, Cali will not try to go forward until told. If there are no lights, Mona would wait for no sound of traffic.

At this particular intersection there are crossing indicators. But, there is no sound so the blind person cannot see when the light is on. And, cars still turn when the walk light is on. And, if that isn't enough of a challenge the buttons for crossing are on different poles for different directions but not close to the cross walk. The buttons are labeled which does nothing for the blind person.

Take particular note of the crossing of the railroad tracks. I suppose a person is supposed to follow the red brick to safely get to lining up the walkway with the crossing. But, a blind person will not see the brick road. If one continues straight towards the tracks on the sidewalk, they will come to a steep drop off. I will expect Cali to take us to the drop off. She will then have to turn right to find the next curb and then left to go across the tracks.

You might ask why she doesn't just follow the brick path. Cali must have a shoreline and Mona must trust that Cali is taking her straight. The blind person makes all the directional decisions. Cali provides the information to allow the decision. If Mona were familiar with this intersection she might tell Cali "over-right" and follow the right side of the curb as the shoreline. If not, she would have to find her way by trial and error with the information that Cali provides.

Another Stunning Moment

We took several walks today in town. One took us past the old railroad
depot, up a side street and then we turned right to go past the County Parole Office. Lots'
of people commented especially as we crossed the street directly towards a loading dock
drop-off.

Straight across the street took us to the precipice of this 4' drop off.
Cali stopped.

"Forward" took us right and back to the walkway to go on again by turning
left.

A little ways down the street Cali stopped dead in her tracks. Once when I
was walking with Panda and Alex at an Expo we walked towards the spot that
all the big horses were getting ready to go into the practice arena. Panda
stopped.

A "forward" command left her standing. She would not go forward.

Clearly Panda had decided that this environment was one where she did not
feel she could safely take us through. And so it was with Cali today. I've never
taught her this. Technically speaking this is called intelligent disobedience. This is
when the guide disobeys a command in order to keep the handler safe.

"Forward" from that spot had her do a U-turn. I faced her back down the road
and asked for forward again. Again she quietly turned us around. She never does
that.

So I scanned the street. Clearly in her mind she could not take us safely
down that road. Was it due to the smell of the Parole back door? Was it the unevenness
of the upcoming path. I do not know what it was and at first I thought I would
correct her and send her forward again. My in the back of my mind I heard the words
"Trust her"
And, so I did.

Without a quickening of a step, without any signs of alarm, just the
steadfastness that forward would not be the way to go, we turned 180 deg and walked back up the walk.

We never had another blink of an incident like this. This trust in a horse.
Somehow, she knew.

Later, we walked in a strip mall. Up stairs, no problem. Found the doors to
stores, ran into and spoke with gawkers. Nice people asking nice questions. Some
said she was the most beautiful mini that they had ever seen. Priceless.

Cali Visits Friends

Cali sometimes goes to visit friends. Here she meets some new big horses. We were just taking a ride in the car. It's fun to go visiting.

A horse in the house - Oh my

We are settled in our winter home in Arkansas. This house is set up well to
have Cali come in and out
of the house. She has a backyard with a stall in the yard.

So, Cali comes in while I work and write in the morning. She comes in via
the French Doors and right
into the kitchen. Good girl. And, sometimes in the evening she will also
come in. In fact, I sometimes have
to kick her out. She'd rather be in with me.

We have lots of plans for Cali in the next few months. She'll be going to
classes at the Rich Mountain Community
College as well as walking in the little town of Mena. The town of Mena has
a busy highway that runs right through
the middle of town complete with Tractor Trailers and the big duel wheeled
trucks that the southern men seem to love so much.

Mena also has very challenging streets and crossings. I wish Mona was here
to tell me how she would cross. We got a good idea when we visited but this
town while doing in essence what a VI or wheelchair bound person might need
it is clear that they really didn't have any idea of the practicality of
what they were doing.

For example, the main crossing in town has ramps in the sidewalks that go
down on a diagonal. So, as you go down the sidewalk and hit the bumps that
indicate that you are near the street you are not facing towards across the
street.
Cali will have to understand to turn slightly to get to the other side. And,
Mona will have to know when that's OK.

Based on our test walks with Mona, I've now added a whoa off the harness.
The word whoa coupled with a slight backward traction on the harness handle
asks her to stop and stop straight. Cali is terrific with the traffic and
dogs. The other day while walking we walked past a horse in it's pasture.
The big horse was very excited by Cali. And, although Cali raised her head
in dismay, she kept on walking straight.

Another big test has been passed. Cali can now jump into the little Geo
Tracker. At first we used the ramp for her to get in. The Tracker is very
small but it does have a rear deck which is barely the size of Cali. Cali
can stand sideways and we take a not very smooth ride. Since I don't want
her to be nervous in this car, we've delayed going to town in it.
I am pleased though that she can get in and I don't have to carry her ramp.
I'm looking for a small step that can be carried to help her get into other
cars that might be small. Doors have to open enough for her body to get
through in order for her to jump in. But, if she can step up in she is more
than willing to squeeze a little.

In March Cali will also be going to the University of North Texas for a talk
by some famous animal trainers. Since Mona wants to return to school these
will be wonderful venues for practicing. The folks at UNT are excited to
have her. And, they even expressed a desire that it would be great if Mona
could go to UNT. Michigan is a great school too but wouldn't it be cool to
go to a school where animal behavior study is on the cutting edge. Dr
Rosales in the UNT Behavioral Sciences Department is a good friend and his
wife works with Autistic kids.

My plan is to take Cali by car to Texas. This will be a challenge. I've got
on tap a plan to speak with Ann again regarding the challenges of traveling
with Cali. To me it seems simple. It's virtually impossible to stay over
night in a hotel without adequate plans for relieving. On average, Cali
"goes" every 3 hours. That's a better average than Panda.
And, Cali does not seem to urinate as frequently nor does she produce as
much volume as Panda. It's easily caught in our "bag".

So, to expand on my plan of having Cali be able to "go" in handicapped
restrooms, I expect that we can "go" in a room with a handicapped bathroom.
This is a bathroom that is big enough to accommodate a wheelchair. And so,
it can
accommodate Cali overnight. She will have to wear her relieving bag over
night or Mona and I will have to take her out every three hours even over
night. It will be like traveling with a baby.

From the professional campers we have taken a hint. As it turns out a single
Alfalfa cube will not only absorb any liquid in her bag, it will also make
smell non existent. Who knew. Professional campers (like those that climb
mountains) will put a few Alfalfa pellets in their porta potty's to absorb
liquid and smell.

Cali does seem to understand the bag means "go". I also hope that the
presence of the bag will tell her it's ok to go when she might not
otherwise. She has picked her spot in the yard and has reserved this place
as the potty.

Today's plan is another ride in the car. And, more waiting while I write.
Soon, we'll be working on lie down in the living room. As soon as I dig out
my camera from the mired of boxes I've packed, I'll post another photo or
two.