Day 1 at Seeing Eye

July 18, Saturday

Chris and Karissa from Stony Point drove myself and Gary (Hubby) from Stony Point, NY to Morristown, NJ to the Seeing Eye. We arrived just after 11 am. and were greeted by Erin, one of my instructiors. Today was Erin's birthday!! This also was Erin's 1st class. She has been in many other capacities at the Seeing Eye and seems to really be enjoying this part.
After doing a little unpacking, Erin came to introduce herself and give a few notes on what we will be doing the rest of the day.
Lunch was first on the agenda...which is wonderful! The kitchen staff is so helpful and after getting to know what you like...continued to bring your beverage of choice to meals.
More unpacking after lunch and went on a JUNO walk with Erin. At this point they know whaich dog they have in mind, but are still evaluationg your personality and strengths. The JUNO walk is with the trainer pulling/guiding you with a empty harness. They can tell how fast or slow you like to walk and how much "pull" you can take with the dog.
Dinner next...Yum,,,,
7 p.m. meeting in the "Common Lounge" and we received a leash, a tie down, a comb and brush for grooming. We learned more about the facility and what to expect. After the meeting I got a tour of the computer/tech lab. No tech people will be available til Monday....so I can ask questions then. It seems that the PC's are all set up with talking software, which I do not use.
Very exciting day and I was exhausted by the end. I also found out the there are 4-5 students per instructor. Erin has 4 of us: Stacy,Arthur, Seth and me! Thesecond instructor is Shawn, who is a "Shadow Trainer", as this is Erin's first class. So we got 2 instructors for the price of 1!!!