Friday, June 12, 2015

Walking a Blind Dog and Pushing a Stroller

This morning my son Dario, Blind Louie and I walked to the post office to drop a letter in the mail box.
The letter was just an excuse really. We all just wanted to get out for a walk. Louie spent the night next door at my dads house. He was pretty excited when he came outside and heard me getting his leash and harness ready. I was actually surprised he was awake. He usually sleeps in and it was just before 8:00 am when I showed up. I was sure he'd still be under the covers.
Using the white line as a marker for me, and the grass as a marker for Louie.

We haven't walked much at all with the stroller.
I wasn't sure how Louie would do walking next to this big thing. The stroller doesn't make much noise, which is good and bad for Louie. If it was really loud, he might not feel comfortable walking next to it. Being silent is tough too, more likely to veer off and bump into it.

Usually when I walk Louie, I keep him right at my side. No sense in the blind leading the sighted right? When he walks by my side he will periodically brush against my leg, then swerve out away from me until he feels his leash start to tighten and back and forth again and again. I decided that when we walked with the stroller that Louie would have to still stay right next me because his swervy walking just wouldn't do if he was bumping into the tire. Well, I was wrong.

When we took off I tried to keep Louie by my side, it was hard.
Louie 'looking' at the chatty baby on wheels.
He could hear the stroller tires on the pavement just ahead of him and he really wanted to settle in next to Dario in his chariot. I slowed down and coaxed Louie back. When we took off again he bumped into the back of the moving tire. As I struggled to push the stroller, hold the leash, stay on the side of the road, keep Louie from getting tangled in the spokes and move my own two feet a thought occurred. "I'm making this too complicated".

I relaxed my shoulders and jaw, took a deep breath and loosened the leash. I focused on walking in a straight line. I used the white line on the side of the road as a guide. I think Louie liked being on the border of the pavement and grass. He knew to stay on the pavement and if he touched grass then scoot back over.

This worked wonderful! Dario talked to Louie through his little side window and Louie stayed right along side him.


Dario repeats 'stay' after hearing me ask Louie to sit/stay. Louie responds with a tilted head.


Leaving home to go anywhere means we have to cross the railroad tracks.
Often, when walking across the tracks I get the vision of a scene from a movie. I don't remember which one. Some young man gets his shoe stuck on the railroad tracks. Of course as soon as you notice his trapped shoe you see the train coming right for him, which for some reason you did not hear coming at all before that very moment. Even though the train is just a few feet away now. I have that same scenario play out in my head, only it's with Louie's stuck paw. So I'm careful to communicate with Louie when a step is coming. I say "step up" every time we move over a track. There are two sets of tracks. So saying "step up" four times on the way to the post office meant hearing Dario on the way back telling Louie "up, up, up, up!". Good job both of you!



Now, what did I learn today?
I learned that walking with a blind dog and a baby in a stroller can be relaxing and fun if I let it. I also learned that it's pretty hard to take pictures while you are walking with a blind dog and a baby in a stroller. Maybe I can hire a photographer to follow us on our next walk for more proper documentation. Nah. Sounds expensive.

Do you have any tips on walking a dog and pushing a stroller at the same time? With a blind dog or a sighted dog this can present a challenge. We'd love to hear your thoughts!
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Monday, March 9, 2015

Cookies For All!

Louie asking Dario "Pretty please can we share?"
It has been an unusually sunny start to March here in the Pacific Northwest. Although it has still been chilly, we have been enjoying  and taking full advantage of the great weather. We live in a place that gets so much rain that it is pretty common to see folks out in short sleeves and sandals at the first sight of the sun, even if the temperatures are still around freezing!

So, with a fair afternoon at hand I decided we would take Dario's snack time outside to find a sunny warm spot to enjoy a few nibbles.

Full concentration from both

Of course, there was Louie! He was already ahead of the game. Blind Louie found the warmest sunniest spot, as he usually does. He was just lounging, soaking up the rays. I took advantage of this chance meeting for Dario and Louie to both practice calm and good manners with their food.

Dario's snack is a Baker's Breakfast Cookie. It's a little less cookie and a little more portable bowl of oatmeal. It's an okayed-by-mom snack for a toddler and is okay in moderating for Louie too. I couldn't say the same about my (not really) world famous chocolate chip cookies!

I snagged a piece off of the cookie and asked Louie to sit, stay and wait. I made sure Dario was waiting too. No touching Louie at this point please. I placed the piece of cookie on his nose and moved my hands away slowly. I handed back the cookie and wrapper to a very excited Dario so he could dig in. There they stood next to each other, Louie as still as a statue and Dario way more interested in a tasty treat than in whatever that 'Roo-Roo Goggy' was doing. Success.

After a minute or so and a few quick pictures I turned to Louie and said 'Okay!'. He flipped the cookie up and caught it in his mouth! Bam! Flawless. What a talented guy he is. I wish I had the camera rolling. Dario was pretty impressed too.



Here's Grandpa feeding the pigs some Breakfast Cookies
My husband works at the Erin Baker's Wholesome Baked Goods factory. They make those handy, healthy and portable breakfast cookies I mentioned in several different flavors as well as a few types of granola too. Our hogs get to eat as good as we do because Paul brings home the scraps from the factory. It makes perfect hog feed! Whole grains, chia seeds, nuts, dried fruit, peanut butter and more. The piggies absolutely love it! Here is a few photos of our six hogs enjoying their bounty.
We wouldn't feed them anything we wouldn't feed our family

 Read More About Blind Louie and Pigs in Our Previous Posts HERE and HERE