[nfb-talk] Managing Kenneled Dogs
Peter Donahue
pdonahue1 at sbcglobal.net
Sun Oct 15 16:45:14 CDT 2006
Hello Leisa and listers,
Thanks for writing back and addressing the issues I raised. I'm going to
quote your remarks and follow them with my response. And here we go!!
----- Original Message -----
From: "Leisa Sekhon" <lsekhon at guidedogs.com>
To: "Jobs for the Blind" <jobs at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Sunday, October 15, 2006 3:39 PM
Subject: Re: [Jobs] Positions Available
Hello Peter,
I will try to respond to each of your questions and comments.
* We thoroughly researched the idea of a talking scale. First, smaller
talking scales are often very inconsistent and inaccurate, this is a
must for this work.
A.
Did you contact the International Braille and Technology Center, (IBTC)
The National Federation of the Blind's Science and Engineering Division,
(NFBSE), and the dog scale's manufacturer so they could establish a dialog
to explore ways of moddifying their scales and other mesuring equipment so
readings can be taken independently by a blind person? Again it's not too
late to make a mends. We're partnering with Home Automated Living to explore
ways to make their home appliance interface, HAL usable by the blind.
Similar partnerships need to be established with manufacturers of equipment
used in job settings to address these issues. Since this is a STEM
Profession, and since the NFB is heavily promoting entry of the blind in to
Science, Engineering, Technology, and Mathematics Careers establishing
these kinds of partnerships needs to happen. With that in mind I'm copying
this correspondence to our Science and Engineering E-mail List and will CC
it to John Miller, the President of our Science and Engineering Division to
be sure he sees it.
*
Feeding a dog six ounces to much or too little,
consistently, leads to weight issues. I did find an accurate talking
food scale. However, when it comes to a dog weighing scale, I and
others have searched and searched for a animal scale that talks with no
luck. If you have some engineering/assistive tech connections that you
could contact about this matter, I would greatly appreciate it.
A.
I'll have John contact you. You also need to contact Ann Taylor at the
IBTC for assistance as well. Her e-mail address is:
ataylor at nfb.org
* When it comes to scooping poop - we trialed this over and over in
several different ways. There is no timely and effective way, that we
found, to find poop in an open 40 x 60 concrete area. This area has
long hoses, several toys, several play structures, etc. Also, some dogs
enjoy snacking on poop, I need to find it before the dog does, for this
snacking makes them sick. Also, several NFB members and divisions were
contacted in my research. I specifically contacted the Equestrian and
Agriculture division and was given several contacts. I called many of
them with no further suggestions, even from the ones that work with
animals. There are often times simply certain variables in a job
setting that make an accommodation much different from someone else's.
And, to be very clear...I always clean up a dog's poop if they are on
leash. In this setting, that is only about 1% of the time. This is not
to say that someone else with a differing degree of vision from me could
not scoop effectively. I definitely trialed finding poop with tools and
my feet. The tools often worked, but took way too long to be an
effective use of my time in a job setting with many schedule factors.
A.
What about relieving the dogs on leash prior to releasing them in to the
play area? If you indeed sought assistance from these divisions and others
none of your requests appeared on the NAGDU List or the Ag-EQ List or our
other E-mail list. These lists are wonderful forums for discussing these
matters and should be utilized when you're, "Stuck" for answers. It should
not automatically assumed that one needs to have vision in order to
successfully clean up excriment in these situations. I'd like to know what
the totally blind kennel, or stable owner does when their sighted help
cannot make it to work and the stalls and runs be they housing or play area
runs need to be mucked out? Had this issue been posted to these lists
perhaps someone in a similar position could have seen your inquiries for
assistance and could have shared their techniques and suggestions with you.
*
Finding it with my feet was, as you can probably imagine, very messy and
I'd then track it into the clean areas. Again, I and the rest of GDB is
always open to suggestions. I spent 9 months requesting advice and
suggestions for accommodations with very little offerings that differed
from my own.
A.
That's very understandable when the resources that could have yielded
more suggestions weren't utilized to their full potential.
*
I am, in one sense, proud to be as up to date as many of
my fellow Federationists when it comes to ideas for accommodations. On
the other hand, I know there are other people out there with suggestions
that are not networking enough to be found.
A.
And networking resources that aren't being tapped.
* I don't have first-hand information about the instructor assessor
position, however, if I believed for one minute that GDB were going to
completely abandon the idea of doing further assessment, I would have
not taken my position. They are committed to taking the time and
finding the appropriate resources to do the research and the trials to
make any accommodations that can, reasonably, be made. In my
experience, they go the extra mile, in several instances, to do more
than just what the law defines as "reasonable". From what I have
learned, any initial exposure to a big-city setting for dogs in
training, would be to get a preliminary idea of how they react to
certain variables. I imagine this could include traffic, loud noises,
city birds and dogs, large crowds of pedestrians, trains and buses, etc.
Currently, clickers are being used during initial phases of training. I
can only imagine how many hands it would take to hold a white cane,
ability to grab food reward, click a clicker, hold a leash, and be able
to give leash corrections when necessary. I know that the sighted
trainers are having challenges of their own to find the right number of
hands for this amount of multi-tasking! *smile*
A.
Here again this is the result of the under utilization of network
resources. Remember that those who owner-trained had to deal with these same
issues when they began training their dogs. They found a way to accomplish
these tasks to jjuggle a cane, a clicker, a food reward, and a green dog. As
far as I know the GDMI Job Assessor never posted to obtain suggestions from
folks on the NAGDU and other guide dog lists to determine how to do this
most effectively.
*
I do know that whatever GDB does research in, they would not, by any means,
take the results with one assessors abilities in mind, and make
it law. That would totally defeat the purpose of research.
All of your questions and comments are very important and I hope I've
shed some light on some of these issues. Please do keep in mind all of
the consults and suggestion-finding missions I went on during the time
of the assistant assessor project. This has not ended, I am always
looking for more ideas!
Please let me know if you have any further questions...
Leisa & Elsie
A.
Thanks again for responging to my concerns. I hope that all of our guide
dog schools will not only seek suggestions and input from project committees
and such, but when the chips are down and none of these folks have a
clear-cut answer to solving a job task issue they'll more actively seek
assistance from the blind community via discussion groups like these rather
than simply relying on those who may not always have the answers. Moderators
should Leisa and I continue these discussions we'll remove them from the
lists now that we've cast a wide net. Please say hello to Harmeet. We miss
seeing his messages on the list.
Peter Donahue
-----Original Message-----
From: jobs-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:jobs-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
Of Peter Donahue
Sent: Sunday, October 15, 2006 12:15 PM
To: Jobs for the Blind
Cc: Rehabilitation Counselor Mailing List; nagdu at nfbnet.org
Subject: Re: [Jobs] Positions Available
Hello Leisa and listers,
Is GDB working on adapting the scale to voice the dog's weight?
Doing
this should be a no-brainer given the number of devices which have been
successfully modified to display their output non-visually. I hope this
gate
is jumped in the near future. Perhaps the NFB could work with GDB and
the
scale manufacturer to adapt the scale and other equipment so the
readings
can be taken by a blind CWT or other animal care worker.
Given all of the discussion which has occurred concerning guide dog
users in all situations being able to clean up after their dog I find it
hard to believe that GDB in its infinite wisdom would believe that one
needs
vision to do this in a kennel setting, and that somewhere out there
there
are blind kennel workers who, as a matter of their job duties have found
ways to manage groups of dogs in play areas, and scoop poop non-visually
and
perform up to their employer's standards. These conclusions were exactly
the
reason why some of us wished there was more interaction between the
assessors and the blind community itself when these jobs were being
assessed
for their doability by a blind person. Much was made over these matters
during the National Association of Blind Rehabilitation Professionals,
(NABRP) Conference at national convention. I attended the GDB
presentations
during the NABRP Conference to the tune of $50.00 which I feel was money
well-spent. I also heard them again during the NAGDU Meeting. They
stated
that while blind persons could pick up after their own guide dog with
little
trouble doing this in an animal care setting was simply too difficult,
and
that the blind kennel worker required to do this was unable to perform
up to
their sanitary standards. They also said that vision was required to
manage
large groups of dogs in play areas; something I'm sure has been solved
by
blind animal care personnel who work in similar settings. I know for a
fact
that blind people have worked for local animal shelters, and who own
livestock, poultry, rabbit, goat, sheep, and equine operations both of
which
require the owner or worker to remove large amounts of excrement from
kennels, barns, and stalls,and require the movement and management of
these
animals in play, care, and processing areas. Why were these people not
consulted? Why wasn't the assistance of our Agricultural and Equestrian
Division sought?Fortunately it's not too late to make a mends with this
one
and want to encourage GDB to seek such assistance in the future when
conducting future job assessments.
There was one other tidbit I picked up during the GDB Presentations
at
the NABRP Conference concerning blind guide dog trainers. They shocked
some
of us by mentioning that part of training new dogs involves taking them
in
to the heart of downtown San Francisco. Keep in mind that these are
green
dogs that are just beginning training and are being put in an
environment
one would think would ruin their chances for succeeding as future
guides.
I'm not sure if this is part of a pre-training evaluation, or if indeed
this
is where the dogs begin their formal guide training. Perhaps someone can
clarify this matter. We were told that it was here where initial
training
began yet when students come in for training residential routes are the
first order of business once working routes begins. It also concerned
some
of us to learn that the person doing the assessments had difficulty
working
dogs just beginning training and while using their white cane. One is
tempted to question the proficiency of this individual where independent
travel is concerned. Others with superb travel skills could have
probably
been able to manage these dogs with little or no difficulty. Perhaps
multiple assessors could have been hired to do the guide dog instructor
assessment given the high degree of O&M skills required. This way the
conclusions reached would have been gathered from the experience of
multiple
assessors with differing traveling abilities rather than being based
solly
on the experience of a single assessor with questionable travel skills.
For
this reason one is tempted to think that GDB got the results it wanted.
However they did conclude that blind persons could train dogs in the
advanced stages of guide dog training, and could work with students in
training. It was also emphasized that the matter of a blind person
working
with dogs beginning formal guide training was a subject for further
exploration. I'm also hoping that our other guide dog schools will
follow
GDB's lead and work to include blind employees in their training
departments
widening the pool of professional experience and creating more job
opportunities for the blind. We hope you're enjoying your work at GDB's
Oregon Campus. Take care and have a great week.
Peter Donahue
----- Original Message -----
From: "Leisa Sekhon" <lsekhon at guidedogs.com>
To: "Jobs for the Blind" <jobs at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Sunday, October 15, 2006 12:23 PM
Subject: Re: [Jobs] Positions Available
Hi Dave,
I can tell you a little bit, but a better description can be found on
the GDB website for the CWT job opening. A CWT is a kennel technician.
We clean kennels, inside and out, feed & monitor dogs' weight, groom &
bathe, dispense medications & take dogs in for vet checks to our vet on
campus, take them on exercise walks, get them out in large groups to
play together, generally keep their stress down during training...
There are also some interaction with the public, such as giving campus
tours, doing some outreach events, etc. We also participate in
graduations and receive dogs coming in for training from their puppy
raisers.
There are other things, but this is the bulk.
Some accommodations include -
Marking all dogs' collars in Braille, marking their individual kennels
(inside & outside) with Braille, marking other things such as shampoos,
medications, washers & dryers, other tags that notify of special things
that a dog may need.
I do not do certain driving duties such as transporting to a specialist
vet or to and from the airport to pick up a dog, instead, I swap tasks
such as being the only one to clean the inside and outside drains in the
kennel I'm primarily in. I also ask other kennels if they need help
doing baths, etc.
I also do not scoop poop at all. I do not have enough vision to do
that, so again the swapping of tasks comes into play.
There are other smaller things such as asking all kennels to lay out the
big long hoses that are used outside in a straight line so I don't have
to spend so much time stepping very carefully over them when they're all
kinked up and spread everywhere. And, having all toys that are used
outside moved away from the main areas where we walk, etc.
I use a Voice Note and mini cassette recorder to keep notes and records.
I am not able to read the scales we use to weigh the dogs, so someone
reads the weight for me. Sometimes, there are two dogs in an individual
kennel that are same gender, same color, same size, etc. So, I have to
come up with some distinctive characteristic to tell them apart. They
do not wear their collars in their kennels so to not get them caught on
things or each other.
I use my cane when working, my guide dog stays in the kennel with me.
Let me know if you have any other questions.
Leisa & Elsie
-----Original Message-----
From: jobs-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:jobs-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
Of Dave Ballmann
Sent: Friday, October 13, 2006 1:59 PM
To: Jobs for the Blind
Subject: Re: [Jobs] Positions Available
Could you please describe what a Canine Welfare Technician does.
It sounds like a very interesting title, and I am sure there are others
on the list, like myself, who are wondering what you do in this position
and what type of accommodations you might use.
Thanks Much!
David Ballmann, MS
Rehabilitation Teacher
Wisconsin Council of the Blind & Visually Impaired
754Williamson Street
Madison, WI 53703
General 608-255-1166
Fax 608-255-3301
Direct 608-237-8106
Sharper Vision Store 608-237-8100
www.wcblind.org
-----Original Message-----
From: Leisa Sekhon [mailto:lsekhon at guidedogs.com]
Sent: Friday, October 13, 2006 3:45 PM
To: g-dogs at yahoogroups.com; gdb-friends at yahoogroups.com; jobs at nfbnet.org
Subject: [Jobs] Positions Available
Hi everyone,
Just want to let you all know that there are positions open and opening
up at GDB. A couple of these positions are specifically for a blind or
visually impaired
individual. I encourage all of you to check out these positions on the
Guide Dogs for the Blind website -
http://www.guidedogs.com/career.html#open_positions
You can find the online application through that site. If you have any
further questions, please call Guide Dogs at 1-800-295-4050.
Currently, there are three positions open specifically for
blind/visually impaired applicants. A Resident Attendant for
California and Oregon, as well as, a Canine Welfare Technician for
California.
As many of you already know, I am a graduate of GDB and have recently
been hired as a Canine Welfare Technician. The staff at GDB have been
working very hard to greatly increase the inclusion of blind employees. I
hope
everyone checks it out and checks back often!
Thanks,
Leisa & Elsie
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