Christina: [00:00:00] Welcome to the Taking the Lead podcast where we empower people to be unstoppable. I'm Christina Hepner, and unfortunately, both my co-host, Leslie and Timothy, couldn't be here with me today. We know it's the holiday season, and that's in full swing, so totally understandable. They have so many other things going on, but I'm so happy because I actually have two amazing guests with me in the studio.
So a few weeks ago on our Leader Dog Social media page, We asked you what questions you have for our Guide Dog Mobility instructors, and today we have a couple of our amazing G DMIs with us to help answer your questions. So our first guest is Phil Griffin, and he has been with Leader Dog for 32 years.
Phil started as a dog care team member and then went on to compete complete his guide dog mobility instructor apprenticeship in 1995. Since then, he has had numerous roles at Leader Dog, including assistant director of. Director and manager of the Kennel and [00:01:00] is currently a team supervisor. He has graduated over 230 guide dog teams and has trained about a thousand dogs in his career.
Alyssa Otis has been with Leader Dog for over 10 years, and she started at Leader Dog right after graduating from Central Michigan University. She discovered Leader Dog as a child and has always been a goal of hers of becoming a guide dog mobility in. And over the past 10 years, Alyssa has trained hundreds of dogs and has placed client guide talk teams all over the us, Canada, and Spain, and Phil and Alyssa.
I'm so happy you guys are here. Thank you so much for joining me since my co-host couldn't be here. I'm, you guys are kind of my co-host today.
Alyssa: Awesome. Thanks for having us. Yeah, thank you. Yeah.
Christina: So we had so many questions, um, from our listeners. On social media, we put it on our different platforms. So I'm just gonna get right into the first question so we can hopefully get them all answered today.
So the first one we [00:02:00] had, and I feel like we hear this a lot, is what is the difference between, I guess, traveling with a white cane? Cuz we do o and m as well, and then traveling with a
Alyssa: guide dog. Sure. So there's some, well, there's a lot of differences. Um, one of the things that most people say is the, uh, tactile feedback that you get.
Um, with a cane, you're actually finding things cracks in the sidewalk, obstacles. When you work with a dog, the dog just kind of takes you around those things, so you may not know that they're in your environment. Um, and the other big one that I hear from people a lot is that with a cane, if you want to come home and just relax, you can fold it up and put it in a corner, um, with a guide.
Slightly different. You have to make sure that you've got an outlet for the dog's energy. You're working them enough and even if you're not feeling well, you still kind of gotta take care of it.
Phil: Yeah, and you know, when you think about it too, working with a cane, you're in constant contact with your environment.
So it's always given you feedback of what's around or what's [00:03:00] close with a dog. Pretty much the opposite. The dog will avoid all of those things because like us, it doesn't wanna run into anything. So it puts its focus on guiding you around the obstacles where the cane is gonna put you in contact with them.
So you have to be comfortable working in the absence sometimes of some of that environmental feedback when you work with a dog. Yeah,
Christina: so I think. Probably why it's so important for people to have those orientation mobility skills before getting a dog.
Alissa: Oh, correct. It's absolutely imperative to have good orientation and mobility skills because although this is a guide dog, you as the handler are still responsible for knowing where you are in the environment, um, no matter what feedback the dog is giving you based on obstacles and curbs and whatnot.
Um, so very important to have good orientation, mobility. .
Christina: Yeah. And I know our next question asks, can a dog help with veering? I know, uh, they had kind of asked in this question because with a cane, sometimes you can veer to the left or to the [00:04:00] right. So that's kind of what they were asking. You know, if I got a dog, would that help with veering, you know, far to the loft or far to the right if I were trying to walk a straight path?
Phil: Yeah. And so it certainly can, um, kind of the trick, if you will, with the dog. A dog can veer very subtly, so it's a little harder than with a cane to pick up on maybe when it's happening. If you are keeping with your positive reinforcement and picking your right opportunities, so you're reinforcing maybe if you know that crossing the street is a challenge for you, um, you know, we typically would tell clients to reinforce the curb before you leave the street a little heavier because then it gives the dog something to target and work towards and that can certainly help, um, to correct ave.
Doesn't matter if it's right or left the dog's goal. Is to get you safely to that curb across the
Christina: street and you know, something [00:05:00] that people have to consider. Like what are some things they have to think about when they get a guy dog, you know, because it having a cane, it's a cane. You don't really have to take care of it.
You know, you can put it in a closet at the end of the day, but a dog, there's probably a lot more you have to consider. So I guess what would you tell someone who was considering, um, going through our Guide Dog
Alissa: program? So some of the considerations are your lifestyle. Um, do you have enough work for the dog to do?
So? Although they're guide dogs and they're trained very well, um, they're still dogs, they still need work. They still need energy release. Um, so you need to make sure that you can build that into your schedule. Um, you need to also be able to take care of a dog financially. Um, whereas with a cane, you don't have to buy it food or get it vet care.
Um, with a dog you do. So those are also things to take into.
Phil: Yeah, and like people, dogs can have good days and bad days, so you have to be prepared for when the dog maybe is having a bad day to step up your game just a little bit and maybe [00:06:00] offer a little bit more support to that dog. Um, and then hopefully when you're having a bad day, they're having one of their good days and they can kind of help support you a little bit.
Christina: Mm-hmm. . And I know our services are completely free of charge to our clients, but you know, that might be something somebody doesn't think of, of taking care of that financial stuff afterwards. Vet visits, absolutely. Yes. Uh, grooming all of that. Mm-hmm. stuff. Um, I guess, you know, if someone really thinks a guide dog is for them, but they've always been afraid of dogs, have you guys ever seen that?
Or what are some recommendations that you would give to someone in that?
Phil: So we've certainly seen it. Um, I've had my share of clients where I've had to sit down and literally teach how to interact or pet the dog, things like that. Um, it can certainly be a little bit of a challenge when somebody is uncomfortable.
Around the dogs. Uh, Alyssa and I were chatting just a little bit about [00:07:00] this earlier and you know, we would strongly encourage for anyone if they are a little bit intimidated by large breed dogs, to find a friend or a family member that has a nice one, or maybe even volunteer in a shelter or something, do something.
To put yourself around the dogs so that you could potentially get a little more comfortable in their presence. Uh, a lot of it just comes from the fear of the unknown, so to educate yourself a little bit, to put yourself in those situations to understand a little bit more how their brains work and why some of their behaviors, like jumping and stuff.
Uh, surface. It'll help you to better understand a little bit of the dog psychology and where they're coming from, and hopefully make that transition from, I've never been around one and I'm not comfortable to living with one. And having it laying at your feet where you can just pet it and stroke it and just kind of relax with it, um, make that transition a bit [00:08:00] easier.
Alissa: Great.
Christina: I mean, that's so good to know. You know, if someone is afraid they can get over that fear or they can do things mm-hmm. to get over that fear. Now what if someone is allergic to dogs? That's a big one.
Alissa: I know that is a big one. Um, we actually have some instructors that are allergic to dogs though. So, um, it is doable.
However, there's definitely things you wanna take into account. Um, you know, we don't use hypoallergenic dogs here. Um, at Leader. , but there are some people that can take just an antihistamine, a medicine or take an injection if they, um, have a, a. Um, allergy to a dog. Um, there's other things you can do sleeping in a separate room from your dog.
It all basically depends on how bad the allergy is. Um, but like I said, unfortunately we don't do hypoallergenic dogs. And even if we did, um, there's still allergens in their saliva and in their dander, um, that wouldn't necessarily make say, a poodle completely, um, hypoallergenic
Christina: to you. Yeah. So that, that's [00:09:00] I'm sure a consideration too, of
Alissa: getting dog.
Most
Christina: definitely. I've heard this before. Um, I've honestly, when I started at Leader Dog, I thought our dogs could do a lot more than they can . So this question, when it came up, I also was like, Ooh, I, you know, that's something I would've thought of, um, before working at Leader Dog. But how does, um, you know, the guy dog know when to cross the street?
Or is it them that know or Great
Alissa: question. I would say it's one of the bigger questions that we get asked most often. It is, um, no, contrary to popular belief. Um, our guide dogs do not know when it's safe to cross the street. They don't read traffic lights, um, they don't read traffic patterns. That's up to the handler.
Um, so that's again, another reason that orientation and mobility is so vitally important before you come to get a guide dog, is you need to have safe street crossing. Um, you need to know how you like to cross the street. What's the safest way? Do you cross it in all quiet? Do you cross [00:10:00] when there's parallel surge of traffic?
Then it would be the handler's job to tell the dog to go forward. Now we do teach our dog something called intelligent disobedience, which is where we tell the dog to go forward in a situation and the dog. Um, this can definitely be used when, when crossing the street. Um, if the handler thinks it's safe, tells the dog forward and the dog doesn't move, perhaps they were incorrect in the reading of the intersection and there actually was a danger.
Um, so again, not up to the guide dog, up to the handler, um, but when the handler might make a mistake, dog's there to help correct. And keep him safe.
Phil: And we all know that's a bigger and bigger challenge with mm-hmm. , um, hybrid vehicles and things like that where they're running so much more, uh, just silent now.
I mean, literally the only noise you may hear of a vehicle approaching would be the tires on the pavement, off the stones and things like that. and we all know how easily those sounds can get lost with just other ambient sound construction, things like that, so, mm-hmm. , you know, to Alyssa's point, the [00:11:00] dogs knowing that intelligent disobedience can help keep a person safe if a poor decision has been made.
Christina: Yeah. And I just have a question based off of that. So, you know, you just talked about the silent cars. Do you guys work with that with clients when they are on campus?
Phil: We do. So, um, leader Dogs was the fortunate, uh, beneficiary of, I believe it was a board member that, um, helped us to acquire a Toyota Prius.
So it's a hybrid vehicle that we can use to do the traffic checking. We use it with clients in class so that they understand how the dog is gonna respond or react to those situations when a car pulls up, um, whether it's a, a normal gasoline or diesel powered vehicle or a hybrid.
Christina: Very cool. And so basically what you're getting at is, you know, some people think that the dogs can read the stop signs and the lights.
Yep. But they cannot.
Alissa: They cannot.
Phil: No. If I could train 'em to do that, I think I would be, uh, a millionaire . Right.
Christina: Absolutely. [00:12:00] Is that something you're gonna. Start working on now. ? Uh, I've been trying for 32 years. No longer. Yeah. It has not worked. Not worked. Um, you know, and this is an interesting question as well.
Someone had asked if they could have a guide dog if they have two other family dogs at home.
Alissa: Yeah, absolutely. We have a lot of clients that have not only dogs, but other types of animals, farm animals, cats. Um, it's totally doable. There are things that you would have to possibly think about. Um, for example, if the dogs in your home have water left on the floor in a bowl, um, and they're able to drink as much as they want, or if they eat and graze and you leave their food out all day, um, those are things that might need to change when bringing a guide into the.
Um, same with toys. There's certain toys that are more acceptable, um, for a guide dog to use, not necessarily tennis balls and plush toys that your pet dogs might be using. Um, so those are also things that you might want to, uh, remove from your house or things to consider before bringing your dog home.
Phil: Yeah. And it's such a common thing [00:13:00] that, um, it's actually something we address with every class. So if you were accepted and come into our program to receive a dog, We have what's known as like a going home lecture, if you will, as part of a lecture series where we talk about introduction techniques, things to consider.
Because let's face it, like Alyssa said, you may not necessarily be going to a home where there's dogs. There might be cats in the house too. Um, and you know, so litter boxes, food, water, all the things that she's talking about, we. Meet with every class. We'll talk with every client one-on-one if necessary, but we can give strategies to make the transition and the introductions go as smoothly as possib.
Yeah,
Christina: and I just off of this question, they had also asked, you know, will their personal dogs, is it possible for their dogs to give the guide dog bad habits or accidentally untrain the guide dog if they're all, you know, playing together in the off time when that guide dog is not working? Yeah,
Phil: and I wouldn't say that that would be something [00:14:00] that would not happen.
It could certainly happen if your pet dogs are given the run of the house and um, they've got poor manners, then that's something that could yes, be picked up by the guide dog if allowed to play. So again, that's a part of the lecture series in the conversation of, you know, how do I appropriately introduce some things?
also a part of that conversation is what is appropriate play? What can I let my guide dog get away with, um, behaviorally and have a little bit of fun with, as opposed to maybe if it was a pet, uh, it'd be okay, but as a guide it isn't. So that that's all covered very in detail and very in depth with the class.
That
Christina: is really good to know. Um, and. Another question is, you know what, we kind of talked a little bit about the having orientation and mobility before getting a guide dog, but what other qualifications does someone need to have to get a guide dog?
Phil: So mainly, um, you do need to be legally blind. Um, there [00:15:00] is a little caveat to that where if somebody is not, uh, necessarily legally blind, but has reduced fields of vision and things like that, um, that does not mean that you are not eligible for a dog if you've just got reduced fields, but, Are not deemed legally blind.
Um, we will consider all forms of vision loss and how it impact impacts or impedes a person's ability for safe travel. And if safe travel is compromised, then you are likely eligible for one of our guide dogs. Mm-hmm. .
Alissa: And you also have to be able to, like I said prior, is uh, you know, have enough work for your dog to do.
You have to be able to walk, um, you know, every. When you're in class, we're walking a lot. Um, we know that once people go home, they might not walk quite as much, but it is important that you can get out every day, um, and work with your guide dog also.
Christina: And just off that question, you said when they're in class they are walking a lot?
Oh yes. I'm gonna ask this [00:16:00] question cuz I'm sure other people are curious as well on this one is, you know, what should they bring when they're coming to campus to train, since they're walking so much
Alissa: and good walking shoes. . Yeah.
Christina: We're in Michigan. So the weather, yes.
Phil: Is always weather appropriate.
Clothing, temperature, appropriate clothing, those kind of. Um,
Alissa: and prior to coming into class, you do get a phone call from your instructor. Um, and that's also a time when you can ask questions about, you know, what should I bring? Um, everything dog related we have for you here. Um, you know, the, the brushes, the bowls, the toys, um, you know, we give all of that to you when you're here.
Um, but it's more so the, the good walking shoes, the, the warm clothing. If you're coming in, you know, January, February, .
Christina: Yes. And it is cold here today. Yeah. So if you are here on campus today, you would definitely want to layer up. I have already started thinking about my holiday shopping, and one thing on my list is getting gifts from Leader Dogs for the blind gift shop.
That's great, and guess what, you're [00:17:00] in luck because for the month of November and December, if you use code taking the lead, you'll get free shipping. But remember, you can only use one code per order. This is amazing news. I am heading to leader dog.org and clicking shop. Right.
So we serve people, you know, all over the US and internationally. A lot of these people are flying in. So, you know, someone was wondering, you know, how do you manage the guide dog's bathroom needs? When you're at an airport, maybe you have a layover or you have one of those really long flights if you're an international.
Alissa: Sure. So, um, with flying, so a lot of our clients that come here to campus then obviously have to fly back home. Some of them are all the way to Spain, some are the other side of the country. Um, prior to you going home, we have a class lecture where we talk about travel with your dogs. Some of the things that we suggest are limiting their water in.
Um, the evening before and the morning of a [00:18:00] flight, um, giving extra, extra time for the dog to relieve themselves prior to going out onto a flight or into an airport. Um, I would stop as close to the airport as I can, even if it's that front door, and try and give them another chance to relieve themselves.
And then of course, in airports, um, you know, they do, some of them have dog relief. , some of the dogs prefer to use those. Some think that they're a little too small and a little too smelly. Um, but in a worst case scenario, you can always find a corridor or take your dog into, uh, the large stall of a bathroom and try and get them to park there as well.
Um, once they're on the plane, I would say they're pretty much curled up, sleeping for the most part, not too much of a risk of an accident.
Phil: Yeah, and this is where I think it would benefit a client to really advocate for themselves and do a little bit of homework. So if you are traveling and you've gotta layover like you kind of suggested, um, you know, look into through your travel agent or contact the airports directly and find out what services may or may not be available.
[00:19:00] So there may not be an indoor relief area at every airport throughout the country or countries. Um, you know, what are your options? And it's good to maybe know that information. before you set out upon your, your travels so that you are as prepared as you can possibly be and, you know, make the decisions that are right and appropriate for you while you are traveling.
Mm-hmm. .
Christina: So, you know, you guys work with training dogs every day and then you work with the clients. So is there a skill that's the hardest to teach a guide?
Alissa: Hmm. Phil and I were talking about this earlier, , there's a, there's a lot of skills the dog needs to have, but honestly, one of the ones that, that I feel might be the most difficult is the ability for the dog to just relax and be, um, you know, we ask a lot of our guide dogs, they need to take us around and, and guide us places.
But oftentimes when we get to our destination, we just sit, you know, we're at work or we're at a meeting, a doctor's office. Um, so the dog kind of has to have two switches, an on switch and an off switch. Um, [00:20:00] And, and I would say that's one of the more difficult parts for
Phil: sure. Yeah. And I would, I would completely agree.
It's, it's the downtime. Mm-hmm. , that seems like it's always the biggest challenge for, for everybody. Um, you know, it's, it's being prepared. So if I'm a college student, I may have six hours of classes and I may only travel a half hour to get to my campus or what have you. And then the dog's just gotta be kind of patient for six hours.
So, as a client, the things that I would ask myself is, am I prepared for that length of time for the dog to just be sleeping at my feet? Do I have a Nyla bone or do I have a Kong, or do I have something that if the dog gets a little bit bored or antsy can help kind of just, um, settle 'em back down, give them something to do.
Um, For those moments where it's maybe I'm bored and I've, I've gotta find something. Yeah.
Christina: So you kind of have to remember too, at the end of the day, the dog is still a dog and they gonna get bored. Absolutely. Exactly. Absolutely. Yes. And [00:21:00] a question that we had asked, you know, someone who may want a guide dog was wondering, you know, does it also alert for, you know, if they have seizures?
Is that a possible thing? A guy dog can be trained to do. Sure. So
Alissa: we don't train our dogs, um, for anything else but guide work. Um, our Deafblind team does work a little bit with, um, some doorbell responses. Um, but as far as seizures, no. Um, that's not to say that I haven't had clients that have told me that my, you know, my dog acts differently when I'm about to have a seizure or my dog act differently when my blood sugar is low.
Um, but in no way are they alerting, um, reliably for any of.
Christina: That is good to know. Yeah. Cause I'm sure there's a lot of people that ask that. They're like, oh, if I get a dog, this dog will alert me to everything else that's going on in my life. Yeah. Um, so we know that we ha typically work with three types of breeds.
We have the Labrador retrievers, golden Retrievers, German Shepherds, and crosses of those. And, you know, someone was wondering why it breed [00:22:00] makes the best guide dog if there is. ,
Phil: uh, you know, I don't know that there is a breed that makes the best guide dog. It, it's kind of a cliche to say this, I think.
Mm-hmm. for us, really the, the dog that makes the best guide is the one that has an interest in the work, regardless of the breed. You know, we're, we're looking for that dog that, for them, this is fun. You know, we want the dogs to enjoy what they're doing and be happy while they're doing it. Um, but that's not to.
The labs, the shepherds, the goldens things that we use, that anything is, sets them apart as better. They just have historically been the most adaptable. Um, but you know, any dog, even a German Shepherd that loves the work that the client loves working with the dog could still be a little off-putting to the general public if that dog has a little bit look of intimidation or anything.
And that could be any dog. I've seen goldens that are the cutest thing that to other people, their perception is it's a big, scary creature. Mm-hmm. , [00:23:00] because I'm used to Pomeranians or whatever the case may be. Yeah. So I bottom line really, it's just the dog that seems to enjoy the work. I know it's kind of cliche, but it's the truth.
Alissa: It really is, people have preferences. Um, and that can be for a variety of reasons. Some people want shorter hair, some want longer hairs. Some have always worked with, you know, golden retrievers and so they want one. Um, but like Phil said, it truly is whatever dog wants to do the job and enjoys it.
Christina: Yeah, and I know sometimes people will ask, they're like, Hey, I have a puppy at home, or, you know,
If I were like, Hey, my dog, duke, I think he would make a great guy, dog, can you train my dog? Why can't we train somebody's dog or. So
Phil: it, it's really kind of a complicated answer in some respects, but also simple in some respects. So, um, we do have our own breeding colony that we know has typically produced good results for us.
That doesn't mean that your pet couldn't be a good [00:24:00] guide, but when we look at what it takes to make a good guide, It's more than just a dog that wants to do the work. You know, for our vet team, we have an in-house veterinarian facility. They're looking at the structure of the dog. Does it have good hips?
Does it have good elbows? Does it have the right temperament? Um, what's the upbringing Ben like? So when we look at your pet versus our colony, our dogs have all been cleared medical. to be sound. They've been raised with the idea of being a guide dog in mind and their chance for success is just much greater.
Mm-hmm. . And, uh, the part that makes it a little more complex, if you will, is there is no guarantee that your pet, even if it's gonna make a wonderful guide, is gonna be the right pace or the right match for you. And it, that would be the worst and most terrible thing is I would think, For somebody to give me their, pat me to successfully train it, and then when they [00:25:00] show up to have to tell 'em it's not a match for.
And so quite honestly, that's one of the big reasons. Without the medical and all that stuff, it's just very difficult. But the big reason to me is there's no guarantee that your dog would ever be the appropriate guide for you and what you need.
Christina: Mm-hmm. . Yeah. And that's really good to know cuz I be like, sometimes we do get that question a lot.
We do. Oh absolutely. Yeah, we do. And trust. . I said, my dog Duke, but my dog Duke would never make it a good dog. . He'd be sprinting around in here if you were here right now. Um, so, you know, let's say someone is hearing this, they're listening to all your answers, and they're like, oh my gosh. I think I wanna be a guide dog mobility instructor.
Like do you need a degree? Like could I be one with my journalism degree? Like what do you have to go through to become a guide dog mobility instructor?
Alissa: So, um, to be a guide dog mobility instructor, you generally need a four year degree, although they will take into account other education [00:26:00] and other experience.
In the training department, we have degrees all the way from teaching to psychology, to architecture, to finance. Um, so really it doesn't necessarily matter what your degree is in, um, But once you start at Leader Dog, there's a three year apprenticeship program, um, that's very hands-on learning how to do the job.
So unfortunately, there's no college that teaches you how to be a guide dog mobility instructor. Um, so they like to see that you have the knowledge of being able to go through schooling, um, because you're basically gonna go through another three years once you, uh, get hired as an apprentice.
Christina: And that's really cool.
Everything happens at our campus. It's great. Yes. So you don't, they're not like, Hey, you know, we'd love to hire you, but now we have to ship you here and you have to do this somewhere else. So it's great that it's all immersive on campus and you're. Basically schooling where you're
Alissa: going to work. That's exactly, yeah, that's exactly.
And you have the generations that have been working here for many years [00:27:00] teaching the newer people coming in. And so it's a very, just hands-on learning experience. It's great. Awesome.
Christina: Well, we have a coup only a couple more questions to get through. Um, the next one I'm gonna ask from both of you is, what part of your job do you guys enjoy the most?
Phil: For me, it's. Um, like putting the dog with the client, seeing everything come together, watching 'em walk out the door. Um, a happy, successful team. Uh, we spend four months getting the dogs ready, um, uh, short of a month in class, working with all of the clients and, and whatnot. Um, but it's really. Seeing it all come together and, and as they get ready to walk out that door and head home to, to take on the world.
Um, to me that's the cool
Alissa: part. And I would, I mean, obviously agree with Phil. That's definitely one of the, the more, uh, enjoyable parts of, of seeing all of your hard work, you know, walking out that door and knowing that they're going to be successful and if they need help, you [00:28:00] know, they can call you. Um, but I would say that one of my favorite parts is the actual matching process.
Um, it's interesting, we always, you know, joke and say that it's an art, not a science, um, because. You have to take a lot into account when matching somebody. You have to take their preferences into account. You have to take their environment, their daily life. You have to look at the dogs you've been working with over the last four months and try and, you know, match them with somebody that you think will do well.
Um, and, and it's just more of a, a mind puzzle that I really enjoy doing. Um, especially if then they come into class and it actually works out the way you're hoping, you know, even better. And I know,
Christina: um, you guys have both been at Leader Dog for quite a long time, and I'm sure you have a few of these because you're working with dogs every day.
But do you guys have like the, a funniest training memory?
Alissa: Oh man. Well, my, uh, I, I don't know if I could say it's funniest cuz like you said, there've been many, many, um, funniest and I guess embarrassing actually included Phil here. Phil was [00:29:00] my, uh, supervisor when I first started, uh, 10 and a half years ago as an apprentice.
And I was working with my very first client. We were doing Juno training, so I was training without the dog, um, just to get the mechanical skills kind of set before dog issue day. And I'm facing my. And I hand the harness to my client in, uh, I'm holding it in my left hand, and I hand it to her on her, what I thought was left side, and she then holds onto the harness handle.
And I say, okay, go ahead. Tell Juno forward as she goes. Juno forward. Phil whispers to me. It's in the wrong hand . So I, uh, never forgot that, that when I'm facing somebody, my left is their right. Um, I haven't messed that up since, but that was not funny and embarrassing. Luckily, the client was very okay with it and she knew it was my first time, and I think I've made great strides since then.
Phil: And for me, honestly, um, I think my funniest, most embarrassing moment was, uh, when I first started at Leader Dogs. [00:30:00] Um, I did work in the kennel for a period of time, and when I, when I hired in Leader Dogs was still at a point where we considered outside dogs for adoption into the program. And there was a gentleman that had brought in a pet, I don't even remember, I think the family was moving or something, if I remember.
They couldn't take the dog with them. So they thought rather than take the dog to a shelter, let's see if Leader Dogs would adopt it into their program. So we had done the evaluation. The dog was more than suitable to bring into the program, and I was at the point where I was filling out the contract and paperwork that would give us ownership of the dog.
and as I'm talking to the gentleman and praising him about how wonderful this dog is, that he's about to donate to us, um, I realized my left foot and my sock were getting warm and wet. And as I looked down, oh, down, this dog had decided that he had had [00:31:00] enough and it was time to relieve himself, , and my shoe was as good as any.
And that's how he greeted me. .
Christina: That is great. Yes. Well, thank you both so much for answering all these questions. We got through all of them. I didn't know if we could Awesome. But excellent and being my co-host, because I, yeah, Ashley and Timothy could not be here. But also thank you to our listeners for listening to the Taking the Lead podcast.
I'm Christina Hoeppner, and don't worry, Michael cohost Timothy and Leslie will be back . But we hope you enjoyed getting your questions answered by Phil and Alyssa. And please join us next week as we continue to dive into the world of blindness. And if you'd like to learn more about applying to our free services at Leader Dog, you can head to Leader Dog dot.
Or call us at (888) 777-5332. And don't forget, you can reach us at taking the lead@leaderdog.org with any questions or ideas. If you like today's podcast, make sure to hit [00:32:00] subscribe and check us out wherever Podcast Stream.