Christina: [00:00:00] Welcome to the taking the lead podcast, where we empower people to be unstoppable. I'm Christina Hapner with my cohost, Leslie Haskins and Timothy Cuneo. Now, today we're going to actually address some questions we've been getting. So it's going to be a little bit of a shorter episode. Now, Leslie and Timothy, I over the weekend was kind of just [00:00:20] looking at some of my old reporter stuff, cleaning out my computer and went back and.

And how I used to go out and all this different types of weather and how I am glad that I don't have to do that anymore. But then I was thinking about you, Timothy, and our other clients. You guys still have to do that because you have to train your dogs and keep their skills up [00:00:40] every day. Yeah. But

Timothy: sometimes it can be a rough little thing, especially in the summertime down here in Georgia, we can have temperatures anywhere from 95 to 104.

So what I do with glasses. Uh, I take her out early in the morning. It's still, it's even still in the dark. And, uh, we, uh, travel our neighborhood. It's just to [00:01:00] keep her cool. And, uh, then sometimes I get dropped off downtown. Like I do same normal stuff just at a different time of the day. I will not work. Or if it's over 90 degrees now we've got to go somewhere.

We've got to go somewhere. If we got to go on, I got to go to the doctor or whatever, but I don't go out of my way. To put her in any stressful [00:01:20] or harmful weather. It's like when it snowed in the winter time, I was freaking out here in Georgia because glacier and I never experienced that. So I asked some of my friends who have guide dogs.

Do I need to put little booties on her feet? Because I know I would want booties on my. And they're saying, no, we don't do it unless it's at a certain temperature or below [00:01:40] that. Uh, because there are, these dogs are designed for the cold because I heard that they come there. They're from the Northern part of Canada, I guess they were bred from that area.

So they're used to it. They love the cold weather. So I was freaking out because of the snow. So I just, it just depends on your situation. And, [00:02:00] uh, we live and how bad it's going to get. I mean, I asked questions to still today.

Leslie: And it's, it's a good point, Christina, that clients, everybody still has to get out and go to doctor's appointments.

Like you mentioned Timothy, or get to school or wherever it is, pick up their kids from school or daycare. So clients still have to get out whether [00:02:20] it's snowing, whether it's raining, whether it's a beautiful sunshine day. As we know for some of our clients, actually sun shine is terrible. It's, it's really bright and it can be painful to their eyes.

So for thinking about the traveler and the guide dog perspective, sometimes those sunny days, aren't so fun. Um, but our clients still have to absolutely get out there and travel and all [00:02:40] these conditions and it's, it's slightly different for each person. And depending on. If they're using a guide dog, or if they're using a cane.

So as you mentioned, Timothy, you know, you still want to get out there. You're getting up early in the morning. If you have to, to get glacier out, but clients with a cane do have a little bit more leeway, right? So there's those pros and [00:03:00] cons between guide, dog and cane. I can't even put in the car.

Timothy: And with glacier, I have to, in the summertime, I have to carry a backpack full of water and bowls.

So halfway through I'd get water if it's hot enough and stuff like, so I've always got Carrie, I call her a little diaper bag

Christina: and that's something I would have never thought [00:03:20] about that you have to bring all this stuff for the dog. So not only, you know, wherever you're going, you're bringing your items.

You're bringing your dogs items as well for glacier, I guess another question that we've been getting in that. My self is like, you know, a lot of people like to hike or go in different elevations in [00:03:40] an environment is that, you know, do you have to learn and teach glacier these different types of environments?

Timothy: Well glacier. She likes to go on little hikes when we go camping and stuff. And so I'd really keep her off the harness when we do that, because I want to have her little freedom of that. So she can sniff as she wants to. I [00:04:00] don't want to work her during it. So I want her to have fun cause we're having. Uh, it's not always gotta be working with glacier all the time.

Let her be a dog once in a while. So, uh, I do do that with her. And then again, I still got to, you know, watch for snakes and stuff like that. Cause she'll find one five. If I don't watch that.

Leslie: So, can you explain that a [00:04:20] little bit? The difference between when glacier is working and not working? I think that's an interesting topic for people to understand what glacier's responsibilities are.

Well, it's her

Timothy: responsibility when she's working as go to the grocery stores, Dr. Church, uh, if I'm going to a restaurant or whatever, but if I'm in a relaxed weekend family, [00:04:40] That weekend. She might work a little bit, like take me to the bathroom or the shot to the shower at nighttime. But the rest of the weekend, she's off.

I give her a time off to be a dog and she gets to play in the lake. She gets to do whatever she wants to do as long as it's in the safe, uh, environment. So she is allowed to [00:05:00] be a dog and she loves the lake, you know, cause she's a lap and she gets to enjoy that. Like

Leslie: how does glacier know when she's working or when she's not.

Timothy: Man when you put that harness on it's like a Swiss. She knows when she gets that harness on she's working and she's excited to go to work. Uh, when the, uh, we [00:05:20] had a film crew here earlier this year at my house, uh, they asked the same question and when I put that harness on her and we went out there and filmed, they could see the difference in how excited she was.

And when she got on that, she was, you know, she pulls she's a good Poehler and she was. Pulling them back to beat the band that day and cause all the excitement I believe of [00:05:40] the crew and stuff, but I told her that's how you see the excitement. And when she's working, when that harness was put on her, it's like a switch.

So she knows she's got a job.

Christina: Timothy that just blows my mind that you're saying it's like a switch. I would love to see that in person someday. Cause most of the time when I'm at work, I see the dogs training. So I don't really get to [00:06:00] see their play time, um, too much. Cause when I'm with that training team, I'm filming.

Training. Um, so that's something I want to see myself. So, you know, I'm gonna just come down to Georgia and visit.

Timothy: I've got two bedrooms. I could put you in one. So[00:06:20]

Christina: we'll have a little reunion.

Leslie: So talking about, you know, observing training, they're doing the same thing. They are taking the dogs out in all seasons, all weather conditions, getting out there and practicing and working the dog. So the dogs are prepared to go out in whatever environment, you know, our dogs go to Texas and the, in the heat [00:06:40] and they go to Florida and they go up north in the, the UPP here in Michigan than the colder weather too.

So. Our trainers are out there in all the weather conditions with all the gear and same thing with our ONM clients. So our cane clients who are here, uh, working on those cane skills, we as ONM instructors are still out there in all of the weather [00:07:00] conditions, whether it's raining, snowing, sleeting, hailing, all of it.

We're still taking clients out because they're still going to have to get to appointments. And those types of weather conditions and things change

Timothy: the question. How does a blind person use a cane at the sidewalk? Three or four or five, six inches deep

Leslie: in snow. Yeah. Great question. So [00:07:20] there's lots of different cane tips, the and different cane techniques that we use in order to travel in different conditions.

You know, snow is very different than traveling of course, on the beach, in the sand. Um, so there's different techniques and. Keene tips again, but a strategy that we use for cane travel is the tapping technique or the two [00:07:40] point touch, if you will, and want to get technical. Um, but with each tap kind of a tap and then also a push down to really try to get down to make sure that we're still on the cement and haven't ventured into the, the grass or anything like that.

But those conditions are really. Really difficult to travel it. Another thing to think about is the sound different. So [00:08:00] when you, you know, you get that fresh snow, it really absorbs a lot of sound information. So that's going to impact travel versus a day where it's raining when it's raining. There's extra sounds because not only are we hearing the environment, but we're hearing the.

Hit and interact with the environment. So those are things that I don't think many people think [00:08:20] about, but when you're traveling without vision and it's a rainy day, you're hearing the rain hit the cars. You're hearing the rain hit the mailbox next to you. You're hearing the rain. Um, as it, you know, is on the tires of cars going by, you're hearing it in a puddles as you're sloshing through it.

So all of those sounds can be really beneficial, right? They can tell you about the [00:08:40] environment of what's around. Can also be somewhat distracting sometimes. So it's important to still get out and train and practice and all of these conditions, because it's just the reality of our client's lives that they're going to be out in these types of adverse weather.

That is

Christina: such a great thing to know. I never even thought about rain. I just, you know, [00:09:00] I go out in the rain. I don't want to be out in the rain with an umbrella, but I don't think about all the other sounds that I'm hearing out there. So I think that's such a good thing to know too. Especially, if you run into someone who is traveling with a cane or guide dog in the rain to know there's extra sounds going on for them right [00:09:20] now, and to announce yourself into.

Offer assistance if it's needed as well. So I think that's such a great learning tool as well. And Leslie, you touched on cane tips now, can you explain a little bit for someone who has no idea

Leslie: what that is? Yes. So Cain tips are the bottom of the cane, um, [00:09:40] and they're changeable. So a lot of the times you might see like a round ball.

Uh, you might see a very skinny, we call like a pencil tip that almost just like. Line, if you will. Um, there is one that almost looks like a donut or a hockey puck. There's even a bigger one. That's a Dakota disc and all of these are used in different [00:10:00] environments for different reasons and things like that.

So some of those bigger tips are heavier, which is nice. Cause again, um, there's more restrictions or. What's the word I'm looking for. Like when you're traveling along a snowbank, it might not go straight through the snow. It has a little bit more resistance. That's the word I'm looking for? Uh, cause it's a wider, larger cane tip.

Um, some of those smaller [00:10:20] ones are going to be made out of metal or ceramic. They're going to provide a really nice sound feedback. So the cane tips very interchangeable. It's a client preference, whatever they like. And they may like different ones in different environments. So again, on that Sandy beach, she might want something different than when you're traveling.

That

Christina: makes a lot of sense.

Timothy: The tips I [00:10:40] decided to get when I was at leader dog, I got the ceramic tip that makes the noise. And I also got the, uh, I guess they call it the moon, the marshmallow one, because like, if you're walking, they go through the cracks. You don't get hung. And the sidewalk when you got those cracks.

And so it kind of glides over thing. So I that's the tips I got from my

Christina: Timothy. Do you have [00:11:00] any funny stories on different types of weather you've traveled in? I know you mentioned earlier about how you had the film crew there in the winter, and that was the biggest snow storm. So do you have any funny stories from then or from any other.

Timothy: Well that day we had the snow was my first I ever walked with glacier and the snow on the sidewalk. So that was an experience [00:11:20] because as I was walking, I experienced a couple of times I walk on some ice and I'm going to slipped and fell. So you gotta be really conscious of what you're doing. And we ran around town that day.

And I got, I didn't want to go back to the vehicle. They say, Hey, you, you want us to walk back? I said, how about you all just picked me up? I'm not going nowhere. I am not [00:11:40] used to this stuff. I really not. So next time it snows. I've got that in the back of my head that it's going to be a little bit different than it's just a regular day.

So the clients have got to be somebody like me. Who's not used to walking in snow. We've got to be. Very observant. Uh, we're we're walking and a feel with our feet. And, uh, that was another [00:12:00] tool that I learned last week. That.

Leslie: Exactly. And the other thing to think about too is different equipment that we use, you know, when traveling, so as an instructor and as a client or

whoever out in the adverse weather conditions, you know, you're thinking about the booties for the dog, whether that be for the really cold weather or for [00:12:20] the rain.

Another thing to think about is an umbrella. You know, you do have a free hand. Is that something you want to use? Um, another thing would be. We have for our cane users. Right. You can imagine. And for our guy, Doug users, how cold your hand gets when it's exposed out there. And a lot of times clients don't like using a super thick glove because you can't get as [00:12:40] much feedback through your hand.

Um, so thinking about different things, a lot of times our instructors now are actually wearing heated vests that you actually like plug in and charge, right. To stay warm. And they're out there in the, in the cold so frequently. And for so long, Um, another thing that we use in the kind of like icy conditions that you [00:13:00] mentioned there are called yak tracks, or I think that's one of the brands anyways, but they're basically things you can put on the bottom of your shoes to give you a little bit more grip.

They kind of have like little pokey things that stick out. Those are incredibly helpful when you're out traveling in icy conditions. So really doing some research and finding out what proper weather gear is [00:13:20] going to be helpful and make travel a little bit easier. It's definitely something that look.

Timothy: You can also get those cooling vest for your dogs for like, if it's really hot outside, you put water in it. And it gives that evaporation and a stay really cool while you're out there and about, so that's another good thing. You can get your dog.

Christina: Wow. These are things I [00:13:40] would have never thought about. I mean, I just go out in the weather and run to my car.

That's basically. And nowadays, I mean, I thought about them when I. Uh, reporter, but nowadays it's just sprinting to my car as fast as I can. Um, but. Those are [00:14:00] all great things. And I want one of those heated vest by the way. Um, so I'm going to look into that because I'm cold all the time.

Leslie: Absolutely. All right.

Well, hopefully this helps answer some of those questions about traveling in adverse weather, whether that be super hot, cold, rainy, all of those different things. So we appreciate you taking the time to listen [00:14:20] to our short

episode of taking the. Again, I'm your host, Leslie Haskins with host Timothy Cuneo and Christina Hapner.

We hope you enjoyed our episode and join us next time as we continue to share stories and educate about the world of blindness. And if you like

Christina: today's podcast, make sure to hit subscribe and check us out. Wherever podcast stream[00:14:40] .