Letter to Ike.

Mar 2, 2011 | ,

Dear Ike,

I am very sorry for the inconvenience however I must unfortunately inform you that it is completely impossible to eat with your toy in your mouth at the same time.

Kindest regards

Me.

Who…. Me?

Mar 1, 2011 | ,

Well would you look at that!
Are you sure there’s not some kind of mistake?
Ah, you must be wrong!
Oh. I know what it is…. it’s a prank! It is… Isn’t it?

This dodgyist of dodgy domains was nominated for best personal blog in the Irish blog awards. Then, to my astonishment, it gets worse! It was short listed.

It’s down to 25 people. But wow. their 24 fantastic people. Look at the other blogs that are there.
Two that really stick out are:

  • Grannymar. I’ve been reading her blog almost every day for the past three years now.
  • Head rambles. Again, this is another blog I’ve been reading for years. I actually don’t remember when I started reading this. It was long before I ever started getting interested in this Irish blogger stuff. I’ve enjoyed his rants, complaining and interesting stories for ages now.

Yuck! My dog just farted. On that note…… Time to go.

I’m looking for a knowledgebase.

Feb 23, 2011 | , , ,

I wonder. Is this too much to ask?

I’m looking for a free knowledgebase. It doesn’t have to have loads of bells and whistles but it needs to be able to do the following.

  • Allow attachments in word format.
  • Have a permissions based approach to providing access. Something as simple as a groups and users model would be fine.
  • It needs to have the option of classifying documents in terms of public and private and / or released, reviewed or in progress.
  • A reasonably good search facility is also necessary. At minimum it should be possible to organise documents by category. For example: active directory, mail, proxy etc.

Nice features to have would be:

  • Authentication via active directory.
  • Secondary authentication byIP.
  • Usage reporting.
  • Automated notification to reviewers when documents are waiting to be reviewed.

I don’t think that’s asking all that much.

At the moment all the documentation is sitting on a file share. It’s organized using folders but all the documents have fully utilized properties therefore in a perfect world it should at least be possible to sort and view them by author, subject etc. I’m surprised that with the libraries in Windows 7 this isn’t already possible. To start with this kind of solution would even be nice compared to what we have at the moment.

Any suggestions?

Messing with Syslog servers.

Feb 18, 2011 | , , ,

In work I have been trying to fix the implementation of a syslog / eventlog server that currently runs on a Windows 2003 server. It’s a very nice product called event log analyser by Manage Engine.

I’ve had issues with the database. Not due to the software but due to my lack of understanding of how it was configured. Unfortunately the person who set this software up is no longer with the company that I work for and it looks like although he has made the application very secure he has not documented his work. This is probably one of the most under rated but most important responsibilities of a system administrator. IF your setting up a new system or even if your just making a change to the configuration of a system it needs to be documented. At most you will ensure the person succeeding you will be able to take over where you left off but at minimum you’ll remind your self what you did a few months later when you have to look at it again.

The event log analyser that we use looks like it would run on Linux more efficiently. The Windows server it is currently installed on is using more resources on keeping the operating system running than keeping the application performing well. I also prefer this kind of thing running on Linux because it’s rock solid and in the unlikely event that something goes wrong the logs are usually much more comprehensive and easier to read than those found in windows.

The problem with the event log analyser running on Linux is that it requires a Windows event log forwarder on each monitored system running the Windows operating system. As this organization primarily uses Windows this is a bit of a chalange. Of course, if I found a good event log forwarder that ran as a service and could be configured remotely then I’d be fine because using either SCCM or group policy I could easily deploy it to all servers in the estate. With a bit of research I found that using event mon from monware will do everything I need. It runs as a small service requiring no user intervention during installation and it can be configured via the registry. This registry configuration can be exported by the eventmon client and then distributed via group policy or SCCM so it would be really nice to get this running. Unfortunately it involves a licence cost. As we’re already paying for the ManageEngine event log analyser this isn’t really a viable option. There is no way that I can justify my own preferences for the purchase of additional licenses when with a little more work I can get the event log analyser running on a Windows machine that will inherently support our Windows servers without the use of an event log forwarder. There is an appliccation out there called NT syslog however although this runs as a service and from my understanding it’s free, it doesn’t support windows 2008 servers and it’s no longer in development.

There are a few things I don’t like about the event log analyser. Firstly, it looks like it was made for Linux and just ported to Windows as an afterthought. There is no real user interface on the windows side of things. Of course the event log analyser comes with a really great web interface but when trying to troubleshoot why the application isn’t connecting to it’s proprietary and cut down version of MySQL it’s very difficult to see how it all fits together. There are bat files that expect arguements when run from a command line however there’s no documentation of these arguements. when I’ve tried to guess them the output I get is far from descriptive. There are also scripts and exedutables everywhere and very little documentation of anything outside the web interface.

I love syslog servers. The ability to see all the event logs at a glance and report on the top errors and the top error generators is a fantastic facility. Especially when administering hundreds of servers. Unfortunately my experience with this type of server has been far from good. They usually have fantastic web front ends and terrible back ends / terrible documentation for the back end or they have a fantastic back end but poor or limited functionality in the web based interface. I just don’t seem to be able to wind when using these products.

Ok. I’m going to dive into this again.

Hay, on the up side, while configuring the test Linux server yesterday I decided to install OpenSuSE 11.3. I hadn’t used OpenSuSe in a while so it was nice to have a look at the changes in it. To my delight and surprise it connected to the active directory instantly without any added configuration. This is a really nice improvement. I hope that other distributions of Linux follow this example. It would be nice to have one set of credentials for all systems.

Playing around with a Chiefton B flat whistle.

Feb 15, 2011 |

Emma bought this whistle for me for christmas. I know. It was very good of her wasn’t it?
Unfortunately the one she received in the post was defective. Fair play to Phill, the maker of these fantastic Chiefton whistles though. HE fixed the problem and now it’s sounding very well. The issue that it had was the high F went very sharp when I used a grace note or a role. I hadn’t experienced this issue on any of his other whistles so I knew it was just a single defect. Have a listen to A jig on this lovely B flat whistle. It’s not great. It’s just something I recorded without doing any messing. It should give you an idea of the lovely tone from this.

Remote Server Administration Tools (RSAT) in windows 7.

Feb 14, 2011 | ,

Installing RSAT in Windows 7 is actually very easy. Download the Remote Server Administration Tools from the Microsoft website and run the executable. When it installs it will provide you with a help file. This contains all the information you need to enable the new functionality. For handyness, follow these instructions.

  1. Go to the start menu.
  2. Type Programs and features.
  3. Click on Turn Windows features on or off.
  4. Go down to Remote Server Administration Tools and expand it.
  5. The hidden trick here is that if you check the box on the top level it will not automatically be checked on sub elements or child objects. What ever you want to call it. For this reason, You need to actually expand everything under the Remote Server Administration Tools item and check the indevidual components you want to install.
  6. Click the OK button when your done.
  7. Now, start the mmc. Go to the start menu and type mmc
  8. Of course, press enter on that or click it.
  9. Press Control and M or click the File menu then Add snap in.
  10. Click Active directory users and computers then click Add
  11. Now click the OK button.
  12. You can of course launch this directly from the start menu by typing Active directory users and computers in the search field. But where’s the fun in that?

This will allow you to administer both windows 2003 and Windows 2008 domains.

There’s a lot more functionality in this than just active directory users and computers but it was a good starting point. Look through the newly created administrative tools option in the start menu to find out what else is available to you.

The first free run – Training with Ike my new guide dog

Feb 14, 2011 | ,

Running wild!

Ike sitts at the top of some wooden steps looking like royalty.

On Saturday I took Ike on his first free run. Free runs are where the dog gets to forget about work for a while. All training and commands basically go out the window for an hour or so. Guide dogs ordinarily get a free run every week to let them burn off some steam but because I was working hard on getting Ike’s routine settled he hadn’t had one for two and a half weeks. This is something that most guide dog users need to do after qualifying. It’s not usually a good idea to free run the dog too soon after leaving the centre

Shows Ike with the boyne beside him.
I took Ike to a place called Townly hall in Drogheda. It’s a forest with defined paths and walking routes and all dogs love it. It’s very quiet and out of the way and there is a lot for dogs to run around and sniff. There are paths that have a hundred feet drop to the road on one side so it’s not somewhere I’d walk around on my own but the walk areas are about three feet wide so their reasonably safe. Ike had no problems with it. He wasn’t silly enough to chance going too far over to the edge as I expected. It made for some great pictures though. As always, Emma had the camera at hand to catch pictures that thought my blog readers would appreciate. I’m also hoping to send a few of these to Ike’s puppy walker to show that he’s enjoying his new life here and to also show my appreciation for the fantastic work she has done.

Before Ike went on his free run I had a favour to do for someone. I had to give people a hand move some furniture, carpets and a large chest freezer from a shed back into the house. Ike let me down here. I wasn’t happy with him at all but this is because it’s hard to not have certain expectations. I could trust Freddie to sit at one side or at most follow me while I was doing whatever it was that needed to be done. Ike instead decided to go tearing into a field. I understand he saw the open spaces and he thought it was a perfect opportunity to go running off but this is unacceptable. I understand he wasn’t officially working however he should at least have been obedient. If this doesn’t improve I don’t know how I’ll handle him in these kinds of situations. I’m not use to paying a dog attention or locking him away when I have physical work to do. Locking him away somewhere doesn’t seem fair. I need him to understand that he can have freedom but he has to come back when I call him. Yesterday when I called him back he ignored me. When he eventually came back he just wanted to play. This isn’t like him either. When he’s free running his recall is fantastic! I tried to explain yesterday that this was completely out of character for him but I was trying to convince myself more than anyone else though.

Anyway. That’s all done and over with. It has me a bit worried because there are a number of situations I find I can’t trust him in as much as I could trust Freddie but I’ll keep it up and see how it gets on.

Ike is fighting with the branch of a tree.
As you’ll see from the pictures Ike really enjoyed himself. For those who can’t, take my word for it. He got to run around like a crazy thing. He stuck his nose in everything and he got to play with a tree. Yes. A tree. I don’t know why he decided to pull out of a tree branch. The branch obviously annoyed him in some way so he decided it needed to be grabbed and pulled. When it comes to this kind of thing. I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s probably better to ask less questions and just let him get on with it.

For those who have been keeping up with these posts, you may be happy to read that since last Tuesday he has not spent on a walk once. He has relieved himself twice a day. Once in the morning and once again in the afternoon. Because the free run would have messed up his routine I’m a little concerned about Monday but I’m hopeful at the same time.

Ike looks at a fallen tree bridging a gap. "To cross or not to cross. that is the question..."

Ike crosses a wooden bridge. There's a waterfall on one side and a large drop on the other.

There's loads of interesting things to sniff here.

I'm almost on my knees. Ike is sitting beside me and you can see the river Boyne in the distance

They got me in one.

Ike decided he wasn't finished walking so was off to do another nature walk when we were on the way back.

Ike decided he wasn't finished.

VMWare View and Jaws for Windows

Feb 10, 2011 | ,

Up until version 4.5 VMware View Administrator was accessible to Blind administrators using Jaws for Windows. Unfortunately at version 4.5 they introduced some kind of flash control on the page and focus will not leave it. It is now impossible to access any of the tables or other elements of the pages in this interface. This is a major pity. With some work on the part of screen reader users all of the VMware tools and utilities were reasonably accessible with the exception of the VMware P2V standalone client. With the inaccessibility of VMware View this entire platform becomes completely unusable for blind administrators. Considering the legal requirements for government departments in the US to only use accessible software I wonder if VMware ESX would become a usable platform. I certainly hope this is the case however I doubt I’m right for some reason. I seriously believe that all companies who do not make accessible software should be firmly penalised.

I have submitted a support request in relation to this. Either way I should hear something back from them. I would hope to have an update in relation to this by tomorrow.

What people don’t realise is with every application that becomes inaccessible I have one more thing that I can’t do. How am I meant to administer VMware View and the large infrastructure we have based on this virtual platform when I no longer have access to the administrative interface? If I can’t do my job should I be kept in employment? Of course not! Of course, as always I’ll fight and I’ll protest with the company who have made this change but it rarely makes a difference. Yet again I will need to find something else to do to ensure I take an equal share of the responsibility while hoping someone is nice enough to take this particular task off me.

I shouldn’t have to do this. Companies should take responsibility for the user interfaces they create. If this flash control was created properly and due consideration was given to keyboard focus I would not be in this situation yet again.

Please do not see this as a rant. See it as a warning. A warning that if more people do not speak up over the lack of access in enterprise applications then you will effectively help in creating a cealing for blind people working in the IT industry as they simply will not be able to progress above a certain point as the applications they require will be inaccessible. What’s the point in working if you have nothing to strive to? If you’re sighted put yourself in my shoes. What if you use Microsoft word every day and Microsoft released an update that meant that you could only see a very small bit of the screen when in Microsoft word. How could you work when you only had access to a tiny part of the application? I know. That’s highly unlikely but you see where I’m coming from hopefully.

The end of the beginning – Training with Ike my new guide dog

Feb 7, 2011 | ,

There’s a lot done but more to do.

Friday was the last day of after care that we have scheduled for a while. Ordinarily we would have another two days scheduled for the second week at home however I have asked for this to be cancelled as we’re getting on fine in terms of the dogs work and when the trainer follows us it’s more of a distraction to Ike than a benefit. We met the trainer in Dublin. The plan was that he would walk at a reasonable distance behind us so that Ike wouldn’t see him. All was going great. We navigated our way through the station, a cross the road and down Pierce street. This is where the problems started. Without any warning Ike stopped to relieve himself. This was the second time he had needed to spend that morning. Before leaving home he had done it so it was very strange that he needed to go again so soon. There was nothing I could do. He was already relieving himself when he stopped. When he had finished we continued walking. We got past the pedestrian gate on Nassau Street when he stopped to relieve himself again. This time I managed to get him over to the wall so he wasn’t crapping in the middle of the path. At this point the trainer came over. I very calmly said that I can no longer put up with the dog spending while working. I continued by clarifying that I was not annoyed or frustrated; I had been thinking this for a few days. I do not accept that this should be tolerated when the problem was presented a month ago. In my opinion although the dog’s situation has changed we shouldn’t still be in a position where the dog hasn’t established a solid spending routine and instead has no option but to spend while working. The trainer accused me of being emotional. Anyone who reads this blog or who knows me at all knows this is never the case when it comes to my mobility. I’m practical and logical. If it works great, if it doesn’t then it’s time to try something else. I have said that if there isn’t a marked improvement in this by Thursday the 10th of February then I will need to look at sending him back to Cork. Let me clarify. I’m not saying I’m giving him back. I am saying that it’s unrealistic to try to work a dog to a schedule while also trying to fix a badly broken spending routine. The trainer however made a very valid point. If the staff in cork resolved this it would potentially revert back when the dog was taken back to his new environment in Drogheda again. It’s hard to know what to do. The dog works so well it’s amazing. I really love walking down the street while he’s guiding me. It’s so comfortable and relaxed. I have really missed the freedom. He’s also starting to come out of his shell while at home. Every week I find something new that he likes or some new way of playing with him that he enjoys. I have to say that Ike is definitely the right dog for me. I am ready and able to tackle this spending routine but at the same time I can’t have the dog crapping in the middle of the foot path. It’s really embarrassing and very inconvenient for other pedestrians. I have no idea what to do.

In total, Ike relieved himself four times while working on Friday. Twice on the way to work, once on the way from the office to Stephen’s green and once on the way back from the train station in Drogheda on the way home. I know what you’re thinking. That sounds like a medical thing. I agree. The only reason why I haven’t chased it up is that since Saturday he’s been much more stable. I will certainly bring him to the vet tomorrow if it continues though.

On Friday I sent another message to the IrlGuideDogs discussion group outlining some of the problems that I have experienced with Ike. Up until that point I was almost ready to send him packing. I’m really glad I didn’t though. Some of the responses I got back were very insightful. More importantly about three or four people were very critical of my handling of the situation. More importantly though they were critical in a very positive way. Some people in that group have had dogs for over thirty or forty years. They’ve been through everything I’m currently working through so they know what can happen. It was a relief to see some things I was doing right but even nicer than this was the relief that I’m messing some things up as well. I have no problem messing up. That means that it is something that can be fixed.

After work on Friday I was invited to go with a few people for a drink but I decided against it. To help solidify the dogs routine it was probably better that I go straight home. Not that it helped of course… Instead of going out after work, I went to a pup that I play music at regularly. The people in this place are fantastic. They will not touch the dog and they will ensure that o one else touches the dog either. I have a great group of friends there and they’ve seen the benefits of not touching Freddie while he was in harness right from the start. The only reason why I took him there first is it allowed me to relax and take it easy while knowing that without a doubt Ike was never in any danger of picking up bad habits. Ike has got use to the pipes over the past month so the music didn’t bother him at all. This was a nice relief as although I wasn’t at all worried about it it could have been a possible source of strain for the dog considering he wasn’t use to it in that kind of environment. As with all new experiences for Ike, I tried to keep this as positive for him as possible however I was a little stricter than I ordinarily would be when introducing him into new environments. Mainly because it’s important that he knows that although he can look around he cannot act on anything that he sees unless he has my permission. This for me is vital as it means as much as he can rely on me, I can rely on him to behave even when all my attention isn’t on him.

It was possibly a little early to bring him out to this kind of thing but it did him no harm and I think it was more productive than just letting him sit at home for the evening. The decision to bring him to new places verses sticking to a hard and fast routine for working are never straight forward. You need to consider if this is the best thing for the dog. Will it require him to learn new routes or could it stress him out unduly. Of course, if there’s going to be a lot of work involved it may not be the best thing for him at this early stage as he has enough work to do going to and from work five days a week. It will be necessary to increase the number of routes he walks over time but doing too much too fast could cause him to stop enjoying his work.

I was very happy with the way he behaved on Friday night. He was as quiet as I expected him to be and even when I made him wait outside a toilet door he did so without moving at all. This is something I have been practising with him at home and while in the centre in Cork. Again, I can trust every single person in that pub so although this was a risky test it wasn’t all that bad. The first time I left him waiting Emma was beside him. The second time, A friend was around the corner and I asked him to keep an eye out. The dog obviously didn’t know that he was being watched but I knew that if it came to it the dog wouldn’t have been able to get up to much. It’s a nice relief to know that he now has this foundation. It is something that will of course require more work to ensure I can fully rely on him to stay where he has been told even when I’m in a place that I don’t know as well but we’ve had a very strong start. Especially considering this was his first time to a pub with me.

Saturday was a very quiet day. The weather around Drogheda was terrible so although I took the dog out for a walk I didn’t venture too far away. There was a meeting in a local school so I knew there would be cars on the foot paths. I took the opportunity to do a nice relaxed walk around that area so the dog had a few off curbe obstacles to work around. I was in no rush so I took plenty of time to reassure him and give loads of praise when he did it right. I have to say that the technical work that Ike does is fantastic. I only have one problem around my area. For a few days last week there was a very aggressive dog trapped in a house by a large gate. I know the dog is aggressive as I have had experiences with that dog over the past three years. Basically, the people in that house don’t own the dog. They take it when their uncle is away. Unfortunately kids from the nearby school have taunted it to the extent that it now throws it’s self at the gates when people walk past. This has caused Ike to become quite nervous when he’s near. Even now the dog has been gone a week Ike still slows down while passing the gate. I can feel him becoming quite sensitive. I’m trying to fix this with loads of reassurance and very clear directions but it’s probably going to take some time to get it right. I have planned to go into the people to ask them to consider the fact that I have a new guide dog because I’m reasonably certain that they will do anything they can to keep their dog under control but I haven’t had a chance yet.

On Saturday evening I took Emma out to our favourite restaurant for a meal to say thanks. I know that although this process has been a challenge for me it has been particularly difficult on her as well. Freddie’s retirement hit her quite hard as the two of them got on as if they’d known each other for his entire nine years. The day we retired Freddie was probably one of the worst days for her in a long time. During the wait for Ike, I used the Cain. I was very determined to be as independent and as mobile as I possibly could be. I travelled to Birmingham, Italy, Spain and around Ireland without regularly availing of a sighted guide. Where possible I followed people or I used a combination of the text based Google maps, GPS and the KSonar to find my way around new areas. Even though I wanted to be completely independent with the Cain I realistically couldn’t do it seven days a week. Emma had to put up with my complaints after I had a frustrating day with walking around Dublin using just a stick and during weekends she insisted that I use her instead of using the Cain to give me a break from it. I wonder. Is it just me or do others find using the Cain particularly tiring. You’re constantly concentrating. Like a drunken man stumbling from pole to wall to traffic lights you move erratically from land mark to land mark detecting and avoiding obstacles in your path. There’s just so much work involved with it. I will clarify though that this got easier with time. It’s probably just something I experienced because although I used the Cain reasonably regularly to ensure I didn’t lose any of those skills or techniques I didn’t use it over a sustained period of time until I retired Freddie. Anyway, I digress. The reason for this paragraph is to acknowledge Emma’s amazing patients. I would have found the transition from Freddie to Ike and the seven month gap much more difficult if it was not for her help and understanding. It’s far more than I deserve.

Of course, I didn’t want to leave Ike on his own on Saturday night so I took him with us. We know the people in the restaurant from the past few years of going there and although I originally had a problem with bringing the dog in there they had no issues with it on Saturday night. They even found the best table for us to sit at that was well out of the way of other customers. There were other people next to us and there was a party a few feet away but the area that we were in was not very busy so although Ike was under my chair there was no fear of anyone getting near enough to stand on him. It was really nice to hear people at the next table complement Ike for being so well behaved. They were shocked to hear that he had only left training a week before. It’s a credit to the training staff in Irish guide dogs that I can trust Ike so easily when out so quickly after coming home. Like all new experiences for Ike, I was just as strict as the previous night because he needs to know what’s expected of him but when the staff asked if they could rub him at the end when we were leaving I agreed. They couldn’t have asked at a better time. From the dogs perspective he had been quiet under the seat and he hadn’t asked for attention for the hour or so that we had been there and now that he was up and ready to go he got praise from a few people.

ON Sunday we again did very little. I took Ike to one of my sister’s houses to introduce him. My niece is almost five and she’s a real live wire. She enjoys nothing more than jumping around the place like a crazy thing. My sister and Emma blame me for this but I don’t agree. She’s crazy by nature. I just wind her up and let her go! Ike wasn’t very happy with this at all! He wanted to know what the hell this little person was doing hanging off my neck and walking up my back. He had a few playful barks from time to time and I’m not really sure how to show him that she’s only playing. I think most of his anxiety during this was because he wanted to join in. I have the same kind of problem with Emma actually. When simply giving her a hug Ike starts growling and barking. It’s important to say growling and barking is in no way aggressive for Ike. He’s very vocal. If I don’t take his toy off him quick enough he growls at me. When I’m playing he growls. When he gets up in the morning and does his little horse dance around the room he groans and growls. It’s just him having a bit of a chat. Again, it’s something he’ll just have to get used to. By horse dance I mean he sounds like a horse when he bounds around the place. That combined with his rapidly changing directions makes him sound like a crazy horse. It’s my description. Go with it! Anyway, on Sunday evening we went to the same pub. I ordinarily don’t go here twice in one week but for a number of reasons I was really in the mood for more music. We were only there for just over an hour so it wasn’t a huge change to Ike’s day. He was again very happy to sit at my feet quietly for the duration. I was a little less strict on him yesterday but he didn’t push it at all. When I let him walk around he said hello to the guitar player and another man at the bar but after giving both of them a quick sniff and a lick he came straight back over. The guitar player is a very good friend of mine. He hates seeing dogs so quiet. He’s a man who would be use to dogs bouncing around the place so it can be a bit hard for him to see one as well trained. He’s use to it now though considering he knew Freddie from when he started with me first but one of my main reasons for letting Ike have a look around was to assure him that Ike has his own personality too and although he knows when he’s working, he equally knows when he’s allowed his freedom.

Here I am again at another Monday. This morning Ike had no problems with spending. It was very unusual. He didn’t relieve himself before we left for work but although I gave him two opportunities on the way to the train station in Drogheda he didn’t take them. He has shown no signs of needing to go either. I am hoping that he doesn’t need to go before we get to the park during lunch. If he can just hold on until then and relieve himself when we get over there I’ll be really delighted. I’m hoping that if he does it over there he’ll be happy to then wait until we get home before doing it again and we won’t have another situation like Friday. I’m really hoping here but I’m quietly confident.

This is the end of my new guide dog related posts for the time being. We are now in our routine, Ike is bringing me to work efficiently and safely and he is settling in well at home. We have created a firm foundation over the past four weeks and the hard work is now done. For the next six weeks we will need to ensure that the training is reaffirmed and maintained to the high standard it is currently at. I will also need to ensure that Ike continues to really enjoy everything he is doing. The next six months will be the most important of our working relationship over the next nine to ten years. The dog will settle into his new life and routine and we will both learn more and more about each other with every passing week. As a company in Ireland have said, “We’ve a lot done but we have a lot more to do.” Ike’s spending routine requires more work and I need to continue to get use to this fantastic new dog. There will be more challenges but a lot more successes. One thing is certain. The next few months will be much easier than the past few were.

In no particular order thanks to Emma, Torie, Jenny, Nicky, Steve, Sinead, Joan anne, David, Tara, Sabrina, Mark, Aden, Rachael, Sarah, Sherlie, the other Emma, Abby, Lesley, Paul, Diana, Meka, Christine, Damien, Carol, Jesica, Claire, Mike, Maire, Kerrie, Lucy, Michel, Lina, Ari, Shaun, Dominique and everyone else who has emailed, called, tweeted and left comments of support. I also have to say a huge thanks to Ike’s puppy walker and trainers as well as all the staff in Irish Guide dogs. You all have done a fantastic job. I can’t begin to express how glad I am to have a guide dog again. The relief is unexplainable.

The first day back at work – Training with Ike my new guide dog

Feb 3, 2011 | ,

The first of many.

Ok. Let’s get the negative stuff out of the way first.

Right. Now that that’s done, I can get on to the important part. If I said that today was great or even fantastic or no. Even the best day I’ve had in over a year I still wouldn’t even come close to how happy I am with how it went. It could not have possibly gone any better.

Starting at 6AM, I got up, fed Ike, showered, gave him a bit of attention and let him out to relieve himself. This is where it started to go well. He actually did a pee and a Pu! This is such a fantastic accomplishment I nearly shouted good boy in the middle of the yard. I did a few things a little differently last night. Firstly, I groomed him at around 9PM. This let him relax and it meant that he had a good half an hour just getting a nice rub and a bit of a chat. After that we had a little play to get him feeling like he needed to go. When I let him out he needed very little encouragement and we had a nice solid spend. That was great because it meant that when he went this morning he had no pressure on his bowel while walking to the train station. I know I know I know. You are sick of reading about me talk about crap. I’m sorry. I’m looking forward to the day when I don’t need to worry about when Ike needs to relieve himself. It’s such a weird thing to have to consider before and even after every single walk. It’s actually quite frustrating and to be very frank with you, if it doesn’t get resolved very shortly I will have to take particularly unlikeable action. I think I’ve explained this before. The dogs spending routine is not something that can be considered lightly when you’re working from 9 to 5 and on top of that you’re commuting. It’s important that the dog does everything it needs to do when you give it the opportunity. If it doesn’t or it can’t do everything it needs to do then it will simply have to do it while walking. This is completely unacceptable. I simply cannot have a situation where I’m walking and I have to stop at some grass so the dog can spend. I do not believe that this is an unreasonable expectation. Of course, it would seem that this is now a reality and the only reason why I am putting up with it at the moment is because it’s a short term one. If it becomes long term or the solution poses too much of a problem then as I said I will need to look at my options. Right. Getting back to the positive stuff, we made it to the train station very comfortably. It is the most relaxed I’ve seen Ike in over a week and a half. Because he was relaxed I was really positive about everything. It was simply a pleasure to walk with him. I haven’t felt that kind of freedom in a year and a half at least. Yes. Your right, I retired Freddie eight months ago but for quite a while before that I had to be very considerate of his arthritis and his problems maintaining concentration during complicated routes. This morning’s walk was the first opportunity I had found to actually completely trust Ike. That might sound a little strange. Particularly because I actually don’t really mind the occasional knock by a pole or tree. It happens from time to time through no fault of the dog because I have a tendency to walk too fast. Still, it was really nice to be able to trust him completely.

Getting on to the train was reasonably straight forward as well. There was a small crowd getting on at the same door as me but a man near me told me to go ahead so they waited until I had given the dog the instruction to go forward before they started moving. Again, like the past few days he got under the seat without much hassle at all and he was very happy to lye still until we reached our stop an hour and a quarter later.

When we got to Dublin the route through the train station was quite difficult for him but he handled it well. Finding the steps off the platform to the ticket validation machines was very snappy for him. He seemed to just know exactly what I wanted him to look for as soon as he got off the train and he was delighted with himself when he got the praise for walking right over. I was actually a little confused at the start. I almost thought he had been distracted by something. I thought we were further down the platform and it took me a second or two to realise that we were about a half a step away from where I wanted him to find. It can be quite difficult to get decent orientation in a busy train station. It’s so noisy and there are so many people I find that sometimes depending on where the train comes in I have really no idea how far up the platform I am. This is one of the reasons why I love having a dog. They learn from repetition and routine what you’re looking for and they bring you right to it with a bit of prompting, encouragement and praise. It was just a little surprising this morning that Ike was able to find the steps when I gave him very bad directions in terms of my hand signals. After finding the steps we got caught up in a small crowd of people but they were moving in the right direction. I think the best thing to do in that kind of situation is to encourage the dog to just find the way and keep him nice and steady so he doesn’t try to find a clear path somewhere. Once he focuses on his next milestone or his next target or whatever you want to call it, it doesn’t particularly matter if he’s in the crowd or not. Sometimes, the worst thing to do is let the dog get out of the crowd because when there are people walking in the same direction at quite a slow speed there are a lot of small things that can distract the dog. This goes against my normal thinking when walking around the train station. As I said yesterday. Ordinarily, the dog will move around to the side of the crowd so that they are on his left. This way he can keep walking right to his destination without trying to walk through other people. The difference is that when in a crowd you have to refocus the dog on his destination or target when you get out of it because all of the other things around him can potentially grab his attention. We finally got to the ticket machine and the rest was plain sailing. We found the steps down and out of the station and although I’m not particularly comfortable with walking without the hand rail on my right he didn’t seem to have a choice but to bring me down the middle or on the other side. Fortunately, he didn’t pull on the harness at all so I didn’t have any problems. I will be the first to admit that things like open spaces, really noisy areas and steps down with no hand rails really irritate me. In situations like this I instinctually go a little behind the dog. I think I wrote this on day three of training. It’s something the trainer saw me doing and it’s something I almost fell back into this morning in the train station. I really have to be very careful of that. By moving behind the dog he is more likely to think that I want him to turn or veer right because body position and angle can be used for providing direction to guide dogs depending on the situation and the context it’s used in.

After the train station we very comfortably walked down Pierce Street. We have one problem on this street. Actually, I’m not being fair to Ike. It’s not a problem; it’s a tiny issue that we will probably overcome in the next few days. Firstly, he stops too far away from the traffic light pole on that crossing at Pierce station and secondly, when he crosses from pierce station to the other side of the road, he really does not want to go left. It’s not like there’s something there he doesn’t like, he just thinks that going right would be so much more interesting. I have no idea why this is. Yesterday and the day before, I did what I will call an official left turn. This is where you make the dog stop, you take half a step back and you instruct the dog to come across you to your right. As the dog does this you continue prompting and encouraging the dog while you move in a 270 degree turn around to your right clockwise. The result is that you are facing left of your original position. The benefit of this is that the dog will almost always be completely focused on the turn it has just performed and it is also facing directly in line with your intended direction. It may look a bit silly from a distance but as a trainer told me years ago, when you want your guide dog to do something, you’ll shout, sing, dance, clap or role around the ground if it does it for you the way you want it to. He was absolutely right. Sometimes you just have to acknowledge that you’re going to look or sound completely stupid because at the end of the day, once you get to where you want to go it’s most likely worth it.

When we finally got to work I was very conscious not to just fall back into my normal routine. I had been warned about this a few times by a number of people. The priority was to get in safely, keep really positive and keep Ike as happy as possible. With that in mind, when I got to the office I sat with him for a moment just giving him loads of praise and a lot of attention. I then prepared his bed so that it was in a decent location near my desk and made sure he was resting comfortably. At that point a few people came over to say hello. They had loads of questions about the training and they were very interested in meeting Ike. Again, everyone who came over asked because they knew from my time with Freddie that I have no problem if people want to talk to the dog while he’s not in harness. I just ask that people let me know beforehand. For the entire morning I caught up on mail, minutes of meetings, project plans, new outstanding tasks and other work that I have to get done and work that was completed while I was away. I therefore had very few reasons to leave my desk. The one time I had to go into a different office I just put Ike onto the lead and took him with me. It was only a few seconds down the hall but it was out of sight so I was a little concerned that Ike would take advantage or at worst start barking or crying. I know that this is something he’ll get use to with time but today wasn’t the day to start working on that. This little distraction was also a perfect opportunity to begin to teach Ike about what I will and won’t except in terms of his interaction with people in the office. I am particularly strict. I’m very aware of this. It’s not that I’m strict on Ike; I’m stricter on other people. I expect that they’ll recognise the dog as a working animal and treat him accordingly. I am very fortunate that the people I work with are all fantastic so I have no concerns at all. What I need to teach Ike is that although he may want to sniff, people won’t pay any attention to him unless he’s in his bed beside my desk. This means I can walk around the office freely and I should never have to be concerned about him looking for attention.

Lunch was the next challenge. I was actually quite nervous about this. The main objective was to bring him to a park called Stephens green to let him relieve himself. I walked up and down along one patch of grass for twenty minutes at the start. He just would not venture from my side. Even though I let him use a flexible lead that extended about fifteen feet he didn’t want to leave me at all. I walked a little further down the park to another area and almost as soon as I extended the lead he had a nice long pee. Now, why he wouldn’t do it in the first area I have no idea. In fact the first area should have been better for him. He’s just a strange animal. That little description doesn’t really go into enough detail. It doesn’t talk about how I walked up and down that path telling the dog to relieve himself. There is a specific command for this. No, I’m not telling you what it is! I really wanted him to do something. Firstly so he got into the routine of knowing that he could expect to have this opportunity half way through the day and secondly because I knew that if he didn’t go I was going to have to stop somewhere on the way home because there was no way he would be able to walk from the train station back home without relieving himself for the entire day.

Anyway, after we took care of that, I grabbed a sandwich and went back to the office. There wasn’t anything particularly interesting during that route. Ike had done it before as it is a hop on the route to the train station. On the way back I didn’t have my right hand free to provide prompts for him if he wasn’t certain of where I wanted him to go but fortunately he had no problems understanding my verbal commands.

Going home could have been terrible! As any train user in Dublin knows, waiting for a train at 5PM is crazy. The stations are really crammed and getting on is like a fight for survival. It’s every man for himself and you’ll only grab a seat if you’re willing to push as much as you’re being pushed. Freddie had a knack for handling this kind of situation. He wasn’t at all fazed by it but Ike had never experienced it until today. Because of his sensitivities it could have gone really badly. I really wanted the end of the day to go smoothly so I asked a few people who worked in the station to make sure that the crowd trying to cram onto the train provided me with the opportunity to get on without anyone trying to push against the dog. I also spoke to a few other passengers who were getting on that I recognise from getting the same train as me every day. I have spoken to a lot of them before while waiting for the train so it wasn’t particularly difficult to let them know that Ike was a new dog, he had never done this kind of thing before and I would really appreciate it if they would give him some space when the train came. With my cautions and the assistance from the staff in the station people were very good about it. They stood back for the few seconds that I needed to provide Ike with the right commands to find the door and get on safely. This is something I will need to do another few times while Ike gets use to this kind of environment but I’m reasonably confident that Ike will find his own way of dealing with it just as Freddie had to do when it was his turn to fight the battle.

The hardest part of the day was actually the part that I thought was going to be the easiest. When we got off the train we began the walk from the train station back home. The first thing that went wrong was I found that Ike was particularly agitated. He was really stressed about something. I thought it might be the high volume of traffic passing quite close to him or the fact that there were a lot of people walking behind us but nothing I did made a difference. We got five minutes into the walk when Ike needed to relieve himself badly. There was nothing I could do about it. He gave me no time to react. Before I could even consider stopping him it was all done. I am actually quite surprised. It’s strange that he didn’t need to spend all day but then he need to do it in the evening. If he could have just held on for another twenty minutes we would have been great! I’m hoping that this change marks an improvement in his solid spending routine. So, although it shouldn’t have happened, I’m trying to be positive. The next thing was that the wind really picked up. I haven’t experienced that kind of wind in quite some time. It really was very powerful. There’s one thing about the wind that you don’t really think of when you are not using a guide dog. That is that it blows leaves, paper, trees and even gates around. This posed a major distraction for a few moments until Ike settled down. It was quite a reasonable distraction I think. If he’s going to get distracted he may as well get distracted by leaves and other things blowing around the path. I have to admit, if I was looking where I was going I think I’d be distracted by that kind of thing too! The next thing to hit us was the torrential rain. Again I hadn’t experienced that kind of rain in about a year. It was really strong and by the time I got home I was completely saturated. My shoes were flooded and the water was just dripping off me. It took me almost twenty minutes to dry Ike. This is not something I particularly like doing. He loves it though. If he wasn’t trying to play with the towel he was trying to play with me. In one way it was a great end for him. Coming in and getting dried and having a good play was a nice way for him to unwind. It also let him be a pup again. He’s very funny when playing with the towel. I noticed this yesterday. When you hold the towel up he puts his two front paws up to try to pull it down so he can grab it with his mouth.

Funnily enough I felt quite guilty about letting him get so wet while we were walking home so I actually dried him and had a bit of a play as well before I got out of my own wet clothes. I couldn’t have left him there while I got changed. I’d have felt terrible thinking of him standing around with so much wet hair. He’s a particularly long haird dog. It must be very uncomfortable for him when he gets so wet. I’m dreading grooming him in a while. His hair is going to be all over the place!

Again, I couldn’t have asked for our first day back at work to go any better. It was one hell of a challenge and I’m quite tired after it all. I’m looking forward to tomorrow but I just hope it doesn’t rain as much. I would hate to get into work with him as wet as he was tonight. I actually think I’d have to go and buy more towels just to dry him off. I used an old towel that I had from when I had Freddie. It is a big beach towel. Even with that massive thing it was soaked after drying Ike. I only have a normal shower towel in work. It would never get him dry if he was as wet as he got tonight.

Sorry if I’ve rambled.

Tomorrow is another aftercare visit from the trainer. It could actually be the last visit that I will need. Of course there is more for Ike to learn and there is more for me to do as well but in terms of what the trainer can do for us I think tomorrow will be the end.

Just one more really quick note. I said earlier that was very conscious of not falling into my old routines from when I had Freddie. I should say that this is really easier said than done. I hope I didn’t fall back into any old habits while working Ike today but there were times when I needed to remind myself that I had to spend more time doing certain things. Even something as simple as telling the dog what direction to take when we get to our floor. Because it’s something that Freddie needed no prompting for I found it really hard to remember to give comprehensive and detailed directions and commands to Ike for finding the lift, finding the door, finding left etc.