A walk in the park. . .

Saturday mornings I walk off our island with my friend Virginia Jacko and her dog, Kieran. When I show up at 7:30 in the morning at Virginia's apartment, I truly believe that Kieran sees a cartoon balloon over my head that says "WALK TO THE PARK!!! GOODIE, GOODIE!" As a result, I get lots of kisses and doggie-style expressions of happiness.

Then Virginia puts Kieran's harness on and he immediately becomes all business. That's because this beautiful yellow Lab spent two years training to be a service dog and Virginia, his mistress, is blind. Most days of the week he accompanies her to the Miami Lighthouse for The Blind where she serves as that organization's dynamic President and CEO. Under Virginia's guidance,the Miami facility has emerged as one of the most vibrant and technically advanced in the nation. But that's another story and this blog is about a dog.

Virginia likes to say that our Saturday morning walks over the years have qualified me to be an OMN. That stands for Orientation Mobility Instructor. But in truth, the instructors have been the dogs, whose intelligence and uncanny ability never fail to astound me.

Kieran knows that the safest place to walk is the sidewalk, or at the least, close to the curb. Our route to the park takes us through some very quiet side streets where I prefer to walk in the middle of the road. Forgeddaboutit. He simply nudges both of us over to the sidewalk and is obviously not happy until we do as he wishes. The look on his face says "Don't argue with me! I know what I'm doing."

Once in the park, I marvel at his ability to keep his focus when we walk past the fenced in dog area, with dozens of dogs running free and barking up a storm. Kieren takes his job seriously. He also knows that once we get to our favorite bench, Virginia will take off his harness and give him the opportunity to do some serious sniffing of all the interesting new smells that the park offers.

It's no wonder that these remarkable dogs are only allowed to work for seven years before they must retire. Virginia's much loved first dog, Tracker, is spending his retirement at her family's home in Indiana after serving her well for many years. Tracker was my first instructor. If you can describe a dog as "dignified", that would apply to dear sweet Tracker. Kieran, on the other hand, is a "lover", and it takes all my resolve not to sneak him some kisses and a bite of a bagel when he's in working mode.

I'm not sure who is more remarkable in this duo . .Kieran or his mistress. I only know that all three of us enjoy our walks together on Saturday morning. If you see us on the street,Virginia and I will wave and say hello. Don't expect Kieran to pay you any notice. He'll be attending to business.
# # #
Photo caption: From the cover of Virginia's biography, "The Blind Visionary". For more information go to www.theblindvisionary.com.


# # #