It is July 4^th, 2017, and I was up by 5 AM. The first thought that crossed my mind was how this would be the second to last morning I would wake up without a dog. All my life, up until now, my only responsibility was myself. I have not had to wake up to take a dog for a walk. In 24 hours, all that will change for a long time! We were instructed to meet in the multipurpose room by 6 AM to learn the obedience commands we would be using with our new four-legged friends. We would begin to get into the habit of waking up early in time to parc, feed and parc by 6 AM. Obviously yours truly would need an hour to get ready for the day. After mastering the obedience commands, I trailed the walls making my way to breakfast. Still getting used to not using a cane. My entire life, I used it indoors even if I knew the layout of the building. My teachers would for sure have a heart attack if they saw me without my canes. But there I was at Guiding Eyes, going against what school has been enforcing for 12 years of my life.

   After breakfast, we piled into the vans and headed to White Plains training lounge. Upon arriving, we all sat in the living room and got acquainted to Mary Beth, who was a training assistant at the time. Today everyone would go on test runs with their potential puppies. Some would test walk one dog, while others may have multiple options. I had already done a test walk with a yellow lab prior to arriving at Guiding Eyes. So today I would be trying out a different dog. The trainers would not reveal the dog’s names. All we would get are sex, breed, and colors. I would be trying out a black female lab. I was patiently waiting by the van waiting for them to bring Booboo over. Booboo is the fake name for all the dogs because one of the trainers said they were all her booboos. So, we went with it. Deanna came up to me with the female black lab and introduced me to her as booboo. I was a little surprise at how small Booboo was. I assumed that all Guide Dogs were big. But clearly, I was wrong especially when I had to practically sit on the ground just to pet this small bundle of wiggling energy. I was handed her leash and cued her to heel so I can position us into ready. I picked up the harness, was instructed on how to hold the leash under two of my fingers. Thinking back to that moment, I remember how complicated it sounded, whereas these days it is so natural. I gave the forward command and off we went! Deanna was walking on our left side with a training leash attached to insure we had a smooth walk. They just wanted to get a grasp on my pace. I remember thinking, “this dog is way too fast.” Did my feet ever touch the sidewalk? We did a short route. We just did one street crossing and circled a block. I was not aware of the rout we were on. I was just thinking about how I am going to transfer all my trust to this dog or the yellow lab from before. This was it. It was truly happening. I was there, on the sidewalk somewhere in White Plains, walking what may or may not be my future guide dog. It was definitely a hot summer day. I could smell freshly mowed grass in the air. I remember thinking how fast this dog was moving even in this ridiculous heat! I was worried that I might fall, and everyone would point and laugh.

At the end of our short rout, Deanna and Miranda asked me how I felt. I was honest with them and told them that I felt like she was too fast. I already knew that was what they wanted to hear but I did not say that for that reason. I genuinely felt like this dog was too fast. The yellow lab was a lot slower, and I was more comfortable with that…

The trainers want to hear you say the dog is too fast because you can always slow a dog down, but it is a bit harder to get them to speed up. I went back to the lounge and socialized with my classmates. We all shared our experiences and tried to make guesses of who we would get. We had lunch, then headed back to Guiding Eyes campus. That night we had a lecture followed by dinner and some downtime. The class was evenly divided. There were five of us ranging from 18 to 25, while the other five were older. During downtime, we hung out in the lounge and played games. I was super tired, but I had a lot of excited energy. I knew if I went to bed faster, the day would end faster, and the next day would come faster, and I would find out who my new partner in crime would be faster! Like, where was this fast forward button in life when you need it! The final thought before I slipped into dreamland was how this would be my final night without a dog. Tomorrow could not get here fast enough! Would my new dog like me? Would I break them, Ruin their training? Would it be the black female lab or the yellow male? I was conflicted about which dog I wanted to be matched with. On one hand, I wanted a female black lab so I can put pink bows on her. On the other hand, I felt a lot more comfortable and confident walking with the yellow lab. I am sure the trainers would make the right decision.