Your home is your domain, as the pack leader. But dogs have domains, too. They have their own bodies, and any spaces and objects you assign to them like crates, mats, toys, and bowls. Boundaries like fences, crate doors, a splash pad under a water bowl help dogs know the difference between “mine” and “not mine.” And your commands as a pack leader, the physical barriers of doors and fences and the finite length of a leash are examples of limits that keep dogs inside their domains. Dogs can also communicate boundaries and enforce limits with each other, and with people. And as with people, there are healthy and safe, and unhealthy and unsafe, ways to communicate and enforce boundaries and limits.
Tag Archives: Disability Issues
Flashback Friday: the Going Home Lecture Part VII, How to Introduce Juno to Your Home
This can be a convenient time to reflect on the purpose of routines, behaviors, and possessions. Much like spring cleaning and New Year’s resolutions, bringing home a dog guide can inspire an intentional review of your life, and how different domains either contribute or detract from your needs, goals, and preferences.
Flashback Friday: The Going Home Lecture Part VI, Climate Changes
All the dogs trained at TSE are bred and, for the most part raised, in the northeastern United States. However, TSE’s classes are populated from all over the country, and they frequently host international students as well. This means their dogs will have to adapt to almost any climate imaginable. Additionally, one of the primary reasons cited by my classmates for getting a dog the first time was to improve confidence during travel, which makes knowing how to care for your dog in all climates and weather essential.
Flashback Friday: The Going Home Lecture Part V, Arrival
Do nothing. No feeding, grabbing, petting, grabbing, guiding, grabbing, playing, grabbing, talking to the dog, grabbing without the human’s consent
New Year, New Vision
Because new dreams are built on lessons from the past.
Guest Post: Eyes-Free Entertainment by Rhianna Mcgreggor
The benefit it brings to my life by allowing me to intentionally “unplug” from my day and do so in a way where I don’t have to wonder about accessibility or ready myself to fight for it, outweighs any inconveniences or annoyances it might bring.
The Prodigal Dog: A Vision of an Inclusive Church Service
I wrote this short story after trying to imagine what it would be like to feel welcomed, rather than like an unexpected guest, when I visited new places. I set it in a church because, unfortunately, churches do not have a good track record of disability inclusivity. Someday I would like to see what it would look like if churches were to adopt universal design principles as a vital appreciation of the full imago dei.
Flashback Friday: The Going Home Lecture Part IV, Navigating airports
Organizations often cut or reduce available support for persons with disabilities because of under-utilization, but they ought to be asking “are the services not needed, or do those who need them simply not know they exist?” This is why the burden of advocacy only functions as a shared responsibility.
Two Rights and a Wrong: How Organizations Can Welcome People With Disabilities With Open Arms
She didn’t have a solution for me, and she didn’t feel compelled to have one. But that question just popped out of her mouth like it was the most obvious next step in our conversation. That’s someone who combines a growth mindset with ask culture and a deep belief in inclusivity.
Flashback Friday: The Going Home Lecture Part III, Pre-Boarding and Take-off
Today is another installment of my ongoing summary of tSE’s Going Home Lecture. By the end of this post, Juno will have made it on board the plane and into the air! Read how she can navigate TSA checkpoints and how to help her prepare for her long day of traveling in previous posts.
Look on the Dark Side 