In another post, related to knotting, I mentioned an incident with a dog during the time I was training guide dogs.
http://igkt.net/sm/index.php?topic=2697.msg16120#msg16120 It is not the only instance of funny events during the period that I was training dogs. This was between 1972 and 1985, and I regard it as an occupation that was very interesting and challenging, and I have a lot of beautiful memories as well as grievous; all the people I trained dogs for have passed away, prior to the time considered 'normal' - all of them diabetics.
One of those memories is when I did it as a secondary job, devoting a couple of hours every day to dog training, my regular job was as a bus driver in the local suburban commuting.
I had a work schedule that was split in two periods, both in rush hour, one from about 6 am to 10 am, the other from about 3 pm to 6:30 pm. It left me with a very long pause, which I found practical for dog training. So I took the dog I was presently training for a long walk downtown, then I returned to my bus driving job. Mostly that was going to the garage to fetch a bus, but sometimes it was taking over a bus at a bus terminal.
So here I come, training a guide dog with harness and a with a stick in my hand that I use for feeling the obstacles in my way, letting the dog guide my way to where I will take over the bus. I open the bus, we jump in, and I take off the harness and accomodate the dog below my seat, start the bus and roll up to the stop where people are waiting to get on the bus.
When I get back to the terminal about 35 minutes later, a supervisor approaches me and tells me that it does not look very good, when a bus driver arrives to pick up his bus apparently using a guide dog to find his way. People had been asking him about what they had seen, that they thought very puzzling. How could a blind person drive a bus? So from then on, I had to take the gear off the dog before arriving at the bus terminal.
