Howdy

Wanted to give a quick update on my son and his companion dog, Jackson, who joined our family 6 months ago. I posted back in September how my son who was born blind was able to get Jackson through Southeastern Guide Dogs. If anyone is interested in that thread you can check it out...

https://texags.com/forums/34/topics/3492843/replies/68592273


Well Jackson has now fully integrated into our family of 5 and it feels like he's been here for 6 years rather than 6 months. There aren't too many places we go where Jackson isn't tagging along. He has just been an incredible gift to Reid and our family. Jackson takes all the stress away with his calm reassuring presence and has quickly become Reid's best friend. We have been on camping trips, deer hunts, run in several 5Ks, made trips to the beach, and spent plenty of nights piled up on the couch together. I should also say that Jackson can quickly track a down deer and we have done some training sessions where he has tracked a patch of fur from a dead deer for hundreds of yards. We had a lot of fun with training this past deer season.

Also wanted to mention that Reid and Jackson will be walking in the upcoming Vision Walk in Houston on April 5th which is put on by the Foundation Fighting Blindness. Reid has a team fundraising page that is linked below where you can read a little about his story. We'd love to have folks from the area show up. We'll be the large pack of blue shirts from Barbers Hill with a bunch of his friends, family, teachers, and supporters. If you do feel led to give toward the cause there is a donation link. The FFB puts forth a lot of money towards research regarding inherited retinal diseases. They have offered a lot of help to our family in better understanding Reid's condition and have sponsored some pretty incredible research that is pushing the boundaries on potential treatment options for blindness.

Link to Reid's team:
https://give.fightingblindness.org/team/645475


Couple of pictures from the last few months...

Thanks for sharing this with us.

A bit of dust blew through here.

What a lucky boy, AND lucky dog. Bless them both.

Post of the year. Heck the post of all time. Keep us posted and Gig 'Em Reid and Jackson.

Awesome , about sums it up. Thanks for sharing.

I really can't find the words.
Just thanks for sharing this. May Jesus keep his loving hands on all of you.

Dusty here as well. There is a really amazing doc on Netflix called "inside the mind of a dog"

It covers lots of basic stuff we know about how smart dogs are, but half the doc follows the training protocols of service dogs. You follow the training of the dogs, up until the end when they bond with their family. It's really well done.

One thing that I didn't know is that these service guide dogs do form a bond with their person. We all know people have a dopamine release around their pets, but they now know dogs have a reciprocal release around their person as well.

Be blessed and keep updates coming!

Ok...I'll be the one to address the Elephant in the room....

I don't think that buck in the corner is 13inches....

O.G. said:

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Ok...I'll be the one to address the Elephant in the room....

I don't think that buck in the corner is 13inches....

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lol he was close. One of those deer that I was willing to risk it for

TacosaurusRex said:

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TommyGun said:

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That's a great documentary. We definitely notice a slight separation anxiety in Jackson when Reid is at school and they're apart. When they reconnect at afternoon pickup it's pretty special. That connection is very strong and it formed really quickly.

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Apologies for the silly question, but will Jackson ever start joining Reid at school, or is it not necessary because Reid has everything he needs there?

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So we received Jackson through a guide dog school and he was trained as one, however, he ultimately did not get full certification since they found indications of elbow dysplasia in his medical report. When dogs are not certified or they do not finish training for other reasons this particular school and most others have companion or adoption programs for younger blind children, veterans, and Gold Star families.

So Jackson is not technically a service dog in the sense that Reid relies on him for mobility or some other medical reason. However, the program is meant that Reid can form a bond with Jackson and gain experience as pet owner before he one day has a full time guide dog.

Blind individuals are typically not placed with guide dogs until they are in their teens. Most schools want to see blind people be able to navigate with full independence with a white cane before you are eligible for a guide dog.

Jackson is kind of bridging that gap between now and later when Reid is fully ready for one. However, you can see his training show out while on the leash and out in public. He is comfortable in any social setting and has only barked one time in the six months we have had him.

Honestly his teachers and administrators were a little bummed that Jackson wasn't going to be with him at school. It's one of those things we probably could have asked for, however, as parents we want Reid to build up his own independence first and nail that down.

Glad to see y'all are doing well. My wife is blind, has been blind since a young age, we met at A&M. She has her phd in psychology and runs a mental health practice. Happy to talk anytime about all the issues of blindness from both her perspective and mine. We're also in Houston.

There's big things on the horizon for blind technology. Look up Glideance, its basically an AI powered vacuum looking object that can help blind people get around like a guide dog. My wife had a guide dog when she was younger. They are great for young people.

Look into beep baseball one day when he's a bit older. Its a great sports organization allowing blind people to play baseball. Houston has at least two teams last time we were involved with it.