Welcome to my channel! Come and learn how I go through my amazing life as an independant horse lover and traveler, with a passion for trains and everything Aussie. I just happen to be blind, but I live without limmits! Join my Guide Dog Penelope and I on our adventures!
I haven’t heard of any handlers that I know here in the US ussing that toilet harness so I wonder if it’s a thing in America or only Australia. It’s great idea because it’s really hard for me to find where my guide goes. When you take h r on the morning walk do you make that relaxing walk for her where she can sniff and you use your cane she’s on leash or do you have her guy do there as well?
-Hey, I'm not completely sure but I think there are a few schools in the states who use toilet harnesses but I'm not sure which ones. Perhaps you could ask your school? I know I would never have a dog who couldn't use one, it's such an important thing to have for me. As for if I use my cane on our walk, yes sometimes. on this particular day, I made Penny work, as she hadn’t worked for a little while. If she has worked the previous day and will be working the next day I will use my cane and let her have a sniff instead. She gets one or two walks a week out of harness.
You have the same talking scales that I do. :) You've actually inspired me to start a proper RU-vid channel myself with similar content. The one big difference is that mine will be in the form of audiodiaries or podcasts rather than videos. As I have never had any sight, I have zero confidence in my filming skills 🤦♀️ Interestingly, your morning routine is fairly similar to my own, though sadly I don't have a cat. I also call my own Penny 'lady Penelope' which is quite funny. I hope you're doing well Mel, and look forward to your next video.
Yes, Pen has been called "Lady Penelope" since puppy training as it was a nickname they gave her which I think suits her very well. I'm very lucky to have my beautiful boy, Zannon, he's 5 years and 6 months, I got him around this time 5 years ago, just before I got Penny. Best of luck with your videos, or recordings, it's a lot of work to make a successful RU-vid channel and I do still make mistakes, mostly with my filming, though I know that there are people who will still watch even though there is the odd bad camera angle here and there :)
Those were some some excellent questions so glad you answered them. I’m the same way when it comes to really find it helpful to be able to have tactile feedback about where I’m stepping into sometimes have my cane on my right or the opposite side of my dog as well. I know it’s typically contraindicated when it comes to formal guiding but I’m glad to hear I’m not the only one that find it to be useful.
I don’t care what other people think, if using my cane when I’m using my Guide dog helps me feel more confident and secure then I’m gonna do it, no matter what. I’m glad you also find this useful. It’s important to feel confident and safe when you’re using your dog to avoid any Unnecessary tension travelling down the harness to the dog.
Another fab video Mel! I really need to try Vegemite one of these days. I’ll need to look for it online as I live in the UK so doubt we be able to find it in a standard supermarket. It sounds really interesting though and looking forward to giving it a try.
Apparently, there is a website that you can get some Australian food staples from in the United Kingdom and Vegemite is one of those but it’s quite expensive.
Yes, not too bad thanks. Mum is currently on holiday in Canada and I've got a chest infection, like I said in the pinned comment, but I'm on meds which are slowly starting to work now which is good. How are you?
Sorry for how sick I sound in this video, I was developing a chest infection when I recorded it. If anybody wants to see accessible features of my home/described decor/rooms in depth, let me know and I will create a video on these in the future.
Yes, I love hearing about people's experiences in other countries too. I've always wanted to go to the US and find out what it's like, I love hearing stories about it from those of you who are over there.
So pleased to see a new video from you Mel! :-) Really interesting to see the similarities and differences between where you live in Australia and where I live in England. It is also fascinating to see from your previous videos that guide dog commands and training is the same in many ways, but very different in others (most notably the use of the toileting harness). I wish Guide Dogs had these over here, it would make that aspect of their care much easier.
Yes, I have another friend from England who has the same opinion about the toilet harness. I think they're a great thing to have and I would not have a dog who didn't use one. It was nice to be able to make a new video for you all, I'm hoping to be able to start putting more videos up more regularly now.
Mel, thank you so much for this video. I discovered your channel a month ago, right after a potential matching meeting with a guide dog which hadn't worked out as the dog in question was slightly too quick. Feeling disheartened but very much still looking forward to eventually being matched I found your channel and watched so many of your videos over a span of a couple of days (including this one). Now, only 4 weeks later I have been matched with a dog (also surprisingly named Penny) and she will be arriving on Friday. I live in the UK and will be training from home, and I have just watched this video again in preparation for a shopping trip tomorrow. Your advice has been gratefully received, and I wanted to let you know that your videos are fantastic.
Hi Lauren, thank you for your lovely comment. I hope your new dog works out well for you and that you have many years of adventures together. If you have any questions let me know. I am glad you enjoy my content and I look forward to your comments in coming videos. Once again, best of luck with your Penny :)
Hello. I am totally blind and completely understand you on how voice over works I’m not too sure if you’re aware Mel that if you’ve got an Apple Watch you can go to the camera remote and you can access your iPhone camera using the watch so if you turn off VoiceOver on iPhone but you access the camera with your watch by pushing record and then push record again with your watch you will not get the recording Come through on your phone
@@melStephens1994 I would like to share my horse videos with you as well as a totally blind person. I don’t own horses but I’m currently doing horse therapy at the moment and I’ve created videos every week.
This particular job was supporting a student with low vision to access his school curriculum and helping the teachers manage changes required to assist the student.
Thanks for your help with this vid Mum. If anyone who can see is wondering why she's tapping everything, it's so that I (completely blind) can try and point the camera at what she's talking about.
a lot of the time I just listen but have my bible app ready to go to look up verces. I can also do a bible study through my phone app, which is pretty cool. When I was doing Youth Group at my church growing up, they emailed me the information for that day's study and I would take it along on my BrailleNote so I had the same handout as the others.
Hi Josh, I'm not really sure how to explain this to you. You will probably be best off attempting a proper cane technique with your left hand, if this is not your dominant hand, before you lead the horse. When leading a horse, as I explained in this video, you will have the lead rope in your right hand, about a foot away from where it attaches to the head collar. You will not be able to use the cane in your right hand because this is the hand with which you guide the horse on where to go. In the left hand you will have the excess lead rope which will mean that you can hold your cane in this hand without any effects on the horse. You will need to try out different ways of holding the rope and your cane together but any way is okay as long as you can still use your cane effectively and as long as you do not wrap the rope around your hand as this can cause injury to your hand if the horse pulls. Also, I would suggest that the instructor watches carefully the reaction of the horse to your cane to make sure it is not worried about the cane. I shouldn't think the horse will have any problem with the cane, if it is a lesson horse, but you will be swinging a white stick around in front of the horse which some of them don't like. I hope that helps and good luck :)
@@melStephens1994 It may be best for me to lead the horse with my cane folded up in my pocket, and maybe have a sided person direct me or perhaps, let the horse guide me somewhat? maybe it can at least guide me enough so I don't run into anything.
Hi again Josh, sorry I only just saw this reply. I would not advise not using your cane unless you are partially sighted and/or know the environment well. Also, do not expect the horse to guide you as it is not trained as a guide dog. Use your cane or a human guide if you cannot use the cane.
Are there any blind people in Australia who use small, 60 to 150 pound 26 to 30 inch tall, miniature horses as guide animals? And are there any people in Australia who make the special harnesses needed for a mini guide horse?
Hi Mel and Penelope!! Its Anny, I met you both on the train last friday. I dont habe instagram so cant dm you but wanted you to know I have subscribed to your chanel. ❤️😍 All the very best with your travel adventures!!
Thanks for sharing your trip, the guy at the end was so caring kept looking back to make sure you're okay. You have wat more confidence than me with full vision lol. Glad you enjoyed the show
Thank you, it was a really good trip and a fantastic show! I suppose, I have a lot of confidence because I’ve got a lot of really good training behind me, and because most of the places I was travelling I have been to before. I did make mistakes, crossing roads Straight when you are completely blind is a problem LOL, but I manage pretty well. Yes, he was a very good and helpful conductor at the end there, a lot of them are pretty good but unfortunately sometimes you do get the occasional one who isn’t quite so helpful. Must also point out, it was 1 o’clock in the morning when I got off that train, so it was a little bit spooky!
How do you turn voice over to word mode? I would like to select words and find their meanings in a concordance. Do you recommend a certain Bible app for this?
Hi there, I don't know of a particular app through which you can do this. However, to make VoiceOver read word by word use the voter until it says "words" and then find the sentence you'd like to hear and flick down with one finger to hear each individual word. I hope that makes sense.
I currently use YouVersion, but I am looking for an app that has a concordance with it as well. Do you recommend an app with a concordance? I downloaded the blue letter Bible, but I’m not sure how to switch VoiceOver into word mode to be able to select a word that I would like to look up in the concordance. Can you help with this?
Hi I had a dream of a blind woman reading the Bible last night in the verse she was reading was Isaiah 53:5 he was wounded for are transgressions and she was crying while reading. I know this may be irrelevant but I wanted to search about it. God bless you
To answer the question about whether the US guide dog schools use "toileting "harnesses, yes, some due to an extent. For example, The Seeing Eye will issue them to students if requested. I don't know about other schools, but I do know that other handler/owner trainers also use them. We call them relieving harnesses here. The lady who makes them is Julie Johnson from On The Go Gear, and it was she who developed the style that Seeing Eye uses. It might cost more because of shipping, but perhaps she would be able to ship one or two for Rachel to the UK. They are handy, but I don't use them all the time, as it's just much faster to pick up the traditional way. But a rellieving harness does come in very handy when there is a lot of snow on the ground. You could also possibly find someone to make one.
Thank you, that is really good to know and some awesome information! I’m glad to hear that some schools over there have adopted the toilet, or relieving harness. I hope you and the puppy are well.
Aww such a great vid. I’m one of Rachel’s friends from England and I very much remember her hatred of learning braille in school 😂😂😂. Thank you for sharing xxx
Thank you for watching the video, it is lovely to hear that a friend of Rachel’s from England has enjoyed the video, we had a lot of fun! Yes, sometimes, when you are learning Braille at school amongst cited peers, it can be very overwhelming and upsetting
