Working Hard-- I recently returned to Pittsburgh with a new guide dog. What this means to me is that right now I am working really hard. So, I’ve had guide dogs before, shouldn’t this be easy? Well, that may be true for lots of people and really, I only know myself but, bringing a new dog into my life does not come naturally to me. I would imagine it would be like having or adopting a new child. I am not naturally consistent. I work in the arts and sometimes have odd hours. I travel. I have some useable vision and tend to think that I am right about the best way to go. I do not do the same thing every day. I eat out a lot. Basically for a dog, with a schedule, my day to day operation is a mess. So, I am trying to adapt and have more normal hours, to be really consistent, to trust this new pup, etc. This is not something that makes sense to most of the people in my life so, I answer lots of questions, which I do not mind at all but, as most of this new dog stuff is bran new to a lot of people in my life questions happen frequently. Another quirk of mine is that I am extremely forgiving and patient with others but, I am really tough on myself. Perfectionist is not the right word but, I expect a lot out of myself and when I am not delivering to my standards I get internally annoyed. I have also always been one of those people who just gets things and in this, dog training, I have to work harder than normal. This May not sound particularly positive to a lot of you but, in my opinion, knowing yourself is a part of being a positive person.