Now a team we had to learn how to talk to each other. Pet owners think you talk to dogs like they’re small humans. And in truth dogs do like to be praised. But when a dog is your team mate you talk to her in a different way. This talking is an acquired art; a whole body art. In an odd way, this communication between blind handler and guide dog is akin to what some of my autistic friends have experienced. Words are visceral, tremble in air, have colors in your mind, are influenced by instincts. I thought “left” and Corky turned left and I never said the word. Did I turn ever so slightly? Was my girl able to detect the slightest postural shift in me? Maybe? Maybe. But sometimes there was no shift at all. I practiced this. I thought left and made no apparent movement and Corky without a hitch, smooth as an automatic transmission, shifted. We were talking with our respective nervous systems. Even now, ten years after her passing we are still talking. I don’t feel the need to explain this. You’ll have to trust me about the matter. Left.
Planet of the Blind 