Guide Dog Training

Hi everyone,

I hope you enjoyed our program this Monday morning. We talked about Guide Dog training and how you can be a volunteer host for a puppy, but also how businesses need to be aware of the animals in training. The handlers need the cooperation of the business owners by letting them bring the dogs into their place of business just as they would if the handler was blind and the dog was already trained. These dogs in training need to learn the social skills and be acclimated to all types of situations in order to perform their duties as Guide Dogs when they are placed in service with a person that is blind. If you have any questions or would like to be a volunteer, please call Rick or Joan Ackerman. They are located in Boaz and their number is (256)593-2239 or you can go the Southeastern Guide Dogs website...www.guidedogs.org.
These folks do a wonderful job and they need our help.

Thanks for watching Newschannel 19 This Morning and for reading our blog. Please feel free to send me any comments at robert.reeves@whnt.com.

Robert

Back Surgery Update

Hi everyone, long time no see. As you know we were out for back surgery and I want to give you an update. Everything so far has been great. Dr. Gil Aust with TOC/The Spine Center did my surgery on August 1st. The procedure was the fusion of a vertebrae because it had slipped forward and was pressing on the nerve running down my left leg. Dr. Aust had to use two titanium screws to pull the vertebrae back into position and then add some packing to re-establish the proper distance between the vertebrae. He also added bone grafts on each side to solidify the fusion. I spent three days in Huntsville Hospital and had excellent care to help put me on the road to recovery. I left the hospital with strict orders from Dr. Aust to not do anything stupid, like twisting quickly or picking up something that weighed more than a plate of food, but also to get out and start walking everyday. My goal was to get up to two miles a day which I have been at for almost two weeks now. Honestly, I can't believe how good I feel and how free of pain I am since the surgery. If you have any questions, please feel free to e-mail me or better than that, contact Dr. Aust at The Spine Center .

If you'd like to see a clip of our interview on the morning show, click here.