Dog Days

Blinded at 23 by a genetic eye disease, Vincent Martin—a former Paralympic track-and-field star, now a human-centered computing PhD student at Georgia Tech—at first relied on a cane to navigate his daily life. But, in 2011, he realized he needed more help. Enter Karson. Martin and his trained service dog are a symbiotic team: With the black Laborador helping guide the way, Martin moves through campus, between classes, labs, research sessions and workouts at the Campus Recreation Center on a rigorous schedule—one that also includes playtime, obedience training and lots of walking for Karson. Their day starts at 4:45 a.m. Just try to keep up.

Guiding the Guide

People think the dog is telling you what to do. In actuality, I’m mostly telling him what to do, and he’s following my commands. He gets a combination of commands via hand, voice, and how I control the leash. As soon as I put my hand on his harness, he perks up—he knows we’re ready to move. When I drop the harness, he calms down.

They say dogs can learn an infinite number of commands, and I believe it. Karson now has a command called “Inside.” If there’s a building that we came out of, he’ll find the door and go back to it.

Karson stops at all doors, and when it’s a double door he goes to the door on the right. But if someone has a door on the left open already, Karson will go to it. If the person holding the left door doesn’t say anything, they mess me up. Karson will go straight through the open door and won’t slow down, and I’ll realize it at the last moment and pull my other arm in so I don’t hit the door.

Refueling & Playtime

At 4:30, he eats his second meal of the day, din-din. If he’s asleep under my chair like he should be, at 4:25 he wakes up. Right on the clock. He gives me hell for five minutes—putting his head on my knee, up and down on my shin. Finally at 4:30 I say, “OK, you win!” Everybody in the lab starts laughing. I reach up and get his bowl and I have his food in Ziploc bags. He knows when it’s din-din time.

Karson, by law, can go anywhere with me except a sterile environment. When we’re running a study, I usually put him under the table and tie him up, then put my foot on his leash. We call that controlling the head—if I can control his head I can control most of him.

He’s very welcome on campus. I’ve found that because so many students have had to leave their dogs at home, they just melt when they see Karson. Most people know the rules, to not pet him unless I take the harness off. The harness means he’s working.

At the end of every semester, I take him off leash on the last day of class and let him play with everybody. Occasionally I forget, but they won’t let me. They play with him, he jumps on folks. They have a ball.

Sometimes people see Karson get on the bus and they’re alarmed, but the driver tells them the dog is fine. I’ve had only two people in two-and-a-half years either have to go out the back of the bus, or just couldn’t go past him, so I’ll get off and let them exit.

Care & Keeping

We like to say it’s like having a continuous 3 year old. There’s a part of me that’s always thinking about what he’s doing. I’m 100 percent responsible for his well-being.

I have a water bowl everywhere on campus. There’s one in the lab, one in my locker at the gym. I keep extra food in my gym locker. I keep a rain coat for him in my bag at all times—it was custom-made for him.

I like to walk, and I can do that because I have Karson. We can get up to four miles per hour. Before Karson, it was too hard to walk like that—it’s a real cognitive load to use a cane. Plus, he needs to walk two to three miles per day.

A Special Bond

He’s a great listener, and I mean that sincerely. The level of companionship that he provides for me is hard to explain. It’s amazing how they can tell when something is wrong with you, if you’re tired or not feeling well.

He saved my life last spring—I had just 15 hours of sleep in one week and almost stepped off the curb. He jumped in front of me and pushed me back on the sidewalk. I just sat down and hugged him. He does that kind of stuff. I am literally always thinking about how he’s feeling.

If he’s there for me, I’ll be there for him no matter what. He gets more gifts than anybody at Christmas.

Next Article Previous Article