JRN 423: Leader Dogs

Leader dogs for the Blind.

First the video I am submitting is my final project for the class. It is a video about leader dog puppy raisers. Its all about what it takes to be a puppy raiser and what kind of things the puppies goes through.

Leader Dog Puppy Raisers

Leader Dogs for the Blind is a group out of Rochester Hills, Michigan that arranges, trains, and prepares dogs for a working life. These dogs help the blind do what we would consider simple tasks and go from place to place. What some people tend to not think about is how the dogs get there.

Raising Puppies is probably one of the hardest jobs of this process. It is at eight weeks when puppies get enrolled to be trained for their future as a leader dog. For the first year of their life they are raised by volunteer puppy raisers, which are approved by Leader Dogs for the Blind. The role of a puppy raiser is important because it is the raisers that teach the puppies basic obedience, to socialize, and recognize when they are working.

Future leader dogs often wear a bandana or a vest accompanied by a puppy tag to indicate that they are leader dogs in training and that they are working. When the puppies have these two things on, it is than people are not allowed to pet them or feed them treats except for their handler. After that first year of training, the puppies go through a physical to see if they are physically able to do the job for the majority of their life. If they don’t pass because of some physical problem that may interfere with their long working life, they become career-changed dogs and they are fit for any other job a dog could do or become someone’s pet. If the dogs are physically fit, than they graduate and they go through another year of training. After training, than they are assigned to a qualified candidate who is ready to receive a leader dog.

Veteran puppy raisers Judy Brankel, Cindee Shaffer, Tammy Bartz, and Rhonda Wilson talk about what it takes to be puppy raiser and some of the basics they are responsible for teaching the future leader dogs.

Leader Dog Puppy Raisers from Joseph Tobianski on Vimeo.

The second video was going to be on of the segments for the entire project, but since our professor cut down the project, he said anything other than the one video is extra credit. Here is segment 2, Leader Dog Graduate for extra credit.

Leader Dog Graduate from Joseph Tobianski on Vimeo.

I hope to continue this project in the near future and make it into a multi media piece. You can find these videos on the Leader Dogs for the Blind website in the near future.

Take Me Out To The Ball Game

I had a chance to make it to the first two home games of the Detroit Tigers. The first day, not to much went on because of the weather. Game 2 of the series is a different story. This year is the year of the tiger according to the Chinese zodiac. So the weather was nice in Game 2, the festivities were rolling.

These pictures and more are in Grand Central Magazine.

Second Baseman Scott Sizemore pops out, but it still a nice photo.

Dale, who also came in for the Frozen Four, sat right behind me, beat me to the foul ball and managed not to spill his beer. Every time a there was a foul ball, everyone in our section started to scream "Dale!" to catch it. It was a running joke for the rest of the game.

Dancing and fun before during the pre-game festivities.

Fans from the Frozen Four came to enjoy the nice day and kill time before the final game that night.

Paws messing around during the pre-game festivities.

Pitcher Ryan Perry to First Baseman Miguel Cabrera for an out.

High fives all around.

JRN 423 Project 1: 25 Years of Fish Fry

Fish Fry from Joseph Tobianski on Vimeo.

This is a video I shot for my Online Visual Storytelling class. It is the first video project I did outside of class.

JRN 423 Final Project Proposal

For my final project, I would like to do Leader Dogs for the Blind in Rochester, MI. It is a group of people who train dogs to help blind people get around town. I would like to interview trainers, the recipients of the trained dogs, businesses that allow the dogs and trainers come into their business but do not allow other pets to enter, people who breed the dog or where the dogs come from. Basically follow along what process the dog goes through to become leader dogs.

http://www.leaderdog.org/

Portfolio Website

http://gc.kentmiller.com/tobianski

I have been creating this website for my Online Visual Storytelling class. It took some time, but with the patience of my professor and fellow classmates, I got through it. It is a portfolio of all my work to date.

Comments and suggestions are appreciated about the website and content.

Cloud Magic and Macpodz Show.

I was covering this show for Grand Central Magazine. Here are some of the photographs I took when covering the event.

Annual Boyne Ski Trip

Every year I go to Boyne Highlands. This year I brought my camera along. These are the ones I picked out.

I know I am in the last picture. That was intentional.

JRN 423: Coach The Michael Willett Story

US Botanical Gardens

I went to the US Botanical Gardens during my Christmas Break Vacation in Washington DC. Getting back and looking at all the photos I took, it was apparent that I haven't picked up the camera in a while. There was some decent shots I came up with.

Specs of the camera setting coming soon.

The first picture I really enjoy because of the colors that came out. For a larger size of this image, just contact me.

This second shot I cropped down a lot, but I got it the way I liked it. Because I cropped it down so much, this is as big as the picture comes.