guide Dogs for the Blind

The following story was contributed by Jenny. It details a defining moment with her second guide dog from guide Dogs for the Blind. It is here in her own words.

It was a cold rainy Saturday afternoon and I found myself sitting at a table overlooking the ice skating rink in a large shopping mall in Clackamas, Oregon. The mall was packed to the rafters with people who had nothing better to do with a cold rainy Saturday afternoon then to come in out of the rain and spend extravagant amounts of money

Normally I would avoid the packed shopping malls like the plague. The large promenade crowded with trees, benches, water fountains and loud hordes of people pushing and shoving each other to flock towards the loud flashing neon signs shouting, ”SALE! SALE! BUY NOW! NO MONEY DOWN!” Like lemmings to the sea, always put me on edge. The poor lighting and sheer loudness of such places made it a drudgery rather than a joy for me to go to the shops. I would more often than not give the weekend ventures to the shopping mall a pass, telling myself that I didn’t really need a new pair of shoes, never-mind the pair I had right then was wearing a hole in the toe or that the sole of the shoe was flapping every time I took a step.

“Ok, Jenny it’s your turn to go out.” Anne O’Connor, one of the instructors said as she helped Trent and his yellow lab guide dog Tutor, back to their seat.

“Okay, Fleming, come…” I said as I reluctantly stood up and called Fleming to my left side. I wasn’t sure; even after two and a half weeks of working with Fleming that he really could guide me through a throng of rain crazed shoppers. I gripped the handle of the young golden retriever’s harness and said “Fleming forward.” He took off like a shot and expertly dodged and weaved a path through what for me seemed to be a solid wall of flesh.

His harness creaked as he leaned into it, where there was no path large enough for us to pass, he would stop and glower and grumble at what ever it was blocking our path until the way was clear. As we progressed through the mall I became totally awe struck at how much work had gone into the education of this dog that was guiding me. I say educated in place of trained because, as far as guide work goes it is something that is taught rather than trained.

A trained dog will obey a given command with out much thought, an educated dog, will process a given command and if it is safe, then they will carry it out. For example if you were at a street crossing with a trained dog and gave him the command to go forward he would without giving it a second thought, never mind that there was a car speeding up the road in front of him. Granted, the dog would most likely get out of the way of the car but would unlikely protect you from the car.

On the other hand, say you were at a street crossing with an educated dog, same setup; you give the command to proceed. If the educated dog spies a speeding car they will refuse to cross. This is called intelligent disobedience. It means that the dog will not go through with a command unless it is safe for both dog and partner. Additionally, an educated dog, will step between the partner and speeding car to push the partner out of the way if a car comes from out of nowhere and the team has started crossing the road.

After returning from the shopping mall, I sat in my clean, warm comfortable bedroom at Guide Dogs for the Blind thinking about Fleming and of my retired guide Gerard and how they became such wonderful guides…

A large majority of pups come directly from the breeding stock at Guide Dogs for the Blind, GDB, while some come from the shared breeding stock of other guide dog schools in the country. A small number of dogs are donated to the school from outside breeders.

The pups spend the first eight weeks of their life at GDB’S main campus located in San Rafael, California. During this time the pups live in the kennels with their mother and littermates. They play with each other, other pups in the kennels, kennel staff and once a week with other people who come in to test the pups.

The job of the puppy testers is to see how the pups react to a number of things. Walking on different surfaces, having things role past them, walking up and down steps, reacting to sounds and to other things that may be a key in whether or not they will grow up to be guide dogs.

At around eight weeks of age, the pups are given to volunteer families called puppy raisers. These raisers take the pups into their homes for about one year. In that year the raiser families take the pups to work, school, out to the movies, to do the food shopping for the week and to just about every type of social situation one can imagine. This is to get the pups used to going about in public, to go into a shop or to an office or classroom for the day. This is called socializing the puppy.

Additionally, the pups are taken to obedience classes and to monthly or bimonthly meetings of the puppy-raising group. The Puppy Raiser Leader, trained by Guide Dogs for the Blind, will visit with each member in his or her puppy raiser club each month to make a report to the school of the pup’s progress. While in the puppy raiser’s home, some pups are career changed or dropped from the program because they are not suited for guide service, due to behavior trouble, illness, or allergies.

Once a year Guide Dogs for the Blind holds a Fun Day to honor the puppy raisers. They come from the seven Western states, the region of the country that raises pups for GDB. This Fun Day gives the raisers a chance to meet, swap puppy stories, and attend workshops given by the training department and to bring pups back for their formal guide work training. This very important training can take between four and six months plus up to an additional month of training with the dog’s blind partner.

Let me pause here to explain why I refer to the dog’s person as his or her partner. When a guide dog team is working they do it as a team. It’s never just the dog doing all the work or the person doing all the work. It is a team effort, a partnership. The blind person directs the dog through a series of right, left, forward and halt commands to get from point A to point B. The dog looks and watches for anything that could pose a threat to the safety of the team. These dangers could range from a child’s toy left lying in the middle of the sidewalk, to an over head obstacle such as a tree branch or sign, to the ultimate danger, speeding cars with inattentive drivers at the wheel.

Training for the dog starts out simple. The trainer works with the dog and gets him used to walking in a straight line and to stop at curbs. As time goes on the dog is introduced to the harness. The harness fits around the dog’s belly and across the back and has a chest strap. A stiff U shaped handle attaches to the harness via rings on both sides of the harness. Depending upon which program the dog is from, the connection may be made with a series of s rings, which was the case of my retired guide dog, Gerard’s harness. This gives the handle a lot of play and some people find it hard to quickly read their dog’s movements. Fleming’s harness, like many other guide dog schools’ harnesses has a removable handle that attaches very tightly to the body by means of a quick link. This reduces the amount of play and many people find it much easier to read their dog’s movements.

The Seeing Eye, the first and oldest dog guide training program in the United States and Fidelco Guide Dogs, an east coast school that trains German Shepherds exclusively, has an additional strap that runs from the chest strap between the dog's front legs to the belly strap. This is called a martingale and is used to stabilize the harness when the dog is working.

As the training progresses the tasks the dog is asked to do become more and more complex. When a dog is issued to a blind person he will know how to stop for any changes in elevation, look out for overhead obstacles or those obstacles that he and his partner are unable to clear together, to watch for cars or other dangerous things and to disobey any guide work command if it is unsafe to proceed.

Once the dog has been found able to perform all the requirements of a fully trained guide dog they are deemed class ready. This is the last hurtle the dog must go through before being graduated and gaining the rights of a working service dog.

While the dogs are undergoing their training, trainers from GDB are going about the country to applicants’ homes to conduct an in-home interview. This interview helps the trainers to assess the applicant’s ability to use and need for a guide dog. Questions such as the applicant’s idea of what a guide dog will do for them and what they expect from their new dog are asked. Orientation and mobility skills, the skills used by a blind person to safely go about the environment, are observed and a short Juno walk is taken.

Juno is a fictional name of a dog used by a majority of the guide training programs in the states that represents a guide dog. Juno is played by the trainer and does everything that a real guide dog would, right down to becoming distracted in harness and disobeying obedience commands. These actions help the student learn what to do when their dog acts up and how to follow what their dog is telling them via the harness handle.

Once the student’s medical information, references, interview information and needs are reviewed by the admissions department and the student is accepted for training at GDB a letter is sent telling of the assigned class date. Closer to the time of training the plane tickets for the student along with any other information are sent.

For first time students at GDB, an in residents stay of a full 28 days is mandatory. For those students who have worked with guides before, they are able to train for either a two or three week stay or they may take part in the full four week program.

Regardless of which training program the student chooses, all students at GDB are trained in how to care for their dog, how to give commands and use the lead, training collar and harness and to work safely and effectively with their dog.

For the students of the four-week training coarse the first three and a half days spent at the school are spent doing hands on Juno work and attending lectures. The afternoon of the third day the students are presented with their dogs and the rest of that day is spent getting to know their new partners. For the students of the shorter training times they meet their dog the day after arriving to the school or in some cases the very day they arrive at school.

Just like the dogs’ training, training for the students starts off simple and progresses to more complex routs until the teams are working independent of the trainers. If a student becomes lost or needs help the trainers will step in and while the students may not always see the trainers, the trainers are always within watching distance of the students.

The last Saturday of training is a very special day. It is graduation and the efforts of the class pay off. The new partners meet their dogs’ puppy raisers and are presented their dogs in a formal graduation ceremony. Graduation day is not the end of GDB’s commitment to the team.

For the first two years that a team is out working in the field and after the team has been together for about six years a yearly follow up visit is scheduled in the graduate’s home or place of work. A trainer comes out to see how the team is doing and in the case of the older teams helps the graduate know when retirement is near. A yearly vet allowance is also given to the team and to retired guide dogs as well.

A lot of love, time and work go into the education of a guide dog but for those blind people who choose to work with a dog it is very much worth it.