A Day in the Life of Jonathan and Lady……

"How Do They= Do It?" By: Ruth Ely

A Day in the Life= of Jonathan and Lady……<= o:p>

The alarm sounded, Lady's ears perked up and her owner began to stir. Another typical day had begun in this household. But this household was not so typical -- Lady is a guide dog - a female yellow Labrador retriever - and her owner, Jonathan Sm= ith, is blind. She is his "eyes" as well as his loving companion. Lady would soon start her working day, but first, it was breakfast time and time= to make her morning trip outdoors. This was all done on cue, Lady knew she couldn't dawdle - after all, Jonathan has to be to work on time and it's her job to make it happen. Finally, everyone is dressed for the day, Jonathan in his suit and Lady in her working outfit (a harness and a leash) and it's ti= me to get on with business. Lady loves the trip to Jonathan's office - it's cl= ose enough so they can walk. It's also when all the training Lady received is p= ut into practice. They approach a curb and she stops to make sure there's no traffic coming; someone has left a big box right in the middle of the sidew= alk and Lady carefully guides Jonathan around it; another dog approaches but La= dy doesn't pay attention, she's working and there's no time for that. All their friends greet them, even the elevator operator in that big building where Jonathan works. For the rest of the day, except when Jonathan goes out to a meeting or to lunch, Lady has a special spot under his desk where she stays. Sometimes people come into the office and greet her - she has to let them k= now it's okay to pet her then because she isn't really working - her harness and leash are sitting on the chair next to the desk. Before you know it, the da= y is over and it's evening. This is pretty much how it goes each day - except on weekends, of course, when there is much more "outdoor activity." = But for now, it's time to go home, or maybe to meet people at a restaurant for dinner - but in the end, it's always back home, time to go to sleep and sta= rt a "new day."

On a Saturday afternoon of each month, 12 to 14 blind or visually impaired men and women graduate from Guiding Eyes for the Blind in Yorktown Heights as members of guide dog teams. Most of the dogs are bred at the Guiding Eyes Breeding Cen= ter, all are trained by Guiding Eyes professionals, and 95% are Labrador Retriev= ers.

Breeding and Early Tests

  The Bree= ding Center, located on 30 acres of land in Patterson, New York, oversees the whelping of approximately 500 puppies each year. A state-of-the-art cryogen= ics laboratory allows the introduction of new bloodlines from other quality gui= de dog schools throughout the world, thus producing superior dogs.
  Most of the seeing-eye Labradors are black and yellow; but other colors include occasional chocolates, black and tans, and brindles (dark streaks or flecking). The last two colors are mismark colors the general pu= blic is not ordinarily as aware of. Lee Nordin, Puppy Program Director of the Breeding Center says "Guiding Eyes focuses its selection criteria on g= ood health and temperament rather than color, therefore even colors not accepte= d in the show ring are acceptable as guide dogs."
  Socialization begins when the pups are one week old. Volunteers come into the whelping kennel at the Breeding Center, sit in the whelping p= en and massage and handle the puppies so they become accustomed to human conta= ct. The kennel staff also provides human contact, but volunteers give the puppi= es direct massage.
  From there, the pups go into the early socialization rooms where volunteers give them more massage and more direct handling, introducing the puppies to a simulated home setting. There are two socializing rooms with t= wo different environments as well as an outdoor gym. It's important for the puppies to experience different situations, and this gives the puppies three different environments to rotate through. Early socialization is a critical component in developing the genetic potential and building the human-animal bond necessary for guide dogs.
  At 6 weeks the pups stay overnight in the homes of socializers = for anywhere from 2-3 days up to a week depending upon the time commitment the volunteers can provide.
   By the time they reach the age of 7 weeks, the pups are ready = for their first test. They are tested a minimum of two times, sometimes three. = These tests evaluate the pups confidence, handling, and assess their qualities - = do they have the genetic material to become guide dogs? There are 11 different tests such as body handling to judge how relaxed the puppies are; how they react to different noises and how comfortably they come up to the noise and check it out on their own; or stress tests such as opening an umbrella in f= ront of them. These are followed by a positive experience such as playing with a= toy duck. Some puppies chase after the duck, or will be afraid and need coaxing= as they're not sure what it is, but some come right up to it with no hesitatio= n. If puppies show any concern on their first tests, they are sent out for a f= ew more days of socializing with specific areas and things to work on. Then it= 's back for the second test.
  They are rated on a scale of 1-5. Puppies with 1's and 2's are releasable to adopters on Guiding Eyes long waiting list. Puppies with scor= es of 3's, 4's, 5's are ready to continue on through the program. The majority= of puppies are rated as 4's, with 5's being the exception.

       &nbs= p;            &= nbsp;           &nbs= p;         The Foster Home

At about= 8 weeks, they're ready to be sent to a puppy raiser. Approximately 375 new puppies are placed with volunteers each year. The puppy raisers, 550 famili= es from Maine to North Carolina, are a very special group of volunteers. They = all have one thing in common - they share their love and time to help a blind person by giving their Guiding Eyes puppy a special upbringing. They are responsible for teaching and providing a well-socialized dog that is capabl= e of working as a guide dog.
The dog is taught good manners and the basic commands: sit, sta= y, come, let's go and get busy (go to the bathroom.) Their house manners need = to be impeccable; they need to be a companion that you can live with; and they need to be comfortable in different situations, such as different kinds of floors, surfaces, and different levels of traffic. And puppy raisers must re-enforce these lessons on a daily basis.

Testing and Formal Training

  After th= e dogs have matured, at about 16-20 months of age, they return to the Guiding Eyes Training Center for a formal in-for-training test. Russ Post, Senior Vice President, Training says, "the in-for-training tests gauge the dogs' reactions to new environments, and new handlers. This test is only to screen out those dogs that have no potential. Test results correlate highly, but n= ot absolutely, to success in training."
  Not all the dogs make it. Those that don't are either given bac= k to their puppy raisers, to one of the people on the waiting list for these dog= s, or placed in other working careers such as detection work with the United States or foreign governments, or pet therapy.
  But sometimes another kind of life awaits them. Such is the cas= e of Onyx. Some dogs are so remarkable they are just meant to be brood dogs. This black female lab born on March 1,1998, soon began a life that would follow a special and different path from her littermates. After passing the initial puppy tests at age 7 weeks, she was welcomed into the home of one of Guiding Eyes youngest volunteer puppy raisers, 11 year-old Chelsea.
  After finishing her training in basic manners and obedience, On= yx was returned to Guiding Eyes in Yorktown Heights. But, as it turned out, instead of continuing her training to become a guide dog, she was selected = to be a brood dog and is living with a volunteer family in Connecticut. Onyx h= as now become one of the special dogs that help Guiding Eyes produce the exceptionally high-quality puppies that will someday serve blind people as guide dogs.
  After passing the in-for-training test, the dogs start formal training with a professional instructor. Russ Post, the head of the Training Department in Yorktown Heights, oversees a staff of 12 instructors and 3 supervisors. For a minimum of 4 months, the dogs are taught how to move forward, left, right, stop for changes in elevation, stop before street crossings, and allow room on the right for their handlers to walk safely (avoiding both obstacles and path/sidewalk edge.) They are taught the obedi= ence commands of come, down, sit, and stay. No special equipment is used - just a harness and a leash. After this training period is over, the dogs are ready= for the next step - to meet their new partners.
  To qualify for the Guiding Eyes program, students must be legal= ly blind, at least 16 years of age, and physically and psychologically able to care for a dog. There is no maximum age limit. Students are carefully evalu= ated and then assigned a dog to match his/her temperament and energy level, home, school/college or work environments.
  Each month students arrive at the Guiding Eyes Training Center, located in an 18th century renovated landmark house on scenic acreage in Yo= rktown Heights, New York, to begin preparing for their new lives. For the first two days, the students are encouraged to relax, to investigate, and become comfortable with their new surroundings. Then on the third day, it's time to meet their new guide dog. And…from that moment on…they become a student/guide dog team, spending every waking moment together, sleeping in = the same room, never leaving each other's side.
  The student/guide dog team, along with a Guiding Eyes instructo= r, then start training together for 26 days. Training begins at a low-keyed pa= ce - on the school campus and along quiet streets. It's a reprise of the obedien= ce training the dog has already gone through with escalating complexity of rou= tes and environments in Yorktown Heights, Mt. Kisco, and White Plains. Then on = the Thursday before graduation the ultimate test is a trip to Manhattan. Studen= ts go by train to Grand Central Station to experience New York's sidewalks, bu= ses, subways, and traffic (both people and cars.) This is an exciting opportunity and helps the students to gain complete confidence in their dogs.

Graduation

  After 26= days both the students and dogs have finished training and are ready to graduate= and begin their new lives together. The graduation ceremony is held on a Saturd= ay at the Guiding Eyes campus in Yorktown Heights. Puppy raisers are invited to attend and are reunited with the dogs they came to love (and found extremely hard to give up.) But they soon come to realize they have helped in a very special way - to give someone the incredible gift of freedom and independen= ce that comes from a loving Guiding Eyes companion.
  A guide dog's working life typically is 7 to 10 years; some work longer. But when the dogs have health problems or begin to show signs of st= ress, Guiding Eyes finds them new homes. They either remain with their owners who choose to keep them as pets, or are sent to other loving families looking f= or older dogs. Either way, the dogs live out their lives in much the same way = they did as guide dogs, continuing to give love and companionship to those they = live with.
  Guiding Eyes for the Blind graduates approximately 160 guide dog teams per year, and 95% of them are labs. In addition, about 25 dogs are selected each year for the breeding program to carry on the next generation= of guide dogs. These brood dogs are the "cream of the crop" in terms= of their genetic potential to produce healthy pups with good temperaments. Labs are chosen as guide dogs because they consistently demonstrate an ability t= o adapt to the variety of work environments required. Calm, stable, confident - the= se qualities are essential in a guide dog. They are the qualities that contrib= ute to making the owner/guide dog relationship a trusting, lasting and loving o= ne, allowing the blind person the opportunity to lead an independent and succes= sful life.

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Sidebar:

Guiding Eyes was fou= nded in 1954 upon a simple and beautiful premise - to enrich the lives of blind = and visually impaired men and women. Since that time it has graduated more than 5,700 guide dog teams. Although it costs approximately $30,000 for each gui= de dog team to graduate, all of Guiding Eyes services are provided free of cha= rge. Guidng Eyes receives no government support, but relies upon the generosity = of individuals, corporations, foundations and organizations. It also relies on volunteers - the puppy socializers, the puppy raisers, and the many other volunteers that help provide the many services Guiding Eyes offers. =

For more information= :
Guiding Eyes for the Blind
611 Granite Springs Road
Yorktown Heights, N. Y. 10598
Tel: 914-245-4024 or 800-942-0149
Website: www.guiding-eyes.org