Ask Before You Touch—

NHS Welcomes First-Ever Guide Dog

By Larissa Lytwyn

Though he may look downright irresistible with his sleek blue-black coat and huge, almond-shaped eyes, if you spy Pedro, a 2-year-old Labrador retriever, in and around Newtown High School, do not touch or pet him without asking first.

That is because Pedro is a very special kind of “man’s best friend”; he is a newly trained working guide dog.

Pedro’s owner is 17-year-old Newtown native Alex Snow, a legally blind 17-year-old senior at Newtown High School.

Alex was diagnosed with Leber’s congenital amaurosis when he was an infant. It is a genetic disorder in which the retinas are underdeveloped, thus curbing information from being transmitted to the optic nerve.

“He was just a few months old and I noticed that his eyes weren’t focused,” recalls his mother, Geri Snow.

At first, the doctor brushed her off.

“But then he tried to cause Alex’s pupils to dilate with light and they didn’t respond,” she remembers. “That’s when I knew there was a problem.”

The Snows adopted Alex; information on Alex’s birth family is virtually unknown.

The Snows also have a son, Christopher, 14, who will be a freshman at Newtown High School this year.

“These kinds of things that happen, like Alex’s condition, can really break a family or bring it closer together,” said Ms Snow. “It was very difficult in the beginning.”

Like most people who are legally blind, Alex is not completely sightless — he can make out shapes and shadows. He also has nystagmus, a condition that causes his eyes to involuntarily shift in random patterns.

And, like many legally blind individuals, Alex quickly became functionally self-reliant.

He has always enrolled in regular classes, learning with the aid of lessons pretranslated into Braille. He has also been extensively involved in mobility training with longtime instructor John Waiculonis.

Now, as college looms, Alex has been learning that he must become even more self-sufficient.

“We can’t get the [college] texts translated into Braille for him,” said Ms Snow. “He will have to do it himself” — a skill he is not learning.

College campuses in unfamiliar towns or cities will undoubtedly be a new, larger environment for Alex.

“So we thought about getting a guide dog,” said Ms Snow, “that would make Alex be even more autonomous.”

Alex admitted he was a bit hesitant at the suggestion.

“I’m a cat person,” he explained. The Snows have three cats, Crayons, Skittles, and Susie.

“But, I thought about it more,” he continued. “I realized it would be a good idea. It would help me be able to do even more, especially in college and through life.”

Typically, guide dogs are provided to individuals in need that are ages 18 and up. The Snows initially considered applying for a guide dog in the hectic summer between high school graduation and college.

Ultimately, the Snows decided to apply for a dog just before his senior year of high school, providing ample training time before college.

Alex underwent a two-hour interview with a consultant for Guiding Eyes for the Blind, a Yorktown Heights, N.Y.-based nonprofit organization that matches guide dogs with visually impaired owners. Younger applicants are generally discouraged from acquiring guide dogs because the creature is viewed more as a pet than a work partner. But Alex was considered exceptionally mature for his age and was approved.

It costs approximately $40,000 to train a guide dog — all at no expense to the prospective owner. The cost is covered through fundraising and donations.

About 500 dogs are raised each year at Guiding Eyes for the Blind’s own whelping center in Patterson, N.Y. Pedro was reared in a jail through a program called Puppies Behind Bars.

Not all dogs go on to become guide dogs.

While Pedro was an ideal selection because of his gentle, even temperament, more fiery, high-energy canines are rejected as guide dogs and transferred to area adoption centers.

Alex spent the month of July at the Yorktown Heights facility learning how to work with his new partner, Pedro.

The training, Alex said, was very thorough. He learned to navigate the complex streets of Manhattan as well as sections of White Plains and Poughkeepsie, teaching Pedro how to respond to his commands with distinct sounds and phrases.

Mistakes were corrected with a gentle tug of the leash.

On July 31, Alex and Pedro returned to the Snow residence.

While Skittles, Susie, and Crayons are still learning to adjust, Ms Snow said the family often forgets that quiet, reliable Pedro is there.

“We’re both still learning to work together as a team,” Alex said. “We both mistakes, but we’re both steadily making progress.”

While Alex said he has suffered no real difficulties throughout his education in the Newtown public school system, he acknowledges that a guide dog will be a new experience for Newtown High School.

Guide Dog Etiquette

“Some people may know that you can’t just go right up and pet Pedro like he is just a regular dog,” said Ms Snow. “But some of the younger students may not be as aware.”

Maureen Mas, chair of the special education department at Newtown High School, said she was “excited” when Ms Snow discussed the possibility of Alex getting a guide dog in July.

“He’s a great person,” said Ms Mas. “I know he would be able to handle the responsibilities [associated with a guide dog] well.”

Kathleen Mooney of Guiding Eyes for the Blind will be hosting two 20-minute assemblies orienting students on approaching Pedro at Newtown High School in September.

Ms Mooney is also meeting with high school faculty and administration for a 30-minute orientation on August 27.

Alex will definitely be present at the student assemblies; he may attend the faculty one.

“The school system has always been deeply supportive of Alex,” Ms Snow said.

Alex has been trained on how to handle people who approach Pedro inappropriately.

“When Pedro is in his harness and we are outside in public together, or at school, he is in work mode,” Alex said. “If someone starts petting him, I just explain that he is not a regular pet and cannot be touched.” Thus, he encourages people to ask him if they can pet Pedro before actually touching the dog.

“If someone asks me, I can have Pedro sit under a certain command that lets him know that, at the moment, he is not working and can be petted,” said Alex. “But it’s really important to ask first.”

Otherwise, he said, Pedro can become distracted and lead Alex into a dangerous situation — perhaps guiding him into an open intersection or in the opposite direction of the way he needs to go.

Under Access Laws: A Handbook for Guide Dog Users, Connecticut statutes allow Pedro and Alex onto all public property, including restaurants, hotels, amusement parks and stores, and public transportation, including trains and buses.

Refusal to let Alex and Pedro pass, or, in driving situations, refusing to slow if someone that is legally blind — indicative through their holding a white cane with a red dot or being accompanied by a harnessed guide dog — can result in a class C misdemeanor.

In school, Ms Snow said, “People just have to learn that Pedro is not going to be the dog that can catch the Frisbee at lunchtime.”

Alex said it was particularly important for him to pass freely through the halls during passing time so that he could reach all his classes on time — and in the right location.

“People just have to be sure they ask first if they can pet Pedro,” said Alex. “I’m a little nervous about the school year, but I am sure that everything will work out fine and fall into place.”

Ms Snow said she is excited about the increase in “diversity” the presence of Pedro will introduce.

“This will be a definite real-world experience,” she said, “for everyone.”

For more information about how to appropriately accommodate the legally blind, particularly those with guide dogs, visit the Guiding Eyes for the Blind website at www.guidingeyes.org.