Date: Fri 11-Jul-1997

Publication: Bee

Author: SHANNO

Quick Words:

Rodia-Octave-guide-dogs-Vivian

Full Text:

Guiding Puppies Into A Legacy Of Responsibility

(with photos)

BY SHANNON HICKS

Bob and Barbara Rodia are self-confessed animal lovers. The couple has had

animals - cats and dogs - around their home for years. Right now there are two

cats (Bear and So-So) and two dogs (Octave and Vivian) living with the couple

in their Palestine Road residence.

The dogs are more than part of the family. The two black Labrador Retrievers

living at the Rodias' Palestine Road residence, Octave and Vivian, are special

dogs in their own right. Octave, who is 2« years old, is a brood dog who has

litters of puppies that most likely will go on to become seeing eye dogs.

Octave has so far given birth two very healthy litters of puppies. Her first

litter, born last August, had six puppies; the second, born in April, had

eight puppies (three males, five females).

Brood dogs give birth from two heats in a row and are then given a one-year

rest period.

Because they all look so similar, the puppies have small tattoos - actually

small spots on their coats that are shaved into distinct shapes - so their

owners can tell them apart. The mother needs no tattoo to tell her children

apart, of course.

Raising Pups To

Be Guiding Eyes

The Rodias do not yet own Octave, even though she has lived in Newtown for

most of her life. At present, the dog legally belongs to Guiding Eyes for the

Blind, a New York State breeding and training school for seeing eye dogs. But

Bob and Barbara have already been promised they will be allowed to adopt the

beautiful black lab once her days of delivering litters of pups are over.

A feature story a few years ago in The Newtown Bee turned the couple on to the

New York State breeding school. The couple adopted Octave while she was a

puppy. At the time, they still had their Doberman, named Taura.

Taura was quite old for a dog, and the Rodias had not wanted to get another

dog with Taura's health failing. But their vet suggested it would actually be

a good thing for the elder dog to have some young blood around the house.

Taura lived another three months after Octave came to live with the Rodias,

and Bob and Barbara say having Octave around "turned out great."

Guiding Eyes for the Blind was founded in 1954. It is located in Yorktown

Heights, N.Y. The school is considered one of the foremost guide dog training

schools in the country.

Guiding Eyes, according to its literature, offers visually impaired students a

new sense of independence and dignity with the assistance of

professionally-trained guide dogs. Over 160 student-guide dog teams benefit

each year from Guiding Eyes' services. More than 4,500 guide dog teams have

graduated from Guiding Eyes since its establishment.

The Guiding Eyes breeding center is in Patterson, N.Y. Several hundred puppies

are bred there annually. A cryogenic laboratory allows the center to track and

introduce fresh blood lines, producing superior dogs from proven sources.

Three kinds of pure-bred dogs consistently exhibit the characteristics of a

superior guide: Labrador Retrievers, German Shepherds and Golden Retrievers.

Those chosen to be paired with blind partners must be in excellent health and

have proven themselves to be intelligent, dependable, confident and able to

take things in stride.

At eight to ten weeks of age, long before receiving any guide dog training,

each puppy who shows potential for guide dog work is placed with a prescreened

volunteer family. There are more than 500 volunteer raisers along the Eastern

Seaboard, from North Carolina to Maine. The puppies live with their family for

about one year, before training begins.

The families nurture the pups and familiarize them with everyday life

situations, while Guiding Eyes monitors the puppies' progress frequently. The

center presents "puppy socials" every other week, where volunteer owners bring

their pups to the center so the dogs can be around a number of other dogs. The

idea is to make sure the puppies develop into well-adjusted adult dogs.

"They have full control of these dogs," Bob explained. "They do not belong to

us. You have no say over a lot of their life, but you do feel like they're

yours, of course."

"It's a very unselfish thing you do," his wife added. "You know they're going

back, but you love them as your own."

When the puppies return to Guiding Eyes, they are fully evaluated for

temperament and given medical check-ups. After passing these examinations,

formal training begins.

"When these puppies are brought in to be tested," Barbara Rodia said, "they'll

perform all these little maneuvers. They try to spook the pup, they try to

scare them. They want to see their reactions.

"The recovery is what is important. It's normal for a pup to be afraid if you

shake something loud, but if they recover really fast that's fine."

"They'll shoot a gun off, and the dog can't shy away," Bob said. "They'll

bring them down to a train station with a locomotive coming in... Stuff that

would startle most dogs. They have to have no fear of that, and be physically

perfect."

"Watching them get tested, though," Barbara says, "it's like cheering your kid

on at Little League. It's very exciting."

The ones that do not recover quick enough don't make the program, the Rodias

explained. A puppy that fails any single aspect of the pre-training testing is

released from the program immediately. There is an 18-month waiting list for

families eager to adopt these dogs, however, so none are abandoned. All of the

dogs are KC registered.

Dogs are taught right from left, how to lead in a harness, and to lead, rather

than walk, when in a "heel" position. They learn to stop at all curbs and

stairs, and to respond to changes in their surroundings. Over the course of

several months, the dogs learn to assume responsibility for their partners.

Why Octave?

Only three to four percent of the dogs in the program are used as brood

(female) or stud (male) dogs. While the trained guide dogs are matched with

their visually impaired partners across the country, volunteer families of

brood dogs must live within a two-hour diving distance of the Guiding Eyes

center.

When the Rodias first adopted Octave, it was expected she would become a guide

dog. Within a week after her adoption, however, a Guiding Eyes representative

called the couple and told them they were considering moving Octave up to

brood dog status.

Because Octave had a number of siblings, Guiding Eyes trainers had to wait

about a month to make sure none of the siblings showed any negative traits

before Octave would be accepted. Brood dogs must be physically perfect, and

must be totally confident in themselves.

"They really have to be special," Barbara says. "They're very tolerant.

[Octave] accepts everything, she will accept any situation."

"Affectionate, tolerant, flexible," her husband adds. "Independent. And

confidence - I think that's number one."

Octave's father is Sailor, a champion who lives in Avon. He has bred over 400

puppies, and 80 percent - a phenomenal rate - of his children make the

program.

Sailor has been retired from the program, and Guiding Eyes is hoping Octave

will be the link into the next generation of guide dogs through the school. So

far, Guiding Eyes is responsible for 11 generations of seeing eye dogs.

Once a brood or stud retires from service, their name is also retired. They

are immortalized, with their photographs hung on the Guiding Eyes walls, and

no future brood or stud will receive that name.

Octave went to California in February to be artificially inseminated with her

second litter. All dogs are inseminated.

She was gone for two weeks and came home, the Rodias laugh, with jet lag. She

also carried with her the beginnings of her second litter.

"She was out of it for two days," they said.

What will be interesting down the road, say the Rodias, will be watching to

see if, during the course of the Guiding Eyes program, a brood or stud emerges

from one of Octave's litters.

Raising litters of puppies is a lot of work, but the Rodias seem to enjoy all

the added excitement that comes with raising the animals - even for a short

time - along with their mother, Octave.

Bob is president of People's Securities, a subsidiary of People's Bank.

Barbara, who worked with Equitable before the company relocated to Charlotte,

N.C., is not working outside her home these days. Because of this, she has

been able to be around Octave and both of her litters during the days as well

as at night when her husband is also home.

While Guiding Eyes covers a lot of their dogs' expenses, and the town of

Newtown did not charge the Rodias for their brood dog's license, raising

Octave and Vivian - who, the Rodias say, is already showing all the signs of

becoming a brood dog herself - is a huge time commitment.

Volunteer families are responsible for training dogs to have good basic

manners. They must also keep the dogs on specific diets, which includes no

table scraps and very few snacks.

"It's a huge responsibility," says Bob Rodia. "That's always in the back of

your head. Each dog is worth $25,000 by the time they're trained."

Barbara is not looking for another job outside the home immediately, she says,

because "taking care of the puppies is a full-time job!"