Training A Dog For A Lifetime Relationship

By Kendra Bobowick

Scratching sounds against the hardwood floor came first, then a curious bark.

Maddie — a 10-year-old black lab — barked again, full of questions. Soon another tentative yelp came from upstairs. The sound was lighter and muffled, but also looking for answers. Who is home? Who is in the house?

Laura Feinstein stepped toward the den to let Maddie into the main house. A plump black lab, Maddie quickly sniffed anything new before settling in her usual spot near the table. Ms Feinstein nodded down the hallway toward the stairs and said to her son Jake, “It’s OK to bring [Hal] down.” At 10 months old the yellow lab is slim, playful, and especially obedient. Once together, the dogs jostled one another until they heard their “orders.” “Sit,” Ms Feinstein instructed.

Soon they squeezed side-by-side at her feet, waiting for her fingers to uncurl and a treat to drop. With her mouth full, Maddie was soon content, but Hal had more work to do.

Commands to stay, roll over, back up, or get down all prompted responses. Hal was doing well — exactly as Jake and his mother have trained him to do. Unlike Maddie the household dog, Hal is in training with the Guiding Eyes for the Blind organization. The Feinsteins are his puppy-raising family and Hal is their second dog. What started out as a mitzvah, or act of kindness initiative, for Jake, who first noticed the Guiding Eyes booth set up at his synagogue in 2006, has drawn the young man and his mother into a larger commitment. Ms Feinstein explained: “Jake chose to raise Fernando as a mitzvah project in preparation for becoming a Bar Mitzvah. He felt that by raising Fernando he could possibly make a difference in a visually impaired or blind person’s life by giving them the gift of independence.”

Hal, their second dog, follows in Fernando’s footsteps.

 

Fernando

The story begins with the black lab who eventually graduated from Guiding Eyes and now lives with New York City resident Veda Huie as the blind woman’s working guide dog. Remembering the organization’s booth that first caught Jake’s attention as he sought a coming-of-age project, Ms Feinstein explained part of the Bar Mitzvah process. “You choose an act of kindness,” she said. Jake’s choices led to Fernando, who now offers hope and independence to Ms Huie.

Mother and son started their months-long commitment as volunteer puppy-raisers for dogs that are trained to work for a living. “All the dogs are bred as working dogs,” said Guiding Eyes Regional Marketing Manager Linda Damato. After roughly 18 months they are tested and Guiding Eyes professionals assess their abilities. “About half go on to be guide dogs,” she said.

If dogs do not become guides they can become therapy dogs, for example, or are simply adopted. A new pilot program is also underway to pair companion dogs with autistic children. Overall, the dogs are a permanent investment. They are bred, raised, and trained for “a lifetime of support and service at no charge to the blind person,” Ms Damato said.

Ms Feinstein noted, “Different people need different things. [Guiding Eyes] takes great care to match dogs and people.” Hal may play a different role than Fernando after graduation, in part because of the dogs’ different dispositions, she mused.

 

Raising A Guide

Once the Feinsteins became puppy-raisers, the weekly training sessions began. “There were lots of rules,” Ms Feinstein said. Training for both the puppy-raisers and the puppies is critical in what the dog will go on to become, whether a guide, police dog, or a pet. Every few months a Guiding Eyes regional manager engages in a “Walk and Talk” with the puppy-raising family. “They watch us with the dog, observe, make suggestions,” said Ms Feinstein. “You get feedback.” After roughly a year and a half the dog-in-training begins work with professionals in Yorktown Heights.

The puppy-raiser’s role is essential. “A large part of the training is making the connection, and that came easily [with Fernando],” Ms Feinstein said. “He wasn’t distracted by busy surroundings and at about 6 months he could walk through a crowd at the mall and he stayed focused on what I asked him to do.”

Ms Damato stressed, “We wouldn’t have guide dogs without the puppy-raisers. They form a relationship with the dog, and that’s key.” Socialization is significant. With the puppy-raisers the dogs establish “a reference library of experience,” she said. The dogs accompany the families to religious services, to the store or the park, etc. According to a press release from Guiding Eyes, “These caring, dedicated people are the heart and soul of the program. Puppy-raisers nurture young pups and familiarize them with everyday situations; they establish the loving human bond that is the foundation for the puppies’ future role…”

Both Jake and his mom considered the weight of training a dog to “see” for someone. Would they trust Fernando? Jake smiled. He had never considered living with blindness. Thinking of Fernando’s abilities, Ms Feinstein said, “It’s remarkable.” They do more than follow commands. “At times they’re thinkers and they make decisions,” she said.

Veda Huie

Veda Huie lives in Brooklyn where she and Fernando — who arrived in July — are getting to know one another. Within her unhurried words were tones of appreciation: “Having a dog gives me more independence — it’s freedom, hope.” Considering life with a guide dog, she concluded, “It is a light in the darkness. Without him I have to use my cane. He also provides security.” Laughing, she admitted, “We have a lot to do. He just got here last month.”

Unlike the Feinsteins who had to imagine blindness and if they could trust Fernando, Ms Huie answered, “It doesn’t take a lot.”  So far she has learned his strengths and weaknesses. “You have to learn to trust him and he has to trust me. It takes two in a relationship.”

About 25 years ago she lost her sight as a result of glaucoma, and chose to work with guide dogs. Fernando is the third. “I know exactly what life is with and without a dog,” she said. What is the difference? “Life is difficult without,” she said. Without Fernando she must rely on another person to take her places. She acknowledges, however, that some people may turn down the idea of a guide dog. “They say it’s hard to take care of. It’s pride,’ she said. “But, after you experience a dog you don’t want anything else.”

Again stressing her renewed degree of independence, she said, “It gives me a lot I wouldn’t have — that’s hope and freedom.” Although her family does not mind helping her, Ms Huie said, “I don’t have to depend on them for everything.” She is sympathetic to Fernando’s circumstances, however. Through training, through puppy-raisers and classes, the dogs adapt. Then, like Fernando and Ms Huie, the dogs and people are matched, then trained again with their new owner. “They go through a lot then you bring them home and again, another new environment.” Despite the changes, she said, “They’re so firm.”

Both Ms Huie and the Feinsteins noticed Fernando’s easy temperament. “This dog is so calming. He is quiet but when he is working, he’s working,” Ms Huie said. “he doesn’t lose focus easily.”

Saying Goodbye

The Feinsteins — Jake, his sister Sarah, his mom, and his father Steve — eventually had to say goodbye to Fernando. People would say, “‘Oh, I could never give him up,’” but Ms Feinstein did not describe a feeling of loss when Fernando left. “It’s emotional, rather than sad. It’s so exciting, the path they could be taking.” Seeing Fernando with Ms Huie during graduation was “unbelievable,” she said. Fernando was with the Sandy Hook family from July 2006 through November 2007, and recently went to New York to live and work with Ms Huie.

Surprising herself and prompting Jake to smile, Ms Feinstein recalls welcoming Hal into the home over the winter.

Learn more about Guiding Eyes and volunteer opportunities at GuidingEyes.org. Contact Guiding Eyes at 866-GEB-LABS.