‘Fable’ Brings Meaning To Many Lives—

Some Dogs Make ‘Good Mothers’ For Guiding Eyes

By Kendra Bobowick

Fable wrestles on the floor with a tattered but intact toy pelican. She nudges the soggy stuffed animal with her snout and protects it with her paws when foster “parent” Laura Duffy reaches down to pet her.

The well-worn toy was a clue to Ms Duffy that Fable, a two-year-old yellow Lab, would make a good mother.

“We always knew,” she said.

Ms Duffy watched Fable grip her pelican in her mouth and perk her ears at the sound of her name.

“Fable took to [the pelican] immediately,” Ms Duffy said. “She snuggles with it. She kind of adopted the little pelican as a first child…instinctively she knew what to do.” Fable is also full of affection for Laura and Bill Duffy of Newtown.

“There is nothing like coming home and her tail is wagging and she is looking at you adoringly,” Ms Duffy said. “It was a bit like bringing a baby home — that anticipation — she was 15 months old.”

Referring to her husband’s attachment to Fable, Ms Duffy said, “She is the love of his life.”

Aside from being the center of the Duffy’s household, Fable is also an important link in the Guiding Eyes For The Blind Brood/Stud Program. Guiding Eyes is located in Patterson, N.Y. As a brood dog, Fable recently had a litter of “grand-dogs” as Ms Duffy called them, that were born August 12. The puppies will grow up in the Guiding Eyes program and potentially mature into guide dogs. Fable gave birth to her litter at the Patterson facility, where she remained until her pups were weaned. She has now returned home to the Duffys’ foster care where she will most likely remain for a lifetime. The Duffys anticipate adopting Fable once she is retired from the Brood/Stud Program.

Fable’s pups — all with names beginning with M, just as Fable is part of a litter all beginning with F — will be raised through the Guiding Eyes programs. According to the website, guiding-eyes.org, “Guiding Eyes for the Blind is a nonprofit, charitable organization that provides trained guide dogs for the visually impaired throughout the United States and the entire world. Our guide dogs are assistance dogs trained to be of service to lead blind or visually impaired people.”

The brood/stud program specifically “is dedicated to maintaining the health and happiness of our breeding dogs,” as stated on the cdc.guidingeyes.org, which is the Canine Development Center website. Fosters, such as the Duffys, are “carefully screened and selected for our breeding stock that will continue to provide the dog with the support, structure and love that their puppy raisers initiated.”

Fable is one of “the best of the best” said Ms Duffy and had been selected for the brood program because she exhibited certain traits that the Guiding Eyes wanted to continue, Ms Duffy said.

Program Manager Vikki Iwanicki said, “We breed for confident and healthy dogs.” Throughout a dog’s puppy training the Guiding Eyes staff looks for characteristics they would like to see continued on the line.

“We want a calm and resilient dog for breeding and hope [the dog] will pass those traits along,” she said. Fable “excelled in her Puppy Raising Program [see cdc.guidingeyes.org] and was almost ready for her guide dog training when the organization selected her for the Brood/Stud Program.”

Guiding Eyes for the Blind maintains a large active breeding colony of dogs who are bred to produce the next generation of guide dogs. Fosters receive training in dog handling, care and obedience, as stated on the website. Although the Duffys had made the decision to become fosters, they still required weekly sessions in Patterson to help them learn to maintain Fable’s training and disposition.

“The person in charge of making the match [with fosters and dogs] wanted to make sure we felt secure…We had to pass…Fable already passed,” Ms Duffy joked about the training and education she and her husband received.

Ms Duffy is pleased to think that Fable is part of a program that aids the blind and sight impaired.

She said, “We know she is fulfilling her purpose…her puppies are going to help people who are otherwise perhaps limited.” Her sympathy for the blind has been with Ms Duffy since childhood.

She had heard about assisting the blind since she was a girl, she said.

“My father was a Lions Club member and I participated,” she said. Ms Duffy also noted that she grew up in St Louis, Mo., where there was a school for the blind. Recently she and her husband had discussed learning more about the Guiding Eyes dogs. Ms Duffy had broached the topic when she again looked at a newspaper clipping about Guiding Eyes that she has saved for the last seven years. The couple made trips to Patterson for information sessions to determine if they felt (and Guiding eyes felt) they would be a suitable match as a foster home.

Making room for Fable also satisfies Ms Duffy for a personal reason.

She said, “One of my main motivations is that I thought that if I lost one of my senses [losing] sight would be the most challenging.”

On November 4 the Guiding Eyes facility in Patterson welcomes anyone with an interest to learn more about the Brood/Stud Program.