We have just become involved in the Guiding Eyes for the Blind program. It is an organization that raises puppies to become guide dogs. I was doing a routine Internet search and came across it by accident. Imagine my surprise/delight to find out they had a training center just across the river from me!
They have several levels of volunteers; you can start a puppy (6 weeks to 8 weeks), raise a puppy (8 weeks to 18 months), be a puppy sitter, or work with whelping mothers. Of course, I want to raise a puppy. Virginia and I attended a training class (more on that later) and will be puppy-sitting a little darlin' named Caitlyn. We will have a home visit and then we will get a puppy! I can't wait!
At the training class, three new volunteers brought their "babies" to class with them. Two were yellow labs like in the above picture. (In fact, Virginia, who does a lot better at human socializing than I ever will, found out that this particular branch uses 80% labs; the others are German Shepherds or GSDs to you dog people.) The third was a Golden-Lab cross. Her name is Blanche and she was solid black. That would have surprised me except for the fact that I have seen black Labradoodles. Trivia time: for those of you who do not know, a Labradoodle is a cross between a Lab and a Poodle. The thought was to get that sweet, accepting Lab behavior with the Poodle's non-shedding qualities. Sounds great, but sometimes the worst parts of both breeds comes out. Patti has told me that her Poodles can be very strong-willed, as many intelligent breeds are. So you can imagine what it might be like, trying to raise a very strong in body and strong in spirit dog that will eat anything (worst trait of a Lab). At any rate, this little Glab (as I was told it was called) was a cutie. All three puppies were fearless. The instructor told us that they are bred for confidence. Makes sense, if the dog is literally going to act as someone's eyes.
In the class, we went over a few hand commands. I thought, I've got these down. Turns out that the hand command for "sit" is very specifc. All commands are done with an open palm. In "sit," you begin with your open palm down then flip your hand over so that the palm is facing up while saying "Sit." She did some instructing for us new folks (there were four or five of us there who are in training for puppies) like how to crate train (got it down) and how long to train (short bursts; these little guys truly are like babies) and how to baby-proof your home. I have always had it easy with Saints. They may be food-motivated, but I have never had one that was a big chewer. Cheryl says that Denver, the first Saint I ever met, was a big chewer, but none of the ones I had ever did that. My outdoor Saints were bad about digging holes. Ella doesn't do that, but then she is never outside long enough to dig.
The instructor's name is Cheryl L. Since my sister's name is Cheryl I figure I better use the initial. Cheryl L. conducted class while the puppies played. Every now and then, the trainers were to call the puppies out of play and reward them. I can see how very important this must be for a guide dog: you get to play, but when it's time to work, it's time to work.
Gee loved the puppies and got right down on the ground with them. Ok, yes, I did too. Who can resist puppy breath?
At the end of the class, Cheryl L. brought out the two labs she has been training. One of them, named King, actually made it all the way through training and was placed with a blind person. He developed hip displaysia and was released. Those of you who have read The Giver: in the GEB program, "released" means "released from the program and put up for adoption." So King is 4, well-trained and very happy. He just wanted people to scratch his butt. Then she brought out her Wild Child, named Eric. Eric is a year old and full of PnV. GEB dogs are not altered. If they don't make it as a GEB (over 60% do make it) then they may become police dogs (drug dogs, bomb dogs, etc.) or they are adopted out within the network. So here is Eric, raring to go. He was a very happy boy, and seeing the puppies was almost too much for him. I know why she brought Eric out; you could see it on the newbies' faces that some of them didn't realize those sweet little balls of fur rolling around could grow so large and strong. I knew it; I have seen it happen to my sweet little Saints between the third and fourth months.
Another piece of trivia: the GEB puppies are named after a letter of the alphabet. The first litter is the A litter, and all the puppies are named beginning with the letter A. The two yellow labs were from the same litter and were C puppies, the second time around the alphabet. Carlton (like Fresh Prince, you know?) was the little boy. His trainers are on their 6th GEB puppy, and you could tell it. Caitlyn's trainers are both teachers and this is their first puppy. What really cracked me up was that when they found out Virginia was 14 (someone thought she was my sister; I did have my sunglasses on at the time so I guess that helped) they totally ignored me and talked to Virginia about school. She was wearing her Beauty & The Beast t-shirt and that got some attention as well. Another woman, also a teacher, talked to her about her shirt and acting. Gee was in Hog Heaven.
If all goes well, we will be babysitting Caitlyn at the end of the month. We may even have our own puppy before August is out. Look for more pictures soon!
