This discussion was a lot of fun. There are two guest posts here: one from Cecily Nipper (new guide dog user) and one from Leota Reif (a former puppy raiser).
Guide Dog terms we will be using in the following posts.
Puppy raiser- someone who is volunteering to help raise a puppy for a school from around 8 weeks old until 13-18 months.
Guide Dog Schools- these are schools who breed dogs, ensure the puppies are qualified to become guide dogs, and train the dogs that make it for the blind person.
Socialization- this is the process of allowing the puppy in training to go to many places and experience different environments so that they are ready for when they do similar places with their handler.
Guide dog handler- the blind/visually impaired person who has been matched up to a guide dog
My Guide Dog Journey
By Cecily Laney Nipper
I lost my vision in 2012 due to Glaucoma, and received orientation and mobility training later that same year. In May 2019, at the Georgia Council of the Blind Convention, I met my former orientation and mobility instructor again. At that convention, I was using my cane, but not very successfully. Something was just off. He recommended that I apply for the Leader Dog orientation and mobility training to get more cane training. All I knew about Leader Dog was that they were a guide dog school in Rochester Hills, Michigan. He explained to me that they offered a week of intensive white cane training to applicants who were accepted to the program. Immediately upon returning home from the convention, I applied to the workshop. The application process was similar to that required for getting a guide dog: medical history, orientation and mobility history, past eye care documentation, and personal references.
At first, all I wanted was cane training. I thought if I could master these skills I would be able to get around more independently. However, the seed had been planted, and I began thinking, “What would it be like to have a guide dog?” In July, just before leaving for the American Council of the Blind National Convention in Smithtown, New York, I received my acceptance letter for the Leader Dog Orientation and Mobility program. I was so excited to attend!
During the National Convention in July, I had the opportunity to tour the exhibit hall where I talked with five different guide dog schools. The seed had sprouted! Throughout the week, I visited the various guide dog school exhibits and talked to them every spare moment. I went on three Juno walks. (Juno is the name of a fictitious guide dog. When you take a Juno walk, a person holds the other end of the harness, and you take hold and walk with the other person guiding you the same way the dog would be guiding you.) One school provided the opportunity to be guided by an actual guide dog that they brought along as an ambassador for their program. This experience changed my life! I felt such freedom being guided around the huge convention building. Immediately I knew this was for me!
I interviewed the various schools, and decided on the Guide Dog Foundation, in Smithtown, New York for the following reasons. They were recommended to me by a guide dog handler friend of mine. They were on the east coast. They talked with us extensively about the process and were willing to conduct the interview then and there. My application to the Guide Dog Foundation was submitted on the last day of convention.
All this took place before my orientation and mobility training at Leader Dog, which I attended in August, 2019. The place was so warm and homey. I would not hesitate to go there for a future dog, if I had not already been accepted by and decided to go with the Guide Dog Foundation.
I will say that the cane training I received at Leader Dog helps me a lot with working my guide dog. The Leader Dog training gave me the confidence that I could use my ears to cross a six-lane road, and walk on a country lane at night, still locating my turn with my orientation skills. This confidence definitely carries over to my work with Shadow, my guide dog.
I applied in July, 2019, and received my acceptance letter from the Guide Dog Foundation in August. In November, 2019 I received Shadow, a female black lab. This is not the case for every guide dog handler! The typical wait time from applying to being matched with a dog is a year or more.
I was extremely fortunate, and I thank God that I got Shadow when I did before the pandemic. Daily walks with her in the countryside and in my neighborhood helped me get through the difficult time we just faced, and traveling through life with her is a constant joy. Not that there aren’t hardships. Working with a guide dog requires just as much discipline for the handler as for the dog. It is up to me to use daily reinforcement to see that she maintains good working habits.
People often say that you can’t put your dog in the closet when you’re not using it like you do your cane. For me, that’s a good thing. The cane never felt right for me, and I was always putting it in the closet, choosing instead to muddle through. There has not been one day that Shadow hasn’t stood ready to guide me, and her readiness provides added initiative that the cane never could. For these reasons, I am so glad I chose the guide dog life.
Puppy Raising!
This is something I have dreamed of doing and maybe one day our family will be able to give back in this special way. However, I have met many puppy raisers and have watched many dogs through their training. Different schools have different ways that their program works, but most require you to apply and be at monthly meetings to check up on the puppies and their raisers.
If you love puppies you will love watching a movie made about raising puppies. There is also a TV documentary series. I am attaching both to this post. The Pick of the Litter movie can be watched with audio description. and the TV series can be watched with Disney+ (plus).
Pick of the litter movie https://www.pickofthelittermovie.com/#media
Notes From a Puppy Raiser
Hi, my name is Leota and I am a former puppy raiser for Guide Dogs for the Blind also known as GDB. I’ve been retired from Puppy raising for about nine years, but I do miss it almost all the time. But I’m older and I have grandkids now I’m helping to raise.
During this time I, along with some help from my husband, we raised 7 puppies, 5 males & 2 females. Out of the 7 all but one became a working guide.
We usually get them when they’re around 8-12 weeks old. We have to send them off for formal guide training when they are about 12-14 months old.
The work starts right away. The leash clicks on, this tiny little baby puppy jacket goes on and training begins. We teach them to walk on leash on our left. The majority of people are right handed so this keeps the right hand free to use & the left hand to hold the leash & later the harness. The biggest thing we first work on is potty training & eventually getting them to go on command. To do this we take the puppy out as soon as they wake up, shortly after eating or drinking and after playing. When we set them down we keep the Puppy at leash length and let them sniff. As soon as they squat to pee, we say “do your business”. Once they do we have a “party” where we praise & clap & the good boy or girl begins. The pups love the praise. It doesn’t take long till we’re taking them out, setting them down & once we say “do your business” they do it. Once you learn their habit, you know when they need to have a bowel movement & you can take care of that “big business” without worrying about accidents when you’re out in public. One more thing, our boy dogs squat to pee just like the girls. We don’t give them the opportunity to raise their leg by just staying away from vertical objects. It works!
Until the puppy is 16 weeks old & have had all their basic shots we can’t take them out in public. They learn to stay in their crates a bit more. But once those shots are complete, we can start taking them out in public. We have to know our puppies pretty good & know if a situation is causing them stress. It can be something as small as a shiny grocery store floor. But we go slow. Sometimes it’s just a walk into the store & walk out. The public is always so curious. What’s their name, how old, and the biggest one is always “can I pet him?” We don’t always allow it. We have to be able to know if our puppy can stay calm while a stranger pets and uses that baby voice that gets the puppy going. Or we just have to say “no, I’m sorry. Not now. We’re training. But thanks for asking first”. It’s funny-most kids know to ask first where the adults just pet.
It’s fun to try to come up with new activities to expose the puppies to. We’ve gone to community gatherings, grocery stores, libraries, walking in parades, to trips to farms to smell & see horses, cows, & pigs. We take the pups on stairs, & open stairs as well where It’s not solid floor under neath & getting their courage up & keep their focus by constant praise. It’s such a tough job but a fun & exciting one too.
Guide dogs come from many different schools across the United States and even in other countries. Most of these schools breed their own dogs. They start some basic weeding our of the puppies that will be used for breeding versus training in the early days with some basic behavior tests.
A statistic that is really interesting to me is that on average only about 50% of the puppies in training will actually complete the entire training and become guide dogs. Some will be sent to police training, bomb sniffing, or other disability dogs. While others will become, as my moms doctors refers to him, the laziest mutt ever.
These dogs start their puppy raiser training between 12-15 weeks. Then become college students at the school for the following 3-4 months. And then they get to meet their new handler.
Many state have laws to help the puppy raiser have the ability to take the dog with them as if it were a fully trained dog. Which allows for better socialization and helping the dog be prepared for the various roles it could have with its handler.
Guide dog schools are in many different locations across the United State as well as many other countries. Each school does things a little big different, but they all have one goal in mind. Train their puppies to be the best and most efficient dogs to guide a blind person, giving independence, sight, and confidence to those who have lost their eye sight.
Once the dogs have finished their socialization time with their puppy raiser, and the school is ready for them they will go back to the school for “college” training. This involves the puppies learning to wear the harness, how to refuse distractions and more. These puppies have to learn commands that their handler will be using. They will also have to learn how to refuse a command when there is danger in the area. One person I follow shared a video of her crossing a street with her puppy who then refused to go forward, because a car decided to turn right onto the road they were crossing and would have run them over. I will share the link later today.
Once the dogs have passed all their training and showed that they really want to work and enjoy the challenges of being a guide dog, they are matched with a handler. The wait for a handler to get a dog varies greatly. Some people prefer a certain gender, or need a dog great with long hours at the office, or a dog that is ready to hike.
Then comes the fun part. The handler is able to go to school and learn some of the commands they will be using, as well as the practice routes they will work with when they get their guide. Then they get to meet that adorable four-legged guide. You can see their bond and watch over the coming weeks to see how they fit together as a team.
This is team work. Both the guide dog and the handler will need to have a trust bond. They need to work together to get from place to place. Once home the pair will learn their regular routes, and start a new routine.
I can’t wait to share with you our families story about getting moms first guide dog and our families journey as she got her second guide dog.