Some may have noticed the adorable black Labrador that was on campus a couple weeks ago living in Holden.† That was Christine, a four and a half month old puppy beginning her first steps towards becoming a guide dog.
The main person responsible for bringing Christine to Wooster is Liz Fridley ’11, who went through the orientation necessary to begin training.† Ever since Fridley was young she has wanted to train dogs,† and this program offered her the chance. She competed with two other houses to train a guide dog, and finally, after extensive paperwork and detailed explanation, received approval for the house along with Maggie Cox ’11, May Tobar ’11, Beth Wardrop ’11, Emily Billingsly ’11, Sarah Rudawsky ’12, Rachel Kassenbrock ’12 and Colby Mills ’11.
The hardest part of getting approval was convincing the College that Christine would be a working dog rather than a pet.† A budget for food for Christine was proposed to the Wooster Volunteer Network, who generously agreed to the entire budget, which greatly helped in securing a spot for Christine for next year.
After the orientation is completed, Guiding Eyes for the Blind takes into account the prospective trainer’s personality and interaction with dogs and then attempts to create a match with a new puppy to train.† Guide dog training is referred to as “relationship-based training” where the dog and trainer must get along in order for the training to be successful.† Fridley also made careful note that she is not taking credit for the name “Christine” which was given to the puppy by the organization.
The stage of training which this program house is involved is mostly concerned with socialization and obedience training, hence why having eight people constantly around would help with this.† It is necessary, Fridley says, to teach the dog that the person with the leash is in control.† In order to get this point across to Christine, Fridley will say a command holding the leash and (hopefully) Christine will follow that command.† Fridley will then pass the leash to someone else who also says a command, in order to help Christine to eventually understand that she is to obey anyone holding her leash.
Because of Fridley’s current living situation, Christine was only able to stay at Wooster for five days.† She is currently living with someone else at a starter home until Fridley and the rest of her house can take full responsibility.† Fridley spends time with Christine every week at an obedience class and should be able to have Christine back at Wooster at the end of April through the first week of May.† While only at Wooster for a short time, Fridley talks of success in beginning to break Christine’s bad habits, mostly her walking.† Guide dogs are not allowed to pull on the leash, and while a puppy, Fridley says that whenever Christine does pull on a leash she has to stop until Christine looks up at her, to acknowledge who has control, upon which she is given a reward.† One of the most difficult aspects of training Christine, or any guide dog, is that the trainer cannot say “no.”† Instead, the trainer must make exaggerated reactions to something the dog has done wrong.† Positive reinforcement is encouraged and whenever Christine does something right, even looking up at Fridley in acknowledgement of control, she gets a reward of treats (such as puppy kibble) which is referred to as a Puppy Party.
Guide dogs offer a very specific kind of help.† While service dogs are responsible for tasks such as opening doors for the handicapped or being trained as hearing dogs for the deaf, guide dogs are specifically meant for the blind.† These dogs live a completely different life from “pets” ó they are dogs who love to work.† As puppies, they are trained to play differently than other dogs. For instance, rather than play-biting they are taught to share their toys with their playmates, a trait which Fridley claims is fun to watch.† Close to $40,000 is invested in these dogs over their lives, not including food. Everything, even teaching them to play without biting, is done to ensure their safety in a life that is not only dependant on, but also rather short in relation to, the people who need them.† These dogs form very close relationships and bonds with their trainers as well as the people they help when assigned to a blind person.
A reminder which Fridley believes important for the College, and everyone else, to keep in mind as Christine becomes a member of the College’s community is that guide dogs are working dogs.† They are not pets and, as with any other dogs, it is not acceptable to run up to them and pet them.† When interacting with a guide dog it is appropriate to ask permission of the owner or trainer; however, do not be insulted if they say no.† When training Christine, or any other guide dog, it is important to keep the dog focused so that it can be successful as someone’s guide and, hopefully, companion.
For more information about Guiding Eyes for the Blind please visit www.guidingeyes.org or contact Liz Fridley at LFridley11@wooster.edu