Love, Gratitude and Wonder for Guide Dogs for the Blind
By Lisa Cohn
At a tears-filled Guide Dogs for the Blind graduation ceremony Saturday in Boring, Oregon, human graduates of the program expressed love, gratitude and wonder for how their guide dogs can change their lives.
Michael and I attended the ceremony with friends, and we all were touched and inspired by the experience.
At Guide Dogs for the Blind, volunteer puppy raisers take puppies into their homes and socialize and help train then for a year, then say good-bye to their beloved friends so the dogs can begin their new lives providing support for a blind or visually impaired person.
For the blind, the dogs—provided at no cost—become best friends and life changers.
Said Bolo of his dog, Oslo, “The relationships with guide dogs are part magic, part formula and part intuition.”
His dog helps him connect with other people, he said. “As a blind person, you can’t smile across the room, but a dog helps break the ice and make a connection.”
Susan, a retired teacher, said that navigating a sidewalk of obstacles was terrifying—until she began working with her new guide dog, Helix.
During the past two weeks of training with Helix, the dog demonstrated how smoothly he could lead her past plants, people and chairs.
“He gave me a sense of freedom,” she said.
Eric, a software analyst, said that before he got his black lab, Romulus, he would walk to college classes and use the scent of coffee from a café as one of his markers for turning. “I kept bumping into tables and chairs,” he said. “Now with Romulus, we glide past tables and chairs.”
During the ceremony, the puppy raisers—one of whom had raised 48 puppies—told the audience that it’s heart-wrenching to give up the puppies after raising them for a year, but satisfying to know just how much they’ll benefit their new best friends.
Said Bolo, “When I got my first guide dog, it was love at first touch. As soon as I touched his head, I felt love.”
Guide Dogs for the Blind, funded by donors, trains dogs for blind and visually impaired people across North America. Learn more here: www.Guidedogs.com
Here at http://www.BashandLucy.com,part of our mission is to spread the word about what dogs do for humans. Our visit to Guide Dogs for the Blind reinforced our commitment to teaching kids all about the magical canine-human connection.