Cinnamon, Danielle's second guide dog in training.
Today I had the chance to meet with an amazing woman, Danielle Slover, and her four legged friend, Barbara. Danielle raises puppies and helps these awesome animals become guide dogs for Guiding Eyes For The Blind. Danielle voluntarily gives her time, treasure and talents so others may benefit from her hard work. We met a Starbucks, there was a vast array of sounds, sights, and smells; the fact that Barabara remained calm and obedient is a testament to Danielle's talents.
"Can you please tell me about your family"
"It's just my son and I. My son is 19 years old and will go to OSU in the fall. He is pre-med with a double minor in computer science and business. He is a pretty awesome kid."
"Imagine you are walking in the woods and an animal begins talking to you, how would you react?"
"That would be very cool. I would be very excited, I would talk back of course. She (Barbara) talks to me every day just not in English. She literally talks to me every day. If you listen, animals will tell you what they want."
"How did you begin raising dogs for Guiding Eyes For The Blind?"
"I got started with a friend of mine who knows a man, Max Edelman. If you read the book, Trusting Calvin, it's a book all about a Jewish man who was in a concentration camp. He witnessed multiple Jews being killed by dogs. He became very fearful of dogs and he was blinded in the concentration camp from being beaten. After he got out at the end of the war, he came here. He lived in Beachwood and worked for the Cleveland Clinic. He knew one of my friends and he ended up working with Guiding Eyes to learn to trust dogs and, get a guide dog to help him with his vision loss. My friend started doing Guiding Eyes For The Blind because of him, in his honor when he passed away…She got me hooked on it because she did it with such passion…Now, I do it for so many other reasons but that was the start of it"
"What age do dogs usually start their training?"
"These guys are all born and bred through Guiding Eyes For The Blind. From the time they're born within a few days, volunteers go in and start teaching them that humans are the best thing ever. Humans offer warm touches, humans offer fun, they offer food. Starting at about 2 days old, volunteers go in and start doing massages and just working with the puppies so they know humans are good. They come to us (raisers) at about 8 weeks so their informal training starts immediately. Their socialization and basic skill come at about 8 weeks when we get them. Roughly around 16 weeks they go to New York, for what we call "doggie college." They go for their formal training. They learn their harness training and learn the skill set needed to work with a blind person."
"What if they don't qualify to work with the blind?"
"It depends on the reason they don't qualify. At 8 weeks they're given their first test, their first temperament test. They are looking to see, are they food motivated? Are they people motivated? Do they want to work? A puppy who doesn't want to work, we're not going to make them work. Those puppies who don't want to work or it's not a good career for them, they go into an adoption program…Also, they can be released if there's a medical need. I had one who had food allergies and she was released and a vet adopted her…In about 16 months they go in for their final test and that's when the true testing begins. Are they suited for this guide work? If it's apparent at this point that they're not suited for guide work but they are still suited to work; they are picked up sometimes by detection…We just had a dog go up to Alaska for cyber crimes unit. We have quite a few in the Connecticut state police doing detection work… Dogs choose a path, not us. They choose at the test in New York."
"What skills does a Guiding Eyes Dog need?"
"It's more about temperament than skill. Skills you can teach but it's all about being the right temperament. It's about being motivated to work, motivated to be rewarded. She (Barbara) is very food motivated, she will do anything I ask her for food. Some dogs are toy motivated and some dogs aren't motivated by anything, if they're like that then it's harder to train them. Also, being a calm dog…A dog that can go into a place, settle down, relax and not be bothered…They're looking for dogs that can maintain that calm composure in public."
"How should people act when seeing a service animal? Some people may want to pet him/her or say hi."
"Don't, plain and simple. If they're a service animal then they shouldn't be bothered in any way, shape or form. That means not talking to them, not making eye contact with them…The dog has to know that stuff isn't important, the only important thing is my person. I think the best thing for people is to not bother the animal at all…they're not a pet, they are a service animal."
If you want to learn more about Guiding Eyes For The Blind program go to http://www.guidingeyes.org. You can also call 440-286-6255.
Barbara during our meeting. "Raise a puppy, change a life."
It's All Good 