BULLETIN TEMPLATE (Mar 20, 2019)

Today's visiting speaker was Hugh Reilly, a volunteer with the Guide Dog Foundation & American Vet Dogs, headquartered in Smithtown. Hugh was accompanied by a 1 year old golden lab named Shetland, who is going into training as a service dog. Hugh told us that The Guide Dog Foundation began 73 years ago, after World War II, as a school in Forest Hills, Queens, to train and provide dogs at no charge to blind or visually impaired students, including veterans who had returned from the battlefields of Europe and the Pacific. There, instructors and students worked together to determine which training methods worked best to create the best team possible. In 1950, Guide Dog Foundation for the Blind, Inc. (GDF) was created on 13 acres of property purchased in St. James in the '40's. In 2003, training of assistance dogs for vets (American Vet Dogs) was created. Guide dogs, usually golden Labrador retrievers, golden retrievers, or Labrador/golden mixes- thought to be most reliable, are bred on this property and trained to help visually impaired or blind individuals. The puppies are bred to maximize the traits important for guide dogs. The canines are taught to make the lives of GDF's clients simpler and safer so that they can live well independently. GDF dogs learn to lead a person in a straight line, find and follow a clear path, maneuver around obstacles on ground and overhead, and stop at changes in elevation, such as curbs and stairs. (Port Jeff is a favorite place for training these dogs to perform their tasks.) Depending on the needs of a GDF client, his/her dog may be trained to open doors (even refrigerators, from which they can bring back beverages) and pick up all sorts of objects (ie., keys, wallets, credit cards) and return them to their human. In addition to serving people with visual impairments, some dogs are trained to help veterans with a wide range of disabilities. Guide dog recipients come from all over the world. There is never a fee for clients and they can expect continuous support for continued success. Ideally, each dog will work for 6-8 years before being retired, at which time a new dog is provided to the client. The GDF has on its campus 17 individual rooms for would-be dog recipients who train there for 2 weeks. The Student Residence Hall's rooms include private bathrooms, climate control, and free wi-fi, and there are also laundry facilities in the building. A trained chef provides meals prepared according to the dietary requirements of each client. The Foundation covers all expenses, including transportation to and from the client's home, which could be in another state or country. Working with a guide dog is a transformational event that extends into every area of a handler's life. Each client or "student" is teamed with a dog that best suits that person's mobility, personality, lifestyle, and physical needs. Once matched, the 2-week training of student and dog begins. Clients learn about the commands the dog knows and are taught everything there is to know about how to work with "their" dogs, including proper care- including feeding, grooming, and medical issues. Shetland, our canine visitor, is part of the Vet Dog Program. He was born on the Smithtown campus. He lived with a volunteer family for a year before being returned to the campus to begin professional training. We learned that there is now a successful "Puppies in Prison" program, where "good" prisoners are given dogs. They get to give basic training to the dogs, as the volunteer families do, and both dogs and inmates benefit greatly from their time together. Alas, NY is not one of the states that offers this program. There is also a "hearing dog program" that provides dogs that help vets get to ringing phones and the like. And there are "companionship dogs" like Sully, who was trained to help George H.W. Bush after the passing of Barbara Bush. (Sully returned to Smithtown after Bush, Sr.'s passing, and is now helping veterans at Walter Reid Hospital in D.C.) Dogs are also trained to recognize seizures and can help their humans who suffer them. The GDF receives no funding at all from the government and depends on donations from individuals, community sponsorships, and corporate partnerships. Non-monetary help is provided by volunteers who raise the puppies, visit the campus to walk and play with the dogs daily (when the dogs are not working), veterinary partnerships, and the like. There are around 1,000 volunteers currently. We learned that not all of the 400 puppies born on the campus turn out to be ideal guide dogs ("Some choose other career paths.") Some become "ambassador dogs" that can serve as friendly visitors to potential donor groups. Some senior dogs are offered back to their raisers, while others may become therapy dogs that visit hospitals and nursing homes.