Guiding Eye Dogs Get Training in Westport

At first glimpse, Shirley and Tilden look like your average yellow labrador puppies. At 16 weeks, they are cute, playful, curious and even a bit rambunctious.

But, as members of the Guiding Eyes for the Blind training program, these two canines are destined for great things.

Guiding Eyes for the Blind is dedicated to training guide dogs that enrich the lives of blind and visually impaired men and women. Properly trained dogs allow the blind to travel safely, thereby assuring greater independence, dignity and new horizons of opportunity.

In Westport, training sessions for guiding eye dogs take place twice a month at Christ & Holy Trinity Church. There, Mary Kenney, puppy program regional manager for Guiding Eyes, works with volunteers who train and care for the dogs until they are ready to move on to the next stage of their careers.

Currently there are two puppies in the beginner program. Sonya Fertig-Widmeyer, of Monroe, is Tilden's caretaker. David Rucquoi, of Darien, is the volunteer trainer for Shirley. The pair attend the classes, dogs in tow, to learn and practice basic commands.

"We are always seeking new people to raise pets," notes Cora Martin, who has spent the last 12 years working with the training volunteers who become involved with this program.

"We start off by having potential puppy raisers go through a series of classes in Paterson, N.Y.," she explained. " The raisers then work with the puppies for about 12 weeks in sessions that teach the pups specific techniques, such as sit or stay."

Fertig-Widmeyer is enjoying the experience. "I love animals and I thought that getting involved with Guiding Eyes program was an awesome opportunity," she said.

Rucquoi is using the experience to help others and teach his three children, ages 13, 11 and 10,  a life lesson. "I wanted my children to be able to have a dog as well as the experience of giving," he said.

"I've had to say good-bye to a dog before," he adds. "This program offers a much better method of saying good-bye."

Once the first stage is completed, the dogs and their caretakers go through another 10 to 14 months of hands-on training.  In all, the dogs work with the volunteer trainers for about 16 months before they begin their careers as companions to the blind.

There are nine dogs currently involved in the Westport Guiding Eyes program but the numbers change often as dogs graduate.

"It's a very intense but very rewarding program," said Celeste LaCroix of Westport, who is training Calli, a 1-year-old black lab, to be a guide dog. "You cannot leave these animals alone."

LaCroix has been paired with Calli since the dog was 10 weeks old. "We work at home on socialization and commands, like sit, stay and heel," she said. "The Guiding Eye training sessions help the dogs get to the next level so they can provide  a service to people who need them."

LaCroix says that she already has plans to raise another guide dog once Calli begins her career.

"This is the best life that a dog can have," she said. "These dogs will always be loved and relied on. When they move on, it's like being proud of your own kid. The  people who raise these dogs are wonderful and the twice-a-month meetings provide a sense of  camaraderie."

Guiding Eyes for the Blind recently introduced a program in which its world-renowned dogs are trained to provide safety for children with autism.

For more information on the organization and its programs, visit www.guidingeyes.org