Retirement spent raising service dogs

Thursday, Nov. 10, 2005

Click here to enlarge this photo Tom Fedor⁄The Gazette Janet Follin of Rocky Ridge gets a kiss from Ashley, a 10-month-old Labrador Retriever she is helping to raise as a guide dog. Follin and her husband have raised many dogs through the Catoctin Region Guiding Eyes for the Blind program.

They began training puppies for the Catoctin Region Guiding Eyes for the Blind program almost by accident.

While Janet Follin was shopping at a local store eight years ago, she came across a booth the group had set up. She was smitten when she saw the puppies’ liquid brown eyes staring up at her.

Raising dogs For more information on how to volunteer with Catoctin Region Guiding Eyes for the Blind, contact coordinator Terry Scripture at 717-642-6941 or visit guidingeyescatoctin.org or cdc.guidingeyes.org.

‘‘I spent half an hour on the floor playing with the puppies and I was entranced,” Follin said.

She came home and told her husband about the program and how she wanted to get involved.

Not too long after that, Janet started training her first puppy. Six months later, Jim, who had attended all the training classes with his wife, started training his own puppy.

‘‘It was like love at first sight,” Jim said. ‘‘It didn’t take too much to get me hooked.”

The Follins had owned dogs before, but never Labrador Retrievers, the breed that is most commonly used as guide dogs. Golden Retrievers and German Shepherds are also trained as guide dogs. The Follins, who both retired early from IBM 10 years ago, now share their home with four Labs. One is in training, while the other three belong to the Follins.

They take the dogs they are training everywhere with them — to restaurants, and even into the bathroom.

Ashley is a playful 10-month-old black Lab puppy whom Janet is currently training. She wears a blue denim diaper inside the Follins’ home because she is in heat.

At 10 months, Ashley is remarkably well behaved. She will lay completely still while Janet runs a finger across her teeth, picks up her paws or traces circles on her face with fingers.

Janet does not reward Ashley with treats, and the Follin dogs never get human food. They are not allowed to sit on any of the furniture. The dogs are not allowed to dig holes when they are outside, which means that the Follins must supervise them at all times.

Janet trained Ashley by using verbal praise and with canine massage. Ashley’s training began from the moment she arrived at the Follins’ home at eight weeks of age. Janet got Ashley used to being touched anywhere by massaging her three times a day.

‘‘It’s very important to start socializing the puppies as soon as we get them,” Janet said.

When the puppies are eight to 12 weeks old, the Follins make sure they get used to being in public places by taking them out to strip malls for five minutes a day at first, and then progressively longer until they are comfortable. The puppies get used to being around people and around traffic.

‘‘They learn how to ride well in a car, greet people without jumping up, and not bite,” Janet said. ‘‘It helps to build up their confidence.”

Ashley will stay with the Follins until she is ready to get her formal guide dog training at the Guiding Eyes training center in Yorktown, N.Y. Usually, dogs are ready for formal training when they are between 14 months and 18 months old. The formal training lasts four months, during which the dogs are introduced to a harness, taught guide dog commands, and to stop at curbs and at the top and bottom of stairs, Janet said. ‘‘The bond that forms between a person and their guide dog is just incredible,” Janet said. ‘‘The person really learns to trust their dog.”

Jim’s latest trainee, Delia, graduated from formal guide dog training and went home with her new blind owner two weeks ago.

‘‘I have had dogs almost all my life, but these dogs are almost entirely different,” Jim said. ‘‘You spend all day long with them... You’re much closer to the dog.”

Not all of the dogs that enter into formal training make it through the program. Chandler, an 8-year-old black Lab with a graying muzzle, was the first puppy Janet raised. He did not pass the program at the training center in New York because he would not walk past a diesel truck. He did not like the smell, and would walk around it instead of going in front of it, Janet said.

‘‘These dogs have to learn to make decisions on their own, and that was a decision he was making,” Janet said. ‘‘It just wasn’t the right one.”

Dogs that do not pass the guide dog program sometimes become bomb-sniffing or arson dogs, or go to the Connecticut State Police which has a special arrangement with the Guiding Eyes center. There is also currently a six-year waiting period for private people who want to adopt one of the dogs, and are willing to pay $1,000 for one. But, the original trainer gets first dibs on adopting the dog back, and the Follins decided to adopt Chandler.

While Guiding Eyes is no longer accepting applications for people who want to adopt a trained dog, they are always looking for more trainers, Janet said. People who are interested in training a guide dog are first screened to see if they can provide the right environment and training for the dog. It now takes about three months to get a puppy. The group will make a home visit, and have prospective trainers come to puppy class and start handling the dogs.

Puppy raisers are responsible for providing food, but Guiding Eyes covers the cost of vet care, training classes and the kennel.

Being a puppy raiser requires a substantial time commitment, Catoctin region coordinator Terry Scripture said.

‘‘The Follins are exactly the kind of puppy raisers we’re looking for,” Scripture said. ‘‘They give without expecting anything back in return, and they spend hundreds of hours training their dogs.”

People who are interested in raising a puppy have to be able to attend puppy raising training classes and socialize the dogs at least four or five times a week.

‘‘It’s just been such a wonderful experience for my husband and me,” Janet said. ‘‘We’ve met a lot of wonderful people and made a lot of friends.”

The hard thing is letting go when it is time for a dog the Follins have raised to go back to Guiding Eyes, Janet said, her eyes welling up with tears.

‘‘But, we have a saying — a year in our hands, forever in our hearts,” Janet said.