The good goodbye
A look into life with a guide dog in training
Daniel Bitonti

"She was in and out of my life for about a year and half." Jeff Groves, Dog Guides Canada volunteer, on his up and down relationship with Nikita.

 

This past June, Meg's bowels got the better of her in the cheese aisle at Ultra. On this occasion the proverbial 'clean up in aisle eight' was definitely well warranted.

But fast-forward six months and Meg (full name Omega) is growing up fast. She is on Facebook, with stylized photos of her posing with friends and a detailed profile page. Favourite show: Dog the Bounty Hunter. Favourite movie: not surprisingly, All Dogs Go to Heaven.

Meg is also gearing up for her graduation (fingers crossed) from an exclusive program that only the best and brightest of her peers attend.

Oh, and Meg is a black lab.

Meg belongs to a small but growing contingent of green-coated canines on the University of Guelph campus that make even the beer-guzzling, football-jersey-wearing, nothing-phases-me macho archetype go soft with school boy giggles. They are certainly cute, but dogs like Meg are guide dogs in training, part of a unique Lions Club of Canada program, Dog Guides Canada, that matches volunteers like Christie Whyte with puppies like Meg. Dogs like Meg are "socialized" by their handlers, adhering to an often-strict discipline code that prepares the dogs for a career as a guide dog.

But as Meg's awkward situation in Ultra shows (or more accurately Whyte's awkward situation), the relationship between volunteer and dog is just like any other.

Except in this case, early and sudden goodbyes are almost a guarantee. 

Take former University of Guelph student Jeff Groves. In 2007 Groves was quickly convinced by his then girlfriend to get a dog through the program. The program's only prerequisite for a volunteer is that they have time and patience.

 Groves had plenty.

Groves called the program: they had nothing. But two days later they had found a match: a seven-month old chocolate lab named Nikita was in need of a volunteer. Groves quickly changed his whole routine; feedings at seven in the morning were apparently the worst.

But Nikita was taken away by Guide Dogs seven months in. She was then given and taken back from Groves on two more occasions. Like most relationships, the first breakup simply didn't stick.

 "She was in and out of my life for about a year and half," said Groves.

But Dog Guides is a program based on the understanding that volunteers will eventually have to give up their pups. Founded in 1983, the program has trained 1400 dog guides for men, women and children from coast to coast with visual, hearing and other medical or physical difficulties.  Volunteers often spend upwards of a year with a dog, identified around the country by their green coats. 

Then comes the dreaded call. Anywhere between the time the dog is 10 and 14 months old it can be recalled by the organization and sent to work with a professional trainer at facilities in either Oakville or Breslau, Ont. Four to six weeks later, the dog is ready for a client, of course after a graduation ceremony with their surrogate mamma and papas cheering front and centre.

"We want [the dogs] to see and do as much as possible, so when in fact they are working dogs they are hopefully at that point that they've seen it and done it and nothing is phasing them," said Melissa Eckersley, Communications Coordinator for Dog Guides Canada, about the responsibility of the volunteers. "Now a foster puppy, granted it's not fully trained at the time, is encouraged to go to as many places they can and there is a general understanding in the community that this is helping."

While dogs like Meg and Nikita are given lots of time to prance around in a way only puppies can, vital to their success as guides is making a distinction between work and play.

"I still do pay attention to her when she has her coat on, saying 'good girl Meg,' but we are supposed to start weaning her off that, talking to her less when she has the coat on," said Whyte, on her discipline strategy with Meg.  "She recognizes we are a little more strict when she has her coat on."

There is also the "four on the floor rule," requiring the dogs feet to remain fully on the floor. Volunteers are also not allowed to share beds with the dogs in order to avoid confusion over who exactly is in charge. 

But while the greater community might recognize the importance of training guide dogs in theory, it is not always practiced.

"I was in Toronto and I went to some restaurant on the Danforth and the owner was basically telling me 'you can't come in with that dog because it was against the health code,'" remembered Groves, about a specific incident with Nikita.  "But then this lady came up to us and was like 'if you kick him out I am leaving this restaurant and I am going to make such a fuss and bring everyone with me. I'm going to make such a fuss and tell everyone what a horrible place this is.' [The owner] then said 'okay you can stay.'"

Turned out that patron's husband and daughter were both visually impaired.

And this is precisely what Groves hung onto when he was forced to say goodbye to Nikita one last time.

"She told me what we do is such a great thing and makes such a big difference in their lives," said Groves. "It was really the first time I had anybody say they appreciated it. I can train another dog. It's when I go up to people who are visually impaired or have a disability and talk to them about their lives and they tell me how great it is what we do. That makes it worth it."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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