By Claire Walla
When Pierson Middle/High School teacher Susan Duff gets ready to go to school, she doesn’t just prepare her lunch and gather her books. She calls for her dog, Katrina.
Duff has brought Katrina, a fluffy, golden retriever/Labrador mix, to class with her since the beginning of the school year when the puppy was just about three months old. While pets are not typically allowed in school, Katrina is an exception. She comes from the Guide Dog Foundation for the Blind. And Duff is her current caretaker.
“We’re called ‘puppy walkers,’” Duff explained. “We just do basic commands and introduce a lot of socialization.”
Using a very basic arsenal of commands — like sit and stay and stop — Duff said she goes through her everyday routine with Katrina in tow, for the purpose of getting the golden-haired dog accustomed to the elements of everyday life. Katrina is dressed in a yellow guide-dog jacket for most of the day, which means she’s “on-duty.”
“It’s great having the dogs in school,” she added. “You want them to build a bond, but not work exclusively with one person and not anyone else.”
While the dogs will ultimately be tightly bound to the blind person they assist, Duff explained that puppy handlers are in part tasked with getting the dogs prepared for all people. This gives the dogs the flexibility to be able to build a bond with whomever they end up assisting.
While prowling the Pierson halls on any given day certainly allows Katrina to brush shoulder-to-knee with a whole slew of different people, Duff said the help she receives from one particular student has been particularly valuable.
Nearly every day during her free period — when she’s not taking a test, of course — senior Chelsea Freleng makes her way to Mrs. Duff’s classroom where, as Duff put it, Katrina’s already waiting for her.
“I feel like she’s part mine,” Freleng said with a smile, “even though I know she’s not.” Freleng said she likes visiting Katrina because she’s always affectionate. She’s even noticed the difference the dog makes in the demeanors of those around her.
“A lot of the kids and teachers walk by her, and they’re like, ‘It makes my day!’” said Freling.
After having helped raise three guide-dog puppies already — Tyler, Lady and Katrina (all female) — Duff said she better understands how effective these dogs can be.
“I realize more of the challenges people [who are blind] have, like trees and cross-walks,” Duff explained.
She added that one of the great benefits to having Katrina in the classroom is not only that the puppy — who remains remarkably calm throughout the day — makes her students happy, but that it allows her to be a model for volunteerism.
At the end of the summer, Duff will give Katrina back to the Guide Dog Foundation, where she will be fitted with her first harness and receive the next level of training before she’s given to someone on a permanent basis.
“To be able to give the dog up in the end… that’s the hardest part,” she said.
Duff spends anywhere from 14 to 16 months with each dog, and because each one will travel everywhere with her, she said she inevitably develops a bond with the animal. “It’s like having a foster family,” she explained.
But, she added, giving the dog up in the end also becomes the greatest reward. Last year, Duff was able to meet the woman who now lives with her last dog, Lady.
“When they brought me in [to see Lady], it was a little tough because it was the dog that I raised,” Duff began.
She said the people at the Guide Dog Foundation told her not to approach Lady, as her instincts might compel her to do. And while she obeyed the rules, Duff said she could tell Lady was happy to see her.
“As soon as I walked in, you could see her wagging her tail,” Duff exclaimed. “And she wiggled! That’s what Lady did, she wiggled.”
Popularity: 1% [?]
0 comments:
Post a Comment