BG couple helps another guide dog graduate

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BATTLE GROUND – In a formal ceremony in late spring, Shirley Howard and her husband Kevin, of Battle Ground, walked onto a stage in Boring, OR, to officially mark the union of two new graduates.

The students had participated in an intense two-week course designed to ensure their compatibility before they were sent out into the world together. After it was all over, the tearful Howards presented a harness belonging to Holbrook, the black Labrador Retriever they had raised from puppyhood, to Dennis Burton, the blind man who would be taking Holbrook home as a service companion.

The Howards acquired Holbrook as volunteers involved with Guiding Eyes of Clark County, a puppy raising collective organized through the nonprofit Guide Dogs for the Blind (GDB), which provides golden retrievers and black labs as service dogs to blind people at no charge.

When the Howards lost their own pet dog about six years ago, they combined their interest in volunteering with a desire to find an activity that would appeal to their teenaged daughter and decided to host their first puppy through GDB in 2010.

"It's not a volunteer service like I've ever had before," Howard said. "This is 24/7. You always have this dog with you and you're always making sure you keep him on schedule."

They received Holbrook when he was about 5 months old, but puppies are usually raised from about 8 weeks of age and are returned between 15 and 17 months for formal training.

Volunteers are expected to prepare the puppies for their future job by providing basic obedience training and around-the-clock socialization, including trips to work and other public outings.

Though the load can be intimidating, volunteers are given disciplinary guidelines and constant support throughout the process. Mike Githens, who leads Guiding Eyes for Clark County, organizes outings and gatherings and answers volunteers' questions about the dogs and the process.

"You do have the dog with you all the time, but a lot of the time it's just living with you and learning to have good house manners," Githens said.

Letting go of the dogs at the end of the raising period can be the hard part, Howard said, even though she understands from the beginning that the puppy will eventually leave home to do important work.

"I can get attached to a dog from day one," Howard said, "So it's very difficult … When we took Holbrook back on Jan. 24 I cried and cried and I don't know how you can ever not have that happen."



Holbrook was the fourth dog the Howards raised with the group, but only the second to fulfill his intended role, Howard said. Only about half the puppies raised for the organization actually go on to become guide dogs.

"It's a pretty hard calling for a dog to become a guide dog," said Githens said.

Those who do not work out as guide dogs still benefit from the puppy raiser system, Githens said, as the animals are often re-trained for other service jobs like cancer detection or rescue work. Another dog raised by the Howards is now a therapy dog who visits long-term care facilities and hospice patients.

"Whatever they go on to do, if it's maybe therapy work or working as a seizure alert dog or even just a pet dog, they're really giving back," he said.

In Clark County, volunteers from all backgrounds have helped raise dogs for GDB, Githens said.

"It's not really any one type of person who can do this. We have retired folks, people working, families, students – so anybody that's interested we'd love to hear from them because we can definitely always use new volunteers," he said.

He recommended anyone interested in volunteering to host a puppy visit the GDB website www.GuideDogs.com to fill out an interest form.

"I think, if anybody is interested and they have a love for dogs and have a desire to have some kind of community involvement and volunteer, this is a great way to do it,’’ Githens said. “We definitely need puppy raisers so I would encourage people to find out more, contact us."

After the training, host families are invited to travel to the GDB campus in Boring to present the now grown, trained dog to the blind person who will home it until it retires; an event Howard said was worth the pain of letting go.

"It's not easy, it's a lot of work but I can't describe how fulfilling it is," she said. "I sent a lot of prayers up that he's matched with a good person because you are attached with this dog … We were very fortunate with Dennis."