[nagdu] Ben in the news

Mon Feb 9 16:35:22 UTC 2009

Tracy,
    This was a great article! One of the best I have read about guide dogs 
in quite some time

Fraternally,
Marion


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Ann Edie" <annedie at nycap.rr.com>
To: "NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users" 
<nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Monday, February 09, 2009 2:40 AM
Subject: Re: [nagdu] Ben in the news


> Very good article, Tracy.  I especially liked the quotations from you.
>
> Best,
> Ann
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Tracy Carcione" <carcione at access.net>
> To: <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Sunday, February 08, 2009 11:06 AM
> Subject: [nagdu] Ben in the news
>
>
> I'm pasting below an article that came out this morning in one of my
> county's newspapers.  It's mostly about puppy-raising, but Ben and I are
> in it, as an end product example.
> It's not bad.  Not perfect, but not as far wrong as many I've seen.
>
> I'd paste a link, but I don't know how.  It's at northjersey.com, but more
> than that I can't say.
> Tracy
>
>
>
> Seeing Eye project seeks those with love to spare
> Sunday, Februa
>
> The volunteer job sounds warm and fuzzy enough: be a pup's foster owner
> for a while.
> ELIZABETH LARA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
>
> Tracy Carcione of Teaneck and her Seeing Eye dog, Ben, making their way
> home. They've been
>
> inseparable for two years.
>
> But for Seeing Eye of Morristown and its clients, it's serious work they
> depend on: raising
>
> dogs that help North Jersey's visually impaired maintain expanded
> lives.
>
> Seeing Eye is looking for people willing to take in puppies for 15 to 19
> months. Afterward,
>
> the dogs - German shepherds, golden retrievers and Labrador
> retrievers - are returned for training. In the relationship, human and dog
> share a formal
>
> program and, of course, the intangibles.
>
> "We enjoy it tremendously," said Roger Woodhour of Woodcliff Lake, who,
> along with wife
>
> Sheila, is fostering Edison, a German shepherd. "When you see the
> benefits the dogs give to a blind person and how it allows them to go
> anywhere they want
>
> with dignity, it really is a great feeling."
>
> The puppy placement program began in 1942 and now has 800 dogs placed with
> foster families,
>
> including 16 families in Passaic County and 25 in Bergen County.
>
> The pups begin foster care at seven weeks, and for 14 months, caregivers
> must housebreak the
>
> dog, socialize it, and keep up with veterinary checkups. They
> also must attend monthly group meetings, held in each county, for support
> and puppy
>
> socialization.
>
> The non-profit Seeing Eye organization covers veterinary costs and
> provides a quarterly
>
> stipend of about $70 for food, grooming and toys.
>
> Doreen Smith of Wayne, a co-leader for the Passaic County puppy group,
> said members also
>
> take field trips to socialize the pups.
>
> "You have to be committed to following through with working with the dog,
> going to meetings
>
> and at the same time, having fun with the dog," said Smith,
> who has fostered eight dogs over 16 years.
>
> Established in 1929, The Seeing Eye of Morristown is the oldest existing
> guide-dog school in
>
> the world; currently, there are about 15 others like it. Its
> 90-acre campus encompasses a dorm for clients in training, administrative
> building,
>
> veterinary clinic and four kennels. Seeing Eye breeds its own dogs
> at a complex in Chester; to ensure a wholesome environment, all employees
> there wear
>
> surgical scrubs.
>
> Puppy graduation
>
> Once a dog is old enough to start four-month training, a coordinator takes
> it away. For many
>
> foster parents, letting go is tough.
>
> "It's usually sad for families to see the dog go, but they know they are
> helping someone in
>
> return," said Peggy Gibbon, Seeing Eye's puppy placement manager.
>
> Dogs dropped from training for medical reasons can be adopted.
>
> Foster families are invited to watch their former charges at graduation,
> which includes
>
> showing their stuff on Morristown's busy streets.
>
> "Families are often stunned by what their little puppy can do, and we get
> a lot of tears,"
>
> said Gibbon.
>
> Meanwhile, visually impaired clients undergo similar training in
> Morristown, learning to
>
> interpret sounds and traffic without a dog.
>
> After initial training, a student is introduced to a dog fit to his or her
> size, agility and
>
> speed. The pair works for up to a month, using basic control
> commands of "sit," "down," "rest," and "come," and guide commands such as
> "right," "left,"
>
> "forward" and "back."
>
> The program fee, unchanged since 1934, is $150 and $50 for each subsequent
> visit. That
>
> covers the dog, equipment, instruction, room and board, as well as
> transportation and follow-up services. The program runs year-round.
> First-time students stay
>
> for 26 days. Others returning for a replacement dog go through
> a refresher course of 19 days.
>
> Ray Kornman, an outreach specialist for Seeing Eye, has been through the
> program twice.
>
> Kornman who lost his sight to retinitis pigmentosa, was recently
> paired with Morris, a golden retriever.
>
> "The dog has allowed me to move a lot freer, a lot faster, and with a lot
> more confidence,"
>
> said Kornman. "It's just humanizing me to the general public
> that don't know about blindness and vision loss and I was one of those
> people, too, before I
>
> lost my sight. It's a great conversation starter and an ice
> breaker in a social situation."
>
> James A Kutsch, president of Seeing Eye, lost his vision at age 16 to an
> at-home chemistry
>
> accident and has relied on dogs through "all the major milestones"
> of a full family life. But although such services for the visually
> impaired have advanced
>
> over time, he suggests the public strive to provide another:
> "Rethink their attitude."
>
> He said that even pondering blindness by closing your eyes to get a feel
> for it, "You don't
>
> experience what somebody, who is trained and used to various
> ways of adapting their life to dealing with blindness, faces over a long
> term."
>
> On the streets
>
> Tracy Carcione of Teaneck and Ben headed for work one recent day.
> Approaching a bus stop.
>
> Ben took the first steps across a street, and Tracy confidently
> followed. It was another normal day of hustle and bustle for everyone,
> including Carcione,
>
> who is blind, and Ben, a Labrador retriever getting her to her
> job as a programmer for New York Presbyterian Hospital in Manhattan.
>
> After a ride to the Port Authority bus terminal, Ben led Tracy downstairs
> through the crowds
>
> and out into the loud city. They walked 10 blocks east, winding
> through pedestrians and skirting traffic.
>
> "Ben is a great city dog," said Carcione, 47. "The harder things get, the
> better he does."
>
> They've been together for two years. Carcione has used Seeing Eye dogs
> since college and
>
> said of her last choice, "They had to pick a dog for me who could
> deal with Manhattan and be happy."
>
> Besides traveling into the city each workday, Carcione also goes out and
> about with Ben,
>
> heading to the gym or a diner for coffee.
>
> "The most important thing for people to keep in mind is that blind people
> are like everybody
>
> else," she said. "We have jobs, we have families. We are not
> sitting at home in the dark feeling sorry for ourselves."
>
>
>
>
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