[nagdu] here is the guide dog story from Israel

[Brenda]

Cheryl
Thank you for sharing that, it was really neat.
Brenda

On 2/4/2011 10:37 AM, Cheryl Echevarria wrote:
> Eyes to the World
>
>
>
> An Eye Opening Israeli Program
>
> By Debbie Shapiro
>
>
>
> Sunday morning I was up early to catch the number 110 bus to Modiin to meet
> Lisa Baron Haet, International Liaison of IGCB, Israel Guide Dog Center for
> the Blind. From the bus stop Ms. Baron Haet drove me in her bright yellow
> car to the IGCB campus, located some twenty minutes south of Tel Aviv. I had
> seen these amazing animals at work, leading blind people through the
> treacherous Jerusalem streets, where cars are often parked smack in the
> middle of the sidewalk and piles of building material and low-hanging trees
> make pedestrian navigation a real challenge even for those fully sighted,
> but I only recently found out that these dogs are now being bred and trained
> not far from my home.
>
>
>
> In the last ten years, IGDCB has given hundreds of blind Israelis the gift
> of independence. When Guy Simchi became blind at the age of 33, he felt the
> outside world close before him. "The fear and despair was so powerful, I
> just wanted to go to bed and stay there for the rest of my life." He hated
> using the cane. "Everywhere I walked, I was accompanied by the noise of its
> tap-tapping on the ground. Once in a while, I would inadvertently hit the
> legs of people passing by and often bumped into things- electric poles,
> trees, people. I felt like a failure."
>
>
>
> All that changed January, 2007 when Simchi was paired with Turner, a black
> Lab. "Today, Simchi and Turner in practically inseparable. The dog
> accompanies him when he walks his son to preschool and even joins him while
> he counsels clients in his position as a psychiatric social worker. For
> Simchi, his dog, Turner, has "lit up the darkness for me."
>
>
>
>
>
> IGDCB is the brainchild of Noach Braun. Braun, a former kibbutznik, got his
> first experience working with dogs while serving in the Israeli Defense
> Force. Upon completing his service, he decided to become a guide dog
> trainer, as it would combine his love of animals with his desire to help his
> fellow Israelis. He took his initial two years of training in the Guide Dog
> Mobility Instructor Training Program at Pilot Dogs, Columbus, Ohio, and then
> continued his studies in England. In 1991, Braun returned home to open the
> first guide dog school in Israel. Meanwhile, his wife, Orna, studied a dog
> breeding, which, in today's high-tech world involves genetic research to
> produce intelligent and resilient animals.
>
>
>
> IGDCB's first graduating pair was Chaim Tzur, a concert violinist from
> Jerusalem with Tillie, a Labrador retriever that was given as a puppy to
> Noach by the guide dog school in London. Tzur lived together with Braun and
> his family while receiving his instruction and training. Since then, Braun,
> together with his wife and twenty-two staff members, have graduated three
> hundred and thirty-seven partnerships.
>
>
>
> @A Visit to the Center
>
>
>
> Pulling up into the parking lot just outside the center, I have visions of
> huge German shepherds jumping on me while trying to lick my face, and pray
> that I don't faint on the spot. But although I see many people walking
> around and pass an obstacle course designed to train dogs to navigate
> difficult terrain, I don't encounter any dogs, nor do I hear barking
> (whew!).
>
>
>
> As we walk up to Ms. Baron Haet's second-floor office, she says, "I got
> involved with the Center when I fostered one of their puppies. When puppies
> are about two months old they're sent to foster families that teach them the
> skills they will need to begin their training program. The foster families
> get them used to being around people and introduce them to a variety of new
> situations, such as construction sites, busy highways and crowded shopping
> malls. We train them not to beg at the table or chase cats, and to obey
> basic commands such as 'sit' or 'come.' After I started working here, I
> would bring my puppie, Angie, to work with me" - she points to an empty spot
> next to the wall - "that was where he would stay while I worked. After
> devoting hours to walking him and taking care of his needs, when he was one
> year old, we returned him to the Center, where he started the intensive five
> month training course to become a Guide Dog."
>
>
>
> Angie was one of the 40% that do not pass the Guide Dog Training Course.
> Although itsucceeded in navigating the obstacle courses and obeying the
> trainer, it was slightly hyperactive and did not have the patience necessary
> to guide a blind person. Instead, Angie is living with a blind child and his
> family, to acclimate the child to having a dog in the house so that  it will
> be easier for him to get used to working with a guide dog when he get older.
> Sometimes dogs that don't pass the test are given to autistic children to
> help them learn to communicate with the world around him.
>
>
>
> Ms. Baron Haet introduces me to some of the staff. Many of them have also
> adopted puppies, and their dogs come with them to the office. I am amazed
> that the animals remain quietly on their mats. But the moment Ms. Baron Haet
> starts petting a large white Labrador, the animal grabs a toy and brings it
> over to us, hoping that we'll play with him.
>
>
>
> In the last office, I meet Yitzchak Ben Dovid, IGDCB's Community and
> Corporate Public Relations Director, and a Guide Dog user since 1994. While
> Yitzchak is busy answering emails and responding to telephone calls, his
> Guide Dog is off duty and free to roam the halls or sniff the flowers. But
> the moment Yitzchak harnesses him with the special Guide Dog harness, it has
> one mission - to guide its partner and lead him away from danger.
>
>
>
> In the hallway, Ms. Baron Haet introduces me to Sagit Kirson, IGDCB's
> Volunteer Coordinator, who's training a group of volunteers to work with the
> clients. I notice that the volunteers are carrying blindfolds. "As part of
> their sensitivity training, they're going to experience for a short time
> some of the challenges of being blind, especially navigating new terrain,"
> Ms. Kirson explains.
>
>
>
> It takes an entire month of intensive one-on-one work with a trainer for a
> blind person and a dog to become a genuine team. The students spend three
> weeks working with a trainer at the center, and an additional week of
> training at home, where they learn to navigate the specific challenges of
> their own neighborhood. "At first, most of our clients find it extremely
> difficult -- even traumatic -- to leave their familiar surroundings and live
> at the Center. At home, they know where everything is and are able to get
> around easily. But here, everything is new and different and it's a real
> challenge for them to learn to get around."
>
>
>
> As we walk through the Center, Ms. Baron Haet points out that everything in
> the building is designed to make it easier for people with limited vision to
> find their way around. There is a wide yellow strip running down the center
> of each hallway and path, and bathroom fixtures are all bright yellow.
> "Yellow is the last color that blind people lose the ability to see," Ms.
> Baron Haet explains, "so some of our legally blind clients with residual
> vision are able to discern it."  The flooring in front of the stairs and
> outer doors is also yellow, and include raised bumps to warn the clients to
> be careful of the steps ahead. In contrast, the flooring adjacent to the
> walls is black and roughly textured to prevent the clients from bumping into
> them. There is a large tactile model of the entire campus prominently
> displayed near the front entrance. Its removable roof allows the students to
> get a hands-on feel of the building layout, and, when pushed, numerous
> buttons provide audio explanations of every detail. For a split second, I
> close my eyes and imagine what it must be like to "feel" my way around the
> world.
>
>
>
> Before leaving the main building to meet the dogs, Ms. Baron Haet takes me
> to the dormitory. In addition to the spacious bedrooms, there are two dog
> grooming rooms, where the clients are taught to care for their dogs. "Many
> of our clients live alone, so train them how to use their sense of smell and
> touch to detect any abnormality in their dog, such as a runny nose or cut
> paws. Since we remain responsible for the dogs' veterinary care, if there's
> any problem that the client can't cope with, we send one of our trainers to
> take care of it, and return the dog to the client in top condition."
>
>
>
> @With the Trainers
>
>
>
> Outside, several trainers are working with the dogs. I watch, fascinated, as
> one trainer holds a piece of hot, aromatic sausage in front of the dog's
> nose, then flips it in the air and shakes it up and down to entice him to
> eat, while the dog's main trainer quietly tells him not to. "We're teaching
> the dog to conquer his yetzer hara, which in a dog is its instinct," the
> trainer laughs. "That's because when a dog is in its harness, 'at work,' no
> matter how strong the desire or pressing the need, the animal's energies
> must be channeled into serving its partner." After all, a dog going off to
> the side to smell the flowers will drag his partner with him.
>
>
>
> "We use this tiny apparatus, called a clicker, to train the animals." Ms.
> Baron Haet points to the tiny piece of plastic in the trainer's hand. "When
> pressed, it makes a clicking noise. At first, when the trainer clicks, he
> simultaneously gives the dog a tiny treat, so that the dog associates the
> clicking sound with a treat. Then the click itself becomes positive
> reinforcement, and the treats are given only occasionally. Eventually, the
> behavior is so ingrained that the dog doesn't need the positive
> reinforcement to behave as trained."
>
>
>
> After watching the dogs navigate a seesaw and climb stairs, Ms. Baron Haet
> shows me the sensory garden, dominated by a raised fishpond. Using the same
> method of positive reinforcement that is used to train the dogs, the
> trainers have trained the fish to enjoy being stroked. For many blind
> people, this is their first opportunity to actually 'see' a fish."
>
>
>
>
>
> NOTE TO GRAPHIC ARTIST: PICTURE OF HAND IN WATER, WITH FISH SUCKING FINGER
>
>
>
>
>
> @Meet Yariv Melamed
>
>
>
> Ms. Baron Haet introduced me to Yariv Melamed, an ex-kibbutznik who began
> his career as an apprentice in the Center, and later received a scholarship
> to spend a year in Melbourne studying the clicker method of training Guide
> Dogs. When asked what he loves about his job, he replied, "It's wonderful to
> help people open a new page in their lives. I've had clients break into
> tears of joy after successfully navigating the obstacle course. With their
> new-found independence, they regain their sense of self-respect and join the
> world around them. After a month of working together on a daily basis,
> facing and overcoming fears and limitations, I develop a deep, personal
> relationship with my clients. Although I don't always manage to get to all
> of their simchos, all the trainers make annual home visits to iron out any
> problems, and of course, we're always there if other issues arise."
>
>
>
> @From Astro to Zorbo
>
>
>
> Visiting the kennels, I learn that the dogs are named according to their
> litter - with the names beginning with the same letter of the alphabet. So
> Jingle, Jupiter and Janglo all have the same genetic makeup, which makes it
> easier to keep track of their behavior, information that is used to decide
> the genetic makeup of future litters. "We never give the dogs typical Hebrew
> names," Ms. Baron Haet explains. "After all, the chances are small that
> someone in a crowded mall will call out 'Hey, Jupiter.'"
>
>
>
> Mother dogs with their newborn litters are kept in a separate area, a canine
> kimpaturin heim replete with soothing music, lots of stuffed pillows, toys
> and extra-nutritious meals. The pups remain with their mother for the first
> two months of their lives. Then they are sent to their adoptive families,
> which lavish them with love and attention and prepare them for the rigorous
> five-month Guide Dog training course.
>
>
>
> **********
>
>
>
> Ever since Hashem commanded the First Man to "rule over the fish of the sea
> and over the fowl of the sky and over all the beasts that tread upon the
> earth" (Bereishis 1:28), man has trained animals to serve him. Yaakov Avinu
> kept a herd of between 600,000 to 1,200,000 dogs to tend his sheep (Bereshis
> Rabba, Vayetezei, parsha 73).  Dovid Hamelech raised dogs, presumably as
> watchdogs (Rashi, Shmuel II, 3:8). Today, dogs are trained to detect bedbugs
> and drugs, track down people, warn an epileptic of an impending fit,
> determine sounds for a deaf person and open up new horizons for the blind.
>
>
>
> TEXT BOX
>
>
>
> Blind Etiquette
>
>
>
> Never pet or otherwise distract a Guide Dog while it is wearing the harness.
> It is not a pet. Distracting a Guide Dog while it is working can endanger
> the blind person's life.
>
>
>
> If the Guide Dog is not wearing its harness, ask permission before petting
> it or playing with it.
>
>
>
> Never offer food or drink to a Guide Dog. Its owner carefully monitors the
> dog's food and liquid intake so that he will know when to allow the dog to
> relieve itself.
>
>
>
> Never grab or steer a person while his Guide Dog is guiding him, or attempt
> to hold the dog's harness.
>
>
>
> In the Hebrew-speaking Chareidi community, Ariella Savir is a household
> word. A blind mother of eight - including an autistic son - she's produced
> dozens of popular children's tapes and CDs. She appears regularly to
> all-women audiences from Ofakim to Tsfas, where she weaves songs and stories
> as she talks about the many challenges facing her as a visually impaired
> woman living a normal life.
>
>
>
> Since receiving a Guide Dog three months ago, Ariella has been appearing on
> stage with her dog, Zorba, who sits patiently at her side waiting for her to
> finish so that he can guide her backstage.
>
>
>
> Ariella graciously offered to tell Hamodia how her Guide Dog has enriched
> her life.
>
>
>
> "My husband was always there to help me and guide me. But when he suffered a
> minor heart attack, I suddenly realized that I must have my independence,
> that I can't be completely dependent on him for everything. Getting a Guide
> Dog was like being released from a golden prison. Yes, I had everything I
> wanted, and everyone was more than happy to help me, but now I have wings to
> fly solo. Every morning, I go for a walk and meet my friends. Sometimes,
> later on in the day I walk to the post office, or do some shopping. Zorbo is
> my key to the wonderful world around me."
>
>
>
> The biggest compliment you can pay me is to recommend my services!
>
>
>
> Cheryl Echevarria
>
> Independent Travel Consultant
>
> C10-10646
>
> http://www.Echevarriatravel.com
>
> 1-866-580-5574 or 631-456-5394
>
> Reservations at echevarriatravel.com
>
>
>
> Affiliated as an Independent Contractor with Montrose Travel CST-1018299-10
>
> Affiliated as an Independent Contractor with Absolute Cruise and Travel Inc.
>
>
>
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