[nagdu] Guide Dog Trainer saves the day

[Criminal Justice Major Extraordinaire]

Sent: Tuesday, June 11, 2013 4:08 PM
Subject: Guide Dog Trainer saves the day
>From Guide Dogs for the Blind, California:
Guide Dog Trainer Saves the Day!
It is a guide dog trainer's job to be acutely aware of safety, especially 
while working with dogs on crowded sidewalks
and busy city streets. But what happens when a speeding car unexpectedly 
    shows up on the sidewalk? It's a situation that no amount of training could ever
prepare a guide dog trainer for, but that's exactly what happened on the
streets of San Rafael, CA yesterday (June 10).
Guide Dogs for the Blind's Training Supervisor Todd Jurek was working with
Apprentice Instructor Danielle Alvarado as she was training a yellow Lab
guide dog named O'Neil. Danielle was wearing a blindfold, and Todd was "spotting" 
her and O'Neil as they walked down 4th Street, avoiding obstacles in their
path as guide dogs are trained to do. Out of the blue, a car jumps the curb
while attempting to parallel park, and careens toward the threesome. The
noise of the car crashing through a storefront window alerts both the dog and Todd 
that something was horribly amiss. Thanks to Todd's quick thinking and swift
reaction, he was able to immediately steer everyone to safety.
  Luckily, no
one else was injured in the incident either (the car's driver and passenger are ok; no other pedestrians were involved).
Video of the scene was captured by a building's security cameras and can be 
viewed at the link we've added here. (Note: there is no sound in the video,
but it's a compilation of clips from three different angles, showing the car 
careening toward Todd, Danielle and O'Neil.) Guide Dogs for the Blind is so
proud of Todd's heroic actions in moving Alvarado, O'Neil and himself from 
harm's way, and we hope you are too!
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10200670460417283&set=vb.116708972705&type=2&theater