[nfbmi-talk] FW: [nagdu] Guide dogs trained in subways

[Mary Wurtzel]

-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Ginger Kutsch
Sent: Thursday, December 19, 2013 10:02 AM
To: NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users
Subject: [nagdu] Guide dogs trained in subways

Guide dogs trained in subways

By Sabrina Ford and Natalie O'Neill

December 19, 2013  

http://nypost.com/2013/12/19/guide-dogs-trained-in-subways/

 

Trainer Jim Kessler from The Seeing Eye guide-dog school works with Crystal,
a 2-year-old Golden Retriever. Photo: Brian Zak 

 

New York City guide dogs are a special breed.

 

Service dogs working in the Big Apple, like hero pooch Orlando, have to
undergo rigorous training to help their masters maneuver tricky urban
obstacles.

 

The hardworking pups are trained at subway stations - sometimes among
rush-hour crowds while their trainers are blindfolded - to avoid the edges
of train platforms and on how to cope with big crowds, experts said.

 

"We always bring each dog into the city to be trained. If a dog can work in
New York City, he can work pretty much anywhere," said trainer Jim Kessler
of The Seeing Eye, the oldest guide-dog school in the country.

 

Kessler spent time Wednesday training Crystal, a 2-year-old golden
retriever, at the 49th Street station in Manhattan using a reward system.

 

"If I tell the dog to go to the edge of the platform or I try to walk on the
track, that's where we teach them to use 'intelligent disobedience,' " he
said.

 

"If I tell her straight [towards the tracks], she should pull me right or
left.

 

"We don't want the dog to be fearful of the edge, but we want them to
respect it," he added.

 

Jumping on subway tracks to save a master - as brave Labrador Orlando did -
is not part of the training.

 

"We never expect the person to be [down in the tracks], but any one of our
guide dogs would most likely jump in after his master. They are very
attached," said Dave Johnson of The Seeing Eye.

 

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