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75 °F Forecast | Road Cams Tuesday, July 13, 2004 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics Tempo AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map SPECIAL SECTIONS Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Prime Times Wellness Connection Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Wedding Guide Rogue Valley's Finest EXTRA Newspaper in Education Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People MARKETPLACE Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Classifieds Place an ad eSouthernOregon Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar CUSTOMER SERVICE Frequent Questions Advertising Information Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Network Affiliate Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend July 9, 2004 Lynn Hobbs, a nurse at Providence Medford Medical Center, works at her desk while Flo waits patiently at her feet. The yellow Labrador is being trained to become a guide dog for the blind. Mail Tribune / Jim Craven Guide dog trainee learns at work By BILL KETTLER Mail Tribune Heads turn when Flo walks into the Cancer Center at Providence Medford Medical Center. People just don’t expect to see a dog in a hospital. Flo comes to work with Lynn Hobbs, a nurse who treats cancer patients. Hobbs has been teaching the 8-month-old yellow Labrador the behavior skills she’ll need to become a guide dog for a blind person. "She’s learning how to behave in a work environment by being in a work environment," Hobbs says as Flo snoozes quietly under her desk. Flo was just an 8-week-old puppy when Hobbs started molding her into a creature who will lie quietly for hours, relieve herself on command and heed her master’s voice. Hobbs will spend another six to eight months working with Flo before sending her to the guide dog school operated by Guide Dogs for the Blind in San Rafael, Calif. Advertisement "I’m setting her value system," Hobbs says. She’s also creating a dog that will enable a blind person to go to work without special assistance from an employer. Guide dogs have to be able to accept strangers, not jump on people or lick, not fear strange situations and walk on all kinds of surfaces. Hobbs is one of eight Jackson County residents who raise puppies for Guide Dogs for the Blind. More than 1,000 volunteers across the western states also raise puppies for the nonprofit organization, which was founded in 1942 to train guide dogs for soldiers blinded in battle. "Teaching them is merely loving them and being consistent and learning to talk dog," she says, "which is way different from how people talk." Dogs are pack animals, and Hobbs assumes the role of alpha (dominant) dog to teach Flo the ropes. "They want somebody else to be the leader. They want somebody else to make the decisions. "There’s a huge amount of dog psychology," she says. "You communicate through subtle things. You eat first (before the dog eats). You determine where the dog is going to sleep." Handlers give a tug on a dog’s collar to discourage bad behavior and reward good behavior with abundant verbal praise and plenty of pats. "The second they stop (the bad behavior) we tell them they’re a good dog." Hobbs began socializing Flo as a puppy by exposing her to all kinds of people and experiences, imprinting her with a value system where "people are the best." "They’re better than food," she says. "They’re better than other dogs." The lessons progress in baby steps. When the dogs are little, trainers let all kinds of people hold them and love them. "The window for exposing them to fearful things is 20 weeks," she says. As the dogs mature, the human/canine relationship is slowly distilled and defined. First the dogs learn they can approach people. Then they learn to visit strangers only with the trainer’s permission. Finally, they’re taught not to approach strangers without a handler’s approval. "Her job is to basically ignore people when she’s working," Hobbs says. Dogs in training to be guides get grooming attention that few dogs ever experience. Flo gets a weekly bath, and Hobbs brushes her teeth daily. "We’ve never had any indication that a dog in a medical environment would cause an infection," Hobbs says. Guide Dogs for the Blind maintains its own breeding program, constantly selecting for dogs that are intelligent and calm. Most are German shepherds, Labrador retrievers (either yellow or black), golden retrievers, or Labrador/golden crossbreeds. Even after a year of intense training, not every puppy that’s raised for guide-dog school becomes a working guide dog. Some are simply too energetic to spend much of their time lying down. Others have medical problems that would be too difficult for a blind person to manage or can’t tolerate other dogs or cats. Of the dozen dogs Hobbs raised before Flo, only four have been placed with blind people as guide dogs. The others, known as "career change" dogs, may work as therapy dogs or rescue dogs. Others are placed with families who will give them loving homes. Hobbs doesn’t feel bad about her success rate. She says some people never get a graduate. Flo’s presence makes chemotherapy more tolerable for some patients. "Patients get a nice calm dog they can sit with during chemo — a dog who will love them whether they have hair or not. "Some patients ask for her," Hobbs says, "especially patients with young children. It’s a lot less scary for kids if they see a dog there." Puppy raisers need time and patience So you want to raise a guide dog? You’ll need endless patience and lots of time. It would help if you had some experience with dogs, but that’s not a requirement because puppy raisers automatically join a local club that’s affiliated with Guide Dogs for the Blind. In Jackson County, the club is Rogue Valley Guide Dogs in Training. People who want to raise puppies must agree, among other things, to keep the dog on a leash when not in a secure area, and there must be a compatible relationship with other pets in the home. Puppies must sleep indoors, and raisers must provide daily exercise and socialization for the puppies. Raisers also agree to attend regularly scheduled club meetings and outings with their puppies. For more information see the Web site at: www.roguevalleyguidedogs.org . Reach reporter Bill Kettler at 776-4492, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2004 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. 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