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A day in the life of Sunshine, 3 month old Leader Dog For the Blind Trainee

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goldwyn > A Bright Sunshiny Day in a Dog's Life: 6/30/2008
Text and Photos by Craig Goldwyn

As a hobby, my wife and I raise puppies for Leader Dogs for the Blind. We got involved because we love animals and because, as a photographer, the concept of blindness has always befuddled me.

About a month ago we picked up a seven week old yellow Labrador Retriever from the Leader Dog kennels in Rochester, MI http://leaderdog.org . We named her Sunshine because she is so bright in color and attitude. To the name we attach the hope she will pass all her tests and, at about 18 months of age, become the sunshine in the life of someone who can use some. She is the fifth puppy we have raised for Leader Dogs over the past decade. Sunshine was born 4/4/2008, so she was just shy of three months old on 6/30/2008 when I documented her day.

Founded in 1939, Leader Dogs for the Blind is one of the oldest and largest service dog training schools in the world. They issue about 600 puppies a year to volunteers, and about half of them graduate. Some of the ones who fail to graduate are offered to other working dog services, and the rest are offered for adoption. So far all of our pups have graduated.

We will have Sunshine for about 11 months. She and her litter mates will return to the Leader Dog school on 4/12/09. We prefer not to think about that too much.

When she goes back she will begin an advanced training and evaluation program. After the first month Leader Dog's breeding committee will decide if she should be part of their breeding stock or if she should be neutered and be trained to become a Leader Dog. If she goes on she will face a rigorous four-month training program. Then Leader Dog will fly in her new blind partner at no expense, and house him or her in their new on-campus apartments.

Now here's where something miraculous happens. Up until now these bright, sensitive, playful animals have been training to cross streets and driveways, and guide their partners through crowded sidewalks and malls. But all their training has been with sighted people. It has been fun and game-like. Then one morning each dog is brought into a bedroom and her new partner is sitting on the bed. And there is something very different about this person, but the dog doesn't know it yet. The two will live together, practice together, bond, and fall in love, and somewhere along the way, in just four weeks, she will come to understand that it is no longer a game. This person's life is in her paws. They have become a working team. After 11-12 months in my home, after 5-6 months on the Leader Dog campus, at about 18 months old, Sunshine and her new partner will go home together.

Nobody knows how the dogs come to recognize that the games are over and work has begun, that their new masters lives depend on them, but it happens in Rochester 300 times a year and at service dog academies across the world countless times.

Technical notes: All photos were taken with a Nikon D80 or D70. The title photo was taken with a Nikkor 70-300 mm lens with a macro attachment, the two digital clock photos were taken with a Nikkor 18-70 mm lens, and the rest were taken with a Nikkor 10.5 mm fisheye lens because I wanted to show how small Sunshine was and how large her world is. I took more than 800 pix over the day and about 80 made the cut.

goldwyn > 1) The rule of thumb is that new puppies sleep one hour for every month of age. Volunteer puppy raisers like us get them at about 7 weeks old, so we can usually look forward to getting up several times a night for a couple of months. This has been the case with the other four dogs we have raised for LD. But they are all different, and Sunshine has been a pleasant surprise. After about a week, she was sleeping 6-7 hours! We used to get up at 5:09 (don't ask). She has been waking us between 4:15 and 4:30 almost every morning. Not bad.

goldwyn > 2) She spends her nights in a crate. Let's get this straight. It is not a cage. It is her home, and it is dark and comfy in there, with some of her favorite toys. She likes it there.

Puppies will not soil their bed unless they are in pain, so the crate is not just for night time. During house training pups spend a lot of time in the crate. We take her out every hour or two to relieve herself. While she does it, we chant "Park! Park! Good girl! Park!" We want her to learn the command "park". A Leader Dog working in an office will be taken outside to take care of business on command so her owner can get back to work. Why the command "park"? It's krap spelled backwards. You don't want to hear a blind person standing on the lawn outside an office chanting "Krap! Krap! Good girl! Krap!" do you?

It helps that my office is in my home. Other puppy raisers arrange with neighbors to get the puppy out regularly during the day. I seethe when I hear about people getting a pet dog, and then they leave it home all day and punish it for soiling the house or the crate.

goldwyn > 3) When I open the crate she is a blur heading for the back door.

goldwyn > 4) Park Sunshine! Park!

goldwyn > 5) Park Craig! Park!

goldwyn > 6) You have never seen an animal eat with such gusto. She dives for the bowl practically leaving her feet. We have taught her to sit first, but as soon as the bowl hits the ground she is airborne. All Leader Dog puppies eat only dry kibble, Purina Pro Plan Chicken and Rice formula. LD says it is a good balanced meal, and it is important that they all eat the same food so they do not have an eating problem when they go back to Leader Dog school and then home with their new blind partner.

goldwyn > 7) When she finishes eating she watches Molly the Border Collie, our permanent pet, finish her meal. Molly then goes to lick Sunshine's bowl and visa versa. Weird.

goldwyn > 8-10) I had to go into the basement for something. Sunshine is puzzled by these stairs and how I disappear below her and then reappear. Soon we will teach her how to climb stairs and fire escapes. For now she expresses her confusion by barking at me.

4) Park Sunshine! Park!

> 4) Park Sunshine! Park!

4) Park Sunshine! Park!

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