Chris Bohmer is raising Oasis, a black lab puppy. He’s the 14th guide dog since 2008 she’s helped train for the organization Guiding Eyes for the Blind.
Bohmer, 70, found out about Guiding Eyes — a nonprofit that provides guide dogs to those with vision loss — shortly after her children all left for college. She has three cousins who are legally blind and have benefited “greatly” from guide dogs, she said, and thought it would be fun to help raise these dogs herself.
Guiding Eyes offers services in four areas in Maryland — Frederick, Baltimore, Montgomery County and Annapolis — but those interested in raising puppies can participate in any of these areas regardless of where they reside, Regional Puppy Instructor Jeanyne Gembarski said.
Puppies stay with their mothers for the first six weeks of their lives and are given a temperament test at 8 weeks old to qualify them for the training program and match them with a volunteer puppy raiser, Gembarski said.
After being matched with a raiser, puppies will spend the next 12 to 18 months being taught basic obedience and house manners by the volunteers, as well as being socialized in a variety of environments at least five days a week. Raisers also attend classes several times a month with their puppies to help build basic skills and confidence as well as reduce distractions. Guiding Eyes covers all veterinary expenses for raisers, including heartworm and flea medications.
Bohmer’s current puppy, Oasis, turns 1 year old Saturday. She’s co-raising Oasis with another local volunteer. They swap the puppy back and forth as needed.
After their time with a puppy raiser, the dogs move on to the second phase of training, Gembarski said, which takes place at the Guiding Eyes training school in New York. There, dogs learn from professional trainers the guide dog responsibilities they’re expected to handle, such as stopping at curbs or targeting elevators, stairs and escalators. Gembarski said the dogs typically spend about five or six months at the training school, depending on their performance.
“Anybody can become a puppy raiser as long as they can commit to the time,” Gembarski said. “Experience is not necessary.”
Rania Dima, 50, of Urbana, received her second guide dog, named Donovan, from Guiding Eyes in April. Dima was diagnosed with Usher syndrome — a rare genetic disease causing hearing and vision loss — when she was 19 years old, she said, and received her first guide dog named Clyde from Guiding Eyes in 2018.
Donovan helps Dima walk around independently by stopping at each curb and making sure she safely crosses the street, and keeps her with her family when they’re out in public together.
“I get to have this lovable and furry companion by my side,” Dima said. “There’s the independence and the less stress that Donovan brings to me, but he also brings companionship.”
Gembarski said there’s a local and national shortage of puppy raisers. The main focus of Guiding Eyes is recruiting new ones, she added.
“[Donovan] is a reminder of all the effort and sacrifice that others — volunteers, the staff at Guiding Eyes, everybody that donates — [put] into these dogs,” Dima said. “Having a guide dog is just a reminder of all the sacrifices and energy that people give back.”
The organization hosts informational events at Carroll County public libraries and other places. To learn more about becoming a puppy raiser, go to https://www.guidedogs.com/volunteering/puppy-raising-volunteers.
Have a news tip? Contact K. Mauser at kmauser@baltsun.com.
from Baltimore Sun https://ift.tt/LnmQTea
via IFTTT
