Nativity Catholic School in Torrance, CA, invited LA Southwest Guide Dog Raisers to present information about Guide Dogs for the Blind at their school’s assembly on January 29, 2008. The children, teachers, and staff were given a presentation including hands-on time with the puppies in attendance.
LA Southwest was thrilled to accept a donation from the school from Principal Mike Falco and Vice Principal Arlome Weston. We thank the entire school for their recycling efforts to make this donation possible!
Daily Breeze Staff Writer Shelly Leachman was on hand to record the event. Read her article, “A Welcome Sight in Torrance.” below.
A welcome sight in Torrance
By Shelly Leachman Staff Writer, The Daily Breeze
Positioned on folding chairs in a dozen neat rows of 20, as a video played on a small projection screen in the church auditorium, the students sat rapt with attention.
It was an impressive feat considering the presence of puppies.
The predictably adorable pets included 6-month-old black lab Harvard, 8-month-old yellow lab Courtney, whose handler called her “our tiny little princess,” and another yellow lab, Winsome, age 7 months.
The trio – and an additional quartet of canines in attendance – are all guide dogs for the blind and the star attractions of a recent presentation to Nativity Catholic School in Torrance on guide-dog training.
The primer came courtesy of a South Bay-based group called L.A. Southwest Guide Dog Raisers, to whom Nativity’s kids donated $500 earned in a school-wide recycling effort.
“It’s a lot of responsibility,” puppy trainer Pat Whitehead said of taking on a guide dog, “but you also have a best buddy.”
Following the introductory video, Whitehead walked the students through simple explanations of the different types, levels and causes of blindness, including macular degeneration, glaucoma and cataracts.
Fellow guide-dog-raiser Gail Hardy, now working with her 12th puppy since joining the group, then explained a key training technique called “1-2-3-4 Handling.” It is a bonding exercise that also serves as a sort of mini-physical for the dogs. The technique includes, among other things, checking a pup’s teeth.
“We check them because we actually brush their teeth,” Hardy told the kids, who appeared incredulous at such a notion. “We actually use a toothbrush,” she continued amid loud laughter that erupted into gleeful screams when she added, “and doggie toothpaste, which tastes like chicken or beef.”
Current guide dog user Melissa Hudson, who lacks peripheral vision, also addressed the students, telling them that on her first walk with black lab Anya, “I thought I was flying.”
“I know that sounds silly,” Hudson said, “but I hadn’t walked so fast or so free in a long, long time.”
When the presentation ended, the 250-some kids were invited to pet the puppies on their way out while school Vice Principal Arlone Weston marveled at their response.
“This was absolutely fantastic,” she said, noting that it was the students themselves who this year selected L.A. Southwest Guide Dog Raisers as the recipient of their annual fundraising effort.
“This will stay with the kids for a long time,” Weston added. “And who knows, maybe one of them will take something like this on one day.”
January 29, 2008