Canine connection

Martha Harris of Altoona recently graduated with her dog by her side.

The 22-year-old and her 2-year-old black Labrador retriever guide dog, Dee, completed two weeks of intensive training at Guide Dogs for the Blind Inc. in Boring, Ore.

"I needed a dog who could work well around crowds, public transportation, kids, animals, food and objects on the ground," Harris, who has been completely blind since birth, said. "I also needed a dog with a fast pace - one who could lie still from one to three hours in the classroom, but also one that could work 12-hour days and travel on a train or plane for a long period of time."

Harris, now a senior at Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania, has had two other guide dogs.?She said neither were as efficient as Dee, whom she's had for three months, in terms of travel and mobility. And that's important to Harris because she leads an active lifestyle both on and off campus.

"I walk faster than I do with a white cane," she said. "I can concentrate more on orientation or talking to my friends instead of worrying about obstacles such as stairs, poles, crowds or moving or stationary people."

Dee also is a patterning dog, she said, so if the duo walks somewhere, the dog can indicate turns by stopping and pointing her head, or by hesitating at familiar buildings and sidewalks.

"I give her commands such as 'left,' 'right,' 'forward' or 'halt,'" she said. "She also has commands for walking faster or getting closer to something; 'no' for when she is doing something incorrect such as sniffing or when she's getting too friendly with someone; and commands for putting her nose on my hand, elevator buttons or door handles. Since I've been with Dee, my travel confidence is coming back. ... I definitely prefer to work with a guide dog over using a cane."

She said coupling a dog to a person is relatively easy.

"First, there's an online application that asks for a person's name, age, place of residence, etc., as well as important lifestyle information," she said. "The matching process is very important because the same dog they give to a senior citizen who lives in a rural area is not the same as the kind a school will give to a college student or to someone who lives in New York City."

After that, it's just waiting for a home interview, Joseph Fagnani, interim executive director at the Blair County Association for the Blind and Visually Handi-capped in Altoona, said. During the interview, an instructor comes from a chosen guide dog school to confirm the application information, answer any questions the prospective owner might have and gauge the dog's ability to navigate and familiarize itself with the area.

Fagnani's current guide dog, Emma, a 6-year-old black Labrador retriever, is his sixth in 47 years.

There are criteria to meet for both person and dog, he said.

"The dog should be fully mature before working ... most are between 14 and 18 months," he said. "The person should have good cane skills, an average sense of orientation, willingness to deal with the time and expense of keeping the dog clean and healthy - consistent with the things the school teaches you. Normally, you spend about a month at the school to learn how to work with your new dog."

Other considerations are a person's height, weight, walking speed, mobility skills, gait, allergies, personal preferences in terms of breed, strength, experience with dogs and dog handling abilities.

"Dogs want to connect with a person, and they love to please," he said. "The depth of the relationship depends on the person. If they show love and are appropriate and consistent with corrections, the relationship will be strong."

Fagnani said there are about 60 schools around the world training guide dogs, adding that the Internet is a useful tool for anyone interested in learning about service organizations that deal with guide and hearing dogs (dogs that assist the deaf and hearing impaired). Each organization has its own guidelines and stipulations.

Guide and hearing dogs are provided free of charge, he said, adding some of the nonprofit schools ask for donations of about $150.

Similar to guide dogs, hearing or "signal" dogs are specially trained to assist deaf people, Leslie Kelly, deaf and hard of hearing specialist at the Center for Independent Living of South Central PA in Altoona, said. They alert their owners to sounds, usually by approaching the person and then going back to the source of the sound. They signal noises such as doorbells, phones, smoke alarms, crying babies, alarm clocks, microwave bells and whistling tea kettles.

Kelly said her hearing dog, a 3-year-old yellow Labrador retriever, has improved her quality of lifes.

"He's made my life more comfortable while I'm working and traveling - especially when I'm staying overnight at a hotel or walking in the parking lot during the day and at night," she said. "Nokie is essentially 'my ears.' Thanks to him, I am able to enjoy the same sounds and awareness that many hearing individuals take for granted."

State laws ensure that both guide and hearing dogs are allowed anywhere in public when accompanying their disabled handler, she said, including taxis, buses and other modes of transportation.

As for Martha Harris, she could get by if she had to without her furry assistant friend - but she'd prefer not to.

"Dee and I have definitely bonded," she said. "Of the three guide dogs I've had, she and I bonded the fastest. I knew she was a great match after the first two days of working with her. I'm practically with her 24/7, so I know her habits, personality, when something's wrong and when she's sick. She's a great companion, and I love spending time with her."

Mirror Staff Writer Jimmy Mincin is at 946-7460.