Guide Dogs for the Blind – One way to make a difference

Have you even wondered how you would cope with blindness? How would your life change? Would it rob you of your ability to be independent? How would you cope and what would you change.?

Sunday I had a chance to meet people who faced that challenge and learn a bit about their lives when I attended the graduation of class 714 at the Guide Dogs for the Blind Campus in San Rafael. These amazing dogs complement their blind companions and permit them to move around safely and confidently independent of a human guide.  But it takes n incredible organization and thousands of volunteers to make it happen.

I knew nothing about Guide Dogs when my friend Renee started raising puppies several years ago. A Guide Dog puppy raiser conditions a puppy to living in close proximity with a human in all kinds of routine activities and provides basic training for the pups. Renee started raising pups while still working and her first dog Peter went to work with her. Peter developed hip displasia which disqualified him for the program but he stayed with Renee permanently and Renee got a second dog, Beth, to raise. Beth developed a skin condition and she too stayed as part of Renee’s family. Naturally we all joked about this with Renee. Maybe she should stop puppy raising but she paid no attention and took Liv.

Liv’s was the first graduation that I attended. I saw the GDB Campus and got a flavor of the incredible organization that coordinates all the pieces of a complex system of puppy breeders, puppy raisers, support groups and the training that produces a graduating class. Sunday Renee gave away Melanie, her second graduating dog. This time I picked up more details about the organization itself and learned more from Renee who’s goal is to raise five dogs.

People who choose to make a difference always impress me. While many people would like to make a difference, most of us never get around to it. Either we don’t know where to start or we decide that we can’t do enough to really matter. Renee didn’t get hung up about details.  She just started.  I don’t know how Renee learned about GDB and decided to raise a puppy. I do know that her decision has made the lives of two people better and that Guide Dogs for the Blind cannot function without many people just like Renee who give of themselves to make Guide Dogs for the Bling  possible.

There are so many ways to make a difference and yet people sit at home wondering what to do and why their lives have no meaning. Puppy raising for GDB is just one way to make a difference. There are many ways to help GDB and their programs.  Check their website if you would like to learn more about GDB and some ways that you can help their program. Also, Sonja who received Melanie, the dog Renee raised has a blog where she tells about the training where she and Melanie learned to work together and trust each other. When you read those experiences you can better understand the freedom that a guide dog brings to a blind person and how important programs like GDB are to blind people.

Retirement provides the time to give back but many of us never know how.  GDB is just one idea but you only have to attend one graduation to understand how much difference an individual can make when they become part of a service community like GDB.