Cougar Cry
Page 7
Are You Dog-Broken?
By Fran Shumate
It was hard to tell who caused more of a stir
in the fall of “96”. Alan Sheets, the first blind
student most of us had seen, or his big dog,
Nissan. Alan with his ready smile and quick
wit instantly invited conversation, and Nissan
good naturedly accepted our pats and petting.
Of course, we were all sophisticated college
students, who knew Nissan’s first job was to
help Alan. We asked if we could pet him.
Alan, being generous let us. Nissan loved the
attention. Soon we began thinking if he said
yes once, then it was okay for US to pet him
whenever we saw him. Not intending to, we
became a problem. See dog, put on hand.
Nissan didn’t discourage us either, as he’d see
people and wag tail. Most of us would at
least say “Hi” to Alan as we reached to pet
Nissan, but others who didn’t remember that
was the only way Alan knew we were there,
reached for the dog without speaking.
Without realizing it, we were doing our best
to distract the dog from his job. We began to
think of Nissan as OUR dog, our good luck
omen we LET Alan use.
Alan came into class shaking one day. One
of the silent petters had distracted Nissan as
they were coming up the stairs and Alan had
almost fallen. I pictured myself coming out
of Tech. Arts facing the run down the multi
ple tiered stone steps of Cardiac Hill. Late, I
have 5 minutes to make it to Hayes Hall.
Now put a blindfold on and start the mad dash
with a friend holding on for guidance.
Halfway down, the friend stops and lets go
for just an instant. End over te^ettle, I plum
met down the steps.
None of us wanted Alan to get hurt. We just
started looking at Nissan as a regular dog and
kind of forgot how special he is. In calling to
inquire about Nissan, I learned there are four
centers in this country who train guide dogs,
and each are a little dilferent. It may take sev
eral litters before a dog with just the right
amount of aggressiveness, intelligence, tem
perament and natural aptitude is found.
Nissan comes from Guiding Eyes For The
Blind in Yorktown Heights, NY. According
to Guiding Eyes For The Blind at about ten
weeks of age, he was placed with a foster
family in New York. There he learned good
house manners and was also exposed to a
variety of environments that a blind individ
ual might one day frequent such as malls,
supermarkets, offices, churches, and other
public and private settings. When he was 15
months old, he returned to Guiding Eyes and
was evaluated for training. In 16 weeks he
was trained to respond intelligently in various
surroundings and to guide the instructors.
(Dogs are paired with students on the basis of
physical abilities and personalities). Alan had
requested a fiiendly dog and he and Nissan
met. They both were trained together for a
month, beginning in quiet areas with few
obstacles and gradually progressing into
more challenging areas such as busy intersec
tions or large crowds. The final test was a trip
to New York City, where teams learn to work
together on crowded sidewalks, escalators,
elevators, subways and in large buildings.
We had unwittingly interfered with this well
trained team. Nissan had been trained, maybe
we could be too. Friends started passing the
word. “See dog, put out hand, catch yourself,
pat Alan on the arm or back and tell him “hi”
and your name.” If you see anyone who does
n’t know reach for Nissan, call to Alan to
stop, (and recruit the student in private to join
the team). If you want to pet Nissan, ASK
when he is at rest and not working. We had
been thoughtless, and it was going to be hard
but we were determined to become “dog-bro-
ken.” Please join Project Dog-Broke and help
train the students of 97-98.
Alan Sheets and his guide dog, Nissan.