under the sun
THE BRUNSWICK^BEACON
Thursday, September 3, 1987
B
BY SUSAN USHER
When Athena's on her leash, she’s like any other
puppy, ready to romp and chew. But put on her working
uniform—a harness—and she’s suddenly all business.
That’s good, because she’s on call 24 hours a day for
an important job. A Leader Dog, Athena is trained to be
the trusted companion to her owner, Barbara Jones.
Together, they’re making a great team.
Athena can find an empty chair for Barbara in a
strange office (a real asset when job interviewing),
navigate streets and staircases—and even find a phone
booth or drink machine on command.
The 25-year-old daughter of Billy and Inez Jones of
Ash, Barbara was bom 14 weeks prematurely, she said.
She’s been blind ever since due to optic nerve damage
from administration of too much oxygen in the hospital.
Barbara’s a petite brunette with soft, brown eyes, a
friendly, trusting smile—and quiet detennination. She
hasn’t let blindness get in the way of attaining personal
goals that range from playing the piano to earning a
bachelor’s degree.
I.ast December, the Shallotte Lions Club and LJons
International offered to sponsor her in I^eader Dog
School at Rochester, Minn., a package worth about
$7,000 that would cost her essentially nothing, she said.
The I.£ader Dog program is patterned after the Seeing
Eye Dog program.
It was an opportunity Barbara couldn’t pass up; in
early June she took her first trip by airplane, to
Rochester, alone. But when she returned on July 2, she
brought a friend, Athena. They were met at the airport
by family and friends and members of the Shallotte
Lions Club. According to one club member, Jess
Parker, Athena was the only calm one there.
At home in Ash, she’s fit in well with the family.
“She’s very intelligent,” Inez Jones said of Athena,
as well as friendly.
Athena is a 17-month-old Golden Retriver, a breed
growing in popularity as a companion to the blind
because of their gentle nature and readiness to learn.
Barbara had considered getting a dog before, but
wasn’t sure she wanted the added responsibility.
However, the need for a dog—and for greater in
dependence of movement—became more apparent as
the West Brunswick High School graduate found her
way around the campus of the University of North
Carolina at Wilmington. A graduate in biology, she
hopes to find work interpreting statistics in the
Greensboro area following her October marriage to
Jeff Crabtree, a friend from high school.
In the city and suburbs with their sidewalks and
strcctcurbs, she’ll be able to make even better use of
Athena’s special skills.
Dogs, she said, make better guides than people.
Trust Is The Key For Special Team
things,” she going to let that happen to her, she said. "I was deter-
said^ AUiena doesn’t” mined I was not going home without her.”
Not every student at Leader Dog School Dogs and their blind owners are coupled by mat-
graduates and Ukes home a dog. But Barbara wasn’t ching personal traits such as personality and w alking
S’AII VJSAT4
1 .
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THEIRS is a relationship bonded in trust. Here, Athena leads Barbara safely up the steps to the back porch.
gait; Barbara considers it a personal compliment that
Athena is such a friendly and loving dog.
But there were moments of doubt.
“I’m a fast walker,” recalled Barbara. “But when
they first gave her to me, Athena almost pulled my arm
out of the socket.”
Students received their dogs after about a week of
classes. From that point on, they were constant compa
nions, together at meals and sharing dormitory rooms.
But at first, said Barbara, “no one trusted their
dog. 'The dogs were attached to their trainers and
wouldn’t do what we said.”
But the relationships blossomed quickly. Students
learned to never strike their dogs, but to correct them
with their leashes and with voice inflections. “A lot of it
is in the voice,” she said. Encouraged with the right
tones, a Leader Dog will do extra to get the job done.
“The dogs are so teachable,” noted Barbara. After
first teaching Athena the look and smell of a drink
machine, Barbara can say, “IvCt’s go find a drink
machine” and Athena can lead her to one.
Of course, there was the time Athena led her in
stead to a phone booth. But soon Athena learned the dif
ference.
Once, Barbara miscalculated her location. Think-
^ing she was in front of a campus building, she told
Athena to “find the door.” Find a door she did—to the
funeral parlor next door to campus. But she had done as
told and was praised, not scolded.
The student-dog pairs first ventured out together in
the controlled environment of the campus, then on shop
ping trips and traffic checks in town. But complete trust
in their Leader Dogs wasn’t always quick to develop for
students accustomed to relying on their own judgment.
Once, Barbara listened to traffic from the curb.
Thinking it all clear, she signaled the dog to move for
ward. But Athena had ideas of her own—and refused to
lead Barbara into the street.
From seemingly out of nowhere a car had silently
and suddenly entered the roadway. The scene had been
staged by their trainer.
“That’s when our trust became bonded,” said Bar
bara, leaning down to pat Athena’s silky brown topcoat.
“I am so pleased to have her,” she continued, her
eyes lighting up with satisfaction and a smile spreading
across her face. “But it will take six months to a year
for us to become w’nat they call ‘seasoned.’ ”
But Athena’s catching on fast.
After they came home in July, Barbara and Athena
went into Shallotte with Mrs. Jones.
“A Coke machine was the first thing she found,"
said Inez Jones.
Added Barbara, “She was hot and thirsty and 1
guess she thought I was too.”
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( 1987 THE 8HUNSWICK BEACON
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Prices...
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