Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, December 7, 1993 TAG: 9312070249
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: Joanne Anderson
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Don't get me wrong: I like people. But I love dogs, if you catch my drift.
Well, I saw a dog at the Steppin' Out Festival last August. She was so pale a yellow, her color could be called cream. She was sitting still, watching the people walk by her booth. On her left was my eye doctor and Lions Club member Steve Jacobs. On her right was a tall, distinguished-looking, 60-something gentleman with silver-streaked, wavy hair and black-rimmed sunglasses.
Like a magnet, I headed for the dog and asked her name and for permission to pet her. Her name was Molly. To make a long story short, two weeks later, my husband, John, and I brought home a miniature male version of Molly: an 8-week-old pale yellow Labrador puppy who will grow up (really?) to be a Leader Dog for the Blind, just like Molly.
We named him Solomon after King Solomon, figuring wisdom and discernment are going to play an important role in his life. But not quite yet. Just last night we went through the dirty-sock-in-the-laundry-basket routine nearly a dozen times in a row.
Joanne and John: "No. No. No. No. B-a-a-a-a-a-d puppy. Don't you want to grow up to be an important Leader Dog?"
Solomon: "Good sock. Don't take it again. Don't take it again. Good sock."
Last week Solomon discovered two things: 1. Toilet paper and the thrill of "Pull" and 2. Cat with the new dimension of "Chase."
There are myriad chewables in Solomon's world - shoes, pillows, jackets, magazines, plants, tools, teddy bears, blankets and rugs, mail, cords, his brush and leash, our hands and feet, baskets, pieces of wood, dried flowers (or live, indoors or out, any color, not picky). So much to chew. So little time.
On the bright side, he's housebroken (finally). He sleeps through the night. He's very handsome. And he is learning a few good things. He can heel on our street when there are no distractions (like a moving leaf). He will sit and stay on command under the same circumstances.
But we prefer training him in downtown Blacksburg where the smells, sounds, traffic and people provide the distractions to challenge us all. Me, John and Solomon.
Over the next 12 to 15 months, Solomon will master the commands of heel, sit, stay, down and come. He'll learn to walk ahead of our left sides, and to remain standing when we stop. He'll continue eating only from his dish. And he'll experience walking on all types of surfaces and into all kinds of buildings and situations.
At the end of this time, Solomon will be summoned by the Leader Dogs for the Blind School in Michigan, where he will go for his final training. Then he will enter his life of service as working eyes and companion for a visually impaired person.
But not quite yet.
Here at the newspaper office, he's been dubbed "the Puppy from Hell" from his few rambunctious visits.
Oh, oh, gotta go. I hear that familiar scamper associated with a mouthful of sock. Dirty sock. Yum.
\ If you see Solomon, feel free to stop and say hello it's an important part of his socialization development. Wait for him to sit, please. An official leader dog with a blind person may not be interrupted because that dog is working, but Solomon is in training and needs to learn to accept everyone as a friend. For more information about l dogs, call Steve Jacobs at 953-0136 or contact Leader Dogs for the Blind, 1039 Rochester Road, Rochester, Mich. 48063-4887, (313) 651-9011.
\ Joanne Anderson is an editorial assistant in the New River Valley bureau of the Roanoke Times & World-News.
by CNB