This past Friday I went to the pet-a-puppy event at Rose House. I spent time petting a golden retriever who was withdrawn from the guide dog program for medical reasons, and who is a PR dog for the program.

It was cool to learn about how the dog guide program works. The program breeds their dogs (German Shepherds and Retrievers). When the puppies are young they start training, first with training to see if they would be a good candidate for a guide dog. The dogs have to be able to stayed focused and behaved especially around distractions such as other dogs or animals and loud noises. Then if they make it through earlier stages of training they are taught how to be a service dog.

They also have a new program for Autistic children. These children have a tendency to “bolt” in stressful situations, which can be extremely dangerous. To remedy this, the children are strapped to their service dog who is trained to sit when the child is tense and act as an anchor.

Spending some time with dogs was a great way to destress before finals while also learning more about guide dogs.