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I AM A PUPPY RAISER WITH ISRAEL GUIDE DOGS | BY LINDA YECHIEL “How will you be able to give him up?” That is the question I am most often asked when people see me walking my guide dog puppy, Pierce. How will I be able to give him up after the year, after becoming attached to and learning to love this dog who started out as a 15 lb. chubby puppy and is now, at (only) four months, already a sleek, powerful dog of 44 lbs? Of course, I will get attached, but I also knew, from the very beginning, that I am committing myself to raising a pair of eyes for someone with visual impairment. That after my year of love and training – and suffering chewed sunglasses (oy! I just left them on the coffee table for a second), puppy biting (I am NOT your toy!!!), peeing and pooping in the house (but I just took you out fifteen minutes ago!), some digging fun in my garden (zinnias are supposed to stay in the ground!) my Pierce will, hopefully, have the qualities needed to begin his career as a guide dog. I have been a volunteer with the Israel 22
L’CHAIM SAN DIEGO MAGAZINE • AUGUST 2021
Guide Dog Center for almost 18 years. I was a Puppy Raiser first, then a foster mom for a breeding dog, then I helped out in the clinic. For about ten years now, I have had the pleasure of taking visitors around the Center, telling them about our fascinating thirtyyear history during which we have grown from the small, “mom and pop startup” on a Moshav, into the big beautiful, stateof-the-art campus in the center of Israel. I take pleasure in explaining what it takes to turn a roly-poly mischievous puppy into a mature, responsible, thinking dog who can profoundly change a person’s life (and I have the stories to prove it). And now I’m a Puppy Raiser once again! So what is involved? What are the special things that Puppy Raisers teach their charges that you may not know? Of course, we teach them the basic commands that any wellmannered dog should know: sit, down, sit up, stand up, stay, wait, come. This is all done using positive reinforcement, lots of treats and oodles of love.
We also teach them the very important command, “busy busy.” This is very important so the dog does his business when his handler wants him to – and quickly if you please! Recall that ultimately, he will have a very special job … to walk and lead, and it won’t be very smart to have a dog that just stops when he pleases to poop or pee. I will teach him to walk on a short leash at a steady pace on my left, pulling very slightly (enough to lead, but not enough to send me flying) and to ignore barking dogs, people going “here doggie, here doggie,” and any p-mail along the route. He will learn not to scarf dropped sandwiches and donuts on the sidewalk … and when it’s a lab puppy, this is especially challenging…labs will eat anything and everything. They don’t know the meaning of “finicky.” Later on, I will also teach him “yemina” (turn right) and “smola” (turn left). Puppy raisers can never allow the dog on the bed or the sofa. They (the dogs, not the people) are taught to never jump up on
