Teens Put Pups Through Guide Dog Paces 4-H Club Members Prepare Companions For The Blind

Antonio shivered during his first elevator ride. When he stepped out, he stuck his nose through a thirdfloor railing, then took a bite of a plant.

Seven-month-old Antonio, a golden retriever, was on his first trip to the mall with trainer Nate Preston, 15.

Preston must have snapped the leash a hundred times Saturday morning to correct the puppy’s mistakes. But after each correction the boy wrapped his arms around the dog and whispered, “Antonio, you’re still a good dog.”

Antonio is in training to be a guide dog for a blind person. And Preston, of Coeur d’Alene, is introducing Antonio to his life’s work.

Guide Dogs for the Blind, Inc., of San Rafael, Calif., has about 900 puppies farmed out to teenage 4-H members around the Western United States. Teens like Preston raise the puppies in their homes and give them obedience training.

After one and a half years, the dogs return to the San Rafael guide dog school for more specialized training and eventual adoption by a blind person.

The young trainers and their families must take the dogs everywhere - just like the dogs’ blind owners will one day.

“We’re working with a dog that will - when it’s done with its training - be priceless,” said Laurie Schmidt of Okanogan, whose daughter Kristin is training a black lab.

On Saturday morning, Heather Wise, the local coordinator of the program, met Preston and Antonio and Kristin Schmidt and her dog, Pointer, at the NorthTown Mall for their monthly training session.

The dogs must train in crowds and other real-life situations so they’ll be able to guide their future blind masters.

In public the dogs wear green jackets that say, “4-H guide dog puppy in training.” In the jackets’ pockets, the trainers keep plastic bags to pick up any droppings.

The dogs created a stir in the mall. When they took a break, onlookers asked to pet them. At one point about 20 kids swarmed over the dogs. Pointer, a serious-minded dog, sat still, but Antonio rolled over and reveled in the attention.

“They have to have their silly time,” Wise said with a laugh, “if we want them to be good, happy dogs when they’re working.”

Preston and Schmidt are beginning to take their dogs more places. Both Antonio and Pointer have become churchgoers with their young trainers. And Pointer has such a following in the Omak WalMart that if the Schmidt family goes without him, all the clerks want to know where he is.

Preston knows he’ll have to give up the lovable pup, but he’s been through it before and knows it’s worth it. Two years ago, the teenager raised a German shepherd puppy. The dog was adopted by a 25-year-old blind man who regularly writes Preston to tell him how the dog is.

“I know my other dog went to someone who loves him,” Preston said. “And I don’t have time to miss him because I’m so busy with Antonio.”