There was no graduation processional, no gown, and no tossing of a mortar board on that beautiful August morning, but there was plenty of pride and joy.  Our Seeing Eye® puppy, Audrey, was demonstrating, with the help of her trainer, Susan, some of the things she learned in guide dog school in the months since she left us in January.

It might have looked like a processional to the passers-by in Morristown, New Jersey, where the Seeing Eye® is located.  People in town are accustomed to seeing many dogs working with their trainers and eventually the “students” whom they will guide away from hazards and danger.  I’m sure many also have seen families watching their dogs during “The town walk.”

“The town walk” is a hoped-for moment in the lives of all puppy raisers. Members of the family, along with a volunteer docent, walk half a block behind their former puppies, watching as they avoid objects and people in the street and cars turning in front of them.  The trainers will actually wave a car on to test whether the dog will keep them from harm.  This is not for the faint-hearted.

The docent explains what the family is seeing.  For our walk with Audrey our docent was Janet, who happens to be the leader of our puppy club.  The clubs are 4-H affiliated, and the puppy raisers are usually children who learn useful skills beyond caring for animals, as they fill in their workbooks and keep track of medical records, expenses, and details of the puppy’s development.  Some of us continue raising puppies long after the children are grown and it came as no surprise that I am among them. When I was a child I had wanted to raise Seeing Eye puppies but couldn’t because I lived in Brooklyn.

Janet didn’t think my husband, David, and I needed to have much explained, since we’d been on town walks before in our fourteen years as puppy raisers.  But I asked her to point out the “checks,” the moments when Audrey demonstrated a skill. 

“Let’s see what she does here,” Janet said, as Audrey and Susan approached one of the many obstacles in the sidewalk on South Street.  There is a tree with a wide cutout in the middle of the sidewalk on one side and a store’s deep front step on the other, making the path not only narrow but ambiguous.  Audrey chose a route and swept herself and her partner through.

Later Susan directed a car to turn up a side street.  She gave Audrey the “forward” command.  Audrey took one step and stopped, blocking Susan from the path of the car.  Audrey’s strong, not at all tentative, signal means she can be relied upon completely to keep herself and the person she is guiding from harm.

A brick wall nearby provided the perfect backdrop for a photo op.  Audrey stood regally as my husband took pictures from our side of the street. 

Right after that, Janet told us to walk up the street so that we could see what Audrey would do when she encountered the cement mixer which was blocking the sidewalk.  We waited and watched as she stopped, then moved Susan carefully into the street and around the obstruction and back to the safety of the sidewalk.

There were just a few blocks left to walk and all too quickly the demonstration was over.  Then it was time for more pictures, this time close-ups taken by Janet.  After that, Susan brought our camera back and talked to us about “Awesome Aud,” as she had called her in the postcard update we received a few months ago.  The postcards let the puppy raiser family know what progress their puppy is making in training.  It is usually written in the first person (canine).

In the postcard Audrey thanked us for giving her such a wonderful beginning (it was more like a middle, but that’s another story).  She thanked us also for our patience and hard work and especially all our love.  She also said she couldn’t wait for us to see her in action at the town walk.    

As Susan talked to us about how wonderful Audrey is and what a pleasure to train, we were as proud as any parent hearing a good school report on conference day.  When she described Audrey’s bids for attention, which got her dubbed “The mayoress of Morristown,” we had to laugh.  Personalities vary with each dog and we always regarded Audrey as one of the sweetest and most gentle we’ve had, but I never thought of her as particularly outgoing.  Children often show another face to their teachers, though, and I guess Audrey, who never wanted to leave my side and is now Ms. Independent, is no exception.

Susan told us about how well Audrey did on her mid-terms and her finals.  She said she was wonderful in the city, meaning New York, not Morristown.  Not all dogs can handle that but Audrey did it with ease.  Susan’s confidence in Audrey was wonderful to hear. 

Susan’s gratitude for the small part we played in getting Audrey to the point where she is ready to take on her new job as a guide dog seem unwarranted.  Those months we had Audrey were our pleasure.