Well, yesterday I had me one fantastic experience, and I just have to share it all with you. :) This is a LOOOOONG post, so go get some munchies or something and... you know, GO. (Obscure MST3K reference. *ahem*) Ready? Good.

My family socializes puppies for Guide Dogs for the Blind, a non-profit organization that provides guide dogs to blind people. What we do is we take in a puppy when it's about 8-9 weeks old (awwwww) and it lives with us for about a year and 3 months. During that time we teach it basic obedience, get it used to many situations (like crowds, walking over different surfaces, etc.) and love it to death. :) Then the dog is returned to the main school where they go through a 7 month training program to prepare them for guide work. Not all dogs make it.

But this Saturday, one of ours did. :) Rosette is a female yellow Lab, and she was the fourth puppy we raised. (Puppy number five, Hettie, is living with us now and is 7 months old; puppies 1-3 did not pass because of medical reasons.) As is customary, we drove up to the school to see her graduation.

After a 2-hour drive (my whole family, one of my sister's friends, and our current pup Hettie came), we arrived. The campus is really pretty - lots of grassy areas, well-kept buildings (offices, a very large kennel complex and a dormitory for the blind students that come to get dogs), and beautiful gardens. All he garden areas are not only pleasing to the eye but appealing to other senses as well. Many of the plants are very fragrant, and there are lots of windchimes and waterfalls - so that the gardens are a joy to the blind as well as the sighted. It's a very unique, cool place.

Our first stop was at the kennels, to see the puppies. The puppies are so cute. Seeing them instantly makes you brain go into 'cuteness mode', so that you can't help but coo at them, pet them, and say things that the Pet Name Filter would attack in an instant. ;) We did all of the above, and watched the little ones play. (They were around 6-9 weeks old.) Little Labradors, Golden Retrivers, Lab/Golden crosses and German Sheperds... awwwww. ;) Hettie was intrigued by the puppies, too.

Then it was time... we went into the day room of the dormitories and waited nervously. Now we would be reunited with Rosette, and meet her new owner, Cheryl. (Her name was interesting to us, since our 2nd puppy was named Cheryl.) Cheryl is not fully blind, but is partially sighted - but still cannot see well enough to live normally without some sort of a guide, be it a cane, dog, or a human guide. We had never met her before, and we were nervous... and afraid Rosette wouldn't recognize us! We needn't have worried. All of a sudden, Rosette came around the corner on a leash (Cheryl was being guided by a Guide Dogs staff member) and the second she saw us she started wriggling all over and straining towards us. She wasn't just wagging her tail, she was wagging her whole body! :) After covering us with kisses and sitting in our laps, we talked with Cheryl. She turned out to be a wonderfully nice person, and Rosette loved her just as much as she loved us. I had expected to be jealous... after all, Rosette had been *ours* for over a year... but I wasn't. It was interesting meeting Cheryl. I had never actually interacted with a blind person before, and I was surprised when I found myself unsure of how to react towards her at the beginning, but that got better after a bit of time. Also, for the first time, I realized... REALLY realized... what blindness was. I mean, yeah, I know they can't see, but there's a big difference between knowing that and actually talking to someone... it's hard to explain.

Anyway, then we had our picture taken with Cheryl and Rosette. Rosette led Cheryl through the busy halls to the photo room, and we were so proud of her! I was sniffling and holding in the happy tears. Our little baby puppy dog was now a living source of freedom, dignity and confidence to a person who otherwise would not have those things. I always look at the little puppies in the kennel and wonder, "Do you know that you have a destiny? That someday you might be the world, the eyes of someone who has none?" I'm trying to keep back tears even as I type this. It's just such a wonderfully tremendous gift.

After that... graduation. There were about 25 dogs graduating that day, and the ceremony was attended by about 300 people... and about 100 dogs! Pretty much all of the guide dog spectrum was there, from the young puppies who had just been given to their raisers that day, to the older pups-in-training like our own Hettie, to the breeding dogs, to long-time Guide Dogs, to retired guides. There was a lot of sniffing and barking as everyone got settled - people on the seats, dogs on the cool grass. Hettie ate a few worms (ew) and then we got started.

The ceremony was very emotional. Each blind person would be led by a human guide to the microphone, where the puppy raisers would present the dog they raised to their new owners. Then both the raisers and the blind person would say a few words. It was all extremely emotional, but in a happy way. One of the blind people sung a hymn of thanks to God for his new freedom, which was very touching. Many people cried and hugged. I was crying extremely hard when Rosette was presented, because I was so happy for her! :) Again, I'm sniffling just remembering it. We were so proud of her, our beautiful girl. The ceremony was long but very fulfilling... although Hettie was sick of lying still and being good by the end of it! When we looked down at her at the end, she was laying on her back, paws up in the air, looking at us with her mouth open, BEGGING to be played with. ;)

If anyone has any questions about Guide Dogs or about what my family does as puppy socializers, feel free to ask. :) I just wanted to share my special experience with you.

Sosiqui