If you were at Newark Airport on April 1, you may have seen dozens of adorable puppies. And these were puppies with a purpose: They are all being trained as seeing eye dogs by The Seeing Eye.
A big component of these service dogs' training is getting them ready for the world. Michelle Barlak of The Seeing Eye explained that the training is a two step process: The first is for puppies at about 7 weeks old to go to families who will train them for house manners as well as socialize them to as many environments as possible. This includes taking them to shopping malls, music concerts—sedate ones at music halls, not rock concerts—and on trips.
When the puppies are about 14-16 months old, they are paired with their new owners, who then have formal training with instructors at The Seeing Eye for four months (training for owners who have previously had seeing eye dogs is three months). Every month, a group of about 24 people, from all over the U.S. and Canada, start their training at The Seeing Eye's suburban New Jersey campus where the dogs are trained in rural, suburban and urban environments. They then move on to what the school calls "the ultimate urban environment: New York City."
The trip to Newark Airport was for the first part of the puppies' training. Ninety puppies yesterday had the run of Terminal C’s baggage areas, checkpoints and gates (and ninety more will next Saturday, April 8). The Port Authority and United Airlines let them onto the AirTrain planes, "as well as the airfield so that one day they can help guide visually impaired travelers through this and other airports," according to a press release from the Port Authority.
One trainer, Casey Johnson, told WCBS 2, "The exposure’s the most important, because when they are with their graduate — their new owner — they’re going to be going out to lots of different places and being exposed to so many different things."
"Trained volunteers receive the puppies when they are seven weeks old and help the animals be good family dogs and learn commands like 'park,' which means go to to the bathroom," NJ.com reported. "A few of the puppies -- still in training -- had accidents along the terminal."
"Training and achieving real-life experience is essential for Seeing Eye puppies. I am impressed with the courtesy shown by the Newark Liberty Airport staff and the pride they take in being part of this important process," said Seeing Eye Director of Canine Development Peggy Gibbon. "These dogs learn to traverse through security checkpoints, become acclimated to the noises of a bustling airport and experience the busy airport environment so none of these experiences bother them when they encounter them as fully trained Seeing Eye dogs."
The Seeing Eye, founded in 1929, is a non-profit organization and states, "The school receives no government funding. Thanks to the generosity of our supporters, the fee we charge to our students has remained unchanged since the 1930s -- $150 for their first Seeing Eye dog or $50 for a replacement dog. Military veterans are only charged $1." You can donate here.
