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Seeing Eye puppies explore Lehigh County ambulance

a very small Golden Retriever puppy being held.
Ryan Gaylor
/
LehighValleyNews.com
One of the Lehigh County Seeing Eye Puppy Club's youngest members prepares to tour an ambulance in South Whitehall Township on Nov. 13, 2022.

SOUTH WHITEHALL TWP., Pa. – A pack of puppies learning to become guide dogs got some paws-on training with a Lehigh Valley ambulance company Sunday.

The dogs, all part of Lehigh County’s Seeing Eye Puppy Club, each climbed into one of Cetronia Ambulance Corps’ vehicles as its crew simulated the noises of a working ambulance: machines beeping, cabinets opening and closing, the stretcher rattling.

  • The Lehigh County Seeing Eye Puppy Club visited Cetronia Ambulance Corps in South Whitehall Township
  • The puppies, in the process of becoming Seeing Eye dogs, got a chance to get acclimated to some of the sights, sounds, and smells of an ambulance
  • The puppies were exposed to as many different situations as possible, so they aren't fazed by anything as a guide dog

The dogs mostly ignored the new noises, took a few good sniffs, and sat nonchalantly, which is what they’re supposed to do. Once these dogs grow up a little and complete their training, they'll need to be able to focus on their handler no matter what is going on.

“Our dogs have to be able to see, hear, smell, experience everything,” said Robyn Oplinger, leader of the Lehigh County Seeing Eye Puppy Club. “Having the dogs feel comfortable with the sirens, and the lights, and the equipment is crucial… so they don't get spooked if they ever have to enter an ambulance with their person.”

Guide dogs in progress

Puppies on the road to being guide dogs are put in all sorts of situations during their training, from the doctors office to the airport, so that nothing is unfamiliar once they graduate and get their new job.

That’s a big part of the job for volunteers who raise these dogs from shortly after they are separated from their mothers to when they’re about 14 months old. Volunteers are also responsible for teaching their charges manners and basic obedience skills.

Next, dogs with potential for guide work travel to Seeing Eye’s New Jersey facility, where they go through four months of intensive training on how to be a guide dog.

“During that time, they’re constantly working them, teaching them how to do real guide dog work: how to cross the street safely, how to get on and off an escalator, how to work through a grocery store,” Oplinger said.

From there, if all goes well, they are officially certified as Seeing Eye dogs, and matched with a blind handler.

Making the cut

Not every dog has what it takes.

“I had one, I said, ‘I know he’s not going to make it,’” said volunteer Debbie Miller.

“[He] chased leaves, and I knew that from when he was a tiny puppy. They kept him a whole year because he was an excellent guide dog. But if one leaf blew across his path… so he did not make it, which was very sad.”

“The golden question is, ‘well, is my dog qualified?’” said Oplinger. “When that instructor says, ‘Oh yes, and I have a person in mind for him,’ that's the big reward.”

Of course, getting to that payoff for these volunteers means first saying goodbye to a dog they’ve raised from a puppy.

“It’s not easy to give them up. I cry every time. But somebody needs them. You want them, but somebody needs them.”
Debbie Miller, volunteer puppy raiser

“It’s not easy to give them up. I cry every time,” said Miller. “But somebody needs them. You want them, but somebody needs them.”

Miller is raising a golden retriever named Quinto, her 12th seeing eye puppy.

“You sort of get addicted to it,” she said.

Jill Chambers is another volunteer, raising Quinto’s brother, Quincy, her 21st guide puppy. She said being able to watch a puppy grow into a Seeing Eye dog keeps her coming back.

“They take this goofy little guy and then, in like two years, he’s out in the world and he’s doing all these amazing things,” Chambers said.