Jodey Porter
Special to The Lake Report

I’ve been mostly blind, most of my life. This past March I travelled to New Jersey to meet the canine companion that will enable me to recapture my life.

It’s hard to imagine how a few hours of preparation can ready us to meet a new lifelong friend who is literally smart enough to change our lives. Each guide dog goes through a full year of instruction. But the last four months are super intensive. 

Today, my instructor will select the dog for me in consultation with the rest of the team. The group has been observing me — from personality to physical capability. 

I have no idea what breed or gender my dog will be, or how big, or cute, or interactive, or socially outgoing. So, everybody, hang onto the harness with me and let’s see how this goes.

*****

This is D-Day at the house. Doggy Day. Today we will meet our dogs.

In a very short time, we’ve been observed, judged, measured and digested. 

We’ve learned the intricate mechanisms of our handmade dog harnesses. 

We’ve walked all over Morristown, N.J., in the pouring rain and freezing cold. Through puddles and traffic and confusion. All to see how we are as walkers, communicators, survivors and how we deal with challenges.

The dogs are ready. We can hear them barking occasionally from their kennels across the street from our residence. They want to work.

His name is Doc — not short for Doctor or Dock — just Doc.

He is a two-year-old golden cross. He’s a good size, with short black fur, like a black lab.

He has long ears, a handsome face and big, brown eyes. He is a strong fast walker — which I am about to learn, firsthand.

Doc has spent his entire life since puppyhood, being assessed, measured, marked out, centered, adopted, passed from place to place as his home, all readying him for service as a working dog for a blind owner.

At the age of eight weeks, he was taken from his puppy home, to a 350-acre property in New Jersey, where dogs for The Seeing Eye school all begin their journey to service.

At almost a year old, Doc is returned to the school’s Morristown kennel to attend a four-month training. He joins a select few dogs chosen by the school to team up with a blind person. 

These are not companions or pets but working dogs in every way. They have a different sense of themselves, a strong sense of identity, heritage, a relationship with other dogs, and other people that is different from just plain being a dog.

After I couple of weeks with Doc, I desperately wanted to know more about him. Here’s how Docs first “parents” answered my questions: 

Dog name: Doc; tattoo: 2022352; breed: lab/golden cross 3

“Doc was raised by our family of five in Pennsylvania. The two younger children raised Doc, with lots of help from everyone else.”

“He had a backyard, with no fence, but lots of trees and grass. We play with him in the backyard by throwing a ball for fetch. Sometimes he brings it back and sometimes he just wants to run around. He loves this.”

“Doc had a dog friend named Gracie, age 11, an English goldendoodle. When he gets too rough, she scolds him and he backs off. We notice when Gracie isn’t feeling well he will lay next to her or lick her face. He is very sweet and sensitive.”

“Doc is a real gem. He is so sweet, sensitive and always wants to please. He loves to snuggle in and be close. He is very attentive to someone’s mood and tone of voice. He seems like a wise ol’ pup.”

“Doc gets complimented wherever we go on how well-behaved and calm he is. We have loved raising him!”

“When it comes to toys, the bigger the better. He is a big chewer. He needs a chew toy or he will go looking for something.”

“And Doc loves a sunny spot on the floor. He will keep moving himself into the sun as it moves along the floor so he can have full coverage. Doc at a young age seemed to play nicely with himself and his toys.”

That’s my boy. By the end of our first two days together we are both exhausted. And happy. Ready for what was to come.

• Next: Just some of the thousands of things I needed to learn (and still need to learn) to keep up my end of the guide dog partnership.

NOTL resident Jodey Porter is a former provincial assistant deputy minister of health and member of the Ontario Human Rights Commission. Her story is told in collaboration with writer Tim Taylor.