Guide dogs lend a paw
It’s said that a dog is a man’s best friend, but for Lewis Burdette and Sachin Pavithran, the role of dogs went much further. Burdette and Pavithran are both visually impaired and have received assistance from seeing-eye dogs.
Pavithran is the assistive technology specialist for the Center for Persons with Disabilities, and said he retired his dog Barstow in June, after having him for nine and a half years.
Pavithran said he talked to many other visually impaired and blind people before deciding to get his dog. He said he met a girl who had a seeing-eye dog and thought having one might be a way to gain more independence.
“When I was in school, it was fine because I had people around me, but when I started working, I had to travel and get around on my own,” Pavithran said.
Burdette is a junior majoring in exercise science and said he decided to get a seeing-eye dog because his sister had one, and he realized how helpful her dog was in maintaining mobility on campus and around town.
“I called Guide Dogs, a place in Oregon, and asked them how to go about applying, and they sent me the forms,” Burdette said. “So I filled them out, sent them in, and began the process to receive my own dog.”
The process requires both online and paper forms. Applicants send in their name, address, information about their visual disabilities, training received, how the individual crosses the street, destinations regularly traveled to and more.
The next step is to meet with a consultant to discuss specific needs. According to the Guide Dogs website, the consultant discusses motivation and support for getting a guide dog, lifestyle and travel practices and the applicant’s health. Then, after more forms, a home visit and finally, if accepted into the program, the applicant gets to visit one of the campuses to receive a dog.
“They find out your lifestyle, your work environment, if you are a fast or slow walker,” Pavithran said. “They take all that into consideration, and then they try to make the best match with the personalities of the dogs they have ready.”
Guide Dogs for the Blind is where both Pavithran and Lewis received their dogs, albeit on separate campuses. The company has two places where seeing-eye dogs are trained, one in Oregon and another in California.
When Barstow and Pavithran met, Pavithran traveled to California and spent a month learning and growing with his dog. The first three days were spent with people pretending to be dogs so Pavithran could learn the commands. Afterwards he met his dog Barstow, and the training continued.
“His role is to avoid obstacles and dodge me around obstacles,” Pavithran said. “They’re trained to watch out for certain obstacles and sort of take directional commands. A lot of the dog’s job is to make sure I don’t run into people, or while I’m crossing the street to make sure he veers me away from a car if it’s coming.”
Burdette traveled to Oregon for his training and took his yellow lab Darcelle home after two weeks. He said the training was more condensed than what the company used to offer.
“They were testing a more condensed program,” Burdette said. “It was a much smaller program, a smaller student-to-teacher ratio, so they could train us quicker.” Burdette said he loved Darcelle, and having a seeing-eye dog to help him get around campus was very helpful because he was able to move quicker and with more confidence.
“When we would travel on campus, having a dog was great because she’d cruise you through the people and the crowds,” Burdette said. “I would absolutely get another dog when my life isn’t so crazy.”
Burdette sent Darcelle back to the trainers after eight months because he was traveling frequently for sports. Burdette plays GoalBall, a team sport specifically designed for blind and visually impaired athletes, and travels for games and tournaments on a monthly basis.
“I was traveling once a month, sometimes for a week at a time, and it was difficult to find someone to watch her when I was playing or training and take her out between games,” Burdette said.
Burdette said sending Darcelle back was difficult because they’d become attached.
“I love that dog,” Burdette said. “I was with her 24/7 for eight months, but she’s better off in a situation that will use her for what she was trained to do.”
Pavithran said when he retired Barstow, it was partly because of the dog’s age and also because he was traveling more and it was difficult for him to care for Barstow on the trips.
“It wasn’t that packing the food was difficult, but I travel to Washington, D.C. a lot for my job, and at the capitol there are a lot of security protocols,” he said. “You can’t just walk out of one meeting to take the dog outside. I also travel internationally, and you can’t take a dog outside the country because each country has different rules.”
Pavithran took Barstow to retire with the couple who raised him as a puppy and took care of him when the family went on vacations.
Barstow now lives on a beach in California, where he ge
ts to run around as he chooses each day.
Both Pavithran and Burdette now use canes to navigate campus and the community, and Pavithran said it’s a very different skill set.
“A guide dog is an obstacle avoider – a cane is an obstacle finder,” Pavithran said. “When you have a dog, you don’t have to worry about what you’re dodging. The disadvantage is the obstacles you’re dodging could be cues as to where to go.”
He said guide dogs don’t work like robots and don’t make decisions about where to go.
“You can’t just hold onto the harness and say, ‘Go to the TSC.'” Pavithran said. ìYou need to know where you are and where you’re going.”
– april.ashland@aggiemail.usu.edu
@AprilAsh2012